The World Is Watching
TCF Sermon
December 31, 2000
Let’s start this morning with a history lesson
It was Summer, 1968
- time of turmoil in America, for several reasons
-not the least of which was the controversy over the war in Vietnam
- like this year which ends today, 1968 was an election year
- both parties held their national conventions
- Republicans nominated Richard Nixon, who would later in the year be elected to his first term as president
- Democrats nominated Hubert Humphrey, a Minnesotan
(threw that in for the benefit of Jim Grinnell)
Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, a Demo stronghold
- Richard Daley, whose son would play a part in the Florida election mess 32 years later -was the undisputed king of the city - a longtime mayor whose reputation for winning elections helped lay a foundation for the tongue-in-cheek statement sometimes attributed to Chicago elections:
"vote early, vote often"
Anyway, despite the fact that many Democrats were very sympathetic with the anti-war movement, demonstrators targeted the Democratic National Convention for large protests
- this was the ‘60s - the era of the hippie movement - a different time in America
- I remember as a boy of 12 years old watching this unfold on television
- outside the convention center, large crowds of young people were protesting the war
- the next thing that happened was what made this such a memorable occasion
- while the convention went on inside, with most of the delegates at first completely unaware of what was taking place outside
- outside, Mayor Daley’s Chicago Police force was making sure the demonstrators didn’t get out of hand
they responded to the taunts and curses of the demonstrators, and perhaps to some rock throwing, with tear gas, billy clubs and brute force…
Now, I’m not suggesting they didn’t need to use that force - I don’t know
- but what I remember is that TV caught the whole thing…
- here on live television was a huge crowd of young people
- being beaten, dragged away, tear-gassed
- in the midst of this, a chant began, indiscernible at first, but growing
- anyone remember what the demonstrators chanted as some of them were being beaten, kicked and gassed?
- they said: "the whole world is watching…. The whole world is watching"
- it was quite a powerful moment
- they were saying - you can’t beat us and gas us without everyone seeing exactly what you’re doing… and it doesn’t do much for your message of peace
- I remember later, inside the convention hall, after most of the delegates had become aware of what was going on, the cameras focused on Mayor Daley as someone called his police force a "bunch of thugs" from the podium
- it was an embarrassing moment for him, for his city, for the Democratic Party, even though for the party it was only guilt by association
- because when they were trying to win the hearts of Americans, here was a group of protesters undermining that message of peace and prosperity that all political parties try to claim as their own, with a picture broadcast to the nation and to the world of these protesters being beaten
The whole world is watching
The title of this morning’s message is The World Is Watching
And just as it was true that the Democrats couldn’t have their little altercation with war protesters
without people seeing and judging for themselves how that matched up with the rhetoric inside the convention hall
- we as believers cannot sin, cannot let down our guard when it comes to the biblical standards of attitude and behavior we profess
- because the world is watching
Luke 17:1-2
Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Just as 1968 was memorable for that event, as well as many other significant historical events
What will the year 2000 be remembered for?
- the non-event of the "y2k" bug?
- the presidential race?
- the Florida election mess?
Certainly, this year which ends today will be remembered for all those things and more
- but what’s unfortunate is that this year will also be remembered as a year during which many very visible Christians failed to live up to Godly standards, locally and nationally
- because the world is watching, we can only guess what kind of harm these failures have brought to the church
- and worse yet, to those outside the church, who will use these things as an excuse to attack believers
- to discount the reality of our faith
- to reject our message about anything
- to reject the gospel of Jesus Christ
In this year gone by, we had a return to some of the scandal that seemed to plague the church in the late 1980s - we’ll see in a moment why scandal is really the perfect word to describe these things
- the televangelists’ troubles then brought much notoriety to the American church
- it got so bad that one survey in the late 1980s or early 1990s showed that many Americans would rather live next door to an ex-convict than next to a born-again Christian
- why? Because they equated Christianity with hypocrisy
this year, the year 2000, was almost as bad:
- one prominent TV minister got a divorce - no hint of adultery, but remained in place as the pastor of his church, with no apparent consequences to his not practicing what he had preached for so many years
- another local minister of a large growing church was caught in adultery and removed from his pastorate
- a prominent co-host of a national radio ministry known for its strong "family values" stance was caught in adultery and dismissed from the organization
Besides clearly labeling these things as the sins that they are
the Bible calls these kinds of things stumbling blocks, or stumbling stones
- in the passage we just read from Luke 17, they are called "the things that cause people to sin"
- now, in some ways that can be misleading, to translate the Greek word skandalon, because the Bible also notes that we are enticed to sin by our own evil desires -
so nothing can "cause" us to sin - we choose to do it
But the idea here is that there are things that lead people, tempt people to sin - it’s a snare or a trap that leads people into sin
Vines says of this Greek word translated stumbling stone: "the name of the part of a trap to which the bait is attached, hence, the trap or snare itself. In the NT, skandalon is always used metaphorically, and ordinarily of anything that arouses prejudice, or becomes a hindrance to others, or causes them to fall by the way.
