By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
October 26, 2025
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Luke 18:9–14 (ESV)
9 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.”
This week I have been convicted by our gospel reading. If any of you watch the news, you might have noticed that there were some architectural changes happening in Washington DC. This upset me a bit, and when I say a bit I mean to say it infuriated me. I mentioned my concerns on social media, knowing full well that I would be trolled by all sides, but I had to express my frustration.
Why does this infuriate me? I have nothing at stake. I remember about twelve and a half years ago that we needed to make some changes here at the meetinghouse. We had two women expecting children, and the room set aside for the feeding and care of babies had some issues. As a pastor I asked that the stewards call a meeting to discuss things, but the meeting was not called. It was a time sensitive issue so action needed to be taken. So as a pastor, I decided to get permission from the clerk to make the changes and we proceeded. Our family provided the labor and the finances for the change because I wanted to protect my wife, and she was allergic to the corkboard in the room. So we removed as much as we could, sealed the remaining corkboard with massive amounts of paint, added trim, put up new paneling, and purchased furnishings to allow the expecting mothers some comfort during those early months of parenthood. It does not seem like much of an issue. Most people thought it was a good idea. But I faced some pretty heated backlash from some. The argument was that proper channels were not followed.
This incident had me questioning if I was going to be able to continue being a pastor or if I would be asked to leave. It made me very aware of the importance of doing things within the proper established framework and if you go against the framework you better have a very clear objective.
The arguments I used back then were the arguments many are using today. It is self funded so why does it matter. It matters. Believe me when I say it matters. This is why I am very passionate about bringing ideas to the meeting instead of just acting on them. It is not because I want to hinder progress, I want to protect the ones I care about and support them in their pursuit of ministry and expression of gratitude to our community.
With that being said I want to bring up one item of business. Would the Meeting be willing to accept a donation of a folding ping pong table for the students and the young at heart to use? We have two people that want to purchase one, and someone that would like to donate one that they already have.
That is some back story about my current state of mind. Why then do I say that today’s reading convicted me?
“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:”
I was prideful this week. I was arrogant. I thought of myself as being more intelligent than others, and I spoke out…well typed out…without deeper thought and contemplation. And just so you know I am still right, I am just wrong with how I presented myself.
Pride and arrogance are difficult areas within our spiritual lives. We are encouraged to believe in ourselves, we are encouraged to reach for the stars, to take a risk and challenge ourselves to become better. I say these things to my son as he goes to hockey practice. I say these things to all our students. Our minds are filled with these words urging us to excel. And the amazing thing is we are capable. We are capable to do great things. If we look around our meetinghouse, I see people that have overcome tremendous challenges, I see people that are actively pursuing dreams just a short time ago they did not think was possible. I see amazing parents raising children to independent and strong. I see students achieving and trying new things. I see people that have risked everything with the hope of making life better for their family. We have a great deal to be proud about. Is this a sin?
Humility is the opposite of pride. Humility is defined as bringing low, or regarding others as better than yourself. As Christians we are encouraged to be humble. Mainly because this is what is taught within these verses we read today. I want us to think of humility in a different manner. We all know of people that are falsely humble. They will humble brag about their achievements, this is not humility, it is still pride. Humility is being honest about yourself.
I struggle with this personally. People will give me a compliment and often I do not know what to do with it, so I simply say thank you and quickly try to change the subject. But being humble is being aware of who you are, your strengths and your weaknesses. It is making sure that we recognize where we need help and if we have received help to acknowledge that they contributed. To be humble is to find your place within a community and live in that place fully.
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.”
Before we get too deep, I want us to fully grasp who these people are. The Pharisee is a religious leader, but there is more to that title than what we might think. The Pharisees were teachers, they were lawyers, judges, and community leaders. We often only see them as religious leaders because much of the context of scripture is about the expressions of faith. The Pharisees are social framework society is built around. They are the educated, the wealthy, they are the elite of the society. To know a Pharisee is to have status within that community. And if you were a Pharisee your life was set.
Then there is the tax collector. In the first century the tax collector was seen as the worst of sinners. They were the ones within this society that sold out to the pagan overlords and turned their backs on their community. They were often seen as corrupt, greedy, and criminal. Jesus uses these two men in his story to be an example of the polarity of society. Those that are completely bought into the traditions of society and those that sold out for worldly gain. One might say that they were Right and Left.
The Pharisee approaches the temple and begins to pray, “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.”
I can often be like this man. I sat this week thinking about what he was saying. And then I looked a bit deeper. If you were to look up the law, or the teaching, on fasting you would find that God only commanded one mandatory fast. It was a fast prior to Yom Kippur, or the day of atonement. I sat looking at this and I wondered where did this two day fast come into play? There are many fasts mentioned in scripture. They are encouraged to fast while they mourn, and there are fasts dealing with urgent prayer. If there was a serious plea within the culture, like if a war was about to occur the leaders would often call Israel to come together to fast and pray. The use of the fast is not magic, it does not convince God that you are serious and it is not a hunger strike used to manipulate God into granting your petition. The fast is to prove to yourself that your survival is not based on the things that you can do but that you are in full reliance to God.
When we fast as we pray about something serious in our lives. We are saying not to God but ourselves that we will rely on God for all that we need. I am in such need of God’s direction that I will not seek anything else except the word of God. This is why when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert to make stones into bread, Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone but by the word of God.” The fast is an important spiritual discipline when used correctly. It is a sign of submission to God not a tool of manipulation.
If fasts are important, why does Jesus seem to be speak poorly about this man’s statement?
