It was one of the most orderly worship services ever seen. Each one sat erect, alert, and eagerly participating in every facet of the service. Precisely spoken were the prayers; boldly confessed was the creed; loudly intoned was the singing; it almost took the roof off. And when the preacher mounted the pulpit, every eye was on him. No squirming, whispering, yawning, or searching for mints took place that day. No head turned to see if Aunt Lil and Uncle Lyle were behind. Such perfect attention, almost unbelievable! What was its cause?
In the back, at the corners, and in the balcony sat huge cameras, and within the pews microphones were concealed. These electronic eyes and ears were trained on all, recording every act, every sound, every movement, and preserving it on film to be shown a few days later on television. With such recording appendages before, behind, and above, the pastor and people were on their best behavior.
We have no mikes and cameras present here, at least not to my knowledge. But what if we did? Would that change our behavior in worship, too? It might, don't you think? Funny how that works. But not for good reasons.
Actually, we have something greater than that with us. We have the omnipresent eyes and the omniscient ears of God upon us. In fact that is true not only here in church, but also in every moment of daily life. The God “who sees me” (Gn.16:13) and “hears my cry” is there. I wonder how I look. How do I act before Him?
What do you do when God is watching? It is an arresting thought to consider because He's always watching. Our text speaks to it on a certain occasion when Jesus was invited to dinner. How can we benefit for our own lives from this dinner experience?
Dear friend, How Do You Act? Because the Savior Is Watching. On the basis of our text and this backdrop of a meal that Jesus attended, may the Holy Spirit graciously guide us in faith to I. mind our manners; II. take care where we sit; and III. reach out to all others.
I. Mind your manners.
That's what Mom and Dad used to tell my brothers and I when we were invited as guests to eat at the house of one of their friends. “Mind your manners, boys,” they would tell us. I wonder if we did, because three little boys can get into a lot of trouble if they're sitting together.
How about you? Did you ever hear the command, “Mind your manners?” Why are those words used? Parents use them when they want their children to behave, especially at the dinner table where they are guests.
Jesus was a guest at a dinner table in our text. It says that He had been invited “by a prominent Pharisee.” So, this was a man of high society and stature in the community. Perhaps he was an important political or religious figure. From a social point of view, you would want to mind your manners at his table. Jesus was expected to mind his manners from the hosts' point of view for our text says, “He was being carefully watched.”
The Pharisees were watching, and not just casually. The word used in the Greek has the connotation of a careful watching, a knit-picking type of watching. They watched Jesus like He was an opponent on whom they waited for the right moment to attack. He was used to that. He knew that they were waiting for Him to make a mistake so that they could discredit Him in front of the people.
Ironically, the same thing goes on today, not so much with the Lord Jesus since He has ascended and is no longer visible at the table, but such scrutinizing goes on in the lives of His followers. If you are a Christian there will be people who are watching you, watching for something to pounce on, just like the Pharisees.
Some wait for the Christian to make a mistake. And they are there quickly to say, “See, you Christians aren't so perfect, are you? You don't practice what you preach?”
That's right, we aren't perfect; we sin, too, and we humbly acknowledge it, thanking God that Christ's blood covers us and redeems us of our mistakes. It's because of that grace which saves us that we will want to watch ourselves and mind our manners in a God-fearing way, so that we may give glory to Him in all we do.
And that's important because there are others watching us out of curiosity. They don't know much about Christ, and all they know is what they see in us who claim to follow Him. They want to see what Christianity is all about. And if we fight and bicker like children at the table, or we speak badly in public, or we get caught in our sinful weakness doing that which even the unbeliever knows is wrong, we present an image to those who are searching which
can tarnish the Gospel. That's why Paul encouraged, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Phlp.1:27). Or as Peter said (1:2:11), “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.”
The day He visits us is Judgment Day. How wonderful it will be on that day when someone says, “I came to know Christ through you, through your conduct and through your words that led me to the Bible and salvation in the Lord Jesus.”
You see, dear friends, by your Christian life you translate the Scriptures into something which the unbeliever, who doesn't know the Scriptures, can read. Think of it this way.
