9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14

The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is so applicable to the way people are today. There are a lot of Pharisees out there and so few tax collectors. Especially in today’s world, unless you’re a Pharisee, you’re considered a loser, a failure in life. There are three things we can learn from this parable.

One. Have the right perspective.

Let’s take a look at the Pharisee and his perspective on life and other people. He sees himself as a sinless, righteous man. “I am not like other people.” Think about how arrogant that statement is. Yes, we pride ourselves on being unique, but being unique and thinking you’re better than others are two different things. So he does not look at his faults or weak points. He never mentions them. He sees others as robbers, evildoers, adulterers, and even judges the tax collector who is with him by his appearance. How arrogant! There’s nothing we do on our own. Whatever “good” we have, it comes from God. All the good things he does, fasting and paying tithe, are possible because of God. We are all foundationally equal in the eyes of God. God creates whatever differences exist: we have no reason to think we are better than others. What did the tax collector think? Was his first inclination to search for his strengths and look down on others weaknesses? No! He looks down, beats his chest and says, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The tax collector immediately goes to his shortcomings, the sins he has committed before anything. Do you see how different these people are? Which side are you on? In a world of self-promotion, this might seem counterintuitive. But this is the Bible. We’re not here to prop ourselves up and knock others down.

Two. Use what God has given you in the right way.

How do we use what God has given us? Because we have more than others, is this a reason to look down on them? God gives us more for a reason. Let’s say two people show up. One has a full rice bowl and the other’s bowl is nearly empty, and he’s hungry. Should the one with the full rice bowl mock the other for having little saying, “Is that all the rice you have? Too bad! That’s life.” Or should he show some humility? Some might say, “Yeah but I worked harder. I have more skills. I did more.” Whatever the process that got you to where you are, that’s God’s work. He did it. Not you! So when we notice a disparity in what we have with others, we need to recognize we’re equal. and recognize God gave us more so that we could share it with others. All that we have belongs to God, and it’s our job to use what He gives us according to His will.

Three. Set the right standards.

This is major problem with people today. We compare ourselves to others, and we set what others have as a standard to reach. If we surpass those standards, we look to people who have more than us at that stage, and seek to get what they have. It’s a never ending quest, which shows why some people are never happy, despite being rich and having everything they want. Why is that? They set their standards in the wrong place. If someone has five things and you don’t have those five things, you set that as a standard. Get those five things! And once you achieve those things, you look for other things to get but you’re never satisfied. We must throw all this away. Set God as the standard. Model your life after Jesus Christ. He is our standard. Do what Jesus did. Have what Jesus had. That’s it. Instead of playing the game the Pharisee played of “Look at me and look at others,” we should look to only ourselves and Jesus Christ. How do we stack up?
Are you a Pharisee or are you a tax collector? Do you boast about being a good Christian? Do you boast about going to church, paying tithe, and fasting? Do you thank God for not being a sinner and looking down on tax collectors and evildoers? Or are you humble? Do you attribute everything good you have to God? Do you focus on your weaknesses, things you have done wrong, instead of gloating on the things you do well? Do you look at others as equals in the eyes of God? Do you recognize what you have belongs to God, and He intends for us to share it with those who have less? It’s a good time to take a hard look at ourselves. Be the tax collector. Be humble and see how your view of the world changes. See how you start using things differently. And see what amazing things happen when you set Jesus Christ as the standard instead of others!

Click for Korean sermon https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1981-7-5-short

Click for English reading https://youtu.be/JBljWgT9wmQ