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THE RICH YOUNG RULER
ICEBREAKER
But the first story we’re going to cover this week is a bit of a continuation of a principle we started last week when we discussed the dangers of prosperity with the parables of the rich fool and Lazarus and the rich man. This week we move beyond the realm of the fictional and parables to see Jesus speak with a real person. A man that we often refer to as “the rich young ruler.” So for an icebreaker to this story I like to begin by asking the following question: When the early Saints had finally established themselves in the Salt Lake Valley, what do you think Brigham Young would say was his greatest fear for the Saints? And then just let them guess what they imagine would have been the prophet’s greatest concern in that time period and circumstance, out in the middle of the unsettled American West. Would it be not having enough food? Agricultural concerns? Drought? Mormon crickets? Possible continued persecution? Relations with the Native Americans in the area? What would it be? And you might be surprised with what Brigham Young expressed was his greatest fear for the Saints. He said:
“The worst fear I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and His people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear … is that they cannot stand wealth.”
Brigham Young
(Preston Nibley, Brigham Young, the Man and His Work, 128.)
Ah, isn’t that a great quote. It’s really fun to read as a teacher because it does have a little bit of a shock value. But it’s true! That was Brigham Young’s worst fear. And so my next question is: Why do you think he would say that? What is so dangerous about wealth? We discussed some of those reasons last week and we’ll continue that discussion today.
TRANSITION
Within the quote we see one of the reasons Brigham Young felt that prosperity was spiritually dangerous. It can cause people to “forget God.” And I know it’s tempting to want to separate these two aspects of our lives. We might be tempted to think that our faith and our fortune are two completely unrelated things. But that would be unwise. There is so much in the scriptures about the topic. Jesus talked about money a lot and the scriptures are full of spiritual warnings about wealth. We ignore this counsel at our own risk. Perhaps we need a surgeon general's warning on our paychecks that says, “Warning: This money may be hazardous to your spiritual health.” One of the most memorable warnings about wealth centers around a conversation that Jesus has with a prosperous young man that comes to speak with him. We don’t know his name, but we refer to him as “The Rich Young Ruler”. We’ll take a look at two different gospel accounts of this story: The one in Matthew 19, and the one in Mark 10.
SEARCH
To help your students study and understand this story a little better, you could have them do this secret phrase activity. Have them look for the words that go in the blanks and then use the numbered squares from those answers to discover the secret phrase. I’ll walk you through the answers now with some thoughts and questions I might discuss with my students as we corrected the handout.
From Matthew 19:16-20
Question #1: The rich young ruler had a question for Jesus. What was it? Good Master, what ______ thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? GOOD
That’s not a bad question right. He wants to know what’s required of him.
#2 Jesus’s simple answer was: _______ the commandments. KEEP. That’s what will lead us all to eternal life. Seek obedience to God’s will. The young man asks Jesus to clarify which commandments and Jesus lists off a number of the 10 commandments almost as an example of, “Hey, you know what they are, don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, etc.
#3 The young man responds by saying. All these things have I kept from my _________ up. YOUTH. He’s been living the commandments his whole life. Great. This is a good man. A righteous young man.
#4 Then the man asks Jesus a question. What _______ I yet? LACK. What lack I yet?
And here I might pull away from the handout for a moment and ask my students: In your mind, is that a good or a bad question to ask of the Savior? Why?
And to me, that’s a phenomenal question. I call it “The Courageous Question”. I know the rich young ruler gets a lot of criticism and is often looked down on as a bad example. And he definitely has his issues. But there is a lot to admire in him too. That question requires a lot of courage to ask. What lack I yet? He’s not content to just do the minimum, but to do more. He doesn’t want to just be obedient to the basic commandments but has a desire to go above and beyond. That’s praiseworthy in my mind. That's a great question that we probably ought to be asking ourselves at times as well. We don’t want to just comfort ourselves by saying, “Hey, I'm good enough. I don’t do anything that bad. I don’t murder or steal.” Hopefully, we have a desire to really strive to live the higher law, to become as Christ, and seek to be our best selves. This is the question that naturally flows from the beatitude of “hungering and thirsting after righteousness.” And so I might ask my students: How could this question help you to be a better disciple of Christ? And yes, I understand, that that is an extremely intimidating and daring question to ask because we may not like the answer we get. But hopefully we have trust in God enough to sincerely ask it on occasion and then accept the answer we get. And the answer this young man got to that question was very challenging to him.
