Part 1.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Welcome to the Village Church.

[0:03] My name is Steve. I’m one of the pastors here. [0:06] If this is your first Sunday, well, you’re not alone. [0:10] It’s my first Sunday, too. [0:12] It’s all of our first Sundays. [0:14] I don’t know you, you don’t know me, [0:16] but we’ll get through this together.

[0:18] When you plan a church, you don’t plan for some of the variables of running space. [0:22] And some of those variables are being able to see the people on the stage. [0:26] And so we’re going to work on that. [0:27] I know you can’t see me. [0:29] So I hope to work on that in the future.

[0:32] Just a couple things I want to tell you this morning before we really get into it. [0:37] You may have seen some announcements up on the screen when you came in. [0:41] There’s a few things about that I just want to let you know. [0:43] I just want to plug a couple of things. [0:44] The first thing is that during the week we have what we call here community groups. [0:50] And what those community groups are for is for the people of our church

[0:53] to actually come together and talk about the sermon. [0:56] Talk about what we do here on Sunday morning. [0:59] Figure out just how we can apply, if we can even apply, [1:03] what’s said here on Sunday mornings into our lives [1:06] so that we can actually maybe change a little bit for the better of ourselves [1:09] to worship God a little better.

[1:11] Also, you may have also seen an announcement about football cleanup. [1:16] It’s our way of giving back to the community and being part of the community. [1:19] We’re partnering with Clover Hill High School. [1:21] And what they’ve asked us, we asked them, we said, how can we serve you? [1:24] How can we help you? [1:25] And they said, well, after the football games, our stadium is just a mess.

[1:29] And so we said, okay. [1:31] And we’re going to go after their home games, [1:34] and we’re going to help them clean their stadium as just to be a part of the community, [1:37] to serve the community, to give back to this community, [1:40] to say, hey, we’re here to be a part of you. [1:42] Not to separate, but be inside of you.

[1:46] And so we’re going to clean up the football field. [1:48] I’m going to be there. [1:49] A lot of our staff is going to be there. [1:51] And we’re going to get our hands dirty. [1:53] Also, you may notice there’s some cards under your chairs. [1:59] If you want to connect with us, if you want to get to know us,

[2:02] if you want us to get to know you, [2:04] we ask that you take that card and fill it out. [2:05] In the back, there’s a box. [2:07] That’s our offering box. [2:08] We ask that before you leave that you put that card in the box, [2:11] just so that we can meet you and get to know each other.

[2:13] And maybe I could have the opportunity to tell you a little more about the church, [2:17] tell you what’s different about us and different about any other church around here, [2:20] just to connect with you, because that’s what we really want. [2:24] But our time is fleeting. [2:26] So if you’ve got your Bible this morning, [2:28] go ahead and open to Luke chapter 18.

[2:31] Luke chapter 18. [2:33] Maybe you’ve got a door hanger. [2:34] Maybe you’ve got an email. [2:36] I don’t know how you got here, but you may have seen that this morning, [2:40] we’re starting a new series called No Perfect People Allowed. [2:44] We do not allow perfect people in the village church.

[2:47] Mostly because perfect people don’t exist. [2:51] But today what we’re specifically going to be talking about is Jesus versus religion. [2:56] And this is kind of a controversial topic, [2:59] because the fact of the matter is, even if we don’t realize it, [3:02] even if we want to deny it, each and every one of us deep down inside is religious in one way or another. [3:09] And what I’m here to tell you today, it might be a little offensive,

[3:13] but it offends me too, so don’t worry, [3:16] that Jesus is against religion.

[3:20] That Jesus is opposed to religion. [3:23] And I’m not just telling you that, because over the next five weeks, [3:26] what I’m going to do is I’m going to sit here and I’m going to share with you, [3:29] out of scripture, Jesus’ own words about what he has to say about religion, [3:34] about religious people, and about how to know God through religion, and if you can. [3:40] So I ask today that you join me in Luke 18.

[3:43] In Luke 18, we find ourselves in a really interesting part of scripture. [3:47] It’s a really hard part of scripture. [3:49] As I was studying to just talk about this this morning, [3:52] I was like, man, I really could have picked an easier section of verses to talk with these people about. [3:57] But I took the challenge, and what happened to me is, [3:59] I kind of uncovered a lot of sin and a lot of religion in my own life,

[4:04] as to how I see my relationship with God, as to how I see my relationship with other people. [4:10] And so pretty much what I’m going to talk to you about today is just my struggle with this. [4:15] And in Luke 18, we find Jesus talking to a religious group of people. [4:20] In chapter 17 and 18, even back into chapter 16 a little bit, [4:24] Jesus is having a pretty intense, a pretty abrupt, and a pretty controversial conversation [4:30] with the most religious people of his day.

