We can willingly admit the fact that we're just like tax collectors and thieves.
“The tax collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes up to heaven, but was beating his chest and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” (Luke 18:13)
“‘We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Amen I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise'” (Luke 23:42-43).
“We are beggars. This is true.” These words were written by Martin Luther on a scrap of paper, which was found in his pocket after he died. Ponder on the lives of the tax collector and the thief hanging on the cross next to Jesus. They were bearing the burden of their sin, including greed, cheating, theft, extortion, and fraud. They were pleading for help, people to be pitied. These men, like Luther, knew the heart of a desperate and destitute sinner – a beggar who cries, “Lord, help and save me, not because of righteous things I have done, but only because of your mercy. I have nothing to offer but my sins, shame, struggles, and sorrows...only to receive what you and you alone can give.”
We can willingly admit the fact that we're just like tax collectors and thieves. Sinners. Beggars. For it is in this pitiful, impoverished state that we realize how truly rich we are. Through the eyes of faith, we see Christ, “who became poor so that we through his poverty we might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9) and share in all the eternal pleasures and treasures he has in store for those who are his. From him and through him we have received every good and gracious gift by his perfect life, his precious blood shed for us on the cross, and his glorious resurrection from the grave.
At the foot of Christ’s cross, we lift our eyes to gaze at his wounds and bowed head and then hang our heads, confessing sins of greed, dishonesty, selfishness, lovelessness… begging as a desperate and destitute tax collector, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” And he has mercy on us, even before we ask “for while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). “We stand forgiven at the cross” (Christian Worship, "The Power of the Cross" 423).
We are the beggar on the cross next to Jesus. And that’s a good thing. In the end, the thief didn’t actually get what his deeds deserved, and neither do we. Rather than eternal bondage in hell, we receive full forgiveness and freedom from the lifetime of sin into which we were conceived. The answer to that three-word plea, “Jesus, remember me,” holds true yesterday, today, and forever: “Your sins are forgiven. Remembered no more. Every sin, ‘not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross” (Christian Worship, "It is Well With My Soul" 850).
Fellow beggar, Jesus never says, “I forgive this sin, but not that one. I forgive this sinner, but him? He's too bad. And her? She’s not good enough; she'll have to try harder.” He said, “It is finished!” And he cannot lie. Truly, Christ's cross covers. Every. Single. Sin. Our sin is his - his righteousness is ours. We cannot - we must not - earn his favor and gift of salvation. Why work for God’s good gifts that he offers for you and for me, for free?
“Lord, have mercy” and “Jesus, remember me,” the Christian cries and clings to the “Help of the helpless” (Abide With Me, Christian Worship 783), pouring out their full soul while knowing full well the blessings received: rest, rescue, refuge, reassurance, righteousness, peace, joy, and hope of salvation that are by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone.
“We are blessed beggars. This is true.” The believer’s soul embraces and praises this blessed life, as it peers into the empty tomb on Easter morning, exclaiming, “For me, he lived. For me, he died. For me, he rose. His life is mine. His death is mine. His resurrection is mine. I know that my Redeemer lives! To Him be the glory alone!” ("I Know That My Redeemer Lives," Samuel Medley).
Amen. This is most certainly true.
A Prayer of Repentance
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me (Ps. 51:1-12).
