Get and Give Mercy

SCRIPTURE

Luke 18:9-14

 

Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

 

 

PRAYER

 

Lord, cultivate in ______ that posture of heart that sees in one view both her sin and your mercy. Keep her from confidence in her own righteousness and the unseemliness of scorn that comes with it. This confidence comes so subtly Lord, almost unaware. It seeps in over years of religiosity and overtakes that once humble heart. And we forget from whence we came. And we think that we made our own righteousness. And we so easily look down from our self-made loftiness, guard ______’s heart from that place Lord. Give her that beautiful balance of awareness of her own sin, and yet trust in your mercy for forgiveness and cleansing. Make her feel the unworthiness and sorrow of her sin, and yet the justification that comes to her though your mercy. And Lord, may you honor her humility. Exalt her I pray. Amen.

 

 

ENCOURAGEMENT

 

Ok, so you have sinned. Feel your sorrow fully, and cry for his mercy. He will be pleased with your humility of heart, and will declare you righteous. Then go, and give what you have been given, mercy rather than judgment.