Pride | Ben Palmer

Good morning, church. If I haven't had the opportunity

to meet you, my name is Ben, and I get the privilege

of being down at our Prescott Valley location.

I get to oversee that campus and just know that

you are welcomed and loved. And as always, we

want to slow down and just welcome our family

online. We love you so much out there in Paulding

and Baghdad and the rest of our online family.

I think when I was up here... A couple months

ago, a few months ago, I think I called Paul

Dad. It's not Paul Daddy. It's Paul Dan. And

we just love you, Mike and Sue Lynn. We're so

thankful for you. But welcome. Does anyone have

in their family somebody that has a reputation

of repeating the same stories over and over again?

I think every family has that. In our family,

it's my dad. He loves to tell. the same stories

over and over. In fairness, you only got so many

stories, but he always says he doesn't need new

material, he just needs a new audience. And one

of the stories I've heard countless times is

I used to sleepwalk all the time. I mean, it

was a problem. I would wake up with cuts above

my eye and on my forehead and cheek from running

into stuff. There was one time I sleptwalked

from my best friend's house four houses down

and across the street in my little underoos at

seven, and my dad answers the door, and I was

just asleep with my finger in the air, and I'd

just been ringing the doorbell just over and

over and over again. His favorite story to tell,

though, is when we used to do this camping trip

with father -sons, and it would be anywhere from

six to eight sets of father -sons. somebody had

this gigantic military tent. And so we would

all sleep in there and there was room to spare.

And this was the 80s. So there's no talk of GMOs

or too much sugar. We're downing Coke. We're

eating Star Crunches. And as you might expect,

the boys would go to bed first and then the dads

later. And so I woke up the next morning. And

I noticed there was a father and son missing.

And I was like, Dad, where's Tim and Jason at?

And he just starts dying laughing. And at some

point in the middle of the night, I had been

sleeping, sleepwalking around the tent, and I

ended up going number one all over them. I thought

they were the bathroom. 38 years later, my dad

cannot stop laughing as he... He visualizes that

father's face and that anger as he was packing

up his sleeping bag and his son at three in the

morning and leaving, going home. He still owns

them. Who doesn't love a good story? And we've

been in a collection of talks, stories as told

by Jesus. And we've been looking at parables

he taught. In all, Jesus taught 40 parables.

It's good to know that a parable is just a story

that runs parallel to a truth, okay? And Jesus

is the master storyteller, y 'all. And today

we're gonna look at the tax collector and the

Pharisee who go up to the temple to pray. And

so we're gonna be in Luke 18, verse 19. To some

Luke 18:19

who are confident of their own righteousness

and look down on everybody else. We all know

who these people are. They're too heavenly minded

to be any earthly good. Their Bibles are usually

bigger than everyone else's, but only to hit

you over the head with it. And Jesus told this

parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray,

one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

Okay. So Jesus, in telling the story, immediately

introduces two characters. And it's important

that we understand these characters because the

audience definitely understood these two different

people, okay? The Pharisee has a bad reputation

today, but back then they were super admired.

They were looked up to. They were the religious

leaders of their time. If we need to be honest

with ourselves, if Pharisees were around today

in that context, these would be elected officials

in the way they presented themselves. This would

be somebody you would want your daughter to date.

They didn't drink much alcohol. They went to

church every week, temple. They tithed and they

knew scripture inside and out, okay? No one appeared

to be more dedicated to God than this bunch of

people. Okay, so we need to understand that.

In fact, as the audience was listening to him

back then, their eyes and ears, it would have

made sense that the Pharisee was going to the

temple to pray. Okay, then you have him introduce

the tax collector. This is someone who worked

for a foreign government. They had a reputation

of overcharging in taxes so they could lie in

their own pockets to get rich. They were synonymous

with cheating and stealing. They were the lowest

of the low. Even within scripture, You could

interchange sinner and tax collector, okay? So

these two characters would have immediately invoked

emotions within the audience. And it really needs

to do that to us. And they would have also attached

expectations of the outcome based on these two

characters. Because Jesus is the master storyteller.

