Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

From First Reading of the Day: A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.  [Luke 22.24]

From the Epistle: Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. [1 Corinthians 15.1-2]

From the Holy Gospel: “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.” [Luke 18.14]

      Today we celebrate the minor church festival of The Feast of St. Bartholomew, the Apostle, which falls
on August 24, on the historic Western church calendar.  Our focus therefore encompasses both the theme of this saint day and also the Holy Gospel of the Day, which relates the parable of our Lord concerning the Pharisee and the tax collector, which gives us the sermon theme, “The Tax Man Cometh!”

I.

      The Feast of St. Bartholomew, also known by the name Nathaniel, points your attention to the fact that little attention is given to this apostle in Holy Scripture. He meets Jesus, as related in the Gospel according to St. John, when his friend Philip urged Nathaniel to follow him to meet this man, Jesus. Philip said, “WE have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” To that, Nathaniel remarked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said, “Come and see,” and off they went, to Jesus.

When Jesus say Nathaniel approaching Him, He said, “Be hold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit,” which Nathaniel took as a complement, but most likely Jesus meant it as a mild chiding over Nathaniel’s attitude toward Philip and his invitation. Nathaniel responds, “How do you know me?” And Jesus answers, “Before Philip called you, when you under the fig tree, I saw you.” Now, Nathaniel knows that Jesus could see him from miles away, and so he says, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel! And so, Nathaniel, along with his friend Philip, became followers of Jesus and apostles-in-training.

Beyond this encounter we know virtually nothing of certainty about the life and apostolic service of St. Bartholomew/Nathaniel. Yet, he has been connected, in the observance of his martyrdom, with this event back in the last days of our Lord leading up to the cross, when the disciples disputed among themselves concerning who is to be the greatest among them as the chief followers of Jesus.

The point here is this: The disciples are not to be seen as greater and lesser in their eyes, nor in yours. They are what Christ has called them to be: Servant leaders in the Church. They are the foundation of the New Testament Church, and for that we honor them with gratitude to the Lord who called them to service and through them extended the Gospel throughout the word and throughout time.

II.

     And this brings us to the Holy Gospel of the Day, the parable of an encounter of the rich man and the tax collector. It is easy to despise the rich man just because he is rich. That seems to be in-style in our culture today. Thus, we have a negative attitude before the rich man opens his mouth. But, then he does open his mouth, and our negative attitude appears justified.

The rich man says things about himself aloud, in prayer. And the things he says are true! He does fast twice a week, more than anyone here! He does give a tithe, and mind you, in his case it is an annual contribution of one-tenth of his accumulated wealth, not just one-tenth of his annual income. These things are true, and if we dislike the rich man in the parable for these things, we are revealed by his parable to be sinners.

But, there is more that this rich man has said: “God, I thank you (and he is truly doing that) – I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” Or, to put this self-assessment in current terms, the rich man is saying, along with all in our age who speak these words with him, “There, but for the grace of God, go I!”

Hmmm! Could this mean that we are one with the rich man in his prayer? Yes, indeed, for what drives the rich man to compare and then on the basis of that comparison, even find reasons to thank God, also drive us all. The sinner within is entirely willing to let us pray and to let us give thanks, as long as we see ourselves better than others, as the rich man sees himself as better than the tax collector.  There are many ways to fall into the sin-trap of trusting in ourselves about what God has given us, and thereby inwardly placing ourselves above others.

III.

But, then there is the tax collector. He is the hero of the parable, for he is the one, of which God the Son says, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.” And you might be tempted to see yourself as righteous as he, this tax-collector. But that view just puts you back into the thinking of the parable’s villain, the rich man.

What sends the tax collector home justified rather than the other is repentance – repentance without excuse and with qualification. “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” What sends us home justified from this house of grace and mercy is always and only the same: repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

If a meeting of friends is what send you home, you trod home with the rich man. If an emotional high, even an emotional high over what God gives you, you trod home with the rich man. If what sends you home is the work you do for the church, the money you give for the treasury, even the care you show to others in the assembly of the congregation, then you trod home with the rich man.

It isn’t the riches that condemn the rich man in Jesus’ parable. It is focus of the rich man that condemns the rich man. And his fatal focus is this: a focus on himself, and in the inner recesses of the heart and mind, there is no good thing. Any other view makes sin a problem only if you let it be. But sin is a problem for all sinners at all time. Remember, we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners, and that is the “no good thing” the pollutes everything we do, even everything we do for God or for His people. What the tax-collector shows us is the humility of repentance without qualification. God be merciful to me, the sinner! And that confession is met with a shower of forgiveness, life, and salvation from God. “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.”

And God is just that! It is as He promises in the Psalms: “For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly!”

And that uprightly walk is this: to walk in the embrace of the forgiveness of sins. That is the embrace of which St. Paul speaks in the Epistle: “Now I would remind you brothers, of the Gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved.” This Gospel takes the full and perfect work of Christ and wraps you around with God’s love and care and protection and motivation and well-being even in the worst of times.

How does this happen? It happens when you hear the Word of grace, when you take hold of it anew, when you take your stand on it, and by which you are assured of your salvation. With that God-shaped thinking in your mind, you discover that there is indeed no good thing that God will withhold from those who walk in the forgiveness of sins!