[4:34] And this group was called the Pharisees. These were the good guys. [4:37] These were the people that everyone in society looked up to, and everyone in society feared. [4:44] So join me in Luke chapter 18, and let’s see what Jesus has to say to these guys. [4:48] In verse 9, he also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves [4:55] that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. [5:01] Two men went up into the temple to pray,

[5:04] one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. [5:08] The Pharisee standing off by himself prayed thus, [5:12] God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, [5:19] or even like this tax collector. [5:22] I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. [5:26] But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven,

[5:35] but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

[5:42] I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. [5:48] For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. [5:55] Let’s pray.

[5:58] Father, we want to come before you right now,

[6:04] and I just want to pray that you would speak through me, [6:08] that your truth would be shared with me and these people today, [6:13] that you would help us to focus on your word and focus on the truth, God. [6:17] God, help me not to go into any grounds of error, God, but to stay faithful to you. [6:22] And Lord, speak to us today. [6:24] Teach us through your word.

[6:26] Teach us through the words of your Son, Jesus Christ. [6:29] And may we walk out of this room changed today, changed by you. [6:34] In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

[6:40] The first thing I want you to notice about this text is really the audience that he’s talking to. [6:45] Notice in that very first verse, verse 9, the thing that he says about the people that he’s talking to, [6:49] he says in verse 9, he says, he also told this parable. [6:53] He’d just gotten done telling another parable, a parable about an old woman who had some unjust things done to her, [7:00] and she had kept going to the judge over and over and over again, [7:04] and it annoyed him so much that he gave her what she wanted, he gave her justice,

[7:09] and then he transitions into a completely different story.

[7:14] But it’s kind of the same type of story, [7:16] and it’s kind of a story that we kind of read in the wrong way sometimes. [7:20] It’s kind of a story that we don’t understand, because he seems to be jumping all over the place, [7:24] but what he’s telling is a parable. [7:26] He’s telling a story that’s fictional. It didn’t really happen, [7:30] but he’s trying to tell them something deeper, something more profound.

[7:34] He’s trying to confront them with who they really are in relation to who God is. [7:42] He’s trying to let them know that you may think that you are one thing, but this is who you really are.

[7:50] And he says something, the author here, Luke, tells us something very interesting about these people in verse 9. [7:55] He says, he tells the parable, [7:57] to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, [8:02] and treated others with contempt.

[8:05] What he says here is so good, because what he says is, he says, [8:08] is that they trust in themselves, inside of themselves, in all that they do, [8:12] in all of the moral things that they do, in all of the good things that they do, [8:16] in all of the sin and all the bad that they stay away from, [8:18] they think that inside of themselves they have righteousness, [8:22] and because of that, they treat others with contempt.

[8:26] Because that’s really the only logical progression that can happen here. [8:31] The fact that if you earn your own righteousness, [8:34] that if you earn your keep, that if you earn your goodness, [8:38] and you inside of yourself are good enough, [8:41] you must compare it to other people. [8:44] And you must hope that your good is better than other people’s good.

[8:51] And because you’re living your life hoping that you’re better than other people, [8:54] and you’re comparing yourself to other people, [8:56] well you have to treat them with contempt, [8:58] because you inevitably think you’re better than them.

[9:03] And that’s the group of people that Jesus is talking to right here.

[9:07] And the thing that I found out this week is I’m not really that much different than they are. [9:13] And if we’re really honest with ourselves, we’ll come to that conclusion too. [9:18] I certainly spend a lot of my time seeing how much better I am than other people. [9:23] And he goes into the parable, and he says, [9:26] Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. [9:32] Well it’s pretty interesting that he’s using a Pharisee as an example,

[9:34] because he’s talking to a lot of Pharisees. [9:37] But what you’ve got to notice here is the comparison that he’s making. [9:40] He’s got two different polar opposite types of people here. [9:45] And at first they’re going to be shocked, [9:48] because he’s comparing Pharisees to tax collectors. [9:51] If you know anything about history, back in the first century,

[9:54] in Jerusalem, especially inside of Jerusalem, [9:58] Pharisees and tax collectors were just totally opposed to each other. [10:02] The Pharisees were the religious elite.