Next verse. The Pharisee stood up and prayed

about himself. God, I thank you that I am not

like other people. robbers, evildoers, adulterers,

or even like this tax collector. Okay, so the

Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself. Other

translations say he prayed to himself. So you

could say accurately that this Pharisee was praying

to himself about himself. Our prayer posture

will be a reflection of our posture in life.

What does our prayer posture, our prayer life

look like as we go through the day? Is it all

about what we need and what we want? And don't

get me wrong, God calls for us to pray for the

desires of our hearts, but that's a piece of

it. Are we waking up every morning and praying

that the Holy Spirit will put a family or a person

on our heart and we pray that they're blessed,

that their finances are blessed, their business

is blessed, their children, their health? Are

we going throughout our day and inviting God

into it? Do we invite the Holy Spirit in before

we send a text message or an email? Do we ask

him when to be quiet and just listen? Do we pray

before we go to the store? We just assume we're

gonna make it back home. Do we understand our

desperate need and the sovereignty of God to

be involved in everything we do? I remember in

recovery, I learned this, probably one of the

best lessons I ever learned. And it was learning

to accept people where they were at without approving

of their choices. And the saying we would say

is, that's just where they're at today. That's

just where they're at today. And what do I mean

by that? I mean, if you would have met me before

I met Jesus, I was a train wreck. And now, just

because I'm on this side, by the grace of God,

sharing the gospel with you. If I meet someone

in day one of knowing Jesus, or maybe they haven't

met Jesus, that's just where they're at today.

I mean, we all know these people. They don't

have the ability to see how selfish they are.

They cannot see how judgmental they are or how

angry they are. Because that's just where they

are today. It doesn't excuse their behavior.

It doesn't mean we don't have hard conversations

when needed. But what it does do is it softens

your heart. And it goes, man, that's just where

they're at today. I used to be there one day,

and I still have a long way to go. It helps us

from playing the comparison game, which we saw

this Pharisee do. He goes, at least I'm not like

so -and -so. At least I'm not like this robber.

I'm not like this tax collector. I'm not as bad

as old Jimmy over there. I don't know a Jimmy

either. But it helps prevent the comparison game

as if what my neighbor does or doesn't do has

any reflection on how I view myself. Next verse.

I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all that

I get. Okay, so he's not only superior in what

he avoids, he's also superior in how he performs.

See, the Pharisees had become addicted to this.

There were 613 Mosaic laws, and they had added

thousands of oral laws, okay? And when he goes,

I fast twice a week, that was actually more than

was required. When he goes, I pay tithes of all

that I get, again, he's making a statement. I

do more than is asked. It's almost as if he's

saying, God owes me a thanks. See, they had added

all these extra rules where they would even break

down the herbs in their garden and give 10 %

of that. They had become addicted to tradition

and religion, and it was even more important

that everyone saw them live out this religion.

See, I grew up in the South in Alabama, and everybody

goes to church. It's generational. You know what

to say. You know how to say it. You know to wear

pastel colors on Easter. You do. It's a way of

life. And I remember when I started in ministry,

I didn't know nothing, y 'all. And I was working

on my first Easter. And as many of you know,

when someone says he is risen, you say he is

risen indeed. I didn't know that. So I'm working

parking. I'm like the front guy at the parking

thing and waving everyone. And someone drives

by with their window down. He is risen. I go,

you betcha. Another car. He is risen. He sure

has. This goes on. And as traffic starts backing

up, this very, very sweet lady had said it and

I said something silly. And she goes, you're

supposed to say he is risen indeed. And of course,

I acted like I knew that. So, you know, for those

next five he has risen, I nailed it. I mean,

I was a pro. He has risen indeed. It was like

I've been doing it my whole life. Now, there's

nothing wrong with that statement. It's true.

