ARE WE ON SPEAKING TERMS WITH THE ALMIGHTY?

                                                                              

 





 

 

                          

Text: Luke 18:9-14

 

          TV evangelists have taken a beating in the media in recent years.

 

          You may have heard the story of the Hindu priest, the Jewish rabbi and the TV evangelist who were caught in the same area by a terrific thunderstorm.

 

          They sought shelter at a farmhouse.

    

          "That storm will be raging for hours," the farmer told them. "You'd better stay here for the night.

 

          The problem is, there's only room enough for two of you.

 

          One of you'll have to sleep in the barn."

    

          "I'll be the one," said the Hindu priest. "A little hardship is nothing to me."

 

          He went out to the barn.

 

          A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

 

          It was the Hindu. "I'm sorry," he said, "but there is a cow in the barn.

 

           According to my religion, cows are sacred, and one must not intrude into their space."

    

          "Don't worry," said the Rabbi. "Come on in.

 

          I'll go to sleep in the barn."

    

          A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

 

          It was the Rabbi. "I hate to be a bother," he said, "but there is a pig in the barn.

          In my religion, pigs are considered unclean.

 

          I would feel uncomfortable sharing my sleeping quarters with a pig."

    

          "Oh, all right," said the TV evangelist. "I'll go sleep in the barn."

    

          A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

 

          It was the cow and the pig.

    

          That is an old joke, of course, and it could be told on anyone to whom we feel superior.

 

          It has been told on politicians and lawyers and film critics, etc.

    

          Pharisees probably told it on tax-collectors.

    

          "Two men went up to the temple to pray," said Jesus, "one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed,  God, I thank you that I am not like all other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'  "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.'  I tell you," Jesus said, "that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God."

    

          Two men went to the same synagogue.

 

          They went for the same reason--to pray--yet they experienced such different results.

    

          The January 6, 1992 issue of NEWSWEEK magazine featured a front cover in gold, no less, with the headlines, "Talking To God: An Intimate Look at the Way We Pray."

 

 

          The article featured a Gallup poll which attempted to get a pulse on the prayer life of America.

 

          The poll revealed these fascinating results:

    

          A. Seventy-eight per cent of all Americans pray at least once a week.

    

          B. More than half--57%--pray at least once a day.

    

          C. About 20% of all atheists pray once a day.

    

          I found that last statistic to be particularly enlightening.

 

          Twenty per cent of all atheists pray once a day. Interesting.

    

          Two men went up to pray, said Jesus, but they represent a world of difference in their approach to prayer.

 

          One went to talk AT God; the other went to talk WITH God.

 

          In Palestine the devout observed three prayer times daily, 9a.m.; 12 noon, and 3p.m.

 

          Prayer was held to be especially beneficial if it was said in the Temple and so at these hours, many went to the Temple to pray.

 

          The Pharisee did not really go to pray to God.

 

          He prayed with himself.

 

          True prayer is always offered to God and to God alone.

 

          You see, the Pharisee was really giving himself a testimonial before God.

 

          The Law only required one fast each year and that was the "Day of Atonement".

          But those who wished to gain special merit, fasted also on Mondays and Thursdays.

 

          You see, these were market days in Jerusalem so they planned it that way so as to have a greater audience because everyone came to town on those days.

 

          This Pharisee also tithed beyond what was required by the Law, also to make himself look more sacrificial and thus more spiritual.

 

          There is a recorded prayer of a cettain Rabbit which goes lie this, "I thank Thee, O Lord my God, that You have put my part with those who sit in the Academy, and not with those who sit at the street corners.  For I rise early, and they rise early; I rise early to the words of the law, and they to vain things.  I labor, and they labor; I labor and receive a reward, and they labor and receive no reward.  I run, and they run; I run to the life of the world to come, and they to the pit of destruction."

 

          Then there is the Publican.

 

          He stood afar off, and would not even lift his eyes to God.

 

          The KJV doesn't do justice to his humility for he prayed, "O God, be merciful to me THE sinner," as if he was not merely a sinner, but the worst of sinners.

 

          Like the Apostle Paul when he said in 1 Timothy 1:15 "This [is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 

 

          And Jesus said that it was this heartbroken, self-despising prayer which won him acceptance before God.

  

          When Dr. Elam Davies was Interim Minister of the prestigious Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, he preached a sermon titled, "What If Prayer Becomes A Burden?"