[10:05] These were the guys that walked around and did everything right. [10:10] They even counted the number of steps that they took on the Sabbath day [10:15] to make sure that they weren’t working.

[10:18] There were people that wore boxes on their hats to have prayers inside of it. [10:23] So that they could just at any moment have a prayer to offer up into God, [10:27] so that their thoughts would be consumed with prayer. [10:31] But notice what he says about that Pharisee. [10:34] The Pharisee is the first person he uses. [10:36] He says, The Pharisee, standing by himself prayed thus,

[10:39] God I thank you that I am not like other men. [10:43] The first mistake that we make sometimes is thinking in the story, [10:47] because this is kind of a popular story in scripture, [10:49] is we like to think that he goes into the temple, [10:51] because it says two men go up into the temple, [10:53] and we think that the Pharisee goes into the temple,

[10:56] and he stands in the middle of everyone, [10:58] and right in front of everybody he just stands with arms out lifted, [11:02] and he says, I thank you God that I am not like all these people.

[11:08] But that’s not what the text says. [11:11] The text tells us that he stands off by himself.

[11:17] See sometimes we even misjudge the Pharisee. [11:20] It says that the Pharisee, he doesn’t go into the middle, [11:24] he goes off by himself. [11:25] He stands off alone, and he offers up a prayer, [11:30] and it’s actually not a bad prayer.

[11:36] I even say I’ve probably many times prayed this kind of prayer myself,

[11:43] driven by someone or walked by someone. [11:46] I say God I thank you that I am not like that. [11:51] God I thank you that you put me in a place that’s not like the place that that person is in. [11:56] Because that’s what he’s praying here.

[11:59] He’s not saying God I thank me because I’m better. [12:03] He says God I thank you. [12:06] He’s praying to God.

[12:09] He’s saying thank you God because you, [12:11] you are responsible for me being better. [12:16] And all that I do, you have made me better than everybody else. [12:21] Thank you.

[12:24] Then he goes on.

[12:29] He says we’re even like this tax collector. [12:33] There he actually sees the tax collector. [12:35] He says I know I’m better than that guy. [12:37] The thing is we would say oh he’s judging that tax collector. [12:40] Hey the Pharisee wasn’t alone. [12:42] Everyone hated tax collectors.

[12:44] These guys were traitors. [12:46] They had turned their backs on Israel and they were now working for the Roman government, [12:50] stealing from everyone. [12:52] When they paid taxes the tax collectors would up the taxes 40, 50%, sometimes 100%. [12:58] And then people would have to pay way more to go to Rome, [13:02] through the roads that lead to Rome, and the tax collectors would pocket it.

[13:05] And these guys would live in mansions. [13:08] They had sold out their religion. [13:10] They had sold out their faith. [13:11] They had sold out their people. [13:13] And they were living the high life by robbing people.

[13:18] And at first basis when we read this story we’re like well he just, [13:22] he thinks he’s better than everybody else. [13:23] He says Pharisee, he wasn’t alone. [13:25] Everyone in Israel hated the tax collectors.

[13:30] Then he says something else very interesting. [13:31] He says I fast twice a week. [13:33] I give tithes to all that I get.

[13:37] He does the two most religious things that everybody struggles with. [13:40] He fasts and he tithes. [13:42] If you’ve been in church any length of time, [13:44] these are the two things most of us try to stay away from. [13:47] Because they’re harder.

[13:49] We’re cool with watching TV programs and not watching FX too much.

[13:54] But oof, tithing and fasting, I don’t want to go without food. [13:58] I don’t have enough money so I’m not going to give you any of that. [14:01] This tax collector, excuse me, this Pharisee, he’s pretty good. [14:05] He’s measuring up. [14:08] He says God, I fast twice a week. [14:10] I don’t just do it once, I do it twice.

[14:14] And I also tithe. [14:15] I give everything I’m supposed to give God.

[14:20] And so if you aren’t inside of the story, [14:23] if you are just a person in that day reading this, [14:26] and if you’re a person that is really living this religious lifestyle, [14:30] and you read this prayer of the Pharisee, [14:32] you’re standing back and you’re saying, that’s a good guy.

[14:37] I wish I was like him.

[14:41] Because he is moral. [14:43] He’s giving back to society.

[14:48] But then Jesus tells a different type of story.

