A Building’s Purpose
Luke 18:9–14
[Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (ESV)
~Prayer~
I have naught, my God, to offer,
Save the blood of Thy dear Son;
Graciously accept the proffer:
Make His righteousness mine own.
His holy life gave He, was crucified for me;
His righteousness perfect He now pleads before Thee;
His own robe of righteousness, my highest good,
Shall clothe me in glory, through faith in His blood. Amen.
(ELH 182:6)
Dear Fellow Redeemed,
As twenty-first century Christians, one of the portions of the Bible that makes us most uncomfortable and confused is probably the book of Leviticus. Not only does the idea and design of the temple confuse us, but what is with all the rituals and bloody sacrifices? When we read Bible stories to our children, we probably don’t jump straight to Leviticus. So, it may be surprising for us to hear that the first portions of Scripture Jewish children would learn were parts from Leviticus. While we might be tempted to ignore or gloss over Leviticus with all its laws and sacrifices, it was the central part of the Old Testament believers’ religious life.
When we read books or papers, we generally expect the most important part to be at the end. For the Hebrews, the most important part was always in the middle—that was their signal for what was the most important. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—which the Israelites referred to as the Torah. While we separate Moses’ writings into five books, they really are just one book with different sections. And what’s in the middle? Leviticus. And what is in the middle of Leviticus? The Day of Atonement.
The Day of Atonement was an important day, because this was when the High Priest would offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. Ever since Adam and Eve took that regrettable mouthful of forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, we have no longer walked as friends with God nor been able to keep his commands. Our sin caused a great chasm between us and our Holy God. But God planned to bridge that great chasm. The temple and all its sacrifices were the blueprints for how God would save his people. The sacrifices in the Old Testament were the drawings of the bridge, which pointed to Jesus, who is our bridge to the Father.
The Temple had three rooms, filled with beautiful stone and metal workings. Yet, the most important of these rooms was the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant. Inside ark was the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the two tablets of stone engraved with the Ten Commandments (Hebrews 9:4). The Ark had a covering of pure gold called the mercy seat. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would sprinkle the blood from the sacrificed animals on the mercy seat. This was to show the people of God that their sins against the Lord’s commandments required the shedding of blood. All the bloody Old Testament sacrifices foreshadowed the perfect sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. It pointed to the Lamb of God, who would take away the sins of the world, as Isaiah writes, “we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of all” (53:6).
With all the temple regulations and yearly sacrifices, the Old Testament believers did not find a wrathful, terrifying God, but the God would save them through the Messiah. If God did not atone for their sins and reconcile them to himself, they would have no hope. As Paul says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But if God atones for our sins, if he forgives us and makes payment for all our sins through the shedding of blood, we are forgiven. We have hope. We have eternal life. All the Old Testament believers put their hope in God’s promised Savior, and this is why the Temple was so important—it was where God met his people. It was where God showed his people that through the shedding of blood, their sins were washed away. This was the temple’s purpose.
Our parable for today is centered around two men going to the temple—the Pharisee and the tax-collector. They go to the same building with the same people, the same practices, the same priests, and pray to the same God, but they consider the temple to have completely different purposes. The Pharisee says a prayer of thanksgiving. But he wasn’t thanking God, he was telling God why he should be thankful to him. Thankfully, he wasn’t like those other sinners; he lived a good life and was generous to the church. He used the temple to show God the sacrifices he had made for God and why God should reward him. I am sure the Pharisee left the temple happy, but he was still riddled with sin.
Then came the tax-collector, one of whom was mentioned in the Pharisees list of sinners. Instead of standing where he can be seen, he stands far off. His posture is reflective of a man who knows his sin. He knows his unworthiness. It stops him from even raising his eyes toward heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” The man came to the temple because he had no place to go. He didn’t try to compare himself with others or excuse his mistakes. He simply confessed his sin and pleaded for mercy.
