Questions for Further Thought:

1. As you search your heart, where do you see elements of this idol of pride in your life? Where do you find traces of yourself trying to walk the ascending road?
2. The Pharisee’s prayer revealed a lot about where his heart was. What do your prayers reveal about your heart?
3. What practical things can you do to guard yourself from walking the ascending road of self-righteousness and keep yourself on the descending road of humility?
4. In what ways do our efforts to walk the descending road impact us corporately as a church, who are being built together by the Spirit into God’s dwelling place (see Kenny Stokes' sermon from 9/26/10)?
5. How might CJ Mahaney’s recent sermon (“Jude: A Call to Contend,” 9/12/10) help us do what Brett Louis exhorts us to do through this text?

Luke 18:9-14

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Thank You, Bethlehem

Well it’s a joy for me to be here with you. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Brett Louis. Until just a few months ago, I was a Church Planting Resident here at Bethlehem. Since that time, my beautiful wife Molly and I have had the incredible privilege of linking arms with a number of people from Bethlehem and elsewhere to plant Christ Redeemer Church in Woodbury, just east of St. Paul.

Christ Redeemer Church is the tenth church that Bethlehem has now planted using funds provided through Treasuring Christ Together (TCT). There are four other TCT church plants in the Twin Cities and five in other cities across the country: Charlotte, Raleigh, Memphis, San Diego and North Little Rock.

I’d like to personally thank you. Thank you first of all for allowing me to take part in the Church Planting Residency here at Bethlehem. The past year was a wonderful gift to my wife and me. We are very, very grateful for your care for us during our time here. Thank you. And on behalf of everyone at Christ Redeemer Church, I would like to thank you for your generous financial support through TCT. We would not have been able to plant this church without it.

And lastly, we want to thank you for your willingness to send people out with the church plants that go out of Bethlehem. We have been blessed with a wonderful core group of people in Woodbury, many of them from Bethlehem, people who have been encouraged for years to “spread” for the glory of God. Thank you for encouraging people to go here at this church! And we do have room for more just in case you were wondering! If you would like more information about Christ Redeemer Church in Woodbury, you may contact the church office here at Bethlehem. Thank you. Let’s pray.

Two Roads Diverged

In 1875, Robert Frost wrote a poem about two roads diverging in the woods. It starts like this, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood….” He’s walking through the woods, and he finds himself at a fork in the road. And the path ahead diverges into two roads. And the two roads look similar to him. He knows that he, being only one person, can’t possibly take both roads. So, long he stands, trying to figure out which road to take.

I would argue that every single person in the world—every single person in this room—faces a similar situation in his or her lifetime—a fork in the road, two roads ahead, and a choice to be made because you can’t take both roads. And both of the roads in front of you claim that they will lead you to eternal life but only one, in fact, does.

The Ascending & Descending Roads

One of the roads is a road that ascends. It goes uphill. If you take that road, you’ll seek eternal life by exalting yourself in this lifetime. You’ll try to lift yourself up in some way, make yourself a better person—make yourself a more moral person, if you will. You’ll compare yourself to everyone around you and become convinced that you must be right with God because you’re not as bad as the next guy. And that sounds perfectly logical to our natural minds.

If you want to go to Heaven, make yourself a better person, do certain things, avoid other things, do more good than bad, be better than people around you—and you’ll go to Heaven! But that road that goes up is incredibly deceitful and it’s absolutely deadly. You go higher in this lifetime, but you go down to destruction in the end.

The other road goes downhill. If you take that road, you’ll seek eternal life by humbling yourself in this lifetime. You’ll go down. You’ll catch a glimpse of your sin; you’ll see yourself for who you really are. You’ll catch a glimpse of the wrath that you deserve. And you’ll go down. You’ll go down to brokenness and sorrow and weeping. You’ll go down to confess your sins before God and man. You’ll go down and cry out for mercy. You’ll go down in this lifetime, but you’ll be lifted up in the end. A fork in the road, two possible roads—up is down; down is up. And Jesus lays out both of those roads in this parable in Luke. Let’s let Luke set the parable up for us and then we’ll consider the two roads.