The original meaning of the word translated "stumbling block" means tempting someone to sin.
- In this context, Jesus is warning his disciples, that as sinners are drawn to the gospel of the kingdom, it is inevitable that some would trip over a stumbling-block placed in their path by someone opposed to the messenger as well as the message of salvation.
The phrase, stumbling block, or rock of offense, is also used of Christ (regarding the way of salvation)
There is the reality of opposition in a fallen world. Within a few months, Jesus and his cross would become an offense to the Jewish leadership (1 Cor. 23), and it has remained so in every generation up to this very day.
OFFENSE Offense translates several Hebrew and Greek terms. The following two senses predominate:
(1) That which causes indignation or disgust (Genesis 31:36). Here offense approximates crime (Deut. 19:15; Deut. 22:26), guilt (Hosea 5:15), trespass (Romans 5:15; Romans 5:17-18; Romans 5:20), or sin (2 Cor. 11:7). The application of the image of the rock of offense to Christ is a special case of this sense (Romans 9:33; Galatians 5:11; 1 Peter 2:8). What was especially offensive was the claim that an accursed one was the Messiah and that faith in this crucified one and not works was necessary for salvation.
(2) That which serves as a hindrance (Matthew 16:23) or obstacle (2 Cor. 6:3). This hindrance is often temptation to sin (Matthew 18:7; Luke 17:1).
We tend to think of sin as a "singular" matter,
- something that a particular person commits, for which he or she is individually responsible.
That is true, but it is not the total picture.
These things would not be a problem for anyone but ourselves if we lived our lives in isolation, but because we don’t…
because the whole world is watching
- because people see what we say and do
- these things become snares, traps,hindrances to the faith or potential faith of others
here’s an example:
read from World story intro excerpt:
Yes, the world is watching:
it’s watching:
- how we respond to trials and difficult circumstances
- what we say
- what we do
- it’s watching how what we say and do match up
- do we talk the talk and not walk the walk?
- as the world watches, it can be drawn to the gospel or repelled
- does this put pressure on us to live up to God’s standards? YES!
Though we’ve focused on how the most visible Christians can be stumbling blocks to the world, this idea that the world is watching doesn’t let any of us off the hook:
- the world’s watching starts in our homes, with our own families, with our own children
- especially when my children were younger, I realized this truth
- I saw my own worst character traits shine brightly through my daughters
- my kids were watching, and still are
- I have a responsibility with them to set a Godly example of behavior and attitude
I remember Bill Sanders saying that there are three vital components parents need to remember in raising Godly children:
example, example and example
The idea that the world is watching applies in an ever-widening circle around our lives:
- our extended family
- our church family
- our neighborhoods
- our workplaces
- our hometowns
- our cities…etc…
When we identify ourselves as believers, it’s as if we’re holding up a magnifying glass to our lives and saying "watch this!"