Traditions are good. But what we have to be careful

of is there's no power in the tradition. There's

no power in the religion. Okay, following these

laws the way they were was breathing life into

these Pharisees. It was giving them life and

breath. But we know the only breath and life

comes through Jesus Christ. The only power is

him as our savior and us being sealed with the

Holy Spirit and then that pouring out through

us. as his goodness working through us. See,

the Pharisees had become experts at hiding the

brokenness of what was in their hearts while

becoming masters of their outward expression

of religion. God isn't looking for religion.

God is looking for relationship. God does not

desire the sacrifice of bulls. He desires a broken

and contrite heart. So if God is looking for

relationship, then we have to ask ourselves,

what kind of relationship is that? In Matthew

Matthew 7:21–23

7, verses 21 through 23, not everyone who says

to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of

heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father

who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that

day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesize in your

name? In your name, drive out demons and perform

many miracles. And then I will tell them plainly,

I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.

Do you see the similarity of this parable and

the scripture? Again, it is people listing off

the things they've done for God. I honestly envision

someone sitting across Jesus at a table and they

just. slide the resume on over to them. Jesus,

I don't know if you've been paying attention,

but I've been doing a whole lot for you lately.

The new in this verse, I never knew you. That

word in the Greek is gnosko. It's an intimate

knowing. It's the way a husband and wife know

each other. This is nothing of the physical.

But we know what that is. It's an intimate, we

know their biggest shortcomings and their greatest

successes of who they are as people. This is

an experiential knowing, okay, this word. And

full transparency, I've never been to school

for Greek. I've never spoke it, as you might

tell from my accent. But I also believe we live

in a time where there are enough resources that

if you have a desire, you can learn something

and study it. And I also believe we have a responsibility

on this stage to teach the second and third and

fourth layer of what God is teaching. Because

new in the English doesn't cut it. New doesn't

tell you the depth of the relationship. I mean,

he doesn't even recognize them. There's no intimacy.

There's no experiential relationship. I mean,

you can know your pizza delivery guy, but you

don't know him. I mean, I know he's going to

bring me a meat lovers with added bacon, but

I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's

going on in his heart or in his head. There was

a time when several years ago, I had this relationship

that friendship and it went sideways and it really

caught me off guard. I had no clue anything was

wrong. It came out of nowhere, and I was meeting

and talking to someone. And in the beginning,

there was attempts at reconciliation. And honestly,

I was grieving this friendship. And as I was

talking to somebody about it, they really explained

it. It was because I really thought our friendship

was here, and the truth is it was over here.

And he gave me this illustration of a property

or someone's house and how everybody falls within

this illustration at some level. As you look

at a house, the front yard is where you might

see someone and you recognize them and you say,

hello, hey, how you doing? But you don't know

anything about them. Then you might have some

people that are on your front porch. You're going

to have similarities. You might talk sports or

family or kids, but everything is very surface

level. And there's nothing wrong with these first

two. You need people across the board. Then you

might have people in the living room or kitchen.

Here, you're starting to open up about things

that are happening within your life, but very

rarely are you vulnerable. Then you have people

in the bedroom. And again, nothing of the physical.

This is only for a few, okay? But the main indicator

is you go from talking about what's happening

in your life to talking about what's happening

on the inside of you. You know each other's good

and bad. You know each other's struggles and

wins. You know how to spur one another on. You

know when something's just not quite right with

the person that day. You remember week one, Pastor

Todd said, our proximity to God allows for understanding.

Where's Jesus in this illustration? Is he on

the front porch? Is it all surface level? And

if that's where you're at today, that's okay.

But know God has more for you. Maybe Jesus is

in your living room and you shared some things

with him, but there's also a lot that you hide

from him. And there's a lot you keep him out

of. I want you to know God desires a more intimate

relationship with you. Next verse. But the tax

collector stood at a distance. He would not even

look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said,

God, be merciful to me, the sinner. These prayers

couldn't be more different. These characters

couldn't be more different. Jesus is the master

storyteller. This prayer is one of humility and

desperation and dependence. It says that he stood

at the back of the temple, which now we know

that Pharisee had to be at the front. His eyes

are glued to the floor while his voice goes up

to heaven. There's a need, an understanding of

a genuine need for the mercy of God. God be merciful

to me, the sinner. Many translations say a sinner.

