God be merciful to me a sinner

Luk 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.


We live in a world of self-exaltation.


We live in a world where we are obsessed with ourselves.


The world revolves around us because we exist and all things should be just so in order that our lives are acceptable to us.


Work humbles us doesn't it? Having to take time our of our lives to go to a job we more often than not do not like at all. Work. It might not be tilling the ground so that it produces food for you to live, but it's a task that gives you monies to buy that food, to buy the roof over your head, to buy the water you drink, the clothes you wear, the entertainment you desire.


God said this to Adam--


Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life
Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.


We are far from the days of ekeing out a living from the ground and supplyling all our own means of living. Except for a very tiny minority of people who go back to such a life, and except for those in the remote jungles, and those who live in such poverty they cannot do otherwise, people do not supply their own needs, but rather work to pay others to supply those needs.


Still, working humbles us a bit and even those who stay at home and work can't escape the many needs a household has to keep it running smoothly. Work humbles us and those who are rich and have no need to work lose some of that humbleness don't they? We call them stuck-up, self-absorbed, snobs and with good reason- they are rich and think they have need of nothing. They are like that Pharisee who prayed about his own humbleness, his own goodness, self-exalting himself, claiming his own righteousness as satisfactory. People, working class people, sometimes long for that day they can retire and live off the work of their years - enjoying time off to do what they want to do rather than what they have to do. Sometimes they'll boast of their years of working and their deserving of this time off that age has provided for them. All too often however people have to work beyond their time of retirement just to survive and these people aren't looking towards any leisure life of retiring but rather death will be their rest and they know it.


Do all working class people have a humbleness? No. Why? Because we like to exalt ourselves even when we aren't rich. We like to have illusions of such a life of self-importance. Isn't today's key word- self? Believing in yourself and you can accomplish anything. Take pride in yourself. You are everything and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The trouble with all this self-exaltation is that many people don't quite believe it. There's this nagging doubt in their minds about their self-worth and they are told that's a problem that needs correcting-- you need to be fixed so that you can believe in your own self-worth and once you have that belief the whole world will be at your fingertips and nothing will stop you from realizing whatever it is you hope to realize. Stop holding yourself back we tell people. We boast that we are just as good as everyone else and NO ONE is better than us, no one. We are just as important as the next guy. We tell others don't let anyone make you feel like you are nothing, especially not yourself. Tell yourself you're important and believe it. Yet, isn't that a trap? A big trap that is very pretty and enticing to us because we want to believe in ourselves, that we have some sort of self worth that makes our lives worth living. We are not taught that we need Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and only through Him are we worth anything, because it's in His eyes we are valuable enough to die for. It's not because we are wealthy that we attract the eye of our Savior. Our demeanor and deportment, our station in life, our clothes, our ability to believe in ourselves are not what attracts Him at all. Being on the top of the list in tithing and works, even charity work, will not catch the eyes of our Lord. Self does not attract but repels the One who gave all of Himself for us. Taking self out of the picture and replacing self with Jesus is what matters more than anything. God first, always. Yet we're too busy putting ourselves first even using His name to do so, to really put Him first in our lives above our desires, our needs, our wants, our lives. Sometimes our lives change unexpectedly proving to us that we really do have little control over our own lives, yet we are often in a hurry to pick up the reins again and start running our lives rather than seeking God first and in seeking God first accepting that His path for us might be different than one we'd choose for ourselves.


Did you ever stop and wonder how many forks in the road of your life that you've come to and chosen the wrong one? Some are blatantly obvious wrong forks, yet I think we are presented daily with these choices and we need to seek God first. If we make a wrong choice while humbly seeking God first, God will know. We, like the Publican have to pray--


'God be merciful to me, a sinner'


And as a sinner who trusts in self more than God, this needs to be changed by God's mercy and our willingness to allow Him to work in us as we choose to follow Him and only Him and not self.


By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever.


Amen.