19th April 2026 - Craig Waters

Heavenly Father and our God, you remind us that

all of our religious practices are not worth

anything if we use them for our own purposes,

not yours. Father, we come to you this morning

in humility, repentance and dependence, ready

to encounter you in love and to turn your way.

We pray this in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Well,

good morning, everybody. Thanks for reading God's

word to us, Tony. And welcome to John, who was

talking just before. John, put your hand up,

John. John's an Anglican pastor from Tasmania

joining us this morning. So welcome. One of the

readings that Tony gave to us was the parable

of the Pharisee and the tax collector. In this

parable, Jesus wants to teach people about the

importance of praying with the right attitude.

Praying with the right attitude. And this parable

is not actually aimed at those who are obviously

wicked. It's aimed at those who are religious.

It's aimed at those who are disciplined and morally

serious. This parable is aimed at people who

pray, people who fast, people who give. It's

aimed at people like me, people like us. Let's

read these verses again, page 1595. No, it's

not up there. We'll read it again, yeah. Verse

9, to some who were confident of their own righteousness

and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told

this parable to men. went up to the temple to

pray. One was a Pharisee, the other was a tax

collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and

he prayed, God, I thank you that I am not like

other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers,

or even like tax collectors. I fast twice a week

and I give a tenth of all I get. But the tax

collector stood at a distance, he would not even

look up to heaven, he beat his breast and he

said, God have mercy on me, a sinner. Jesus says,

I tell you that this man rather than the other

went home justified before God because all those

who exalt themselves will be humbled and those

who humble themselves will be exalted. In verse

nine, we're told that Jesus' audience are those

who were confident in their own righteousness

and looked down on everyone else. And then he

told them a parable. Pharisee, tax collector,

they both went up to pray. So Pharisees, well,

Typically, they were respected and they were

disciplined. They were outwardly righteous. Tax

collectors, hmm, not quite so. They were actually

hated in biblical times and they were regarded

as sinners. They were Jews who worked for the

Romans. So this kind of made them traitors. many

people resented paying taxes to the foreigners

who ruled over them. Tax collectors, they actually

weren't paid any wages by the Romans. They were

expected to take a little bit of extra money

and keep some for themselves. Many tax collectors

were quite dishonest and they abused the system

by taking far too much. There's a contrast of

two different types of people. Let's look at

the Pharisee's prayer. The Pharisee's prayer,

it was impressive, but it was empty. He stood

by himself and he prayed, God, I thank you that

I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers,

adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week and I give a tenth of all

I get. Now at first, this kind of sounds like

gratitude, but when you listen closely, it's

self -congratulation and it's kind of dressed

up like prayer. The Pharisee prayed about himself.

telling God, as if God doesn't know, but he was

telling God of the wrong things that he had not

done. I'm not like other men, robbers, evildoers,

adulterers. And then he went on to tell God more

about himself, about the religious practices

he observed, fasting twice a week and giving

tithes. The Pharisee's problem is not obviously

sinning, but it is spiritual pride. Spiritual

pride is really dangerous because it kind of

looks righteous, looks like righteousness. It

feels like obedience and it actually hides itself

in good behaviour. But the tricky thing about

spiritual pride is it doesn't always shout out.

Sometimes just whispers inside us. The Pharisee

thought he was praying but he was actually only

praising himself. So the problem with the Pharisee's

prayer, his prayer is full of himself and it's

empty of God. He compares himself to others and

he measures his worth by contrasting himself

to others. And he keeps using I, the word I,

again and again and again. So it's like he's

not confessing his sin at all, he's giving God

his resume. Look at how good I am, God. Now let's

look at the tax collector's prayer. Tax collector

prayed with humility. repentance and dependence.

He stood at a distance, would not even look up

to heaven, beat his breast and said, God have

mercy on me, a sinner. He stood at a distance,

wouldn't even look up. He didn't have any list,

he didn't have any defence, didn't compare himself,

he was just He had raw honesty. He's not bargaining.

He's not throwing himself on God's grace. The

tax collector shows us the right posture. We're

not pretending. There's no polishing, no performance,

just honesty. So how would the original audience

have perceived what's going on here. They would

have expected the Pharisee to be the hero, but

Jesus flips the script. Jesus says, I tell you

that this man, the tax collector, rather than

the other Pharisee, went home justified before

God for all those who exalt themselves will be

humbled. and those who humble themselves will

be exalted. So that Jesus tells us the one who

went home justified before God was the messy

one, tax collector. The good man is not justified,

the bad man is. That must have been a bit shocking

for the audience. The word justified is is really

important to try and understand. It means declared

righteous before God. Being justified, declared

righteous before God, is a gift from God. We

need to totally understand that we're not saved

by what we do, how we talk about what we've done

and what we haven't done. That's not going to

save us. We are saved by what God does. So the

tax collector, he didn't deserve God's grace,

God's justification, but he received it. The

other important thing is to remember who the

audience was. Jesus audience when he was telling

this parable are those people who are confident

in their own righteousness and they look down

on others. It was the Pharisees and people like

them. I'm going to ask you two questions. Do

you think that I am the audience that Jesus had

in mind? Are you the audience that Jesus had

in mind? Well, the answer to both could in fact

be yes. In this fallen world that we live in,

there are so, so many opportunities for us, for

me, to fall into the trap that the Pharisees

fell into. Here's a couple of real -life examples.

A man applied for a job. It was very competitive.

Lots of applicants. They were all highly qualified.

Candidates were asked to wait in a room, and

one by one, they were called in for the interview.