And here is where we’re going to transition over to the Mark 10 version of the story because we get some really awesome phrases that you don't get in the other two gospel accounts of this conversation. So let's go to Mark 10 to see Jesus’s answer and read the rest of the story from verses 21-27.
So question #5. Then Jesus beholding him _________ him. LOVED. This, this is so key to me in the story. We often jump right to the other L word in that verse and put our focus there. Lack. But maybe the key word here is Love. Jesus loved this young man. He's not trying to make a lesson or an example out of him. He’s not calling him out. He's trying to help him to be the best that he can. He’s responding to the rich young ruler’s question. I think Jesus admires what I admire in the rich young ruler. He is good. He is obedient. He is willing. What’s not to love? And here I might stop and ask my students this question:
Why do you think it’s important to know that Jesus loves those that ask him this question? I think it’s important because what Jesus asks us to do may be very difficult for us. But we have to know that his requests are motivated by love. He loves us enough to tell us what we lack. He loves us enough to challenge us. He loves us enough to require hard things of us, and give us correction. It’s vital that we know the pure motivation behind his requests for us to change. It’s love.
And so Jesus responds honestly to him. You want to do more? You want to be better? Ok, here you go.
So question #6. Jesus responds by saying: ______ thing thou lackest.” ONE. One thing thou lackest. What an answer! He only lacked one thing! I mean if I asked Jesus that question, “What lack I yet?” I'm absolutely terrified of what he would say to me. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get THAT response. He’d probably say, “Well, where do we begin? You got a couple hours?” So maybe we ought to be a little careful of being too critical of the rich young ruler and perhaps admire him for reaching a point in his life that many of us are far from attaining.
But now for the bad. He did after all lack something, and it's pretty significant. What did the rich young ruler lack?
Question #7. Go thy way, ______ whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. SELL
Question #8 And he was ______ at the saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. SAD. He was sad at the saying. And the story suggests that he isn’t willing to do this. He walks away, probably with a stunned look on his face thinking what another group of disciples once said. “This is an hard saying, who can hear it?” And then turning around to walk no more with Christ.
Another pause to discuss something with your students. What do you feel was the rich young ruler’s problem?
Why has he become an example of what NOT to do? With all the good that he has going for him, what’s his issue in your mind. And just let them mull over that a bit. Because to me. I don’t believe the problem was that he was rich. I don’t even think that the Lord really expected him to take a vow of poverty to follow him. That’s not a commandment. I mean, how many examples in the history of the world can you think of where God actually expected a person to sell everything that they had to give to the poor. I mean, I haven’t done that. Now, the willingness to do this if asked, is required of us though. We must be willing to give all that we have for God’s kingdom. And that’s why I believe, I don’t know of course, but I believe that this was just a test. It was a test of his willingness to sacrifice. If the young man had taken a deep breath and said, “Ok, Jesus. For you. I’ll do it.” Then I can totally see Jesus looking back at him and saying, “Oh young man, great is thy faith, you don’t need to sell everything. But go thy way and continue to do good with what I’ve blessed you with. Help the poor, follow me, be willing to take up your cross. But you need not sell everything that you have. Your willingness is enough.” I see this as a trial of faith.
To me, the real problem this man has is in verse 24. After the rich young ruler walks away grieving. Jesus then turns to his disciples and teaches them a prosperity principle three different times and in three different ways. He says it in verse 23, in verse 24, and in verse 25.
Question #9 Children, how hard is it for them that _______ in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. TRUST
And that to me is a very important point to make here. In verse 23 he says, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And then, as he looks around at their astonishment, he clarifies that statement. No, no, children, how hard is it for them that TRUST in riches to enter the kingdom of God. The problem this young man had was not that he had riches. It was his relationship to his riches that was the issue. The riches aren’t the problem, it’s the trust in them. It’s similar to what Paul teaches in 1 Timothy 6:10. He doesn’t say, “Money is the root of all evil,” but “The love of money is the root of all evil.” Those that TRUST in riches are in spiritual danger and why? Where should our trust be? Ironically, like our money says in the United States, In God we Trust. We need to trust God, and not our riches. So what does that look like?