The two day a week fast was something that began during the Exile to Babylon, and can be found in the Babylonian Talmud. This was a time where there was no temple, no sacrifice, there was no way to express your devotion to God. How then are people of faith supposed to express themselves, and how do they release their sorrow and repentance to God?
This is where the fasts come in. It is a sacrifice, and a manner to express your devotion. The fasts were done on Monday and Thursday. Monday to represent Moses going up the mountain to receive the Torah, and Thursday to represent Moses’s return. The teachers used the sacrifice of food to symbolically replace the sacrificial animals on the altar. And their idea was that if you cannot express your faith in the temple then you should express yourself in body.
This fast was important, it has been preserved to this day as a symbol of faith in contemporary Jewish communities. Jesus is not speaking out against the fast, he is not condemning the tithes, he is not rejecting activities that we can participate in to remind and redirect our attention to our reliance on God. What he is condemning is why this man is participating.
Prior to his list of righteous acts. He compares himself to others. “Thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” He looked over at the other man and openly spoke out against him. He found a place within the temple where everyone could see what he was doing, in a place where the acoustics were just right that his voice would echo through the entire sacred chamber so that everyone present could hear his words. “Thank You God that I am not like all these other people.” And he lists off the things their contemporary society finds deplorable.
He did not pray for guidance or submission. Instead he prayed to demand God’s allegiance to himself. I am good, he tells God. I am great. I am powerful. And you know it. I have given a tithe on every single source of income I have. I have filled the temple with gold, and you and everyone listening should do what I say. I have fasted two days a week! I have made the sacrifice, and you should do exactly what I demand because quite frankly God you could do nothing without me.
And the people of the temple heard his prayers and they responded just how he expected they would. They agreed with him. This is a great man. God should bless him. And he is rich, so clearly God has blessed him. He has power which was granted by God. We should follow him. We see this all around us. The praise of humanity. The cult of personality. They were put here for a purpose and we should not question them because they are in a position of authority.
Jesus continues his story, turning to the other man, the tax collector. He redirects our attention the man that seemingly sold himself out to the world. He turned his back on his countrymen, his society, and his culture and he dedicated his labor for the continued occupation and oppression of the empire.
This man could not lift his head to heaven, but kept his head bowed in submission. He could not speak of greatness, but beat his breast. And he said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
The one man demanded praise for himself. And the other recognized who he was in reference to God.
The world may say that they are good, but Friends none of us are equal to the goodness of God. None of us are righteous enough. We all need the mercy and grace provided through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We cannot look to the heavens and say, “Thank God that I am not like other men,” because each and every day we have extorted money from our global neighbors as we purchase good that were produced by exploited labor practices. We are unjust because we are willing to overlook a law that denies the rights of the people beside us as long as it does not affect me. We are just like this tax collector. We have often sold our voices to a popular opinion because we do not want to take the hard look at ourselves and instead want to cast blame on a marginalized population among us.
I have been the pharisee this very week. I have presented myself as wise, as righteous. I have presented myself with arrogance and self-righteous pride. I have presented myself as a pillar of justice within our community. And I am right in what I have said. But I am wrong because I put my words, my opinions, and my personally held beliefs into religious language. I am wrong, I am filled with pride, but we all are. This does not make it correct. In fact it makes us more wrong than the world we wish to reach.
That is a harsh thing to say, I know. But I want us to consider what the next few verses of Luke say.
“Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.’”
What does it mean to receive the kingdom like a child? I have thought about that on many occasions. For some they say it is blind obedience. But I do not think that is it. Mainly because I have not been around many children that obey. They are cowed to unquestioned obedience out of the frustration of adults. Because by nature children often live in a state of awe and wonder. They are intensely curious with a seemingly never ending question of, “why?”.
How do we treat children? We calmly talk to them, we show them the way to do things. We at times correct them, but shortly after that discipline we assure them of our love and care. We are merciful and gracious to our children. And that is the way Jesus tells us to interact with those around us.
Peter wrote in his letter, that we should always be prepared to provide and answer to the hope that we have. This verse has inspired many to study scripture and theology so that they can answer any question that they may be asked. It is a discipline that we call apologetics. It is an important thing to do, but it is not everything. Often that discipline can lead us to arrogance. We can deceive ourselves into believing that I have all the answers. I want to be very blunt in saying that we do not have all the answers. You cannot logically provide an answer to how God can be all powerful, all loving, all knowing and allow evil to exist in the world. I have yet to read an answer to that question that is not filled with holes.
Does this disprove God? No. It simple means that we do not have full understanding. We remain like the child asking why? And often like the inquisitive child, the more mature individuals around us have left the question unanswered with the exasperated answer, “Because I said so.”
The tax collector is like the child. He knows that he is not righteous enough, just as the child knows that they do not understand. This is humility. It is recognizing the reality of who we are and being honest with the world around us.
I am often correct in my thinking, yet wrong. I have arrogantly provided answers, to questions that were never asked because I could not be bothered to listen. I have thought more highly of myself in my position and have caused more harm than good. I have been the Pharisee. But I have also been the tax collector. I know my weakness. I know when I do not have an answer, and I know that at times the only thing I can say is, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
We are fallen people, living among fallen people. We are hurting people, living beside people with similar wounds. We are exploited and extorted, we have been wronged, and we have cause injury to other. But there is hope. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only unique son, that whoever believes in him should should not parish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
Let us be honest with ourselves and with God, and let us cry out, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
Previous Messages:
Ransomed to Love
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 19, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 1:17–23 (ESV) 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time…
Born Again to a Living Hope
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 12, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 1:3–9 (ESV) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born…
Broken Dreams Restored
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 05, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili John 20:1–18 (ESV) 1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the…
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