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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Keith McFarren September 6, 2026 Hebrews 9: 24-28 Luke 18: 9-14 When you look into the mirror who do you see looking back at you? Oh, I know you see yourself looking back at you. I know you see someone who has aged quite a bit, whose skin isn’t quite as smooth as it used to be, whose face has a few more wrinkles than it did in the past. Whose hair may not be quite the same color or may not be as thick as it was when you were younger. But what I want to look at this morning is who you really see when you look in that mirror? Jesus said that one was a Pharisee and one was a tax collector. Between the two of them it’s kind of hard to decide which one is the hero and which one is the villain. On the surface, the people admired the righteousness and the holiness and the Godliness of the Pharisees. But then again, the people didn’t really like the Pharisees. They always always looked down on everyone. They thought they were better than everyone else…more holy…and more righteous. But the tax collectors weren’t a whole lot better. They were Jews who worked for the enemy – the Roman government. They turned their backs on their Jewish brothers and sisters by collecting taxes from their own people - all for prestige and power and money…and they were greatly disliked. Our scripture reading tells us that both men prayed at the temple. The Pharisee stood up for his prayer, all straight and bold and majestic looking, and as the New International Version of the Bible says, “and prayed about himself.” “Thank you Lord for not letting me be like everyone else.” Thank your for not letting me be like the “Extortionists, the unjust, the adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” And then after comparing himself to the rest of the world, he began to tell God about all his positive points, “I fast twice a week and I give tithes of all that I have.” All in all it was an impressive record because Jews were only obligated to fast one day of the year…yet here was a guy who went above and beyond all that was expected of him. Meanwhile, over in the corner stood the tax collector. A man so frustrated and ashamed of himself because of who he was and all that he had done with his life that he couldn’t even raise his head to face God. All he could do was beat himself on the chest in total frustration – “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” So tell me, when you look at yourself in the mirror, who do you see? Do you see yourself as the righteous Pharisee? Or do you see yourself as the shameful tax collector…the sinner. Do you find yourself telling God how great you are… how much you give to the church and how much you do for the church …or do you see yourself standing up here as a humble person…a person so embarrassed by your sins and so frustrated by the fact that you continue to sin that you can’t even face God let alone be deserving of his unconditional grace. I think it would be safe to say that we all see ourselves as the tax collector or the sinner because that’s how this story has always been read and preached and taught. But I think that maybe Jesus wants us to view all this from a different angle, from a different viewpoint. And here’s why I think that…because Luke starts out like this: “Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.” In other words he wasn’t talking to the sinners. He didn’t tell the parable to make the sinners, the humble people, the repentant people, the people like the tax collector feel better about themselves…instead, he told the story to stir the consciences of the other people… the people that put themselves high upon their own pedestal. Those that think of themselves as being better than other people, as being holier or more religious than other people. I do a lot of typing on my computer. Not only do I type my sermon every week but I also help the local funeral homes out with funerals for families without a church. So I’m typing along and all of a sudden my computer freezes up. The arrow on my computer screen won’t let me save my work, it won’t let me close out what I’m doing…it won’t let me do anything. And my biggest fear is that I’ll lose everything I’ve done. And so the first words out of my mouth are: “Why me?” “Why, with all this stuff to do, does this have to happen to me?” And I’m sure that you’ve said the same thing at some point in your life as well. You take care of your car…and you go out to go to work or to go someplace special…and it doesn’t start. You watch what you eat and you don’t smoke and you don’t drink, yet you go to the doctor and the doctor tells you that there’s something wrong with you…that you’re not well… “Why me Lord?” It’s a question we all ask…and it’s also a question that a Pharisee would ask as well. You see when we ask God, “why me?” we are assuming that there are other people in the world who deserve to have this happen to them…but not me. After all, I take care of my computer. I take care of my car. I take care of my health…all so that nothing goes wrong. If something bad happens to someone who doesn’t do what they are supposed to do…well, that’s what you get…they have it coming to them because they didn’t follow the rules…they didn’t do what they were supposed to do. But me? I go by the book. I follow the rules. And you follow the rules as well. I did what I was supposed to do and look what happens – it’s like God turns against me and I get punished for doing what I’m supposed to do. So we should be able to empathize with the Pharisee when he finds out that “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled” because somewhere along the road each and every one of us have said or thought or acted just like the Pharisee. He hasn’t committed any horrible sins. He wasn’t dishonest; he wasn’t running around with other women. He wasn’t the type of guy who would hurt anyone. He went over and above what was expected of him in that he tithed and he fasted twice a week. In fact, if everyone in the world was like him, we wouldn’t have to keep our doors locked and we wouldn’t need burglar alarms. And what about us? We’re good citizens. We pay our taxes. We keep our house up. We don’t let our dogs run around the neighborhood. We very seldom ever miss church. And there’s not a week goes by that I don’t drop my offering in the offering plate during our worship service. I serve on committees and I take part in all the extra curricular activities around the church – I do my share…perhaps more than others. If that is the way you think, I’m here this morning to tell you that God doesn’t appreciate your attitude; nor does he appreciate your holier -than - thou attitude that goes along with it. That’s because you and the Pharisee are thinking alike. You’re using religion to keep God at a distance. You and the Pharisee are using your religion to keep God at arms length way over here and then you’re putting all the other people of the world at a level below yourself…all while you promote yourself and sit way up high on your own self-made pedestal. True religion doesn’t exist to separate us from God. True religion exists to make us feel our need for God. True religion exists so that we can be drawn closer to God. The purpose of religion is to draw us closer to God…and as we are drawn closer to God we in turn are drawn closer to our fellow man. God wants a place in your heart and all you want to do is to give God a place to watch you perform your daily rituals to make yourself look good. God wants you to live with truth and sincerity and bear fruit produced by the Spirit and all you want to do is care about yourself and follow your own self made agenda. We like the kind of religion we can measure. Now there is nothing wrong with tithing, but tithing is measurable. All you have to do is figure out what 10% of your income is and drop the money in the offering plate. That’s the kind of easy peasy religion we like. We can come to church and Keith can see us sitting out there and we can be counted as being here on the attendance pad and people can see us putting our money into the offering plate. The more we do the better we feel…because the more we do or the more we give… the more we can impress God with our measurable religion. But God goes one step further. God raises an issue here that can’t be measured. He says – “Love me with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind and all your strength. And he goes on to say, “Don’t only love me…but love your neighbor as you love yourself.” The Pharisee says, “Whoa! That’s way too much. I’d rather just tithe…or I’ll just fast because it’s a lot easier to fast.” And we say, “Wait a minute. Love my neighbor as myself? That’s something I’d have to do everyday of my life. That’s something I’d really have to work at. It’s a lot easier just to come to church and do my thing and go home and come back again next week and do it all over again.” The Prophet Amos, speaking for God, says this about people with that type of attitude. He says, “I hate all your show and your pretense…. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, and an endless river of righteous living (Amos 5: 21-24). God knows…and God isn’t easily impressed. God wants people who “walk the walk” not just “talk the talk.” God isn’t impressed with who you are or with the show that you put on. As a matter of fact, God dislikes people who only go through the motions of religion for their own benefit. You can put on the show of your life week after week but if you aren’t producing fruit, if you don’t love others and if you aren’t willing to reach out and help others, you are failing to live by the rules of God’s kingdom and your salvation cannot be guaranteed. So go home…go home and look in the mirror. Who do you see? Do you see a self centered proud person looking back at you…or do you see a humble person? A person producing fruit? A person who care more about others than they do themselves? One final question: Are you happy with what you see? |
Bethel United Methodist Church
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