How to Tap God's Mercy - Life of Christ Part 61

Now, you know, I've been thinking baseball all this week. I mean, with the strike and no playoffs and no World Series.

I'm kind of going through a drawl in October. So I've been thinking baseball. Now, I don't know about you, but I think there's some records in baseball that are never going to be broken. Now, I think a lot of people thought, for example, that Lou Gehrig's record would never be broken for consecutive games, but I think Cal Ripken's going to do it. But what are some records, if I ask you to think about it for a minute, what are some records in baseball that you think are never, ever going to be broken? Or how about this one? Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. That'll never be broken.

How about this one? Cy Young's 511 career victories. You think any pitcher's ever going to win 511 games?

Never happen. Hank Aaron. 755 home runs?

I don't think so. And the reason I bring this up was last year I was in Baltimore for the All-Star game, and the day before the game over at Fan Fest, which was at the convention center, it was kind of like an extravaganza of baseball. And they announced on the loudspeaker, we're going to have this little hitting clinic up in room 2A or whatever it was, and they kind of low-keyed it.

So I went up there, and there probably were 150 people sitting in there. And a few people started coming out onto the little stage they had, and it was the hitting coach of the Baltimore Orioles, you know, Big Whoop, and a couple other people, you know, Big Whoop. And then finally the side door opens and out walks Henry Aaron. Now that was Big Whoop.

You understand what I'm saying? And I hit my kid, and I said, you know who that is? That's Henry Aaron. And he went, who's that? What? I said, what? Henry Aaron. 755 home runs? He said, did he play when you were young, Dad?

I went, ugh. So anyway, I said, yes, he played when I was young now. Be quiet. Listen to him. So he gave a little thing about, you know, hitting. They all gave a little prepared thing.

And then at the end, there were some questions. And one person out in the audience raised their hand and said, Mr. Aaron, what was your very favorite pitch to hit? Here's what he said. He said, you know, when I came up, I knew as a young hitter that they were making a book on me, meaning a book was the thing where a pitcher would keep a list of every player in the league and write down what pitches they can hit, what pitches they can't hit, how you pitch them inside or outside.

It's called a book on every hitter. He said, I knew they were doing that. So he said, when I first came up as a young player, I began telling the press every time I interviewed with the press that I had trouble hitting the curveball. And before long, the book on me read that I was murder on fastballs, but I couldn't hit the curveball.

He got a big old grin on his face. He said, actually, I love to hit curveballs. He said, and so what would happen was all these people would throw me curveballs. He said, and even when I'd hit a home run, he said afterwards, I was very careful to tell the press when they interviewed me that normally I strike out on curveballs.

This one just was a lucky one. He said, and so what happened was they threw me all these curveballs and I hit 755 home runs off curveballs. See, now, you think ball players are stupid. They're not stupid.

These are smart people. The more I thought about that as I went on in the months afterwards, I thought, you know, this idea of keeping a book on these hitters, actually, Hank Aaron kind of beat the system a little bit, but really the book they keep on hitters is very accurate. And it's a number one ingredient a pitcher uses to get a hitter out is to know how that hitter operates, what they can handle, what they can't handle, what they can hit, what they can't. Isn't it also true that knowing how your boss operates has a lot to do with your success at work, knowing what your boss likes and what your boss doesn't like and what you dare not do again? Or knowing how your husband or your wife operates makes a lot of difference in the success of your marriage. Knowing how a teacher or a professor operates has a lot to do with how you study for a test and what kind of grades you get. This is true in all of life. Knowing how your parents work have a lot to do with, you know, how much you can get out of them, you know, a new car, whatever, you know.

You figure out how they work. Well, I think it's true when it comes to God. I think knowing how God operates has a lot to do with the success of our relationship with God. If we had a book on God, so to speak, that told us exactly how God operated, wouldn't that help us in terms of building a relationship with God? The truth of the matter is we do have a book on God. That's exactly what the Bible is. It's the book on God that tells us how he operates. And in this book, particularly in the passage we're going to study this morning, God talks to us about how to tap into his mercy. You see, the Bible teaches that God is a God of mercy, but the Bible also teaches that God is a God of judgment. Now, nobody in their right mind wants to experience the judgment of God. Everybody in their right mind wants to experience the mercy of God. So how do we tap into the mercy of God?

