Before the Lord of Creation

 

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”


Okay. Here’s a question to get us started. Who’s the bad guy in this story? The Pharisee or the tax collector? Did you say the Pharisee? Good think we are not like him, ya? I hope you realize we may have done exactly what the Pharisee did just now, but let’s not focus on that. Let us, instead, ask ourselves the question: what exactly did the Pharisee do that wasn’t right?


Go to the temple and pray? Jesus also prayed at the temple. Pray publicly? When you are praying in the temple you are praying publicly. Praying vocally? Jesus did that too. Thanking God vociferously? That’s only a good thing; we should thank God. So, what then? It was the attitude of his heart. The Pharisee thought he was doing God a favor by his righteousness, unmindful of the fact his righteousness was like filthy rags (see Isaiah 64:6). 


We might be guilty of the same mistake. How do we avoid it? Consider this. The planet we live in is part of the solar system, in orbit around a little star called the sun along with a few other planets. The solar system, itself, is part of the Milky Way galaxy, which contains trillions of others stars and planets. There are a billion galaxies each with trillions of stars and planets. Now the God we believe in is bigger than that.


When we consider this, we are not even specks of dust in the scheme of things. Yet, God is concerned with us. As the psalmist asks: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:4). Keeping this in mind, there is always a sense of awe when we approach God. This doesn’t mean we can’t be free with him as children are with their father; we can, as long as we don’t forget who he is.


And with the awe there comes, almost naturally, a healthy sense of fear. This ensures a continual awareness of God, a deep reverence for him, and a sincere commitment to obey him. We also have an awareness that he can strike us dead where we stand and, consequently, how much in need to mercy we are. And then our attitude before God will always be that of the tax collector: humble and respectful.


It is how it should be before the ruler of the universe.


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