Some came out quietly confident, thinking, oh,

I nailed that one. I impressed them. I think

I've got this. Others came out perhaps a little

unsure, perhaps discouraged. Finally, the hiring

manager came out and said, hey, we've made our

decision. The job goes to the person who admitted

that they didn't know all the answers, but they

were honest, showed that they were willing to

learn. The person who was the most honest. Or

here's a church example. A man comes to church

every Sunday. He volunteers to help with lots

of different ministries. He tithes regularly.

He avoids obvious sin. He's nice and he diligently

serves the church. Perhaps he's even on a leadership

team. One day he hears about someone in a congregation

who is struggling, struggling with sin, or who

has an addiction, or is going through a divorce,

or who is making poor decisions, for example,

and quietly, in his heart, this man thinks to

himself, gee, I don't... I just don't understand

how people get themselves into a situation like

this. I'd never let my life fall apart like that.

So outwardly he's saying nothing. But inwardly,

he's already stepped into the Pharisees' prayer.

Thank God that I'm not like them. Even a whole

church. can drift into this. Oh, look at us.

We're a solid church. And we've got really good

teaching. We're not like those other churches.

That's collective Pharisee thinking. Well, parents,

perhaps this one hits home. You raise your kids

well, with discipline and structure and values.

and you see another family struggling. And the

thought creeps in, oh, if they had just done

what we did, if only their kids behaved more

like our kids. Well, life is a whole lot more

complex than that. And the thought, as subtle

as it might be, drifts into pride. Pride instead

of compassion. That's no good. In this fallen

world we live in, there's also opportunities

for us to be like the tax collector and come

to God in humility and repentance and dependence.

Here's a couple of real -life examples of that.

A person sits alone late at night. Their life

hasn't gone the way they'd hoped. Perhaps relationships

have broken down, or they carry guilt over past

decisions. Perhaps they feel like they've failed.

They don't have impressive words. They just...

whispered, God, I have messed up. I need your

help. And that's it. There's no big speeches

or performance or pretense. This is the heart

of the tax collector. Or a man sits in his car

before he's going to work and he's overwhelmed

by the pressures. of stress or maybe he regrets

how he's been performing or how other people

have been treating him, for example. Instead

of when people ask him, say, hey, how are you

going, mate? And he says, yeah, I'm great, thanks.

Instead of pretending he's fine, he says to God,

God, I really don't have this all together. I

need you. It's all you got to do. There's no

audience. It's just honesty like the tax collector.

And here's a bit of a shocking truth. The good

person can be far from God. The broken person

can be right with God. And that's not because

God loves brokenness. But it's because God always

responds to humility, repentance and dependence.

Think about it like some recovery programs, perhaps

like AA. One of the first steps is admitting

that you are powerless. That's not a weakness.

That's a strength. It's a doorway that you have

to open. And that's exactly what the tax collector

showed us. Now here's an amazing and a beautiful

thing. God does not say, fix yourself and then

come to me. God says, come as you are. and I

will justify you. Let's make this a little uncomfortable

now in a good way. I'll ask you three questions,

give you a few seconds to personally reflect

on them. Do you sometimes feel quietly superior

to others? Do you sometimes compare yourself

to others? Do you ever quietly think to yourself,

oh, I'm glad I'm not like that? Well, perhaps

if you're like me, the answer to some of those

questions might be Yes. So, guess where this

parable is aimed today? It's aimed at us. To

remind us that we need God's help. We need God's

mercy. We need God. Here's a closing illustration.

Two people walk into church. One looks successful,

confident, composed, respected. Everyone knows

him. Everyone talks to him. The other one looks

tired, worn down, a bit unsure. No one talks

to him. Now, at the end of the service, one of

those two men leaves thinking, hey, I'm doing

really well. Everyone knows me. Had a great time

today. Thank you. The other one leaves thinking,

oh God, I need you. And guess what? Only one

walks out justified. You know which one. God

is so, so not impressed by how put together we

look, how respected we are, what we outwardly

do. He responds to how honest we are before Him.

So don't bring God your resume, bring Him your

truthful heart. I'll finish with a pictorial

example. Imagine two men in a boat caught in

a vicious storm at sea. Both of them are in trouble.

Boat's taking on water. The rescue boat arrives.

First person shouts out, hey, I'm all right,

I'm fine. I've handled much worse than this.

Perhaps I just need a little bit of help. And

he plings to the boat, trying to prove that he's

a man, he's still in control. The second person

does something very different. He just lets go

of everything. And he says, oh, I can't save

myself. Please, please help me. Now here's the

reality. This rescue is available to both of

those people, but only one person is actually

saved. Not because the rescuer prefers that one

over the other, but because only one of those

two people is willing to admit that they need

to be saved. And that's the difference between

the Pharisee and the tax collector. One says,

hey God, I've mostly got this under control,

I'm pretty right, thanks. The other one says,

oh God, I need your help. I need your mercy.

So this week, when you come before God, pray

this simple and powerful prayer. God, have mercy

on me. Show me where my pride is hiding in me.

I don't have it together, but you do. Please

help me. And how about we pray that prayer all

together right now. God, have mercy on me. Show

me where pride is hiding in me. I don't have

it together, but you do. Please help me. Please

help us, Father. I'll pray. Heavenly Father,

thank you for your unending love and your patience

with us. Father, we surrender our pride. and

our shortcomings to you. Please show us where

our pride is hiding. Father, we do not have it

together, but you do. We need your mercy. Please

help us. And all of God's people said, Amen.