How do we appropriate it and make it real for our life? Well, let's go to the book on God and let's find out. And that's what this is all about this morning. So come with me. We're going to start in verse nine and let's look together. Luke chapter 18, verse nine.

To some who were confident in their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.

So there are two major players in this little story. Now, the first one is a Pharisee. What do we know about the Pharisees? Well, the Pharisees were rabbis, but they were like super rabbis. They were kind of like the seals of the rabbis, if you understand what I'm saying. I mean, these were guys who were fanatics about the Old Testament law. They were fanatics about all the Jewish tradition. You know that stuff?

Yeah. They were the strictest of all the Jewish Jewish sects of rabbis. And they had 613 rules that they kept assiduously. And they believed if they kept those rules, they could earn their way into heaven. They could earn their way into God's good graces.

God would be really impressed with them and accept them. And it breeded an incredible self-righteousness. For example, Rabbi Simeon Ben Jokai dug this out of the Talmud. Don't go looking for it. Talmud's got about 20 volumes.

You won't find it, but trust me, it's in there. Here's what he said about himself. And I quote, he said, if there are only two righteous people in the world, I and my son are they. All right. And if there's only one righteous person in the world, I am he.

Sorry, son. And then he said this. He said, my worthiness is so great that during my lifetime, no rainbow needs to shine to ensure immunity from another great flood. You believe this guy? See, this guy's for real.

Yeah, he really believes this. I mean, you remember in the old days that God told Noah, I'm gonna put the rainbow up there and it's a promise that there'll never be a flood. This guy said, I'm so worthy. I'm so righteous that if I'm alive, you don't need a rainbow.

My very being alive is enough to ensure there'll never be another great flood. These cats were serious about this kind of stuff. They believe this. And you can see it in his prayer. Look at his prayer. Verse 11, and the Pharisee stood up and he prayed about himself. Notice he didn't pray to God.

He prayed about himself. God, he said, I thank you that I'm not like other men. I'm not a robber. I'm not an evil doer. I'm not an adulterer. And I'm not even like this scummy old tax collector standing right over there by the wall. See him, I'm not like him either.

I fast twice a week and I give a 10th of everything I get to the temple. Would you notice the self-righteousness in this prayer? I mean, who was the star of this prayer, God or him? Well, it was him.

Four times he says, I this and I that and I the other thing. There was no confession of sin in the prayer because he didn't think he had any sin. There was no beseeching of God for anything in the prayer because he didn't think he needed anything. There was no depending on God for anything in the prayer because he was depending on himself. There was no real thankfulness in the prayer to God because he didn't think he needed to thank God for anything he'd done at all himself. What a prayer. And look at the despising of others, which is exactly what Jesus says in verse nine. He looks over towards his poor tax collector and instead of feeling pity for him and instead of praying for him, he actually uses his prayer as an opportunity to condemn the man. That was his prayer.

Now there was another actor in this little story. He was the tax collector. What do we know about tax collectors? Well, we know they were Jewish people who worked for the Romans. They collected taxes from their own people for the Romans and the Jewish people hated them. The Jewish people loathed them. As far as the Jewish people were concerned, tax collectors were the lowest thing on the food chain.

You understand what I'm saying? They were extortioners. They were traitors. Tax collectors were not allowed to give testimony in any court in Israel. You were not allowed to ask a tax collector on the street for change.

If you had a tax collector in your family, it was a public disgrace. They were classified with the murderers and the prostitutes by the rabbis. And one more thing, no tax collector was allowed in any synagogue in Israel. And so the reason that this happens in the temple, would you notice it says they went up to the temple to pray, verse 10. The reason it happened in the temple is because the temple was the only place this tax collector could go and find a few minutes of peace to pray to God if he'd have gone in any synagogue in the land, they'd have run him out on a pole. Look at his prayer, verse 13.

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven. I'm sure the Pharisee prayed like this.

Tax collector wouldn't even look up. And he beat on his breast, the Bible says, as a sign of agony and brokenness. He beat on his breast. This man was so gripped by his sin, so ashamed of his sinfulness before a holy God that he stood at a distance. He didn't even feel worthy to approach God.

He beat on his breast in grief and agony. And his whole relationship with God was summed up in seven words. He said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. See, this guy came to God relying on no merits of his own. He didn't bring anything to present to God. He didn't say, God, I'm not a robber.