Another discussion question. How does someone show that they trust God over their money?
We show trust in God by paying our tithing, trusting that he'll open the windows of heaven for us. We show trust in God by being generous to others with our abundance, trusting that he'll be generous to us. We show trust in God by being honest in our financial dealings with others, trusting that honesty is more important than turning a profit. We show trust in God by prioritizing the building up of his kingdom first, trusting that if we do this that all else will fall into place. We show trust in God by living like we realize that family and relationships and service and worship are greater pursuits than financial success. And most importantly, we show trust in God by relying on the merits and the mercy and the grace of Jesus Christ instead of our wealth and our own works.
And this is perhaps a place where we can re-examine the “What lack I yet?” question in a bit of a different light. In the positive, it demonstrates a great attitude of being willing to do more. But maybe that question is also an indicator of this young man’s approach to living the gospel. Was it just a matter of steps to him. I mean, he says that he’s kept all the commandments up to that point and now he’s just looking for the next item to cross off the list. Maybe he's approaching his obedience and his salvation as a checklist. A list of things not to do. Following Christ is much more than just not breaking commandments. It’s about sacrifice, devotion, and service. And it’s about relying on the grace of Christ. We don’t earn our way into heaven. We turn our hearts and lives over to Christ. And I believe that great prosperity often makes that harder to do. Why? When all of your problems can be resolved by the swiping of a credit card, it's really easy to forget that we’re completely dependent on God for everything that we have. Wealth can make it difficult to learn to rely on a source other than yourself and your means. How hard can that be?
Well our next question has the answer. Question 10: “It's easier for a __________ to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” CAMEL
And a quick note on that verse. It’s a bit of a strange image and perhaps there’s a translation issue with it. Some Bible scholars have noted that the word for rope and the word for camel are similar. “It’s easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle” makes a bit more metaphorical sense. But maybe not, maybe Jesus really did say camel so that the image would be more memorable, or the ridiculousness of the image would have more of an effect.
But when the apostles hear this they are incredulous, “Well, who then can be saved?” If this kind of man can't be saved, then no one can. But Jesus gives us a very hopeful answer.
Our final question. 11. “With men it is impossible. But not with God, for with God all things are _________.” POSSIBLE. So, Jesus comes to the same conclusion that we came to last week. It is possible to be rich and righteous, but it’s hard. It’s hard to learn to trust in God and not our money. And you know, I think that in some ways, what Brigham Young feared has come true. I think that, in general, members of the Church of Jesus Christ have become a wealthy people. We are a prosperous Church, as our enemies sometimes like to point out as a criticism. But I believe many are doing it! They are passing through the eye of the needle.
So what is our secret phrase here at the end?
The way through the needle’s eye: Trust in God
TRUTH
So we could put this truth in a number of clever ways: Christ over Cash, God over Green, Prophet over Profit. Spirit over Spending.
But more straightforwardly put: If I trust God over money, then I can enter the kingdom of heaven.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Since last week we really focused on “wealthy and worthy” questions, to liken the scriptures this time, let’s come at this topic from a slightly different angle. When talking about prosperity, sometimes I like to give my students what I call the “Can I be Rich” test. These are questions that we might want to ask ourselves before we ever even begin thinking about seeking wealth. All of these questions are based in scripture and can really help us to evaluate our relationship with money. So one: Am I always willing to pay a full tithe? Two: Can I be generous in my offerings and free with my substance? Three: Can I overcome the temptation to think I’m better than others when I have more than they do? Four: Do I recognize that all I have is really a gift from God? Five: Will my spiritual wealth always be a priority over my temporal wealth? And six: Am I seeking for riches with the intent to do good?
Now there are plenty of other questions we could ask ourselves, but I think that's a pretty good start. And if we can't answer yes to each of those questions then I would be very careful about trying to get rich. And if you can answer those questions correctly, well then I hope you do get rich. Because you certainly could do a lot of good with your prosperity.
