By.In. & Merit Mongering

I think the best way to tie together the last two weeks of blog-thoughts is to tell a little bible story.  A special thanks to my co-worker, and friend, Jimmy Farley for drawing my attention to this story a few weeks back.  I’ll Peg-Paraphrase the story, but you can actually read it for yourself in Luke 18:9-14 (please do).  In my Bible, it’s titled The Pharisee and the Publican.  Jesus is telling the story.  Here’s my version. 

The good church-goer, who obeyed all the righteous-rules, went to church one day.  Keep in mind, this guy (or girl, but I’ll use the term guy – it makes me feel better) was a “doer” and he knew that by his doing, he found favor with God.  He was “in.”  Because he lacked no confidence that he was “in,” he stood inside the temple, probably as close to the altar as he could possibly get, and prayed out loud (notice it says, “...to himself” – his words were addressed to God, but, in reality, he was praying to himself).  As he prayed, he presented his laundry list of law-abiding goodness:

I am not like other people

I am not a swindler; I don’t cheat

I am not unrighteous

I am not an adulterer

I am not like this other guy

I fast twice a week

I pay a tithe to my church

The other guy, to whom the good church-goer referred, was an IRS agent (Have you done your taxes yet? If so, you probably don’t like this guy any more than the goody-two-shoes-church-boy does.  I mean seriously, can an IRS agent really make it to heaven?).  Mr. IRS is a bad man.  He squeezes people for all he can get.  As the old saying goes, “This guy can get blood out of a turnip (where did that come from, anyway?).”  However, Mr. IRS is very aware of his “badness.”  He doesn’t even try to get close to the altar – he stands, but some distance away.  He wouldn’t even dare to lift up his eyes, and his prayer was humble, he had no laundry list of the good he’d done.  His heart was so heavy with sin, he could only pound on his chest, and seek the mercy of the only One who could lighten his load.  His prayer was simple, “God, be merciful to me, THE* sinner.”  Note: not a sinner, generic; THE sinner, specific.

God reached down that day, and lightened the load of Mr. IRS.  He went home “just as if he never sinned.”  Not so, Mr. Church.  Whoa!  I hear what you're yelling, "That’s not fair!" 

...but, wait! Mr. Church was a perfect definition of a merit-monger.  He had the do-good list.  He deserved....oh, yes, he did!  He made a great case for himself according to the law.  However, Mr. IRS understood Romans 1, 2, 3.  He was THE SINNER.  He was the sin-black-sin-ugly creature swimming in the dark waters of the first three chapters of Romans.  He NEEDED those truths we talked about two weeks ago to so penetrate his heart that nothing remained of self-righteousness, or expectation, or any thought of “I deserve _________________.”  Mr. IRS understood grace (in a big way).  We all need to remember there’s another list besides my “do good” list, or the “bad done against me list.”  There’s a list called “Bad I’ve Been Involved In.”  That particular list is longer and larger than any I might try to rattle off on my behalf.  After spending time in Romans 1, 2 & 3, I have no case for merit-mongering.  Like the tax collector in Luke 18, all I can do is beat my chest, and cry out, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!”  All I can hope for is grace.  By.In. Because of these two prepositions, that is exactly what I get...grace!

Moral of the story:  I must remain in the depths of my sinful despair long enough to truly make the buy in to the BY.IN. of Jesus.  I will always surface "just as if I've never sinned," filled with gratitude as opposed to greed.

(*Emphasis mine.)