[14:57] Go with me in verse 13. [15:00] But the tax collector, standing far off, [15:07] would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, [15:10] but beat his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner. [15:19] And we have a totally different type of prayer here. [15:21] But if you lived in that day and you’ve heard these two prayers,

[15:24] if you’re standing in the crowd and you’re hearing Jesus talk about this, [15:28] because there were probably a lot of people listening to Jesus, [15:29] you’re like, yeah, that makes sense. [15:32] He was a tax collector. Yep, he’s a sinner. [15:37] Terrible human being. He needs mercy. [15:41] But the Pharisee, he’s pretty good,

[15:43] so he’s thanking God for all the good things that he has. [15:45] So that kind of measures up. [15:46] This is kind of how we almost view life most of the time.

[15:51] We say, God, thank you for all these blessings you’ve given me. [15:54] Thank you that I am not a wretched sinner. [15:56] I mean, if I were to go home today and pray, [15:59] thank you, God, for not letting me be a murderer,

[16:04] I don’t think anybody could possibly have a problem with that prayer.

[16:08] I mean, that’s something to thank God for.

[16:13] Thank you, God, that I don’t rob banks. [16:16] Thank you, God, that I don’t beat my wife. [16:19] Like, yeah, that’s good. You shouldn’t beat your wife. [16:22] I mean, you’re preaching, so I hope not.

[16:26] But then we come to the tax collector, [16:28] and might I remind you, this guy’s a thief. [16:30] This guy has probably stolen, [16:32] this type of person has probably stolen from everybody in that crowd. [16:35] They’ve all had to pay the taxes, [16:37] and they all know how corrupt they’re allowed to be,

[16:39] because Rome gives them the license to be it. [16:41] And you remember, you’re in Jerusalem. [16:42] These are people that are held in captivity by Rome. [16:44] They hate Rome. [16:46] And they say, yeah, I hate that tax collector. [16:50] He’s the lowest person in society.

[16:56] And so we’ve got these two totally different types of prayers [17:01] from two totally different types of people. [17:03] We’ve got Pharisee, who’s basically a choir boy. [17:07] I mean, he’s the guy that made straight A’s. [17:09] He’s a good guy. [17:10] He was on honor roll.

[17:11] He was on the varsity football team. [17:13] He lettered. [17:14] You know, he never got caught drinking in high school. [17:16] He went off to college with a scholarship. [17:18] I mean, he’s every parent’s dream. [17:20] This is who you’re raising your child to be.

[17:24] If you were in Jerusalem and your son became a Pharisee, [17:28] you were clapping you were so happy. [17:31] But if your son grew up to be a tax collector, [17:34] you lied and said, my son died.

[17:39] He’s not invited to the family reunion.

[17:42] Because you don’t want anybody to know. [17:45] He’s a criminal. [17:46] This is a legalized form of crime. [17:50] Where he’s just allowed to pillage people.

[17:55] Tax collectors even had the right to go up to a door, [17:57] knock on it, and say, give me money. [17:59] It’s time to pay your taxes.

[18:05] So if you’re standing in the crowd,

[18:08] you’ve got to be asking yourself, Jesus, what is your point?

[18:14] I don’t understand. [18:16] Because the story makes sense. [18:18] Because there’s nothing good about a tax collector. [18:21] There’s a lot of good things about these Pharisees. [18:23] They help us stay moral. [18:25] They’re the moral fiber of society.

[18:32] What Jesus is pointing out is really more about motivation than anything else. [18:38] Because what he says next is what really kind of stuck the knife in [18:42] and turned it a little bit on this crowd. [18:45] Because notice that in verse 14, he says, [18:51] I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.

[19:03] And that’s where the crowd’s like, okay, Jesus, I was with you up until right now, [19:06] but now I have no idea why you would dare say anything like that. [19:10] You’re telling me that when the tax collector left the temple, [19:14] he had righteousness from God, he was justified, his sins were forgiven, [19:19] but the Pharisee was not?

[19:22] What could the Pharisee have possibly done wrong?

[19:29] And then Jesus bookends it. [19:32] And he says, I tell you, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, [19:42] but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

[19:49] What he’s talking about here is religion. [19:52] The Pharisees were religious. [19:54] And they wouldn’t even have told you, I’m a very religious person.

[20:00] Religion is tempting to everyone. [20:03] Even after we explain this story and we see the light of what the story is really about, [20:08] and we read about it, and we say, you know what, the Pharisee, [20:11] he actually gives back to society, he helps society, the tax collector does not. [20:15] This is unfair. [20:18] He earned his keep.

