David Hernes, retired pastor,  East Freeborn Lutheran Church

Jesus once told a little homemade story. It had a very pointed point. It went something like this.

Two men were walking on Main Street about noon. Both stepped into the downtown prayer chapel to talk to God. One was a respected businessman. The other had just come from the homeless shelter.

The one stood front and center, lifted his face toward the ceiling, and said sincerely, “God, I do thank you for my spiritual condition and my spiritual behavior. So much better than it used to be, before I came to Christ. So much better than so many folks, both religious and unreligious. And I’m certainly grateful to not be like that fellow back there.”

The other knelt at the prayer bench at the entrance. He laid his hands on the railing, and pressed his forehead into his fingers. He said, “God, I am a spiritual mess, and have nothing to offer you except my contaminated heart. And my failures to be your kind of human. Can you do anything with me? Here I am.”

Which of those two prayers do you think got through, and which bounced off the ceiling?

Now here is an interesting wrinkle. Jesus said that the guy who recognized the impurity of his heart had a more pure heart than the man who was quite sure his heart was quite pure.

In Jesus’ account of the story (you can find it in Luke 18), Jesus had the second man giving even a shorter prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

I don’t want to trigger rotten feelings about ourselves. Unless, of course, that would be appropriate and motivate us to deal with those things.

Maybe it would help if we did a little tailoring of the prayer, and then trying it on.

What if I prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a Lutheran?” Well, don’t we Lutherans sin when we think our doctrines and ways are better than other churches? Thus falling into superiority and judging? Don’t we need mercy for that — and plenty other sins?

What if I prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a pastor?” Well, aren’t we pastors as sinful as everyone else? Aren’t there temptations we face, and yield to, that go with our territory? Do we dare forget our need for mercy for these?

Don’t we Christians need to pray, “God, be merciful to us Christians? There are many sad and true stories about our wrongs and failures. I heard of one man who said, “I would be a Christian — if it weren’t for Christians.”

Some of us think that it would be appropriate for us Americans to pray, “God, be merciful to us Americans.” This thinking does not minimize all the good our nation has done in the world. But wouldn’t it be healthful if we were honest about that we have not been perfect — that we have sometimes felt and acted smug and superior? That we have sometimes thrown our weight around? That we have been impressed with ourselves? Do we dare forget how un-American we have been to American citizens of various races and creeds and cultures? How American are we being to our military folks whom we have sent off as heroes, and welcomed back as heroes — and then left them with inadequate help to recover from all the damage done to them and their families? But, then, how could we ever repair that damage? How could we ever make that right?

The application is endless. Many of us would like every person in Congress to simply and seriously pray, “God, be merciful to me, a congress-person.” And every other elected official, and CEO, and board member, all to pray that prayer as fits their slot in life.

But if we would like that, shouldn’t we be willing to apply the same to ourselves? The purpose being — of course — that this would lead to an appropriate amendment of our lives.

Now, back to the story. Did you get the pointed point? Did you see anything new? Did you feel any pain? If we didn’t get a deeper look at ourselves, and if we didn’t feel any pain, I doubt we got the point. And that would be sad.