I'm not an extortioner. I give 10% to the Lord. I fast twice a week. He didn't have any of that stuff to give to God. He just said, God, I'm a sinner.

Have mercy on me. Now look what God did, verse 14. Jesus said, I tell you this man, the tax collector, rather than the other man, the rabbi, went home justified before God, went home right with God, went home forgiven before God, went home with the mercy of God, went home righteous in the sight of God, went home with heaven in his pocket. Jesus said, because everyone who exalts himself like that Pharisee, God will humble him. And everyone who humbles himself like that tax collector, God will exalt him. The main point of this is, folks, which one of these two guys found the mercy of God in real practical experience? Was it the Pharisee? No, it was the tax collector. Now that's the end of our passage, but it leaves us with the really important question, so what?

Right. What difference does that make for you and me? In 1993, I was down at the National Prayer Breakfast, had a real good seat, not too far from the front. And President Clinton was speaking and he was talking about his religious experience, about he went to a Billy Graham crusade as a kid and gave his life to Christ. And in about 20 minutes he talked about this. And then as he was concluding, he said this, he said, you know, when I was up there on the platform and they were swearing me in, you know, as president, he said, they went through the, you know, this and I repeat it and this and I repeat it and this and I repeat it. And then they got to the very end and I'm supposed to repeat, so help me God. He said, but standing there and thinking about the presidency and all that I was getting myself into, he said, I really wanted to say those four words a little differently than they've been said to me. The guy said to me, so help me God. He said, what I really wanted to say was, so help me God. He said, that's how I wanted to inflect those words. And I couldn't shake that. I thought about that and thought about that and thought about that.

And I said, you know what? I agree with him. If I was taking on the presidency of the United States of America, I think it would be a pretty smart thing in light of the overwhelming responsibility to look up and say, so help me God, show me some mercy and to help me, show me what to do here. That makes sense to me. Does it make sense to you? But is the president any different than you and me? I mean, don't we need, you may not be the president, but don't you need in your daily life, don't I need in my daily life to be looking up and saying, God, help me in what I have to deal with, whether I'm a father or a husband or an employee or just a human being trying to make it in this world, don't I need God's mercy and help? I think so.

I think we all do. Now it's one thing like President Clinton to stand there and say and admit that you need it. That's good. But it's another thing to tap into the mercy of God and experience it and get it. It's not enough just to say we need it.

How do you get it? Well, let's talk about that. And I don't know about you, but I find with me, a lot of times it helps to talk about how not to do something before I talk about how to do it. So the first thing I want to do is tell you how not to get the mercy of God, how you won't get it, how it'll never come your way. These are ways that won't work. I've got three quick ones, ways that you can't get the mercy of God.

Number one, you won't get it through good works. This rabbi in the little story here had good works coming out the wazoo, didn't he? I mean, look at this guy. He says, I'm not an extortioner. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not a robber. I don't do evil deeds. I'm not like that tax collector.

I'm a law abiding, upstanding, respectable member of society. Was he right? Well, yeah.

Yeah. He was probably in who's who of Jerusalem and the Rotary Club and the Lion's Club and probably was part of the Jerusalem Clergy Association and probably was a member of JBMI. You say JBMI, what is that? You know, Jewish businessmen of Israel.

He's probably a member of that. Probably had his name and all the charitable contribution lists and everything. And our body said, what a great God this is. Okay. But did all of those good works bring him God's mercy? What did Jesus say?

No. God's mercy doesn't come through good works. Second of all, God's mercy does not come through your position in society or your status or your human achievement. I mean, you got to understand if you were a Pharisee in Israel, you had reached the pinnacle of the social ladder. I mean, you were a muck-a-muck paroxylant. You understand what I'm saying? There was no higher place you could go. And so here we've got a guy who was the elite of the elite, the cream of the crop, the muck-a-muck-a, so to speak. And did that get him the mercy of God?

No. Third, the mercy of God doesn't come through good works and it doesn't come through status and achievement. And third, it doesn't come through religious activity.

I mean, look at this guy. This guy did religion as a profession. He was a professional religious guy. He had 613 rules that he kept every day. He gave the temple 10% of everything he got. He fasted every Monday and Thursday. That's what the rules called for twice a week. You know, this past week we had a day of prayer and fasting. Some of you probably remembered it. I did and I fasted on Thursday.

