There is a story of a Good ol’ Boy who wanted to impress his hunting buddies. So, he bought the smartest, most expensive hunting dog he could find. He trained this dog to do things no other dog on earth could do---impossible feats that would surely amaze anyone, even his hunting buddies. The time came and he invited his friends to go duck hunting with him. After a long patient wait in the boat, a group of ducks flew over and the hunters were able to make a few hits. Several ducks fell in the water. "Go get ‘em!" shouted the proud owner to this magnificent dog. The dog leaped out of the boat, walked on the water, and picked up a bird and returned to the boat. As soon as he dropped the duck in the boat he trotted off across the water again and grabbed another duck and brought it back to the boat. The owner beamed with pride as his wonderful dog walked across the water and retrieved each of the birds one by one. Unable to resist the opportunity to brag a bit, he asked his fellow hunters, "Do you notice anything unusual about my dog?” One of them rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment, "Yep," he finally said, "Come to think of it, I do! That dog doesn’t know how to swim does it?"   

This morning we are going to struggle with a simple question; not how do you impress your hunting buddies, but rather, how do we impress God?  This seems like an important question to ask.  God is the creator of the universe.  As Zack would say, “God made… me.”  God is the one I will ultimately have to answer to.  One day I will stand before God and I will either be welcomed into the eternal banquet or I will be thrown out into outer darkness.  I would really, really like to be seated by Jesus eating vanilla ice cream rather than be with those who are going to be punished for not knowing him.  So, it would seem that it is a good question to ask, “What can I do to impress God?  What is it God would be thrilled to see in me? What do I offer to God that can guarantee my reservation at the banquet?”  Sound like a question that is worth us thinking about for the next 20 minutes? 

There are three stories in Luke 18 which I want to explore as we work on this question.  I think there is a common theme between these three parables that will go a long way toward answering our question.  Let’s begin in Luke 18:1.

Luke 18:1-5 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'  "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'”

Widows in the time of Jesus were often destitute.  If they had no children or extended family to stand up for them, they were easily overlooked and typically neglected. If they had no money, or family they had no power.

In Jesus’ day there were no police or district attorneys, like we have. If someone robs a widow today she calls the police and they investigate, capture a perp – that’s what we call them in the business - and bring him before the court to be punished.  Widows today have representation by law.  But in Jesus’ day individuals would bring their own grievances before a judge and the judge was supposed to dispense justice.

In this story the judge, evidently, is waiting for a bribe or some kind of compensation for his ruling.  But the widow has nothing to offer him.  All she has to bring to the judge… is her pestering.  So, she pesters the life out of the judge until he grants her justice. 

Notice what Jesus says about this parable. 

Luke 18:6-7  And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says.  And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.”

God is not like the unjust judge.  God loves his chosen ones.  God is good.  God is just. This is an argument of “How much more.”  How much more, if a corrupt judge does the right thing will not our loving God bring justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?  But then Jesus brings the point home in verse 8. 

Luke 18:8 “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

What does this cryptic saying mean?  What does faith mean? I think the word faith here really brings with it the idea of faithfulness; stick-to-it-tiveness, persistence.  She is the persistent widow.  That is the point of this story. When we stay faithful, even when it doesn’t seem God hears us, that is what he is looking for when he comes.  We stay after it, even when we are discouraged.  We stay true, in spite of all that goes on, because we know that one day God, the loving judge, will make it all right.  We know he will fix it.  We continue to pray, for we have nothing else, before God, because we know he will come and deliver us.

Will he find faithfulness when he comes to us?  This faithful thing is what it takes to impress God. Let’s hold that thought while we go to story number 2. 

Luke 18:9-12  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.'”

Jesus tells this 2nd story specifically for those who are confident in their own righteousness. This is a story for us, when we are sure of ourselves, when we have it all figured out, when we have all of our theological ducks lined up in a neat row. 

Notice the Pharisee stood up and prayed “about himself.”  Some translations say, “with himself” or even “to himself.”  His prayer is a prayer of how good he is and how thankful he is for God making him so good.  He refrains from all evil and embraces all good.  He must have been impressive.  At least he impressed himself.  But that is not the question we are asking.  We are not asking how to impress ourselves, each other or even our hunting buddies. Our question is how to impress God.

This is significant.  We can choose to impress God with our own righteousness.  It is such a big temptation to think like this.  We can easily form a checklist.  I have been baptized; check.  I go to church; check.  I give 10%, check.  I help at church, check.  I do the fellowship breakfast, check. I have a job and support my family, check.  I vote Republican, check.  I don’t cuss, check.  I don’t fool around on my wife, check.  I have never been arrested, check.  God must be impressed with me… no check. 