The story is told of 4 pastors sitting at a table together. They were discussing the relative merits of the various translations of the Bible into English. One liked the King James Version. Another liked An American Translation better. The third like the New International Version. The fourth wasn't quite ready to express a preference. But when pressed for his opinion, he surprised his colleagues by saying, “I like my mother's translation the best.” Now, she had never translated anything from one language to another. She didn't even know Greek or Hebrew. But, by her humble Christian life and reliance upon the Savior she had translated the Scriptures into something which he could read already as a child.
In that sense, each of us is a translator of the Bible for others every day of our lives here. So Jesus encouraged, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
You may be the only “bibles” which many people will “read.” Are you a reliable translation of God's saving grace to men? How Do You Act? Because people Are Watching? Lord, help us to mind our manners.
II. Take care where you sit.
Yes, people are watching. But even more, the Savior is watching. At the table Jesus knew that He was being watched. But He was doing some people-watching Himself. “When He noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table,” He told them a parable about an invitation to a wedding feast in order
to instruct them in manners of Godly humility. He concluded by encouraging them to take care where they sat, saying, “When you are invited take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.”
That's hard for many people to see and accept. It goes contrary to common sense. For example, when I go to a Springfield Cardinal baseball game or a show at the Juanita K. Hammons Hall, I want to get a good seat. If I want to have a good seat, I have to get there first and grab it. That's the way it often is when it comes to earthly seating arrangements. You want a good seat, then take care that you get it for yourself.
Sadly, such behavior displayed among people, when taken to the extreme, is often a symptom of pride over and against God. In great arrogance another Pharisee prayed on a different occasion: “God, I thank You that I am not like other men” (Lk.18:11f). Pride displayed over people is often a symptom of pride before God.
Before God none can be declared righteous on the basis of good works or character. “No one is righteous,” the Bible says (Ro.3:1)). We can come before God only if we are stripped of our own righteousness and are by faith adorned with the merit purchased with Christ's blood.
How Do You Act? Because the Savior Is Watching. In His Kingdom it's not about grabbing or deserving or pushing or “tooting your own horn” under any circumstance to get ahead of others. It's about recognizing the opposite, taking a humble seat before God and others that He might lift us up through faith in the Savior. In that Savior He has promised a permanent seat in heaven. And that's where you'll want to take your seat. So take care where you sit.
III. Reach out to all others.
And not only you - that's where you'll want others to be, humbly sitting at the Savior's side. In some ways, it's up to you to get them there. Not to earn them the way, but to show them the way by inviting them to see the Savior. Who are you going to invite? That's where Jesus goes next when He said, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do they might invite you back and so you will be repaid. Invite the poor, the crippled, the
the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.”
Have you given a dinner lately? Whom did you invite? Would you have wanted Jesus to help you make out the invitation list? You might feel kind of funny about it after reading His words here. It almost gives the impression that after going through your list, Jesus would tell you to cross off the names of all those close to you.
That's not His point because He often accepted invitations to eat at the homes of those who were closest to Him, like Mary and Martha. His point is that Christian love is selfless and reaches out to all kinds of people, especially those least thought about by the proud and high society types, like the Pharisees.
You see, the Savior Was Watching. And He noticed how the Pharisees liked to invite the rich and famous to their banquets. Some did it because they wanted to enhance their position in society; others because they hoped to receive a favor in return. You know how that is: scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. In this case it would be I'll scratch your back and you scratch mine. They were ready to reach out only to those who could return the favor.
Humble love, however, reaches out to all others, to everyone without concern for repayment. Not only did Jesus teach this; He lived it. Think about it. For whom did He die? Only the good people? Only the believers? No, “Christ died for all,” rich and poor, healthy and sick, weak and strong – “Christ died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves” (2Co.5:15) but reach out to all nations.
If we see people humbly, like Christ did, we see people who are imperfect and in need of the Savior, just like we are. We see people lost and in need of direction, just like we are. We see people who need the gospel invitation like we do. And that's all others, not just those who can give back to us after we give to them, but also to those who can only receive what we have to give – a Savior. How Do You Act in this? We act not just because He's watching, but because we love Him who is this very way towards us.
So, mind your manners; take care where you sit; and reach out to all others; for Jesus' sake. Amen.