I think this one is more accurate though. A sinner

allows us to minimize our sin. I'm just one of

many sinners. I mean, we all sin. The sinner

takes singular focus on it doesn't matter what

my neighbor does, good or bad. I'm the sinner,

and I need the Lord. It says very clearly in

Scripture that if you've broken one law, you've

broken them all. But we don't like to look at

it like that, do we? We'll go, this person murdered

and this person stole. Murder's worse. I'm not

disagreeing that murder's worse. But God is in

heaven and goes, you're both lawbreakers. See,

what the Pharisees had done was, is they took

this Mosaic law that was supposed to be a mirror

that reflected your brokenness and dirtiness,

and then they tried to clean themselves with

it. The law was never intended for that. The

law was always intended to point you to the need

of a savior in Jesus Christ. Because we've all

sinned, we've all fallen short of the glory of

God. There is no one good, not even one of us.

Luke 18, 14. I tell you that this man rather

than the other went home justified before God.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,

and he who humbles himself will be exalted. So

the cool thing about this parable is it has really

strong bookends. You don't need much for interpretation.

We know who they're talking to, self -righteous

and people that look down on others. And then

we also know what will happen with these two

heart postures. If you exalt yourself, God will

humble you. And if you humble yourself, God will

exalt you. See, church, we can't miss this, the

effect that pride has on the heart. I wonder

if I was to ask everybody, if you had to think

off the top of your head the absolute worst possible

sins you could ever commit on this earth, would

pride make your top five? Would pride make your

top 10? In Luke 10, 18 it says, Jesus saw Satan

fall like lightning from heaven. Satan wasn't

kicked out of heaven because he drank too much.

He wasn't kicked out of heaven because he was

sexually immoral or because he committed murder.

He was slammed to earth because he was prideful.

We don't have time to teach this today. But for

you note takers, Isaiah 14, verses 12 through

Isaiah 14:12–14

14. And Satan gives these five I will statements,

okay? He goes, I will be like the most high.

I will elevate myself. I will be the authority.

I will be worshiped. I will, I will, I will.

See, I think we can make a case that the absolute

worst sin is pride. Because it's the biggest

lie ever told. That we have anything that is

not his. We get a spiritual gift or a talent

and it's some personal accomplishment to us.

What do we have that we have not received from

God? And why do we act as though we didn't receive

it? When we compare ourselves to others and say,

well, I'd never do that sin, or just in any manner

we're comparing, we're struggling with pride.

This happens with good things too. I read my

Bible a whole lot. This person doesn't even know

this book. They don't even know this verse. They

don't even know this tradition. We're struggling

with pride. If at any point in this message you

go, whoo, My neighbor really needs to hear this.

My wife, my friend, my sibling, you need it.

I need it. You're struggling with pride. See,

this parable teaches that self -righteousness

and pride blind us from our spiritual need. why

humility opens the door to a genuine relationship

with God, a gnosco relationship. And when we

don't have this intimate relationship with Jesus,

we can confuse our glory for his glory. The apostles,

James and John, approached Jesus and said, Jesus,

we have a request, and whatever the request is,

we'd love it if you did it. And he goes, all

right, well, what's your request? And they come

before him and go, they replied, let one of us

sit at your right and the other at your left

in your glory. You catch that? Oh, Jesus, this

is in your glory. You see how easy it is for

us to confuse our glory for his glory? But you

know what I found interesting as I was studying

this, praying on it? They had an opportunity

to be at his right and left. At the cross. And

they were nowhere to be found. Now, I'm not judging

them. I honestly can't imagine how the apostles

felt. They believed and knew with all their heart

that this was the Messiah, God in the flesh.

And all of their emotions and five senses were

challenging this belief as they saw God dying

on the cross. See, if we are in a position where

we exalt ourselves, we just judge this behavior.

But if we take a posture of humility, we recognize

what our brothers did and immediately turn it

back to ourselves and go, have I ever done that?