 

          In that message he told of meeting a classmate from seminary days.

 

          After they shared the usual chit-chat about family and friends, Dr. Davies asked his friend how he was doing in his spiritual life.

 

          His friend answered with a rather shocking statement. 

 

          "To tell you the truth," he said, "the ALMIGHTY and I have not been on speaking terms for many years."

 

          As the large congregation became quite still and silent, Dr. Elam Davies declared, "While we may not be on speaking terms with our Father and God--God is never, I repeat, never--not on speaking terms with us."

    

          Two men went to the synagogue to pray.

    

1. NOTICE, FIRST OF ALL, THAT THE  PHARISEE USED PRAYER AS A MEANS OF GETTING PUBLIC RECOGNITION AND NOT AS A WAY TO SEEK FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.

 

          The farthest thing from this Pharisee's mind was real communion with God.

 

          How sad.

 

          The more we pray, the more God's presence becomes real to us.

 

          When we maintain communication with any friend, their friendship becomes more vibrant and real.

 

          However, when communication fades, so does the relationship.

 

          The biggest obstacle in modern times is not that God has stopped hearing our prayers.

 

          The biggest obstacle is that we have stopped listening to God.

    

          There is a great story which tells about a man who lost a valuable watch while working in an icehouse.

 

          He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn't find it.

 

          He called his fellow workers to help him look, but their efforts, too, proved futile.

 

          A small boy heard about the fruitless search and slipped into the icehouse un-noticed.

 

          Soon he emerged with the watch.

 

          Amazed, the men asked him how he found it.

 

          "I closed the door," the boy replied, "lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still.

 

          Soon I heard the watch ticking."  

 

          Often the question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are being still enough, and quiet enough, to hear.

 

          The greatest need that some of us have is to heed  Psalm 46, "Be still, and know that I am God."

    

          Someone has said that modern man is like a runner who runs faster and faster to carry a life and death message to the king, but on arrival does not recognize the king and does not remember the message.

 

          Prayer allows us to re-connect to life the way God created it to be.

 

          The Pharisee did not go to the temple to enter into real communion with God.

 

          He went to parade his piety.

 

          He went to be on display

 

          He went to be noticed

 

          But there is a second reason the tax collector's prayer was so much more effective than the Pharisee's.

 

2. THE TAX-COLLECTOR WAS HONEST WITH REGARD TO HIS NEEDS BEFORE GOD.  today we call it "transparent"

    

          The tax collector knew he had fallen under the wrong power and influence.

 

          His loyalty to Rome had produced greed rather than good.

 

          He realized that he needed to put his life under a new power and a new influence.

 

          His ultimate loyalty could no longer be to Rome but to God.

 

          So he went to the Temple to pray.

 

          He probably had not been on speaking terms with God for years--but God was on speaking terms with him.

    

          Charles Haddon Spurgeon said years ago, "Only that prayer which comes from our heart can get to God's heart."

 

          Spurgeon further said, "You can draw near to God even though you cannot say a word. A prayer may be crystallized in a tear. A tear is enough water to float a desire to God."

 

          The tax collector could only muster a few words and beat his breast, but God heard his prayer.

 

          If God heard the Pharisee as well,  He would not act on the Pharisee's prayer for it was not an honest sharing of his own needs.

 

          The Pharisee focused not on his own shortcomings but on those of the tax collector.

 

          It is so much easier for me to pray for your faults than it is mine.

 

          So many Christians are still loyal to Rome (world)

 

          We are locked into the world's schedules and priorities.

 

          Dwight Moody and Charles Spurgeon were great preachers of the nineteenth century--one in this country and the other in England.

 

          Moody admired Spurgeon and looked forward to the opportunity of meeting him.

 

          On that historic day, Spurgeon answered the door with a cigar in his mouth.

 

          Moody was shocked.

 

          "How could you, a man of God, smoke that?"

 

          Spurgeon took the cigar from his mouth, put his finger on Moody's rather inflated stomach, smiled and said, "The same way you, a man of God, could be that fat."

 

          Some of us are prone to confess other's sins rather than our own.

    

          C.S. Lewis was right when he said, "We must lay before God what is really inside of us, not what ought to be in us."

 

          The Psalmist says in Psalm 145:18, "The Lord is near to all who call upon him in truth."

 

          This is why God heard the prayer of the tax collector. 