The Two Men of the Parable

Look back at verse 9 if you will. Luke says, “[Jesus] told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.” That’s Christ’s primary audience for this parable, people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, people who had become convinced or were confident that they were righteous in themselves, and treated others with contempt. Literally, they looked down on others. That is, primarily, the group of people whom Jesus was addressing with this parable.

The parable begins in verse 10, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” Now stop for a minute. Two men in this parable: one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. And both of them go into the temple to pray. Let’s think about the two men. What would the original audience have thought about these two men? And remember, the original audience lived in a day that was very different from ours and most of the people in the audience trusted in themselves that they were righteous.

What would have come to their minds when they heard the word “Pharisee”? Now, I know what comes to your mind because it’s the same thing that comes to my mind. We hear the word “Pharisee” and we think, “Jerk! Hypocrite! Pretender!”—something like that. But we need to be careful that we don’t read that back into this story. Because society, in general, in Christ’s day, didn’t view Pharisees like that! Pharisees, for the most part, would have been respected by society. They were politically influential. They were devout, very moral looking, very strict in their religion. They would have been fairly well-respected by society as a whole and, I think, very well-respected by the people who were listening to Jesus tell this parable.

So the original audience hears the word “Pharisee” and they probably think something like, “Best man on earth! He’s a good man, honorable man, and respectable man. He’s the best possible man on earth. If anyone is on the road to Heaven, it’s the Pharisee!”

And what about the tax collector? In our minds, tax collector is a fairly neutral title. “Fairly” neutral because who really likes the IRS?! It’s a fairly neutral title. But to a first century Jew, there was nothing neutral about it. Tax collectors were despised by the Jews. They were especially hated, I’m sure, by those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous. Much of Israel was under Roman control at the time and the Jews despised the Romans who controlled them. Tax collectors were Jews who collected taxes from Jews for the Roman government. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, they would add a personal surcharge to the taxes. So they were doing Rome’s dirty work and getting rich off of their own people for doing it. They were traitors.

This audience hears the title “tax collector” and the vast majority of them probably think something like, “Worst man on earth!” So in the eyes of the original audience we have the best man on earth and the worst man on earth and they both go into the temple to pray! Now here’s road number one.

The Ascending Road of Self-Exaltation

Road #1: it’s the road of self-exaltation. It’s the road that goes up initially but leads down to death in the end. Verse 11, “The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” The Pharisee went into the temple to pray and he forgot the most important aspect of prayer, which is prayer! This is not prayer.

However, his words would have been recognized as prayer by the original audience. To the people standing in front of Jesus, the people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, this prayer would have sounded fine. This was a very common type of prayer in Christ’s day, especially for religious leaders. Here’s a typical rabbinic prayer from this period of time. It’s taken from the Talmud,

I give thanks to you…O Lord my God…for I rise early and they rise early, but I rise early for words of Torah and they rise early for frivolous talk; I labour and they labour, but I labour and receive a reward and they labour and do not receive a reward; I run and they run, but I run to the life of the future world and they run to the pit of destruction.

The Pharisee’s prayer was not uncommon. It might sound ridiculous to us, but it was a very ordinary prayer in Christ’s day, especially for religious leaders. You thanked God and then, essentially, you congratulated yourself to God and to everyone who was standing around you when you prayed. You thanked God and patted yourself on the back. You commended yourself to God. You prayed about yourself. It was acceptable. And that’s what this man did. The ESV says, “The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed.” And that’s fine. But the Greek could also be translated this way, “The Pharisee, standing, prayed to himself” or, “The Pharisee, standing, prayed about himself.”

That’s really what he’s doing. He’s praying about himself. Five times he mentions the word “I.” “I’m not like other men,” he says. “I’m not an extortioner. I’m not unjust. I’m not an adulterer. I’m especially not like this horrible tax collector. But here’s what I am. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.”

