Latest / Still, Here / Dropping the Religious Masks

Transcript

Dropping the Religious Masks · Still, Here

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: A Pharisee and a tax collector go up to the temple to pray.
• 0:06
  While this sounds like the beginnings of a joke,
• 0:09
  this situation provides a stark contrast.
• 0:13
  One stands tall,
• 0:15
  praying about himself,
• 0:17
  his fasting,
• 0:18
  his tithing,
• 0:19
  his moral superiority.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: The other stands far off,
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: unable to lift his eyes,
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: beating his chest and confessing his inadequacy.
• 0:31
  Listen to these words from the book of Luke,
• 0:33
  chapter 18,
• 0:34
  verses 11 through 14.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: The Pharisee stood and prayed by himself like this,
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: God,
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: I thank you that I am not like the rest of men,
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: extortionists,
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: unrighteous,
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: adulterers,
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: or even like this tax collector.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: I fast twice a week.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: I give tithes of all that I get.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: But the tax collector,
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: standing far away,
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: wouldn't even lift his eyes to heaven,
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: but beat his breast saying,
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: God,
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: be merciful to me,
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: a sinner.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus' verdict is startling.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's the second man, not the first, who goes home justified.
• 1:16
  The difference is not who has sinned more,
• 1:19
  but who is willing to drop the mask.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: The Pharisee uses prayer as a platform to perform.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: The tax collector uses it as a place to collapse into mercy.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: We all have religious masks,
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: stories we tell ourselves and others about how well we're doing,
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: how together we are,
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: how unlike those people we've managed to be.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: The season of Lent gently asks us to set those masks down.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: The only thing they truly block is grace.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Love in the wilderness is attracted to honesty, not polish.
• 2:01
  God is not impressed by your spiritual resume,
• 2:04
  nor is He surprised by your failures.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: What moves His heart is the simple, humble plea, Have mercy on me.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Confession is not our way of convincing God we are unworthy.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: It is our way of admitting we need what He delights to give.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Today, let prayer be the place you stop performing.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Receive this prayer of presence.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Merciful God, I come with empty hands.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Strip away my need to impress you or others.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Teach me to pray like the tax collector.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Simply, honestly, trusting that your mercy is enough for me.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Before you move on to what comes next, carry this prayer with you.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Have mercy on me.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Give me a humble heart.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Have mercy on me.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Give me a humble heart.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open, stay present.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.