CONCLUSION
Once again, money is not the issue. It’s the love of money. It’s where we place our trust. Trust in God must come first and foremost. With God, even camels can pass through the eye of a needle. And I believe we can do it! We must do it. Many are doing it. But let’s be really careful about seeking prosperity. Let’s take the Savior’s and the scripture’s wealth warnings seriously.
THE PARABLE OF THE LABORERS (Matthew 20:1-16)
ICEBREAKER
Moving on to a parable now. The parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. So good. For an icebreaker, a discussion question. Who do you feel gets overpaid or underpaid for what they do? What professions come to mind? And then I might put the following slide up with a number of different professions displayed to get them thinking. And perhaps they’ll bring up professional athletes or Hollywood actors as being examples of people that they feel are overpaid for what they do and then elementary school teachers or police officers as examples of people that are underpaid. I mean is the ability to throw a rubber ball through a metal hoop that much more valuable a skill than the ability to teach a child how to read or putting your life on the line to keep the community safe. Maybe our society’s values are a little out of whack. But anyway, just allow them to talk and express their opinions on the matter.
TRANSITION
Well Jesus once told a parable about a group of workers that felt they were being underpaid for the work they were doing. It’s called the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard and it’s found in Matthew chapter 20. And here, Jesus is going to teach us something extremely important about the nature of the work of his kingdom and His nature. So to start us out, can you find the amount of money that the laborers in this story agreed to work for? And the answer is in verse 2. They agree to work for a penny for that day’s labor. Now, the value of a penny back then was worth much more than a penny in our currency. A penny, or denarius, would be the average wage paid to an agricultural laborer for one day’s worth of work. And in the United States at the current minimum wage for 10 hours’ worth of work it would probably be close to $80. So that’s what they agree to work for. And they’re happy to do it, at that point.
SEARCH
Now remember the three steps to interpreting parables. Let’s use those here.
1. Identify the elements of the parable.
2. Interpret what each element could symbolize.
3. Ponder spiritual application.
To cover this process, we’re going to approach the interpretation of this parable with the following handout that has a few different sections to it. First, a matching activity to help us through the first two steps of interpreting the parable. Which interpretation best matches each symbol? And the answers here:
The Lord of the Vineyard would be Jesus Christ or God.
The Vineyard would be Christ’s Church or his Gospel
The twelve-hour laborers would be those who embrace the gospel early in life, or are born into it.
The 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 11th hour workers would be those who embrace the gospel at some point later in their lives.
The work is the labor of Christ’s Church. And there are all kinds of examples of this. Temple work, missionary work, serving in church callings, obedience to the commandments, basically anything that we do or are expected to do as disciples of Christ.
The wage could be a number of different things as well. But I would match that with blessings, happiness, forgiveness, and exaltation. The things that God promises those that work in his church.
Next on our handout. A few search questions to help us to start pondering the spiritual application of the parable.
First, When the payment comes, the 12-hour laborers murmur and feel it’s not fair. What reasons do they give to why they feel their wage was not fair in verses 10 and 12?
I see at least three arguments here. One, they supposed that they should have received more. And we can understand this reaction, right? As the 12-hour laborers are watching the wages being given out and they see the 1-hour workers getting a penny, I’m sure they were like, “Oh boy, if he’s giving a penny to them, just wait until we get paid! And they get to the lord of the vineyard, excitedly thrusting two open hands out to receive, and in their palms goes one penny. And they’re like, “Wait a second! We worked so much more than those guys! And we’re getting the same wage! How on earth does that make any sense?” So they murmur against the goodman of the house. The next reason they give: They felt that the Lord had made the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 11th hour workers equal to them. No, we’re not equal to them. We’re better. We worked more. And three, they feel like they had borne the burden and the heat of the day.
Now our next question: What reasons does the Lord of the Vineyard give for why their wage WAS fair in verses 13-15?
Again I see three reasons.