If you did, how'd you do? What was fasting like? You know, Johnny Carson said, there's two kind of people in the world. There's people who eat to live and there's people who what? Live to eat.

And he's right. My wife is one of those eat to live people. She'll turn around at 5 o'clock in the afternoon and say, oh man, I miss lunch. Well, I want to tell you folks, if I miss lunch, I never forget I miss lunch because I'm type two.

I'm the live to eat guy. You know, and the minute I finish one meal, the first thing I'm thinking is, what's the next meal? We'll just finish lunch. What's for dinner? Finish dinner.

What's for breakfast? I mean, that's how I live. I don't even need a watch. Just tell me what meal we're approaching and I know what time it is. That's kind of how my mind works. And if I miss a meal, I know I missed a meal.

Nobody has to tell me. And so I'm fasting, right? And by nine o'clock at night on Thursday, I was hallucinating.

And I just said, I'm going to go to bed because if I go anywhere near the kitchen, I'm going to, you know, they're going to need a call rescue squad for me. But this guy did it not just once a week. He did it twice a week. Once a century is enough for me.

He did it twice a week. I mean, you're talking about a religious guy. You need a religious guy.

You got one right here. Now, did all that religion bring him the mercy of God? He didn't get it through religion and he didn't get it through good works and he didn't get it through status in society and achievement.

God said he did not go back to his house justified before God. You say, wait a minute. It seems like, I don't know. It just seems like to me that this guy ought to have done better than he did. It just seems like with all this stuff he's doing that he should have gotten the mercy of God. Well, friends, look, things are not always the way they seem.

Things are not always the way they seem. I have a 13 year old son and he just got elected president of his school. And so we're real proud of him and everything. And he wanted to know if he could get a gavel. You know, he said, I've seen these gavels, you know, that they bang on the desk, everybody shuts up. And he says, could I get one of these? Cause you know, I'd like to take your school and bang it.

He's on this real power trip thing now. So anyway, I said, well, yeah, I think a gavel would be nice and you can, you know, kind of engrave it with your name on it. It'd be a good memento. I said, yeah, that'd be cool. So I called up this trophy place, you know, here in Fairfax and I said, do you have these? And they said, yeah. He said, fax me over what you want to put on it for your son and then pick it up Friday.

That's why it's cool. So Friday came and you know, it's kind of chilly Friday morning. So Friday morning came and I went over to get it.

I had some friends in the Navy that got me a real Navy regulation bomber jacket and gave it to me as a birthday present a few years ago. So I was wearing my bomber jacket and I was wearing my aviators and, and I walked in and I got to admit, I looked just like Tom cruise. I really did.

I mean, it was like, here he is, man, top gun, let's go. And I walked in, you know, and I kind of swaggered on over there and I said, I'm here to pick up this gavel. And he dug it out and he looked at it and he said, do you know so-and-so and so-and-so? And he gave me a name and I said, well, no. He said, well, he works here and he knows your father. He said, he knows my father.

So my father's been dead 18 years. How does he know my father? He said, well, he knows your father. Your father is a preacher or something, isn't he? And I said, no, I'm here to pick up the gavel for my son. I'm the preacher.

And there was silence. And this guy says, you are a preacher? I said, yeah, man, I can't help it if I was born looking like Tom cruise. I can't help it. That's not my fault. You know, not my fault.

How can I help it? You know, it's just some people got it and some people don't. And he said, Lon, where is this going? Are we going anywhere with this? Yeah, we are.

Trust me, this is going somewhere. Say, well, where? Well, let me tell you, things are not always what? Uh-huh.

They're not always what they seem, right? I was listening to sports radio the other day. You know, you ever listen to WTEM sports radio? I told you I'm going through withdrawals. Anybody listening to this?

Okay. Well, I'm listening to sports radio, right? And this guy comes on, I'm not going to tell you his name, but he's talking about his dear departed mother. And he's telling about his dear departed mother and how what a great woman she was. She was a saint, he said. This woman went to church every single morning. This woman, you know, prayed, took mass every single day. She worked down in the homeless shelter and she went down and did things for poor people.

And she'd give you the shirt off her back. And she raised up the kids all by herself. And then he says, if there's any woman that's ought to be in heaven today, if there's any woman that ought to have the mercy of God on her life is my mother, the saint.

