Thank God
A Sermon by Brent J. Eelman
Abington Presbyterian Church
October 28, 2007

Luke 18: 9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 10‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. 11The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. 12I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” 13But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” 14I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’*

“Thank God…. I am not like other people.” So begins the prayer of the Pharisee in the temple. Meister Eckhart wrote that if we offer only one prayer, it should be “Thank God,” but I don’t think that is what he had in mind. “Thank God, I am better than average!”

There is a story about a man who died and was greeted at the gates of heaven by St. Peter. Peter asked the man to give an account of his life, emphasizing the good works and deeds that he did so that he can gain entrance into heaven. Peter continues by saying that each good deed would receive a point value and that he would need 1000 points to enter heaven. The man smiled and thought to himself, “This will be easy. I have been involved with church since my youth, and I should have no trouble getting in.” He then went on to tell Peter about his life in church from his baptism to his funeral. He related that he went to Sunday School, Youth group, that he also taught Sunday school. He was an elder and a deacon, and he served on every committee and gave generously to the budget. He also chaired his congregation’s capital drive. It took him almost an hour to go through all the things that he could remember about his church life.

Peter was quite impressed with the recitation, and looked over at the angel who was keeping score and told the man, “You have lived an admirable life, and we rarely meet someone who has done all the good works that you have done. You will be pleased to know that they add up to 327 points. Is there anything else that you forgot?”

The man broke out into a sweat and drew deeply from his memory, reciting every act of kindness and good ness that he could think of. The angel next to Peter dutifully recorded all these good deeds and when the man finished, Peter looked at the angels score total and said, “you are exceptional. You have a grand total of 407 points. Can you think of anything else?”

The man continued to delve deep into his memory trying to recall ever last good deed that he did, and when he was finished Peter announced that he had 431 points. The man was absolutely in despair, knowing that he was 569 points short for entrance into heaven. Tearfully he said, “I am finished. There is no hope for me. There is nothing more that I could have done. All I can do is beg for your mercy.”

“THAT,” St Peter replied, “is worth a thousand points.”

It is, perhaps, a silly story, but it illustrates one of the great ideas of the Protestant Reformation. We are saved, only by the grace of God. Our salvation is not based upon who we are, nor what we have done, nor how good we have been. These things are important, but ultimately they aren’t enough to save us. Even the virtuous life is worth but 431 points! It is only God’s merciful love that welcomes us home to heaven.

We are saved by the grace of God. Most of us will give this idea some type of nodding agreement, but my fear is that more often than not, we live as though we are on some type of point system, and that righteousness and goodness are the sole criteria for salvation. This was Jesus’ problem with the Pharisees. The Pharisees were good people. They worked at their beliefs. They not only talked the talk. They walked the walk! They were faithful to the covenants of Moses and to the Hebrew law. The word Pharisee meant “to separate”, and they voluntarily separated themselves from the pagan secular Roman culture, so that they could live righteous lives. There theme song was from Psalm One:

Happy are those
   who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
   or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night.

The good and happy life is lived when one delights in the law of the Lord. The Pharisees believed that God would reward them for the goodness and that they would dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Compare this life to the tax-collector. Tax-collectors were the “scum of the earth” in Hebrew society. They were Hebrew rip-off artists who made their money by charging more than they were required by the Roman authorities. They were seen as collaborators and unclean. They were extortionists and unrighteous. They lived only for the money that they made.

What a fascinating comparison Jesus parable drew: a righteous, devout and “good” Pharisee and the dirty, sneaky, underhanded, crooked, sinful tax-collector. They were both in the temple in the presence of God. Their prayers reflected their lives. The Pharisee was not bragging. He thought that he was telling it like it was. No doubt he lived the life that he offered in that prayer. And the tax-collector? He accurately described himself as a sinner. Jesus then comes to this ironic conclusion, that the Tax collector left the temple justified in the eyes of God. Why?

At the heart of Jesus’ message was the grace of God. It is the self recognition that we are sinful, that our lives are infected by unfaithfulness and that there is nothing that we can do to earn the favor of God. The follower of Christ does not accumulate points for heaven.. rather she lives daily by the love, mercy, and grace of God. But more, that love, mercy, and grace are reflected in her life and also in the way that treats others.

Most of us are pragmatic Pharisees. We believe that we are pretty good… in fact better than most. In this day and age when we have made self esteem a worshipped idol, 90 percent of us believe that we are above average! Do the math. There are studies that indicate that most drivers, even those who have been in accidents, believe that they are better than average drivers. 9 out 10 executives believe that they are above average. My guess is that 90% of all pastors think that they are above average preachers. Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax-collector reminds us of the foundation of our faith: We are saved by the grace and mercy of God. Three essential messages for us:

  1. God wants us to be honest with and about ourselves. We need to let go of our modern pharisaism and recognize that in spite of all our efforts and good deeds, we are, in fact, coming up short in the eyes of God.

  2. God does not work on an accounting system: giving us points for good deeds and actions. God is merciful, gracious and loving. God’s system is forgiveness and grace. God is like the parent who runs to greet the prodigal son and welcome him home. God is the forgiving one, who upon hearing our confession, forgives, accepts and loves us. This is our God.. and we should model this mercy, grace, love and forgiveness in our actions with one another. Wouldn’t this be a refreshing change form our blame and complain culture!

  3. This does not mean that we can sin and do as we please, because God will forgive! Rather it means that we do good, we keep God’s commands, we seek justice and act with grace and mercy, not to win favor with God, but because God is merciful and has accepted us. Our good deeds, our actions and our lives, are given and lived in a spirit of gratitude and thankfulness. This is the way that we offer our gratitude and thanks to God!

Almost five hundred years ago, a Catholic monk, Martin Luther was teaching theology at a university. He became convinced that the church had lost sight of what he saw as several of the central truths of Christianity, the most important of which, for Luther, was the doctrine of justification — God's act of declaring a sinner righteous — by faith alone. He began to teach that salvation or redemption is a gift of God's grace, attainable only through faith in Jesus as the messiah. Today we celebrate Reformation Sunday in song and sermon. But the challenge is to live with the truth that Luther discovered, that Jesus declared that we live by God’s grace alone… and that grace is sufficient. Thank God! Amen.


*The New Revised Standard Version Bible, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989.

Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania,  www.apcusa.org