[20:19] How dare you not justify the Pharisee? [20:27] That’s where religion gets so tempting.

[20:33] Because if you’ve been to church, this is kind of a churchy area, [20:36] if you’ve been to church, you’re going to read this story, [20:38] and you’re going to think, well, we’re supposed to hate the Pharisees, [20:40] Jesus hated the Pharisees, so we hate them, so we read it through that lens, [20:43] but when you take all that away and you just read the story, [20:45] you say, well, the Pharisee’s a good guy.

[20:47] I’d like to have him over for dinner.

[20:51] And it’s unfair.

[20:55] You see, we all struggle with trying to earn our righteousness. [21:00] You want to know why the Pharisee was not justified and the tax collector was? [21:05] The Pharisee did not understand something that the tax collector understood. [21:09] The Pharisee understood that no matter, excuse me, [21:15] in this life, even with his sin, even if he were to stop collecting taxes, [21:19] even if he were to give back, no matter what he does,

[21:23] he is not good enough because when he goes into the temple, [21:27] he is forced to see who he really is in light of who God is. [21:35] And so the question that is begged is, who am I in relation to who God is? [21:40] Because if you want to see what is wrong with what the Pharisee is saying, [21:43] he is measuring his worth by the worth of others. [21:48] And he starts off with such a telling phrase.

[21:50] He says, I thank you, God, that I am not like other men.

[21:57] And what he refused to understand is he was just like other men.

[22:05] Because his sin is really seen when it says in the verse, it says, [22:09] he saw others with contempt. [22:12] He had earned his place so well in the world that he saw himself as exalted above everyone else. [22:20] And he said, God, you have made me so much better. Thanks.

[22:30] And he wasn’t looking to God for anything God had to offer. [22:35] He wasn’t looking to God for forgiveness. [22:38] He wasn’t looking to God for redemption. [22:40] He was looking to himself for righteousness.

[22:46] Because when you ask yourself, if he had asked himself, I’m a Pharisee, I am good. [22:50] But who am I in relation to who God is?

[22:58] That’s another ballgame.

[23:02] God is perfect. God is holy. [23:06] God is righteous. [23:07] God is the creator of all things. [23:10] And when the Pharisee sees himself in relation to who God is, [23:14] if he had just stopped for a moment and stopped looking at other people [23:18] and stopped seeing how much better he was than other people,

[23:21] and if he had just said, God, who are you in relation to who I am? [23:25] He as well would have knelt his face down to the ground the same way the tax collector did [23:31] and said, God, have mercy, because I’m a sinner. [23:36] But you don’t see that in his prayer.

[23:41] You see nothing but religious pride.

[23:47] You see nothing but what he has been able to muster up inside of himself.

[23:55] But when you look at the tax collector, you see a different story.

[24:03] The tax collector was not a better person than the Pharisee. [24:08] But what you see is that they both are in need of redemption. [24:13] And that is what Jesus is telling the crowd. [24:16] He’s saying you need redemption just like tax collectors need redemption.

[24:23] But religion says redemption is unnecessary.

[24:30] Religion says I can redeem myself. [24:34] I just have to work harder. I have to be better. I have to look better.

[24:41] The fact of the matter is if we all look deep inside of ourselves,

[24:45] sometimes we’re all pretty religious.

[24:49] Because there’s a lot of days when I look out at other people and I say, [24:54] I’m obviously better than them.

[24:58] And that’s how I play this game often.

[25:04] You see, the hard thing for us to understand is that inside of us, [25:09] we are all exactly like the Pharisee and we are all exactly like the tax collector.

[25:15] And some of us are willing to admit we’re like the tax collector. [25:17] We’re like, yeah, I’m a sinner. I got no problem admitting that. [25:21] That’s a pretty good sin too.

[25:27] But then some of us are like the Pharisee. We’re self-righteous. We earn our keep. [25:31] And we’re fine with admitting that. We say, I’m good enough. [25:36] I’m better than somebody else.

[25:40] But what we fail to see time and time again is that we are the embodiment of both.

[25:50] We’re sinners and we’re self-righteous.

[25:56] Because no matter who you are at some point, you compare yourself to somebody else.

[26:02] Who are you to judge?

[26:06] Grass is always greener over the septic tank, buddy.

[26:12] I’m just as good as you. Don’t judge me.

[26:17] I’ve earned my keep just like you have in this life. Who are you to tell me I’m a sinner?