Jesus even gives us a clue to help us know if we are those who are confident in our own righteousness. Did you catch the clue? Do we look down on others? Those who do not live up to our checklist, we consider below us.  Or to change the metaphor, we are further ahead of them in the soup line.  Our attitude toward others is a dead giveaway that this story is for us.

Is this the way to impress God?  Can we impress God with all of our accomplishments?  Let’s see. I have an AA degree in Bible from FHU. I have a BA in Bible from Harding University and MA in Bible ACU. I have preached well over 1,200 sermons, 756, counting this one, in Los Alamos.  I have taught, typically, two classes Bible a week for over 30 years, and I can sing “The Wise Man Built His House Upon The Rock” with the best of them.  If you don’t believe me be here Wednesday night and I will show you.  Here is the question…  Is God impressed?  Let’s find out. 

Luke 18:12-14  "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 other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

The Tax Collector only spoke seven words, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”  But these are the words we need to speak.  “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”  He did not even look up at God, that would be too arrogant.  He brought nothing but a broken heart before God, and he went home justified.  Not because of the things he had done, but in spite of the things he had done. 

This Reversal of Exaltation principle (ROE) is amazing and at the heart of how to impress God.  This Tax Collector was about as low as you can go.  He extorted money from his fellow countrymen and gave it to the despised Romans.  It would be like one of us stealing money from the contribution box and sending it to terrorists.  He was a scum bucket.  Yet is exalted?  The ROE principle states, “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled by God in the end.  Those who humble themselves, now, will be exalted at the big banquet table in the sky.  Do all my credentials impress God?  No.  Only my recognition that I am a sinner does.  This ROE thing is hard on me. 

One more story.

Luke 18:15-17   People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them.  But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

God is impressed with babies.  We should be like children to impress God. The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like children.  Hmmm.  Like a child.  What does this mean?  We have had a lot of experience in this category.  We have, how many grandkids?  6.  What does Henry bring to the family?  So, far he has not earned any money.  His diapers cost a fortune.  He is a financial liability.   He hasn’t accomplished any sports achievements yet.  Can’t catch a ball or shoot a hoop.  He wouldn’t score very high on the SAT.  His vocab and math scores are zero.  He has managed to keep his mother awake every night for 38 days. But who is counting?  He, pretty much, eats, sleeps, cries and dirties his diaper.  That’s about it.    

Babies bring nothing to the table. They come empty-handed. Someday I expect Henry to accomplish great things, he is, after all, my grandson.  But now he is only good for… loving on.  He offers nothing.  He brings nothing.  He comes empty.  And this is why God is impressed with babies and how we need to impress Him. 

Let’s summarize or stories and look for a common link between the three.
-We have a powerless, persistent, pestery widow.
-We have a heart-broken, justified tax collector.
-We have an empty, non-accomplished baby.

We have three people who Luke tells us have impressed God.  What is the common denominator?  What is it we can take away from these three that can help us to impress God?  I want one word.  It needs to be simple for me to get it. What one word captures what impresses God?  It has to incorporate persistence, faithfulness, un-arrogance, empty-handed, powerless…I am debating between two words; I like both.  I can’t make my mind up. Which word do you like? Dependence or Reliance.

To impress God I must be dependent upon God.  To impress God I must be totally reliant upon God.  We don’t put our accomplishments before God to impress him.  We don’t point to our holiness to amaze God.  We don’t count upon our spiritual development to astound God.  It is the ROE, reversal of exaltation, principle.  We acknowledge our powerlessness and are faithful. We point to our failures and repent.  We bring nothing before God and place our hope in his Grace.  And that impresses Him. 

Isn’t that rich with irony?   Our God is the God of Irony.  All he wants is our dependence.  We can’t bring him anything.  He has it all and has done it all.  So, we don’t bring him anything.  We simply trust in his Grace.  We are reliant upon his love.  We rest in his guidance.  We surrender to his wisdom.  Reliant or dependant; you pick which word you like, and then do it. 

Before I quit, I want to check on Thank You Gems.  Are they still working?  (Pull mine out and express my thanks)  Anyone else?  I want to tie the two sermons together.  What does gratitude have to do with dependence?  Here is how it works.

Gratitude acknowledges dependence.  When I say, “Thank you,” I acknowledge you have done something for me.  In some way I recognize I am dependant upon you.  When I tell God I am grateful, I tell him I am dependant.  The more grateful I am, the more a see myself dependant upon Him.  Thus gratitude is such a powerful discipline.  It puts things in the proper order.  It places us in the right place, reliant upon God.  Thus gratitude impresses God. 

It’s hard to impress your hunting buddies, even if your dog walks on water.  But it is the opposite which impresses God. The ROE principle states, We don’t try to impress God.  Rather, we impress God by not trying, by depending/relying upon Him.