November 19 – Mercy, Grace, and Thanksgiving

  • James Tissot, The Pharisee and The Tax Collector
    French, 1886-1894
  • Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
    German, 1854
  • Barent Fabritius, The Pharisee and The Tax Collector
    Dutch, 1661

Luke 18:9-14 (CEB)
The Pharisee and the tax collector
9 Jesus told this parable to certain people who had convinced themselves that they were righteous and who looked on everyone else with disgust: 10 “Two people went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself with these words, ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like everyone else—crooks, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of everything I receive.’ 13 But the tax collector stood at a distance. He wouldn’t even lift his eyes to look toward heaven. Rather, he struck his chest and said, ‘God, show mercy to me, a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this person went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. All who lift themselves up will be brought low, and those who make themselves low will be lifted up.”

Philippians 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Romans 5:6-10
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Journaling Gratitude

Prayer of Thanksgiving:

  1. Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have
    done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole
    creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life,
    and for the mystery of love.
  2. We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for
    the loving care which surrounds us on every side.
  3. We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best
    efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy
    and delight us.
  4. We thank you also for those disappointments and failures
    that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.
  5. Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the
    truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast
    obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying,
    through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life
    again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.
  6. Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know Christ and
    make him known; and through him, at all times and in all
    places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.
    (Book of Common Prayer)