Have I ever confused my glory for God's glory?

The answer is yes. I believe we all have. I even

think of this position. Being on stage is a knife's

edge, y 'all. You receive compliments. You're

very familiar to people. You have to constantly

check the motives and condition of your heart

that you don't confuse your glory for God's glory.

Even writing a message like this, I have to first

filter it through my own heart before I could

ever teach it to y 'all. In fact, if Pastor John

or Pastor Todd or I'm up here teaching you something,

more times than not, it's because God is in the

process of teaching us something, and then we

just get to share it in a message format with

y 'all. We're just all player coaches up here

in desperate need of a Savior, and we need His

mercies every day. But then we have to ask ourselves

as a church, is there things in my life where

I confuse my glory for God's glory? Is it your

success? Is it your bank account? Is it your

looks? Is it your family name or the influence

you have in the community? And look, pride's

sneaky, y 'all, because we know what to say and

how to act. We know to say it's in your glory.

I know the tone and posture to use when receiving

a compliment. So we have to get before God, even

when we answer right, and go, God, is there anything

that I take credit for? Is there anything inside

of me that when I hear a compliment or I think

about my looks or my intelligence or my bank

account or influence, is there anything that

just puffs my chest out? Just an inch. And if

it does, God, I come before you and I repent.

And I am sorry that I've taken credit for anything

that is yours. All that I have is from you. I

can do nothing apart from him. None of us can.

I think about the pitfalls of growing up in the

greatest country where we are so blessed in abundance.

Our checks are direct deposited. We turn a knob

and the water comes on. We have heat and air

and houses and cars. Our grocery stores are full.

You can get medication. Not all things, but most

things can be fixed through procedures and medical

advancements. And then we start to have this

expectation that when those things don't happen,

we get a little fussy, don't we? We start to

think we're owed this. Because we're so used

to living this life. Waiting for food when what

we deem is too long. Waiting too long in a line,

we get a little fussy, don't we? Something breaks

down in the car or house. Poor customer service.

Bad vacation experience. A delayed flight. We

get fussy. Traffic. You go, what does this have

to do with pride? When we start to have expectations

that life should look a certain way and we're

owed something, we've stopped giving the glory

to God. Think how we cheer for our sports teams

and our kids. Do you do that every direct deposit?

I don't. Every time my water works, every time

I eat all the meals I want. Am I cheering? Am

I on my feet just praising God? Or have I become

accustomed to the blessings he's given me? And

we have to be able to ask ourselves those questions

because when we get fussy the few times it doesn't

happen and we have an expectation that life should

look a certain way, we have become the main characters

of our story. We're not the main characters,

God is. My life is not about me. It should be

about God and others. It's certainly not about

my glory. It's about God's glory because Jesus

is the master storyteller. He is the author and

perfecter of our faiths. Are we in a heart posture

where we can lower ourselves and admit that?

So that we can be exalted through Christ and

he's magnified to where you don't even see who

we are anymore. You only see Christ. Are we in

a position of humility where Jesus can tell our

story? Let's pray. Father God, The Lord is great

and most worthy of praise. Father, I thank you

for your blessings, Lord. I thank you for the

blessings I'm unaware of. Lord, I come before

you and repent of any time I've taken credit

for something, Lord. Lord, where I have not given

you the glory, I pray that you would search our

heart and know our thoughts. Lord, that you would

put... point out anything that you find offensive,

Lord. Lord, pride is so sneaky. It shows up in

so many ways, Lord. Show us our blind spots.

Put people in our lives, Lord, that show us these

things, Lord, where we can bolster one another,

Lord. Encourage one another and grow together,

Lord. That the way we love one another and love

you, Lord, points people to you, Father. that

the spotlight is not on us, but it is on the

cross, Lord. I thank you for your goodness. I

thank you for your love, Lord, that you would

be magnified and worshiped as you deserve, Lord,

that every day we would offer our bodies as living

sacrifices to you, Lord. All that we have is

yours, Lord. Let us never lose sight of that.

In Jesus' name, amen.