When I stopped for a second, it seems like this ought to be right, doesn't it? I mean, a religious lady, a nice lady, a good person, that seems like it ought to be right. But things are not always what?

Uh huh. They're not always what they seem. And you see, according to the Bible, that's just not the way it is. You don't get God's mercy what? Through good works. You don't get it through status and you don't get it through religion.

If you're here this morning and you've never trusted Christ in a real and personal way as your savior, may I say to you that if you're trusting good works, if you're trusting religious activity, if you're trusting your status in society, if you're trusting your human achievements to make God look at you and go, oh, what a great person. This person ought to be in heaven. It's not going to work, folks. It didn't work for the rabbi.

And believe me, this rabbi in Jesus's story is a whole lot more religious than you'll ever be. If it didn't work for him, it's not going to work for you. You've got to have another plan if you're going to tap into the mercy of God. Don't trust things that won't work. Do us all a favor. Don't trust something that's not going to work. You say, well, then, well, what is going to work?

How do you get the mercy of God? Here comes. Write it down. I want you to take out something and write this down. I'd like to think you're going to remember it. I'm not that naive.

Take out a piece of paper and write it down because you won't remember it and you should. Okay, how are we going to tap into the mercy of God? Three simple little steps and they each begin with an H like Harry, that thing, H. Okay, ready? Number one, how did the tax collector come to God? Well, he got the mercy of God. If we can figure out how he came and do it the same way he came, it'll work for us.

True? How did he come? Well, number one, he came to God helpless.

There's the first H. He came to God helpless. He came to God and he said, God, I've got nothing to offer you. I don't have any good works. I don't have any human status. I don't have any religious activity. I don't give 10% to you.

I don't fast twice a week. I got nothing to give you, God. Nothing. He came helpless. You know, there's a great line in that song, Rock of Ages. You know, that's the song that television thinks is the only hymn the church knows because every time you see a church on television, they're always singing Rock of Ages.

Have you noticed that? Somebody ought to tell those people we know some other songs. But anyway, there's a great line in that song and it says this, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling. Now that's helpless.

Nothing in my hand I bring. This is how the guy came, didn't he? He came helpless. Number two, he came humble.

There's your second age. He came humble. He was so gripped by his sinfulness that that's why he stood at a distance and that's why he held his head down and that's why he beat on his breast and that's why he said, God, I'm not even worthy to get close to you. This was a man who wasn't like that Pharisee. He didn't pride himself on everything he had done. He didn't walk in there saying, God, I'm impressed with me and I know you are too. No, he came in there and said, God, I don't even deserve to get close to you in light of what I am. He was humble. Third and finally, he not only came to God helpless and he not only came to God humble, but third, he came to God.

You say, what do you mean? He came to God. You see, friends, there are a lot of people in the world who from time to time feel helpless. And there's a lot of people in the world who because of their failures or their shortcomings or their mistakes will sometimes feel very humbled. But just feeling helpless and just feeling humbled doesn't tap anybody into the mercy of God. You got to do the right thing with being helpless and the right thing with being humbled to get it, which means you got to bring it to God. This tax collector not only felt helpless and he not only felt humbled, but he brought it to the feet of God and he sought the mercy of God.

And that is the key third ingredient. And if you need an H for that, we could say that here was a man who actively cast himself upon God who sought the mercy of God and the H for that is here was a guy who hung on God. He was hanging on to God. He was helpless and he was humble and he was also hanging on to God. He didn't have plan B for getting his sins forgiven.

You understand what I'm saying? He only had plan A. Plan A was I'm going to throw myself on God and hope for the best. I don't have plan B. I got nothing else to offer God.

There is no plan B for me. And you know what I like about God? When you come to God and make God your only plan, you find out that God's the only plan you need. That's what's neat about God. He's the only plan you need.

And when you make him your only plan, you find out that's all you needed anyway. I like what Jesus said. He said, Matthew chapter 11, come to me and I will give you rest. You'll find mercy. But notice Jesus said, you got to come to him. And there's lots of helpless, humble people out there who aren't bringing that stuff to the right source.

And they're not tapping into the mercy of God. Martin Luther said, God is the God of the humble, the miserable, the oppressed, the desperate, and of those who are brought to nothing. It is his nature.