 

          It was an honest declaration.

 

          He had called upon God in truth.

 

          The Pharisee could not go home justified for he had not confessed his sin and his need.

 

          When we talk with God, we need to be totally honest.

 

          The Pharisee talked at God, not with God.

 

          The Pharisee was not honest in confessing his need to God.

 

          And this brings us to our final insight.

    

3. THE PHARISEE PLACED HIS HOPE IN HIS OWN VIRTUE; THE TAX COLLECTOR KNEW HIS HOPE WAS IN GOD.

 

          That's a valuable lesson for anyone to learn.

 

          People who experience God's power are those who know they need God's power.

    

          I spent many years counseling people who thought that they had no hope.

 

          I consistently saw how even the slightest bit of hope could eventually turn a person's life around.

 

          When I was living in York, I men a man I'll call Jack.

 

          When Jack was a young man he was struggling with alcoholism, a bad marriage, and a very frustrating job.

    

          Jack told me that one day he met a Christian who told him about faith in God, and he said he was able to stop drinking.

 

          But if anything could drive Jack back to drinking it was his job.

 

          He managed a beauty shop, and many of his customers were picky and difficult to work with.

 

          Sometimes Jack would spend his whole day trying to please fussy, complaining patrons.

 

          But this friend had taught Jack to go into the back room and pray during his times of high tension.

 

          Being a new believer, Jack said, I didn't know that there was an oh-so-proper way to pray, so my prayers went something like this: "Look, God, you know me, how I am; I don't think you can change Mrs.-----, but you'd better take away this pressure or I'm going to walk out and you know where I'll go. These verses here---if they're from you to me---make them work fast."

 

          Now many of us might be appalled by Jack's in-your-face type of prayer, but it worked!

 

          Jack stopped drinking, rebuilt his marriage, has two children, and has learned to run his shop smoothly.

 

          All thanks to prayer. 

    

          Like many who are trapped by substance abuse like alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or even food, Jack knew that his only hope was not his own will power, his own virtue, or his own good intentions.

 

          Jack knew his only hope was in God.

 

          The tax collector knew that too and so he went back to his house justified.

 

          That's a lesson many of us need to learn, too.

 

          Our only hope is in God.

    

          Evelyn Newman is a gifted writer, who often speaks to pastors about spiritual disciplines.

 

          She told about going through a troubling time in her life.

 

          There was a little lake near her home, where she loved to walk along the shore.

 

          That day she went down to the lake, to be alone.

 

          It was a cloudy day, and there was a brisk breeze that stirred the waters.

 

          The thing she loved best about that lake was to see the reflection of the trees on the water.

 

          But there was no reflection, and she said it dawned on her that "even God can't paint a picture on moving water."

 

          Think about that for a moment.

 

          "Even God can't paint a picture on moving water."

    

          The Pharisee was so busy singing his own praises that he did not even acknowledge the real source of all that was good in his life.

 

          The tax collector, on the other hand, who stood afar off and could not even lift his eyes toward heaven, emptied his "cup," thus allowing God to pour some new, fresh, living water into it.

 

          No man who is proud can pray.

 

          "The gate of heaven is so low that none can enter it save upon his knees."

 

          All that a man can say  is, "None other Lamb, none other Name,

          None other hope in heaven or earth or sea,

None other hiding-place from guilt and shame, None beside thee."

 

          No man who despises his fellow man can pray.

 

          In prayer we do not lift ourselves above our fellow men.

 

          We remember that we are one of a great army of sinning, suffering, sorrowing humanity, all kneeling before the throne of the mercy of God.

 

          True prayer comes from setting our lives beside the life of God.

 

          No doubt all that the Pharisee said was true.

 

          He did fast; he did tithe; he was not as other men are...

 

          But the question is not, "Am I as good as my fellow men?"

 

          The question is, "Am I as good as God?"

 

          (Illustration: painting church - white/grey)

 

          It all depends what we compare ourselves with.

 

          When we set our life beside the wonder of the life of Jesus, and beside the holiness of God, then all that is left is to say is:   LORD, HAVE MERCY ON ME A SINNER!

    

          Are you on speaking terms with the Almighty?

 

          No? 

 

          Maybe? 

 

          Sometimes?

 

          The Good News is this: God is ready to be on speaking terms with you!

 

          Let the conversation begin!    Amen and Amen!

 

Referance:

 

King James bible