Every Sunday
Every Sunday morning when the alarm goes off he thinks, "Ugh. Sunday morning." He rises and puts on his finest clothes, gathers up the family and heads off to church. Once there, he locates his normal seat; not in the front, but close enough so everyone will know he was there. Glancing around he notices someone wearing jeans and a slightly wrinkled shirt and thinks, "How can someone dress like that in church?" He mumbles through the songs and slips in and out of sleep during the sermon. On the way out he loudly greets the pastor and hurries home, thankful to have done his duty for the week.
Same Sunday in a different house. He awakes before the alarm and immediately whispers a prayer of thanksgiving, "It's Sunday!" He dresses hurriedly, not really caring what he looks like. His only thoughts are on going to church and joining fellow believers in worshiping God. From the moment he enters the church he is transported to the very courts of God and breathes in every bit of it. Before he knows it it is time to leave. On the way out he lets the pastor know that he will be praying for him daily.
If you look around your church next Sunday, you will find that both of these people attend your church. In fact, if you look in the mirror, you may find that one of them is you. Jesus spoke about these two people in Luke 18: 9-14. It is the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. In Jesus' words only one went home justified. I pray that when I look in the mirror I see the face of the tax collector. What about you?
Luke 18:9-14 9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