[26:24] See, the tax collector could have been self-righteous and said that. [26:30] Sinners can be self-righteous. Just like moral people. [26:34] But what the Pharisee, what self-righteousness doesn’t tell you is, hey, buddy, you’re looking at other people in contempt. [26:40] That kind of runs head first into the kind of commandment that says, love God and love others.

[26:46] It’s pretty hard to love somebody you hold in contempt.

[26:52] See, the truth out of this whole situation is that only God can redeem. [26:56] At the end, he says, anybody who exalts himself will be humbled. [27:04] But whoever humbles himself will be exalted. [27:06] Who does the humbling and who does the exalting according to Jesus? [27:11] God.

[27:13] The tax collector and the Pharisee needed redemption, but neither one could redeem themselves. [27:19] They’re both in some way trying to redeem themselves. [27:21] Even the tax collector, he’s been exalting himself over other people for so long in his thievery. [27:29] In stealing from people, he’s saying, I’m better than you, so I’m taking your money.

[27:34] But finally, he comes face to face with who God is.

[27:40] And he finds himself bankrupt.

[27:45] He finds his sin exactly where it is, but the Pharisee is not seeing that.

[27:51] You see, only God can redeem.

[27:55] And Jesus is that redemption.

[27:58] See, Jesus is standing in front of the crowd, and it’s so easy for us to see, man, those religious people, God, I hate them. [28:05] Jesus doesn’t hate them. [28:07] In what he’s saying to them right there, he is not simply rebuking them. [28:13] He is actually offering them hope. [28:16] He’s standing in front of them saying, have the attitude of the tax collector, because you’re not better than him. [28:24] You need redemption.

[28:26] Only God can redeem. [28:28] I am redemption. [28:30] That is what Jesus is telling them. [28:34] And that is what Jesus came to bring. [28:36] Jesus came to bring redemption from God. [28:40] Jesus came to be proof that none of us measure up.

[28:43] None of us are righteous. [28:45] None of us have what it takes to redeem ourselves. [28:50] And if for one moment we will admit we need redemption, because we are both the Pharisee and we are both the tax collector. [28:58] We’ve got them both inside of us. [29:01] And the one parallel thing, the one thing those two people had in common, is their desperate need for redemption.

[29:14] And they could have both gotten it from the same source.

[29:18] If they had just been honest about who they are in relation to who God is. [29:26] And if those people in that crowd who Jesus through Luke tells us that they had earned their own righteousness through themselves.

[29:39] If they had just seen that redemption was standing right in front of them.

[29:48] You see, he tells them the story. [29:50] So that they will see the tax collectors pleading for mercy.

[29:56] And that they would see Jesus’ mission was to bring that mercy.

[30:03] You see, in this church, no perfect people are allowed.

[30:08] Because there are no perfect people.

[30:11] I closed the same way I opened.

[30:15] In the church of Jesus, there are no perfect people. [30:19] Only people who are desperately in need for redemption that only Jesus offers.

[30:27] Because that’s the only type of person that exists.

[30:32] Religious, unreligious, sinner, Pharisee, everybody needs redemption.

[30:39] Every single person. [30:41] Because deep inside of us, none of us measure up to who God is.

[30:50] And Jesus, the big story with him is that he is here to help us stop.

[30:58] To help us stop our vain struggling. [31:01] To help us stop our chasing after our righteousness inside of ourselves that does not exist. [31:06] To help us to stop comparing our righteousness with other people’s righteousness. [31:12] And to stop going to bed at night sometimes and looking at ourselves and saying, but I am better.

[31:19] You see, Jesus confronts that and says, no you’re not.

[31:24] You see, in his death for our sins and in his resurrection, he secures redemption. [31:31] He makes it definite. He makes it absolute.

[31:37] If only we’ll follow.

[31:41] We need to see what the tax collectors saw, but most of us are unwilling to. [31:50] Let’s pray.

[31:56] Father, we just want to come before you right now.

[32:02] Lord, you have convicted me on so many levels, God.

[32:08] God, help me to stop trusting in myself for righteousness. Help me to fully trust you.

[32:15] Because only you are righteous. Only you can redeem.

[32:20] Only you have anything to offer.

[32:26] Lord, may we be honest with ourselves. Not for the sake of some other person. [32:32] But for the sake of ourselves and for the sake of your son Jesus. [32:37] Who loved us. Who died for us. [32:43] And who lives to bring you glory and to bring us redemption.

[32:49] If we would only receive it. [32:52] Amen.