And the first reason in verse 13, “Didst not thou agree with me for a penny?” There’s nothing unfair about receiving the wages that you agreed to work for. The wage was set in the morning, and you were happy to accept that wage when the offer was first made. The second reason is in verse 15, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” It’s not unfair because it’s my money. It’s my gift to give. I get to choose what I do with my means. It’s not your place to decide that. And then the third reason, also in verse 15, “Is thine eye evil because I am good?” So it’s like he’s saying, “Are you upset with me, because I’m gracious? You had no problem with my graciousness towards you when I hired you. Why do you feel differently now?” Can’t I be good to those that need this money, regardless of how much they did or didn’t do? They were willing to work, and they did work. Is that not enough to justify my payment?
So now, with those things in mind, our three final questions on the handout.
What SPIRITUAL attitude do you feel the murmuring of the 12-hour workers represents?
What does this parable teach you about the nature of the work in the Vineyard?
What does this parable teach you about the nature of God?
What SPIRITUAL attitude do you feel the murmuring of the 12-hour workers represents?
Let me answer this first by saying what attitude I don’t think this represents. I don’t think there are many people out there who are upset that people who join the Church later in their lives get the blessings of the gospel in this life or Celestial glory in the world to come. I don’t think that that’s a very prevalent attitude amongst those who have had the gospel their entire lives. In the parable even, the 12-hour workers aren’t complaining about the fact that the 1-hour workers got a penny. It’s that they feel that they should have received more. They feel it isn’t fair. But why? I believe the problem is in how they view the work. They HAD to work longer. What’s the phrase they used to describe the work? We’ve borne the burden and the heat of the day. These guys got to sit idle all day long, and now you’re going to give them the same blessings for working far less than we did?
To help you understand this idea a little better, allow me to tell you about an experience I had while teaching seminary one time. I was telling a story from my mission to my class about a man that we taught who joined the church and was baptized when he was 80 years old. And as soon as I said his age, a young lady in my class shouted out, “Lucky”. And I thought that was really interesting. And so I stopped, and I asked, “What do you mean by that? Lucky?” And she explained, “Well, he got to live his whole life basically doing whatever he wanted, and now he gets all his sins forgiven at the end and goes to heaven anyways? It’s like, the best of both worlds. That’s not really fair.” And that comment, “That’s not fair” is what made me think of this parable, because, that’s what the 12-hour workers are saying, right? That’s not fair, that they get the same reward for doing far less work than we did.
And so I ask you. Do you agree? Was that 80-year-old man lucky for not finding the gospel until late in his life? In the 11th hour of his life, so to speak.
Well, to answer that. I want you to imagine the answer to that question from the 80-year-old man’s perspective. How would he answer that question? Would he consider himself lucky? Why or why not? And I personally know how he would answer that question, because I taught him, and I know exactly how he felt about finding the restored gospel of Jesus Christ at age 80. I can assure you that he didn’t say. “I’m so glad I didn’t find this stuff out until now. Phew, I’m sure lucky I didn’t have the truths and understanding of the restored gospel my whole life. Dodged that bullet.” I’ll tell what he would say. He would stand in front of us and say, “You are the lucky ones. You were blessed with the understanding and benefits of the gospel from your birth? You didn’t have to search for it? You didn’t have to live for years in ignorance of the plan of salvation and the purpose of life? You had the benefit of prophets, and modern scripture, and temples, and commandments to guide you in making life’s decisions, while I basically had to learn through trial and error. You got to work in the vineyard for all twelve hours? You’re so lucky.
See, here’s the real issue. “How did that young lady in my class view the “work” of the vineyard? And that coincides with that next question on the handout: What does this parable teach you about the nature of the work in the Vineyard? That young lady, she saw the work as “bearing the burden and the heat of the day.” And that’s not to be judgmental of her, I think all of us, especially in our youth, struggle with that dynamic of the gospel, because the work is challenging. But I’m afraid that if that’s how we see the work of the vineyard that we may just not yet be convinced of Alma 41:10—we still doubt the statement “wickedness never was happiness.” If we view those that receive the gospel later in life as the lucky ones or look longingly over our shoulders at those outside the guidance and help of commandments and prophetic counsel and their “freedom to do whatever they want”, then we don’t understand the nature of the work. And what is the true nature of the work? Go to Doctrine and Covenants 4:1 for that answer. What word does the Lord uses to describe his work? Marvelous! The work of the Church is a marvelous work. A worthwhile work. A blessed work.