The tax-collector’s prayer might be one of the most beautiful prayers in Scripture. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” The word that he used, “be merciful” to me, really should be translated as “be propitiated” to me, a sinner. To propitiate means to set aside anger. It is also the same word as “mercy seat,” where the blood of the sacrifices were sprinkled. Remember how the High Priest sprinkled blood on the mercy seat to teach God’s people that their sins against God were forgiven by the blood of Jesus? When the tax collector pleaded for mercy, he was appealing to the blood of the mercy seat, that pointed to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The tax collector put his trust and hope in the promised Savior. And what does Jesus say about him? “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.”
The tax collector knew that he was a sinner and that he needed mercy. He needed saving. The tax collector came to the temple because he knew the temple’s purpose. He put God’s promised mercy between a holy God and his sins. And he went home justified—he was forgiven. The Pharisee also went to the temple, but he did not understand it’s purpose.
It’s important for us to know the purpose of a building. If we wanted a good burger, we wouldn’t go to a hospital. If we wanted an ice cream cone, we wouldn’t go to an auto parts store. Why? Because those stores or buildings have different purposes. We would look pretty foolish to other people we asked for an ice cream cone at an auto parts store.
So, imagine how foolish we look when we come to church for something other than receiving God’s forgiveness or how silly we look when we take pride in ourselves. But isn’t that easy for us to do? Jesus spoke this parable to those who were prideful and held others in contempt. It’s interesting that Jesus connects pride and disdain for others—they really are two sides of the same coin. While it may be hard for us to realize our pride, it’s much easier to recognize our disdain and contempt for others.
For example, imagine that one day a huge screen was placed above your head, which typed out every single one of your thoughts so that others could see them. How would you feel about that? I think we would all be mortified. We’d have a hard time showing our face in public ever again. What thoughts have you had already today that you wouldn’t want others to know?
None of us can avoid the temptations to be prideful or to have disdain towards others. However, that doesn’t mean we should act on them or try to justify them. Martin Luther once quoted an old father’s advice to someone who wanted to avoid temptation. He said, “Dear brother, you cannot prevent the birds from flying in the air over your head, but you can certainly prevent them from building a nest in your hair.”
Both the Pharisee and the tax collector were sinners. There was no halo around the tax collector’s head. They had sinned. They were guilty. The difference however was that one tried to justify himself by comparing himself to others. The other sought God’s help and mercy, and confessed his sins, and he went home justified before God.
What’s the purpose for our church building and why do we come? We come because we are imperfect people who need a perfect Savior. We need mercy, which is why we need Jesus. We come to him who lived a perfect life in our stead—loving God above all things and his neighbor as himself. His perfect love for God and for man, led him to humble himself to the point of death on the cross—where he paid for our sins of pride, comparison, jealousy, arrogance, hatred, and apathy. Jesus offered himself up as the once and for all sacrifice for the sins of the world. As 1 John 2:2 states, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” Jesus put his innocent life between us sinners and a holy God, so that we could be forgiven.
Jesus came to save sinners like you and me. That’s why I love the order of our church service. How do we begin our church services? With the confession of sin, where we acknowledge that “I am a poor miserable sinner…” We have no right to come into God’s presence. Our sin separates us from God. But after our confession of sin, what happens? We receive the absolution of all our sins. The Pastor forgives us our sins in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder we respond by singing with the angels, “Glory to God in the highest! And on earth peace good will toward men!”
Every one of us comes to church after a week of living in a sinful world where we have sinned and been sinned against. How refreshing it is to begin our service by laying our sins and burdens on Jesus! On our own, we would have no hope, but with Jesus, we have nothing but hope. Our sins are forgiven. His innocent blood has covered and washed our sins away. That’s the purpose of our church. It’s a hospital for sinners, an oasis for the thirsty, rest for the weary.
I remember a story of a pastor who was once out going door to door. He knocked on one man’s door and invited him to church. But the man responded, “I’ll never go to church, it’s full of hypocrites!” But the pastor said, “Well, there is always room for one more!” The truth is that we all are little Pharisees in our own ways. We don’t come to church because we are perfect people, but because we are imperfect sinners who need a Savior, who lived a perfect life and died on the cross to pay for all our sins. So let us join in with the tax collector, King David, and the apostle Paul, singing “Chief of sinners though I be, Jesus shed his blood for me,” knowing with confidence, that for Jesus’ sake, we can go home justified before God. Amen.