If we’re associated with an organization that automatically identifies us as believers:
- if we attend a Christian school or college
- if we work for a church
- if we volunteer for a Christian ministry
we’re being watched
- years ago, I took my car to be repaired, and asked the guy at the shop if he would take a check
- he asked me if I went to such and such a school - a local school that all of us would immediately recognize as being associated with Christians
- for a moment, it flashed through my mind that he might reject my check because I didn’t go to this school
- however, it was just the opposite
- When I told him that I didn’t go to this school, he said he’d be glad to take my check, and then proceeded to tell me about several bad experiences he had with students from this school writing latex checks
- you know the kind -- checks that bounced
It’s quite possible that this had happened once or twice and that the experience had then soured him on all the students from the particular school
But it illustrates how important it is when just one of us doesn’t practice what we preach - or what the Bible teaches
There’s a preacher at a Kansas church who makes a point to take many of his members to protest at any event where homosexuals are present
When he’s there, he and his congregation carry signs that say things like:
God hates fags
He’s very visible, and very upfront about his brand of Christianity
- unfortunately, he hurts the cause of Christ by spreading this hatred
- because God may hate what homosexuals do, but He loves them and wants to woo them into His Kingdom
But think of it:
- if you’re caught up in the sin of homosexuality, and someone who calls himself a Christian says God hates you
- wouldn’t that be a very large hurdle, or stumbling stone, for you to have to overcome?
- the claims Jesus makes are also referred to as stumbling stones - or hurdles, that people must overcome
- of course, in that context, these things aren’t sin
- they are just difficult truths, as we noted when we looked at how this word skandalon is used
- so there are already hurdles for unbelievers to overcome without our sin creating more hurdles
- that’s why Jesus says "woe to him through whom they come"
Woe is a pretty serious word
- in another passage similar to the one in Luke 17, Jesus is talking about causing little ones to stumble
- what follows this passage shows how seriously Jesus takes our sin that causes another to stumble
Matthew 18:6-9
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7"Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! 8If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
In other words:
- we are responsible for removing those things in our lives that cause us to stumble - and we must take those things very seriously - the hyperbole of cutting off limbs and gouging out eyeballs makes it clear how seriously God views this
- here, Jesus clearly applies these things not just to your sin, but to how your sin causes others to sin
In his book According to Luke, David Gooding wrote:
"...no sin against a fellow-man can possibly be more serious than to do something by act or word to stumble him in his faith, or to break that faith, in God, in the deity of Christ, in the authority of His Word, in the value of his redemption or the reality of his salvation."
Many verses address this idea that the world is watching, in both a positive and negative context
Let’s quickly review a few of these
Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
This passage shows us that when people see what we do as believers, they may recognize God
- what’s more, it can have a great influence on how they relate to and respond to Him
- it notes they will "praise your Father in heaven"
Jesus was watched closely by His contemporaries, to see what He’d say and do
Luke 14:1
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.
Luke 20:20
Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.
I think the same could be said of the secular media today
- they hope to catch us in something we say or do,
- something to discredit us
- yet, we must consider that everyone around us watches us with the same hypercritical eye, looking for offense
Again, we can get ourselves in enough trouble just by speaking the unpopular truths Jesus spoke, without creating stumbling blocks of our sin
In our "tolerant" culture, it’s practically an unforgivable sin to repeat Jesus’ very exclusive claim, which seems to be quite intolerant of other religions:
"I am the way the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me"
Paul recognized that our good behavior, seen by men, could have a significant, positive influence
1 Tim. 4:16
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers
As we mentioned earlier, this starts in the home, as Paul recognized
1 Peter 3:1-2
Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
A chapter earlier, Peter noted the positive influence we could have on a watching world
1 Peter 2:12
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.
Yes, the world is watching
That’s a good thing when we live by the Word of God
- when we live up to the standards He has set
It’s a woeful thing when we sin, and by our sin, cause others to stumble
Poem
Isn’t it strange that princes and kings
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings
And common folk like you and me
Are the builders of eternity.
To each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass and a book of rules;
And each must make, ere time is flown,
A stumbling-block or a stepping-stone.
R. L. Sharpe, Major Edward Bowes, "Verses I like," Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1937.
This coming year, will we be stumbling blocks, causing others to stumble over the message of our lives -
- or will we be stepping stones, proving to be lights in the world, illuminating the way to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