And so, in terms of the parable you could ask, “In that light, what benefits did the twelve-hour workers get that the 1-hour workers didn’t?” Who developed the stronger muscles, who developed the most skill, who got the better tan, and most of all, who got to work longer with the master of the vineyard? So yeah, maybe I do agree a little with the 12-hour workers assessment of the situation, but for a different reason. It really isn’t fair, is it? It’s more not fair to the 1-hour workers. It’s the twelve-hour workers that got the better deal. So because it’s not really fair, let’s forget about the justice of the situation and let God react with mercy. The least we could do is pay them the same amount. Let’s give them the same happiness and guidance and forgiveness and the promise of a Celestial future that we’ve been enjoying all along. Oh, and pay them first. That’s only fair.
I believe that that perspective shift—that realization of the nature of God’s work would eliminate all the problems we might have with God’s graciousness to those who we perceived to have “worked less” in his kingdom.
And that would lead us to our next question. What does this parable teach us about the nature of God?
He’s good! I love in verse 11 that he’s described as “the goodman” of the house. His question is a great one for us to ask ourselves if we ever begin to feel envious of those that we perceive have been given a great deal of mercy from God. It’s similar to the older brother complaint from the parable of the prodigal son. What, you’re going to throw a party for him!? And all we need to do is picture God asking us, “Is thine eye evil, because I am good?” And I know that we often call attention to the idea that if the one-hour laborers had been called earlier, they would have responded. We go to verse 7 and point out that the reason they’re not working is because “No man hath hired us.” And there’s validity to that point. There are many out there who aren’t working in the vineyard or “who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.” (Doctrine and Covenants 123:12) But, I would argue, do we really need to make that point at all? Why are we so concerned about fairness in this matter? Can’t we just let God be merciful and compassionate and forgiving? God offers blessings, forgiveness, and exaltation to anyone who will accept them whenever they are willing to accept them. As long as they are willing to join in the work at whatever point they decide to, he offers the same goodness and bounty to all. How unfortunate for us to be disappointed or “our eyes evil” because God is good.
TRUTH
So two truths that I would point out here:
The work of God’s vineyard is marvelous work and is a reward in and of itself.
It matters not WHEN we embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, only that we DO embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
How do you view the work of God’s vineyard? Is it marvelous or miserable to you?
And if you do see it as marvelous? What’s marvelous about it to you? What is something that you love about the work of God’s vineyard?
CONCLUSION
And so I would like to express my gratitude to a good God that is so generous and pays so well, who gives us the privilege of doing such marvelous work in his glorious vineyard. And before we conclude, may I offer one final insight on the application of this parable. For those of us that were born into the church, or were converted young, I think we often only see ourselves as the 12-hour laborers in the parable. But couldn’t we also relate to the other workers as well, in a different light? When it comes to developing Christlike characteristics within ourselves. The gathering up of the grapes need not only represent the building up of the Lord’s kingdom, but also our efforts to become like Christ. In that sense, if I’m being 100% honest with myself, there are divine qualities that I have postponed acquiring. There are some that I feel I’ve been working on since my youth, but others that I’ve neglected, or that I just haven’t given much thought about yet. I can envision the Lord coming to me in many areas of my life and asking, “Why stand ye here all the day idle? Ben, why haven’t you worked harder in this section of my vineyard? You’ve got work to do!” And that’s where the Lord’s mercy illustrated in this parable really offers me so much hope. It’s as if he says, “Remember, though, that the full-lifetime reward for developing that quality still awaits you! I will pay you the same wage as those who have been working at that far longer than you have. There is no such thing as too late!” I am eternally grateful for a God He that rewards one-hour laborers with the same blessings as the twelve.
And with both of those perspectives in mind, may I conclude with these words from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland who gave a masterful talk on this parable back in the April 2012 general conference of the Church. He said,
“My beloved brothers and sisters, to those of you who have been blessed by the gospel for many years because you were fortunate enough to find it early, to those of you who have come to the gospel by stages and phases later, and to those of you—members and not yet members—who may still be hanging back, to each of you, one and all, I testify of the renewing power of God’s love and the miracle of His grace. His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there.”
