Luke 1

Luke 1:6

When No One Is Looking They were both righteous before God.—Luke 1:6.If you were given a text and asked to make a little sermon from it—a real sermon, out of your own experience—I wonder how you would begin, and what sort of things you would say.Once I nearly asked a boy to give me ideas for a short sermon. His name was Jim, and he was in a Sunday-school class that I happened to be teaching. The lesson was about Zacharias and Elisabeth, as it is given in the first chapter of Luke. When we came to the verse, “And they were both righteous before God,” I put the question to the class, “What does that mean?” Jim at once answered, “Please, they were good when nobody was lookin’.” I should have liked to get a few more of Jim’s ideas about your text.Speaking of this text a minister would naturally like to say something about the delightful old couple who lived in a quiet home away among the hills, and who got their religion from the Old Testament. Jim, on the other hand, would possibly have dropped Zacharias and Elisabeth altogether and spoken about “straight chaps.” Further, he would almost certainly have said something to this effect: “The right thing is to fear nobody and tell the truth, even if you get a black eye for the telling of it.”I think Jim’s interpretation of the text is a very good one indeed, especially for boys and girls. You believe that truth will prevail.

You know that the men who have done great and good work in the world were straight if they were anything.You have all heard of President Lincoln, and what he did for the American people in bringing them through their great civil war. He was only a poor lad, but he was very clever.

That, however, would not have helped him through his difficulties. It was his righteousness. He was good when nobody was looking. For a long time he had but few friends; but he held on, sustained by his good conscience and his faith in God; and in course of time he heard “hisses turned to cheers, the taunts turned to tribute, the abuse to praise.” He never altered his course, and at his death the whole world mourned his loss. Punch, who at one time had ridiculed this man of the people, printed some verses about him. I shall just quote two lines:Yes, he had lived to shame me from my sneer,To lame my pencil, and confute my pen.President Lincoln was one of the world’s righteous men—one of its heroes, one who was good through and through.Some little time ago there was sold in America a certain famous cup.

It was a cup which the GermanKaiser had presented to the winner of a yacht race across the Atlantic. The cup was sold by the owner on behalf of the Red Cross.

It was supposed to be of solid gold and was valued at over £1000. It was publicly broken in pieces at New York, and what do you think they found? That the much-vaunted solid gold cup was made of common pewter with a thin gold plating, and was worth only £10! It was a sham at heart.Boys and girls, those who are good when nobody is looking can stand the test of breaking up. There is nothing sham about them. They are solid gold all through.

Luke 1:66

What Will You Be? What then shall this child be?—Luke 1:66.Rather more than four hundred years ago there was a schoolmaster in a little town in Saxony who every morning, on entering his class, took off his cap to his boys. One day somebody asked the schoolmaster why he so honored his scholars. He replied, “I am saluting the great generals or statesmen or preachers or benefactors of mankind whom these boys may some day become.” And the old master was justified in his faith, for one of these boys grew up to be Martin Luther, the great reformer of our religion.Nineteen hundred years ago a boy was born in a hill-town of Judaea, and such wonderful signs were given at the time of his birth that all the people in the countryside marveled and said, “What then shall this child be?” They were sure that some great future lay before him, that God had some strange and special work for him to do. And so it was. For the boy grew up to be John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, who went before Him to prepare His way.Now the question that was asked about John the Baptist is still being asked today. “What then shall this child be?” And it is being asked about you.

Your parents are asking it; your teachers and friends are asking it; your country is asking it; God Himself is asking it. You alone can give the answer.“What then shall this child be?” It means much more than what career will you follow—will you be a lawyer, or a doctor, or an engineer? will you be a nurse, or a teacher, or the maker of a home?

It means much more than will you be rich and famous? will you be witty or beautiful? It means will you be great in the best sense? Will you be noble and pure, unselfish and true; or will you be hard and selfish, lazy and pleasure-loving? In every one of you there lie two tremendous possibilities—to make your life “one grand sweet song” or to make it a dismal failure.There is a story told of a successful business man, a man who had grown hard and unfeeling in the pursuit of money. One evening this old man was sitting alone after dinner nodding over his wine, when a servant entered carrying a visitor’s card on a tray. Before the merchant had time to read the name the visitor followed the servant into the room.

The stranger shook hands as if he were an old friend, and the merchant felt sure he had known him before. They sat down and had a talk about old times, and soon the business man discovered that his visitor knew all about his boyhood’s hopes and ambitions.

Then the stranger said that he had married a woman whom the merchant had himself loved and had given up for the sake of making money. He added that his wife and daughter were living quite near, and he invited the old man to spend the evening with them. The merchant accepted the invitation and he passed the happiest evening he had spent since the days of his youth. He discovered that his friend was a famous literary man whose books he had omitted to read in the rush to make money. At the close of the evening the visitor accompanied him home and left him in the room where he had first appeared to him. As he was saying good-bye he pointed to the name on the card which was still lying on the table.

It was the merchant’s own name, and as the visitor vanished through the door he said, “I am the man you might have been.” Then the old man awoke and found it was a dream.Boys and girls, life lies before you, and it is yours to choose which way you will take—the way of self, or the way of God, which is the way of love and service. “What then shall this child be?” You and you alone can decide that matter. Even God can’t do anything unless you let Him.

But there is one thing certain. You will never be the best unless you are working with and for God, unless you are letting Him direct all your paths, letting Him rule in your life and heart.It is told of Earl Cairns, a great lawyer and Member of Parliament, that when he was a little boy someone said these words to him, “God claims you.” The words made a deep impression, and he went to ask his mother about them. Her answer was, “What are you going to do with the claim?” He replied, “I shall own it, and give myself to Him.” And all through his schooldays and his college days and his career in Parliament these words remained his motto.Boys and girls, God claims you too. What are you going to do with the claim?