Napoleon Bonaparte did not pretend to be a lover of any religion. He once said that if he were to choose a religion, he would prefer the sun as the universal giver of life. Well, he missed that by some distance. Perhaps he should have been told of One described as the Sun of righteousness. His distaste for religion may also have been informed at the duality of people who profess faith in God but lived inconsistently with what they professed. Hear him: “I am surrounded by priests who repeat incessantly that their kingdom is not of this world, and yet they lay hands on everything they can get.” Such hypocrisy could not have been a good advertisement of the Kingdom the priests were proclaiming.

We are a city set on a hill, we cannot be hidden. Knowing that we are public spectacle should spur us to a lifestyle that is above reproach.

The point of our meditation today is that the world is watching. They are listening with rapt attention. They are looking for any element of incongruity between what we say and how we live. Our text states that Jesus was watched closely when He went to a Pharisee’s house to eat. Though they were frivolous in their attacks on Jesus, it does not remove from the fact that those who mention the name of the Lord cannot escape scrutiny. We are a city set on a hill, we cannot be hidden. Knowing that we are public spectacle should spur us to a lifestyle that is above reproach. Paul pledged that whether in life or death, Christ must be honoured in his body. This should be the resolve of every professing Christian.