Have you ever caught yourself thinking that God’s mercy shown to someone else is simply unfair? This reflection on the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18) looks at the signs that we have started leaning on our own righteousness, when our confidence before God rests on our good behaviour, and we quietly rank everyone around us. The speaker tells of a neighbour who turned to God in his final hours, and of a woman who chose forgiveness where no one would have demanded it of her. Listen if you want a confidence built not on yourself, but on a good Father who hears and forgives.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- Read Luke 18:9-14. Who is Jesus addressing with this parable, and how might the first listeners, who saw Pharisees as models of devotion, have heard it?
- How do the prayers of the Pharisee and the tax collector differ, and why is it the tax collector who goes home justified?
- The speaker told about a neighbor who came to faith in the last hours of his life. How do you feel when God shows mercy to someone you think does not deserve it?
- The sermon said that if our righteousness makes us look down on others, it is not true righteousness. In which relationships do you find it easiest to compare yourself with others?
- How can you tell when your confidence before God starts resting on your good behavior rather than on His grace?
- Think of the seven month old baby who needs his father for everything, and the mother in law's words: "Who am I to cast the first stone?" How can you show someone close to you this week the mercy you receive from God?