Ooh, listen to that now. The book on God. Here, you're going to get the book on God. It is his nature. This is the way he operates to give sight to the blind, comfort to the brokenhearted, forgiveness to sinners, and deliverance to the desperate and the damned. This is the way God operates.

And if you're not getting the mercy from God that you want, if you're not getting the help from God that you want, if you're not getting the response from God that you want, could I suggest to you that maybe the problem is not that God's not willing to give, but maybe the problem is the way you're approaching him? I hate to say this, but it's true in my life. Too many times I approach God like that old Pharisee did. Man, I come in, I'm feeling self-sufficient and self-reliant and all good about myself and what a great guy I am.

And you know what? On those days, I don't get a whole lot from God either. But I'll tell you, the days I come in feeling really low and feeling really humbled and feeling really helpless and just throwing myself on God and saying, God, I'm over my head. I'm over my head, God. Those are the days I see God work. Why? Because this is the way God operates.

Just that simple. I'll show you one more passage in the Bible and then we're done. Second Chronicles chapter 20. If you're using our copy of the Bible, it's page 320. Page 320, if you're using your copy of the Bible, it's in the white section where you never read. Second Chronicles chapter 20.

Use the index if you need to. Second Chronicles chapter 20. And while you're getting there, let me tell you the story. It's a story about a guy named Jehoshaphat. He was king. He wakes up one morning and there's this huge army surrounding Jerusalem.

He doesn't have enough people to beat this army. He decides what he's going to do is have a big old prayer meeting. So he calls everybody in Jerusalem out in the street for this big old prayer meeting. And he prays a marvelous prayer. You can read about it beginning in verse six.

But what I want you to see is how he ends the prayer. And you look with me and see if all three of those elements we just saw in the tax collector's prayer, helpless, humble, and hanging on God, see if they're not right here in this prayer. Look, verse 12. Second Chronicles 20, verse 12.

God, he says, will you not judge these people? God, will you not have mercy and do something for us? Now watch, for we have no power to face this vast army that's attacking us. Sounds pretty helpless to me, doesn't it? And God, I'm the king.

I don't even know what to do. That sounds pretty humble, doesn't it? But God, our eyes are upon you. Brother, that's hanging.

That's hanging on to God. This guy didn't have plan B. He only has plan A. God, we're helpless. We can't beat this army. And God, we're humble. We don't even know what to do.

I don't have a clue what to do next. And I'll admit it in front of all these people. But God, I want to tell you something. We are hanging on to you. Our eyes are on you. You're the only plan we got, God.

The only plan we got. You want to know what happened? Well, you ought to read the rest of the chapter. You know where it is now.

We found it, okay? Read the rest of the chapter. God gave a miraculous deliverance, and I don't throw that word around lightly. I mean, it was unbelievable what God did. You say, well, how come God doesn't do that kind of stuff for me? Well, I don't know. Do you ever pray that kind of prayer?

Have you ever got those elements in it? Helpless, humble, and hanging on God. You want to tap into God's mercy. You come to God like that, and friend, I promise you, you will never leave but that God hasn't shown mercy.

Why? Because that's the way God operates. That's the book on God. Psalm 9 says, for you, O Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

And Jesus said in John chapter 6, whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. That's God's promise. And my prayer is for each of us that what we've heard today will change our life, that we'll examine our heart and say, God, how much am I like that old Pharisee and God, how much am I like that old tax collector when I come to you?

Friend, the more you like the tax collector, the more mercy from God you'll tap into because that's the way God what operates. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, I thank you this morning that you've given us a book on God that tells us how God operates so that our relationship with God can be more successful. And as we look into the Bible this morning, Father, we find some lessons there about how to tap into the mercy and the help, the grace of God. Lord Jesus, help us examine our hearts honestly. Help us be brutal with ourselves. Help us to really check out and see how often we approach you like that old rabbi did. Self-sufficient, arrogant, self-dependent, relying on ourselves for everything.

At least for me, God, it's much too often. Help us check out how often we come to you like the tax collector. Helpless and humble and just hanging on to you is our only hope. Teach us, Lord Jesus, to be more like the tax collector because in truth that's what we really are. Help us fight off the pride of life and the pride of this world that tries to convince us we're really more than we are. Change the way we come to you, God, so that you become freer to show us your mercy in every detail of life. Change our lives because of what we heard here today, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.