20th Sunday after Pentecost, Morning Worship, October 26, 2025
Sermon: Calling for Help
Accompanying Scripture: Luke 18 : 9 – 14

Calling for Help

Two men arrive at the Temple.
They’ve come to pray.
Did they only come to pray?
Was this a need
to be close to God?
Or was it the Sabbath, and
were they coming to worship?

Both men pray
from the heart.
The tax collector
holds a job
he probably doesn’t want
but needs
because he can’t work elsewhere.
He works for the Empire,
collecting taxes
from his own people.
He is hated and
considered unclean.
He’s incredibly unhappy,
beating his breast and
pleading for mercy.

The Pharisee is also praying.
He boasts about
how well he is doing:
he tithes and fasts.
He doesn’t break the law, and
thank God,
he’s not a tax collector!

I’m curious about this text.
We have a man
faithful to his religious beliefs
on one end of the spectrum,

while another man,
apparently trying to be faithful,
on the other.
The parable ends with
one man going home justified,
while another isn’t.

I’m pleased that
the tax collector
returns home justified.
But, he still has to
get up tomorrow morning and
do his unclean job.
The Pharisee, too,
will have to get out of
his comfortable bed and
face the day.
I think God wants
more for both of them.

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The Pharisee is a
highly educated man
who has spent his life
serving God and
God’s people.
He knows scripture
backwards and forwards.
Perhaps he’s a friend of Jesus.
Some of the Pharisees
knew Jesus and
ate with him.
Perhaps this one did, as well.

Yet, I can’t help but wonder
if this dedicated follower of God
is burned out.
He’s become cloistered
in his own world.
He has failed
to see people around him,
people who need his attention.
He’s puffed up with empty air.
His fragile ego is
about to burst.

He sees the tax collector
standing off to the side and
feels gratitude
that he’s not like him.
He’s not trapped in a job
he doesn’t want to do.

Meanwhile,
the tax collector
stands a distance away from
the Pharisee as required by law.

He’s burned out, as well.
It’s likely that this is
the only job he can get.
Unemployment is high;
jobs are difficult to find.
He hates himself and
what he’s doing.

When have you looked in the mirror,
wondering who’s staring back at you?
When have you lost your way,
feeling full of yourself and
nothing else?
Have you ever taken a job
you believed was beneath you?

To our young people,
I wonder how
you’ve managed with kids
who acted as if
they were better than you.
The person who put you down?

Jeremiah offers some
good advice for t
he Pharisee and
the Tax Collector
among us.
The prophet sent a message
to those in captivity in Babylon,
a place far away from home
where they didn’t want to be:

4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I
have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live
in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Take wives and
have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your
daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply
there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I
have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its
welfare you will find your welfare. (Jeremiah 29:4-7 NRSVuE)

Build houses;
plant gardens;
eat what you produce.
Settle and have families.
Pray for the community.

Bloom where you’re planted.
Be the people of God
you were called to be.
Most of all,
seek the welfare of your community,
“for in its welfare
you will find your welfare.” (vs 7b)

In other words, “Be the You God Created You to Be.”
The Pharisee may appear to be puffed up,
but really, he is needy.
He’s empty inside.
It’s time for him
to get to work.
Not works righteousness.
This isn’t about
getting into heaven or
being in God’s good graces.
That was accomplished on the cross.

It’s time to
turn to the God he loves and
to accept God’s
generous,
lavish love.
Remembering that kind of love
reminds us all
how grateful we are
to be called children of God.

That freedom
sends us out
into the world
serving God
because we’re freed up
by gratitude.

Free to be
who God made us to be.
Free to share
that love and gratitude
with others.

Free to make a difference in the world.
To the Tax Collector,
I commend John the Baptizer.
Let’s look at Luke’s version
of Jesus’ baptism

7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You
brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
8 Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to
say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you,
God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every
tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into
the fire.”

10And the crowds asked him, “What, then, should we do?” 11 In reply
he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone
who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12 Even tax
collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what
should we do?” 13 He said to them, “Collect no more than the
amount prescribed for you.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we,
what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from
anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your
wages.”

He told tax collectors directly,
“Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” (vs
13b)

What if some of his extra earnings
went to help his neighbors?
What if he was the one
who showed up
to help with that repair job or
helped them out with extra food?

He has gone home justified.
He feels that freedom
of being loved by God.
He is free
to express his gratitude
by getting out of his own head and
seeing the world around him.

Friends,
we are all
beloved children of God.
In fact
that is the good news
of this scripture.

God is calling us
to use our
gifts and talents lavishly.

We resist because,
like these two men,
we don’t understand
our own worth to God.

That bully at school
is empty and hurting inside.
Anyone who tries
to put you down
is looking to make themselves
feel better.

That’s not what God
has in mind.
See them for who
they really are:
people who don’t understand
how much God
loves and cares for them.

People who God
wants to turn away
from hurting other people.

God is our help.
Our lavish and generous God
is waiting for you…
yes. You.

So go and
Be. The. You. God. Made. You. To. Be.