The Self-Revealing Prayer

His prayer gives us a window into his soul. He’s a very devout-looking man on the surface, a very religious man, a moral-looking man. But at the core, he’s self-righteous. His religion is a religion of self-exaltation. He’s chosen the road that goes up initially. It’s a religion built on the things you do or don’t do. You do certain things or don’t do certain things and you supposedly lift yourself up in the eyes of God. You recommend yourself to God and to others based on the things that you do or don’t do. And you become convinced in your mind that you’re right with God because of your performance.

It’s self-righteousness. It’s self-exaltation. At the very core, it’s pride. It’s not acceptable to God. As a matter of fact, God hates it. God absolutely and undeniable hates human pride, even the very subtle forms of pride that look so good to us, the forms of pride that we think would be pleasing to God. They’re not. The road of self-exaltation, though it looks so good on the surface, so squeaky clean at times. It doesn’t end in eternal life. This man, the best man on earth in the eyes of society, was on the wrong road and nobody knew it, not even him.

The original audience would have been shocked to hear Jesus say, in verse 14, that the Pharisee went home to his house not justified, not declared righteous in the eyes of God. Christ’s words would have been like a slap in the face. “No way! The best possible man on the planet? Not on the road to Heaven? No way!” They would have been shocked.

And when you apply this parable in our day and age, isn’t there a little something in all of our hearts that finds Christ’s words a little hard to believe? Think about it. Who is this man in our generation? He’s the best man on earth in the eyes of society. He’s well respected, a moral-looking man, socially conscious, and politically influential. He treats his neighbors with respect. He performs kind deeds, takes care of his yard, takes his children out on dates, cleans up after his dog, and recycles. He’s devout when it comes to religious things. He tries to do the things that the Bible commands and avoids the things the Bible prohibits. He goes to church regularly, becomes a church leader, prays, fasts, and even tithes.

And you’re going to tell me that that man is not saved! He’s not on the road to Heaven?! Come on! But that’s what Jesus is saying. Despite all that a person has going on on the surface, despite all the good works and charitable deeds, despite the fact that society views that person as the greatest person on planet earth, he’s not on his way to Heaven. He’s not saved because he’s not justified. He’s not righteous in the sight of God. And he’s not righteous in the sight of God because, at the very core, he’s still proud. He trusts in himself.

You can call that “Christianity” if you want, but it’s not. It’s a false religion—the deadliest false religion on this planet. It’s called self-exaltation. It’s self-righteousness. It’s the wrong road. But it seems so right to our natural minds. Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” The way of self-exaltation, the way of self-righteousness, seems so right to our natural minds. It seems like it should take you up to Heaven, but it takes you down to destruction in the end.

Martin Luther once said that the white devil of self-righteousness had slain millions of people. He meant that millions—and I would say billions—of people had been deceived by the devil into thinking that the road of self-righteousness is the road to life. They’ve chosen that road and been destroyed. It’s the wrong road. Please, don’t take that road!

There’s another road. And it does lead to eternal life. It’s the road of self-humbling. It’s the road that goes down initially but it brings you up to eternal life. It doesn’t seem at all like it could take you to Heaven, but it does. The tax collector, though he was the worst man on planet earth, took the low road, and he found life. Let’s think about that road for just a minute.

The Descending Road of Self-Humbling

Road #2: it’s the road of self-humbling. It’s the road that goes down initially but it brings you up to eternal life in the end. Verse 13, “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” And Jesus says in verse 14, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.” Jesus says that this man, the tax collector, walked home to his house justified, declared righteous in the eyes of God.

He’s the worst man on earth in the eyes of society. He’s been scorned by the Pharisee’s prayer. And yet, he is the one who walks home a forgiven man, a cleansed man. His sins, which were red like scarlet, are now white as snow. That doesn’t make sense to our natural minds. He didn’t do anything good! He didn’t perform any charitable deeds! He didn’t recycle! What did he do? It’s so simple! The Pharisee’s prayer rambled on and on. The tax collector’s prayer is only seven words! It’s even shorter in Greek—six words. It’s so simple that we miss it. A child doesn’t miss this. We’re just too smart and too proud for our own good. Here’s the simple road to life, the low road that the tax collector took, the low road that everyone will take if they are going to enter eternal life.

