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When All Is Said and Done

“It just kind of brings meaning to what I’ve been doing for the last twelve years of my life,” said Bryan Clay after he won the Olympic silver medal in the decathlon in 2004. it was the culmination and payoff for twelve years of hard training and struggles. Finally, after all that, he could say Yes! This makes it all worthwhile.

It’s a thrill, isn’t it, to see someone at the height of their game, whatever that game may be. Whether it’s softball or gymnastics, swimming or dressage [drə-sazh’], when you see someone with an Olympic medal hanging around their neck, you know it didn’t just happen by accident. They didn’t just walk off the street and say, “Hey—that looks like fun! I think I’d like to try it. Hand me that discuss, let me see how far I can throw it!”

No, an athlete who wins an Olympic medal has devoted his or her life to one sport. They’ve worked at it, pushed their way through pain, and just kept on keeping on when thousands of wannabes have thrown in the towel.

And if they get the chance to stand on the pedestal with their nation’s national anthem playing as their country’s flag rises, they have earned the right to be there.

We all like to think that hard work pays off. That if we have achieved some goal in life, it’s because of all the effort we put in. And it’s usually true. Hard work pays off.

And so it’s not surprising that we tend to want to carry this sort of thinking over into the spiritual world as well.

Is there such a thing as a spiritual athlete? Consider the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9: “Do you not know,” he wrote to the people of Corinth, “that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25,NRSV).

Paul speaks of himself as a spiritual athlete and encourages us to think of ourselves in the same way, and to strive for eternal rewards, not perishable wreaths—incidentally in the Isthmian games held biennially in Corinth the victors received a wreath made out of celery! Talk about perishable! I guess at least you could eat it if you got hungry.

But getting back to the idea of being a spiritual athlete, if you were to ask the apostle, “Are discipline and hard work an important part of the Christian life as we prepare for heaven?” his answer would be Yes.

So, what are we to make of the story that Jesus told, which we find in Luke 18—the story we call the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector?

It almost seems to teach the opposite idea. I’m going to read the entire parable now from Luke 18, verses 10 through 14. As I read, be thinking about this question: What is Jesus saying about the value of good works in God’s judgment?

“ ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other . . .” ’ ” (NRSV).

What is Jesus’ reaction to the Pharisee who has worked so hard and doesn’t mind listing all his deeds on his résumé?

It’s plain and simple: good works do not justify us. Good works do not save us. No matter how many good things we do, or how many bad things we avoid, it will never be enough. We can’t achieve perfection by what we do, or don’t do.

Does the name Nadia Comaneci [koh-ma-neach] ring any bells in your mind? Does it take you back to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal? Do you remember that tiny little 4’ 11”, 86-pound Romanian girl who stole the hearts of people all around the world? She was only fourteen years old, but she accomplished something no one had ever done before. After her routine on the uneven bars, the scores came up across the board 10, 10, 10, 10! A perfect score! Such a thing had never been seen in Olympic gymnastics scoring. But she did it again and again, going home from Montreal with seven perfect 10s, three gold medals, and one bronze.

Certainly all her hard work paid off.

But you know I’ve noticed something, in the years since then. You seldom if ever see a 10 anymore at the Olympics. I’m not sure whether it’s because they’ve made the scoring more difficult, or whether gymnasts just aren’t as good anymore. But somehow, perfection seems to be just out of range.

I have a feeling, don’t you, that the judges want to keep it that way. After all, if you keep handing out 10s, what does that leave to strive for?

But getting back to our biblical story: is that the way God is? Is He always setting the standards a little bit higher, so that no matter how good we get—no matter how hard we try—we’ll always miss the mark by just the slightest bit. We’ll get a 9.875, or maybe even a 9.92, but never a 10?

If that’s the lesson you get from the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, I hope you’ll go back and read it again.

Why did the tax collector—a man regarded by his countrymen as one of the worst of sinners—go home justified while the Pharisee, who was known to be one of the most law abiding citizens, went home unjustified?

Was it because of what they had done, or because of what they had said?

You know, in a sense, Jesus was just retelling a very old story here. The Pharisee should have known the story, and should have a understood its application to his life. But it seems he needed a reminder.

I’m thinking of the story of Cain and Abel. You remember that story—it’s found in the fourth chapter of the Bible. It starts out much the same way as today’s parable: two men come before God seeking justification. Cain brings some of the fruits and vegetables he has grown. These things are the proceeds from his hard labors, and he presents them before God on the altar.

Abel also brings some of the produce of his farming activities to present before God. But there’s a difference.

The testimony of the fruits and vegetables on Cain’s altar is: God, I hope you appreciate all the hard work I’ve done to produce these goodies for you.

On Abel’s altar we see something different. And we see a difference of attitude as well. Abel brought a lamb to sacrifice—a sacrifice that required the shedding of blood. This sacrifice symbolized his recognition that he deserved to die for his sins, and that there was no work he could do to atone for his misdeeds.

Now let’s go back to the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Let's focus on the end. Jesus describes the scene at the temple:

“ ‘But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted’ ” (Luke 18:13, 14, NRSV).

In Jesus’ story, the tax collector is like Abel. He comes to the temple acknowledging his need of a savior—acknowledging his need of forgiveness—and pleading for mercy.

And do you know what? He gets exactly what he asks for.

Notice Jesus doesn’t condemn the Pharisee for his hard work. The only thing the Pharisee did wrong was to place his confidence in those works instead of in God’s mercy. His attitude demonstrates a total misunderstanding of God’s character and a lack of understanding of the nature of sin. Any time we fall short of God’s plan for us, it is a sin. And no amount of good works can erase those sins. God is not like Lady Justice, blindfolded and holding a scale with our good deeds on one side and our bad deeds on the other, waiting to see which side is heavier on the day we die.

God is perfect, and only perfection is good enough for Him. But God is also a merciful, and He wants to forgive our sins and shortcomings. He actually wants to give us a perfect 10. He wants to erase the negatives from our score. If we’ll just admit that we need an eraser taken to our lives. That’s why Jesus says, “ ‘all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’ ”

At the end of life, or at the end of each day, when all is said and done, what’s said will actually matter more than what was done. We really ought to try to do our best. Actually, we ought to be like the Pharisee who was trying to live up to God’s will in the best way he knew. But we also need to be like the tax collector—after we’ve done our best to live righteously, when all is said and done, what we need to say is, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!”