Prayer: Mind Your Own Business

Prayer: Mind Your Own Business
Scott Lyons
5/26/2013
The third parable on prayer that Jesus gives us is of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14). Most of us are familiar with the story: a Pharisee and a tax collector pray in the Temple. The Pharisee thanks God that he is not a sinner like everyone else, especially not like the tax collector. The tax collector stands far off, not daring even to look to heaven, and beats his chest in sorrow, saying, "O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner" (NLT). It is the tax collector who goes home justified. The parable is about being justified before God, being forgiven, and being shown mercy. It illustrates being reconciled to God and longing for him. It tells us that it is better to be sinful and humble than to be righteous and proud.

Some of us need a little sin in our lives. We are too good to be humble. We act shocked by the faults of others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. We condemn others easily and regularly, as if we are discussing the weather. All the time, we miss the fact that we are great sinners ourselves. What will it take for us to have our pride rattled, to open our eyes to the sin of our self-righteousness and to the utter hardness of our hearts?

These parables about mercy and forgiveness lie at the heart of our faith. This is what our faith is about. We often pass over these parables, reading them quickly and checking the "I asked God to forgive me" box or the "I asked Jesus into my heart" box. Then we move on. What do these parables have to do with us? We put on the robes of the Pharisee. We look at our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends and family, and we think to ourselves how desperately they need Jesus. (This is true, of course, but we need Jesus just as much.) We thank God that we are not like the divorcee, the pornographer, or the homeless man on the corner. We talk about how our niece is ruining her life and how our brother is making such poor choices. And we think about the good things we do, clinging to them. We read this parable and, like the Pharisee, ask nothing of God, thinking we need nothing from him that we have not already been given. Failing to understand our need, we exalt ourselves before God.

Our lists are different from the Pharisee's, perhaps. We speak about having invited Jesus into our hearts, about going to church whenever the doors are open, about tithing 12 percent, and about singing in the choir. Maybe we lead Bible studies. We carry our Bibles to church and have never cheated on our spouses. But what does God desire when we come before him? "O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner." This cry does not misunderstand God's mercy and forgiveness (as in, "Why are you praying that again? Don't you trust that God forgave you already?") but rather rightly understands our position before him. It is humility that cries out for God and wants God to always be near. Like a deer panting for water (Psalm 42:1), it is desperate for God. It does not go away after we first encounter Christ. It does not diminish after we have confessed our sins. As we progress in holiness—in our love for God and others—we grow in our understanding of our unworthiness, our littleness, our humility. We understand this not only in light of God's majesty but also in his presence in our neighbors. We serve him when we wash our neighbors' feet. We honor him as we put ourselves at others' disposal.

Jesus says, "Do not judge others" (Matthew 7:1, NLT). Paul writes to the Thessalonians that we ought to mind our own business (1 Thessalonians 4:11). These verses are often thrown out against us when we speak into our culture, so we rankle at them at times. Yet these Scriptures are some of the most important for us. You see, we should not concern ourselves with the sins of others, judging them. We should be concerned with our sins, judging them while excusing our neighbors’. Love covers a multitude of sins. It does not see them. It covers them so that God might cover mine. My neighbor's sin is not an occasion for gossip but an occasion to pray for God to have mercy on me. Likewise, the phrase "mind your own business" seems snooty to us. But its meaning is apposite to us as Christians: Concern yourself with your own business rather than with the business of your neighbor. This doesn't mean that we should cease to be evangelical or that we should think it's okay that people sin. It means, quite simply, that you are a sinner, and your neighbor's sin is not conversation fodder.

Humbly cry out for mercy as you show mercy. Lord knows, brothers and sisters, that it is the only way you are given to receive it.