Jeffrey R. Holland (Conference Report, April 2012)
THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN (Luke 18:9-14)
ICEBREAKER
For our final section this week, I’d like to take you to Luke 18:9-14 for a look at one more parable. For an icebreaker, an object lesson. And all you need to really make this work is a balloon. Although, I also like to use a little hand pump for the demonstration but it’s not totally necessary. If you’d like one of these, they’re available on Amazon for not much and I’ll put a link in the video description if you’re interested (https://amzn.to/3HrezYP). But I take a marker and draw a face on the front of the balloon and say let’s imagine that this balloon represents me. And the pump is comparison. What happens to me if I get caught up in comparing myself to other people. Because the fact of the matter is that Heavenly Father has made all of us very, very different. There is so much variety amongst his children. We have different appearances, strengths, circumstances, spiritual gifts, talents, intelligence. We come from different places and experience different challenges. And that’s a wonderful thing, that we’re different. But what does Satan do with that? What does he tempt us to do when we see something different between us and someone else? The temptation is to compare ourselves and decide whose way of being different is better. Now what happens the more I decide that my way of being different is better than someone else’s. And at this point, I pump a puff of air into the balloon. It makes me feel good about myself. And what happens to me the more I do this? I look around and start saying things like, I’m smarter than he is, I’m more attractive than her, I’m nicer than this person, I have more money than they do, I come from a better country than them, I’m better at this particular skill or talent. And with each comment I pump more air into the balloon. And eventually, the balloon will pop. What do we call this attribute of thinking we’re better than others? Pride. And pride can destroy us, spiritually.
The scriptures teach this very principle.
Proverbs 16:18-19
18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
And that’s just one example. You will see warnings about pride all over the scriptures. Particularly the Book of Mormon which was written for our day. I might even show them the following picture of my daughter and her cousin from a recent vacation. I decided to call this the ego chair. I think it’s just a good visual representation of how pride often works. I think we’re often not as big a deal as we think we are. And maybe to our Heavenly Father and even others around us, we look just as ridiculous when we get puffed up in our own heads.
TRANSITION
Well, Jesus told a little parable about the dangers of pride. And, you know, we may wonder why it’s such a big deal. We might be inclined to think that sins like immorality, dishonesty, or greed are a much bigger deal as far as sin is concerned. But pride seems to carry even bigger warnings with it. Maybe this parable can help us understand why.
SEARCH
Read the parable in Luke 18:9-14 with just one question in mind. Why is comparison and pride so dangerous to our spirits?
9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Now first, remember that people can become prideful in almost anything. Money, looks, talent, intelligence. But in what area is the Pharisee comparing himself in? His righteousness! Isn’t that interesting. You mean to tell me that pride is so powerful and so destructive that it has the ability to even turn something as good and positive as obedience and righteousness and devotion to God into a bad thing? Into a spiritually destructive thing? That’s exactly what this parable is saying.
And did you notice the audience of the parable? It was specifically directed to those, “which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:”
And the parable has only two characters. A Pharisee and a Publican—representing two extremes in Jewish society at the time of Christ. The Pharisees were a religious sect who strove to live the law of Moses perfectly. They had parsed out the law into specific, achievable, checkbox like outward acts or non-actions that could be marked off (in a sense) day by day. And because of this strict adherence, that most Jews couldn’t afford the time or the means to do, they were highly respected in the community as the most righteous of all people because they lived these outward rules so stringently. Pharisee actually means “separated one”. One that stood above and apart from your average follower.
The publicans, on the other hand, were tax collectors for the Roman empire. They were Jewish, but worked for the Romans. For this reason, many were considered traitors and thieves. You know, the Romans had a very creative way of collecting taxes from their constituents. They would auction off the right to collect taxes to the highest bidder in the area, determine how much was needed, and once a tax collector made his quota, he got to pocket the rest. You can see how this might incentivize dishonesty and unfairness, and they often did take advantage of others because of this. Publicans did not have a good reputation as you can imagine. That’s not to say that all publicans were dishonest, just like we could say that not all politicians are dishonest, but the reputation of the very profession itself often inspires a certain distrust and suspicion.