Three Observations About the Man on the Low Road

1. He didn’t exalt himself.

There’s a phrase we can’t miss in verse 13. Jesus put it there for a reason. Here it is, “He would not even lift up his eyes to heaven.” That’s there for a reason. Jesus is making a statement about the condition of this man’s heart. This man is lifting nothing up to God. Nothing, not even his eyes! There’s no self-exaltation. No commending of himself to God. No good work that he is holding up to God. No self-righteousness. His actions are giving us a window into his heart, and his is humbled.

His heart is saying, “No price in my hands I bring. There’s nothing in me whereby thy grace to claim.” Nothing. I have nothing. He didn’t exalt himself before God. He humbled himself. The low road to life will always involve self-humbling. You cannot get to Heaven without it.

2. He confessed his sin.

He said, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” In the Greek, there’s a definite article there. Literally, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” The Pharisee was exalted in his own mind. He looked down on others. But in the tax collector’s eyes, there’s no one beneath him! He’s the low man on the totem pole. He is the sinner in his own eyes. The only sinner as far as you are concerned, the chiefest of sinners.

You can’t look down on anyone when you see yourself in that light! He doesn’t look down on anyone, and he doesn’t boast of his accomplishments. He simply confesses his sin before God and everyone standing around him at the time. Charles Spurgeon once said that confession is such a simple thing. Any child can do it. But it becomes incredibly difficult because we’re so proud. We desperately want a road to Heaven that doesn’t involve confession of sin because we desperately want a road to Heaven that will let us keep our pride. That road does not exist! If you will inherit eternal life, then you will confess your sins to God. There’s no other way!

I fear the man who says he’s a Christian but can’t confess a single sin. Now we all have trouble confessing at times because we all still battle with pride. But there’s a problem, a serious problem, if you can’t confess a single sin. And your problem is called pride. The road to life is a low road that will always include a humble confession of sin.

3. He cried out for mercy.

“God, be merciful to me, a sinner! O God, please don’t give me what I deserve!” Don’t ever ask God to give you what you deserve because you’ll get nothing but wrath. You don’t want God to give you what you deserve. You want him not to give you what you deserve. You want him to turn his wrath away from you. And that’s what the tax collector is asking.

The verb that is translated “be merciful” could also be translated “be propitiated.” “Be propitiated to me, O God.” That word, “propitiation,” has to do with wrath. He’s asking God not to give him the wrath he deserves. He’s asking God to turn his wrath away. And that is language that God hears! That is something that God can do. He sent His Son Jesus to suffer the full fury of his wrath on the cross so that every sinner in the world who humbles himself or herself and cries out for mercy could be saved from His wrath! Do not exalt yourself and ask God to give you what you deserve. Please don’t do that! Humble yourself and ask God not to give you what you deserve. Ask for mercy. Thankfully, God is a God who is rich in mercy. The low road to life will always include a cry for mercy.

The Road Less Traveled

Self-humbling, confession of sin, and a cry for mercy—the low road. It may not look pretty, but it’s the only road that leads to eternal life. You go down initially but it brings you up to life in the end. 

The Pharisee went home “not justified.” The tax collector went home “justified.” How can that be? Why? The middle of verse 14, “For… [Here it comes. Jesus is going to tell us how the best man on earth can be shut out of the kingdom of Heaven while the worst man on earth enters in.] For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Do you realize what that means? There’s hope. There’s hope for you and me. If Jesus told us to exalt ourselves and become good in order to enter Heaven, no one would go to Heaven. I’m not good. And you’re certainly not good—hear the self-righteousness? We’re sinners. All of us! Let’s just own up to it. Humble ourselves. Confess our sins. And cry out for mercy. Because Jesus gives us a promise that will never ever fail, “Everyone who humbles himself will be exalted” some day when he returns.

Robert Frost’s poem ends like this, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” The low road is the road less traveled by. Millions have taken the high road of self-exaltation. Take the road less traveled by, and that will make all the difference in the world.