3. 9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great
confidence in their own righteousness and scorned
everyone else:10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray.
One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax
collector.11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed
this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other
people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not
like that tax collector!12 I fast twice a week, and I give
you a tenth of my income.’
Luke 18:9-12 (NLT)
4. 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not
even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat
his chest in sombled, and those whorrow, saying,
‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’14 I tell you,
this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified
before God. For those who exalt themselves will be
humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 18:13-14 (NLT)
5. 1. The Pharisee - religious and political elites of the time
2. The tax collector - Jews who worked with the Roman
Government to exploit
3. The prayer of the Pharisee was very pretentious
4. Jews were only required to fast once a year yet this
Pharisee fasted twice
Notes on Luke 18
6. 1. The tax collector recognized his sin which
leads to a request for forgiveness.
2. The physical posture of the tax collector
denoted a state of grief.
3. The tax collector is offering no tangible
evidence as opposed to the Pharisee.
More Note on Luke 18
7. 1. “The tax gatherer’s prayer for mercy involves
no deliberate act of restitution, and hence many
of Jesus’ contemporaries would judge it
invalid.” - Dr. Craig Keener
2. The word justified in Greek has multiple
meanings including “to become free”.
More Notes on Luke 18
8.
9.
10. “Health inequities are
conditions that are produced
by the social and economic
factors at play in a society.
They are avoidable; they are
not fixed in an individual’s
DNA or hardwired into a
population.”
11. 1. Residents earning less than $35,000 are 6.6x more
likely to be uninsured and to be diagnosed with asthma.
In Douglas County, black infants are more likely to be
born at a low birth weight; a more than twofold
difference from other population group.
2. A Douglas County resident must earn $16.25/hour
($33,800/year) to afford a two-bedroom apartment
in Lawrence.
From the Health Equity Report
12. 1. The black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, and
multiracial populations are uninsured at rates higher
than both the white populations and the county average.
2. The black non-Hispanic and Native American populations
in Douglas County have statistically significant:
○ Higher rates of sexually transmitted infections
○ More years of potential life lost due to cancer
○ Lower life expectancies than the county average
More From the Health Equity Report
13. - Segregation history in Lawrence
- Rick “Tiger” Dowdell Murder in the 70’s
- We are not a Sanctuary City
- Our jail is still being expanded
- Our homeless shelter is not fully funded
I Could Go On…
14. 1. We need to see ourselves collectively
as the Tax Collector
2. We live in a city that does good and bad
3. We need to take a serious look at
doing justice in Lawrence, KS
3 Points to Leave With