But this parable kind of turns that whole perception upside down. It’s the publican that ends up “justified” or accepted by God at the end, and not the Pharisee.
And why? Comparison and pride. Just look at the Pharisee’s prayer, it’s full of it. And I find the wording interesting in that first line. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus “with himself”. Who was the prayer for or in what direction was it aimed. It was not directed at God. He was praying “with himself.” God had nothing to do with this prayer. It’s a self-centered, prideful prayer. I thank thee that I am not like other people. And he makes it personal even. I’m grateful that I’m not like this terrible publican over there. And did you notice all the I’s in this prayer. I thank thee that I am not as other men, I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. Gosh I’m a good person, aren’t I?
And the publican’s prayer? Where is it directed? Certainly not on himself. He just simply says, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” His prayer is directly at God. He recognizes his need for God’s mercy.
So what’s the danger or problem with pride?
Pride separates us from God, which is exactly what the adversary desires. And if he can get us to become prideful, even in our own obedience, then he wins. Because it eliminates God and his mercy from the equation. In his prayer, he makes no requests of God, makes no statement of praise or worship, and offers no gratitude at the goodness of God. It’s all about him. Therefore, he leaves “unjustified”, or unforgiven, abased.
I believe that it should cause a moment’s pause as we consider that Jesus seemed to hold his harshest criticism for religious people. He rarely condemned fornicators, prostitutes, and thieves. Yet he confronted and censured religious people left and right. I don’t think that means he justified sin in any way, but he was really, really offended by self-righteousness. Almost like saying, “Of all the things to be prideful over, for heaven’s sakes, don’t take something as beautiful, and pure, and powerful as obedience to my Father in Heaven’s will and turn it into an excuse to look down on your fellowman or treat him poorly.”
Pride separates us from God. I like the way C.S. Lewis puts it.
“In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that – and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison – you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud, you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”
(Mere Christianity, p. 124)
So we’ve got to beware of pride because it can pop up almost anywhere. I like an analogy I’ve heard my father use on occasion. Have you ever played the carnival game, “Whac-a-mole”? It’s where these little moles pop up out of holes and you have to hit them over the head with a padded bat to get them down. That’s kind of like fighting pride. It can pop up in so many different areas, and we just have to take the bat of humility and beat them down.
TRUTH
Comparison and pride are spiritually dangerous. The more I give into it, the more I separate myself from God.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
I like to do a fun application experiment with my students. So what I do is give them all a loose-fitting rubber band to wear around their wrist for the next week. I call it a PRIDE bracelet. And what they do is whenever they find themselves being tempted to compare themselves to others, to just reach down and give themselves a little snap of the rubber band. Now not a painful, giant snap, but just a light little one as a reminder of the lesson and to call attention to the fact that they are comparing. And I’ve done this before myself, and you’d be surprised at how easy it is to slip into comparing and judging. And then have them come back and share the next week what they learned from the experiment. And it’s always fascinating to hear of all the different areas that they were tempted to compare to others in. The clothes they wore and who’s were nicer, or more trendy, or expensive. What sports they played, and which were considered higher status. What classes they were taking. How high their GPA’s were. Who they were dating or whether they were dating at all. The high school they went to and yes, even their perceived level of righteousness or commitment to the Church. Pride can pop up from anywhere. But you can encourage them by reminding them that just being more aware of it can be helpful.
CONCLUSION
Humility is so key in our efforts to become more like Christ. Jesus was always humble. He never called attention to himself. In fact, all throughout the New Testament, we see him constantly giving praise and glory to the Father—always directing the attention heavenward, rather than himself. And if there was anyone who ever lived who actually had a right to be prideful, it would be Jesus, the only one who ever lived a perfectly righteous life. And yet, he was humble. I pray that we can look to his example, that we can win this game of spiritual “Whack-a-mole”, that we can deflate our egos rather than puff them up to our own destruction, and like the publican in the story, allow God to exalt us, rather than exalting ourselves.
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