The Gospel Seminar

"Luther Quotations": 4A

"...who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age..." (1;4)

Are you on the cruise ship or in the water??  Part 2
Remember the "cruise ship" metaphor used in the last devotional (#4)? One man was found in the ocean surrounded by hungry sharks, desperate and very much of being rescued by some outside source. This man metaphorically represented the spiritual man who saw himself as God sees him, namely, lost and in desperate need of being rescued.
The second man was on the deck of the cruise ship over looking the desperate man surrounded by the hungry sharks. He thought of himself as safe, secure and in no danger. This man metaphorically represented the man who does NOT see/assess himself as God sees/assess him and, therefore, also does not see his own desperate need of being rescued.
Read this parable from Jesus and see if you can compare the two men in the parable with the two men described in the cruise ship metaphor:
"To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable; 'Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.
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.'
I tell you that this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.' "  (Luke 18; 9-14)

In both of these stories, there are two different types of men. One group is the desperate swimmer and the desperate sinner. Both understand their desperate need of mercy and rescue. One from hungry sharks and the other from an angry God.
The other group of two men do not understand their desperateness. The Pharisee does not understand that the sin that dwells within him makes him a "sinner" too, and very much in need of mercy and rescue as much as tax collector. He very wrongly and blindly thinks his goodness makes him acceptable to God. The man on the cruise ship thinks of himself as safe and secure but not knowing of the cancer that lies within him and will kill him within weeks. He very wrongly and blindly thinks the safety of the cruise ship puts him outside of danger and in need of rescue.

Which one are you? Sinner/swimmer? Or, Pharisee/cruise ship passenger?