Proverbs 20:11

Who Told Tales?

Even a child maketh himself known by his doings. Proverbs 20:11.

If we were to search this church for a child who liked and admired a talebearer, and if we were to find one, I think we should be quite justified in shutting up that boy or girl in a museum as an extra specially rare curio. Nobody likes talebearers and nobody really wants to be one, and yet everybody here today is a talebearer. We are all telling tales on somebody. I wonder who that somebody is?

Well, you are telling tales on yourself, and I am telling tales on myself. And how are we telling tales? Just by our “doings,” our conduct. We are letting everybody know what kind of men or women, what kind of boys or girls, we are, just by the way we behave.

Now there are three different people to whom our “doings” tell tales.

1. They tell tales to ourselves. You know there is one thing we can't do in this world we can't stand still. Each day we are either climbing a little higher or getting a little lower down; we are growing either a little better or a little worse. Sometimes we move so very slowly that we don't know we are moving at all, but we are very surely going in one direction or the other.

If any of you have a sundial in your garden you will know that from six o'clock in the morning till six at night the shadow will have moved half-way round the dial. And yet if you stood and watched it for a few minutes you might not think it was moving at all. Now it is just like that with our character. Very slowly, but very surely, we are growing either a little better or a little worse, and when the end of the day comes we may find that we have moved right round from one side to the other.

And what is it that shows in which direction we are moving? Just our “doings.” Are you finding it a little easier to tell an untruth than you did a year ago? Are you not quite so ashamed to laugh at things that are sacred? Are you more ready to bully the boy younger than yourself? Then you are moving in the wrong direction. Are you getting that hot temper of yours a bit in hand? Are you more ready to give up to others than you used to be? Are you less inclined to grumble, and more inclined to face things bravely? Then you are moving in the right direction.

2. But, second, our “doings” tell tales to our neighbor. They show others what kind of people we are.

If I wanted to know what anybody was like I shouldn't just pay one or two friendly calls upon him, I should want to live with him for a bit. It's not the way you behave on one or two occasions that shows what you are, but the way you act every day and when nobody special is looking on. I have known boys and girls who were very polite and sweet and obliging in the presence of a stranger. And I have seen these same boys and girls ready to scratch their little brother's face or pull their small sister's hair as soon as the visitor's back was turned; and when mother asked them to run an errand they were exceedingly grumpy and disagreeable. I have known other boys and girls who were shy and awkward when visitors called, and who were yet the light and comfort of the household.

So I am going to ask you a question: " What kind of tales are your ‘doings' telling to the people you meet every day to your schoolfellows and chums, and especially to your father and mother and brothers and sisters? Are they telling nice things, the things you would like other people to repeat about you, or are they saying that you are unkind and selfish, disobliging and mean?”

3. And, lastly, our “doings” tell tales to God. We may deceive ourselves and think that we are better or worse than we are; we may deceive others, or they may misjudge us; we can never deceive God. He sees right into our hearts and knows all that is going on there, and He never makes any mistakes. He knows how easily you were led away by that temptation the other day. He knows, too, what a hard fight you are haying with your temper, or your selfish desires, or your love of ease, and how very difficult it is to win. He knows, and He will judge you accordingly.

The other day I read a story about a lady who had a strange dream. She was a very rich lady, and everybody thought she was very good too. One night she dreamt that she was in heaven and that she was being shown through the streets of the city by an angel. There she saw many beautiful houses and palaces, but at last she came to one that was just being built, and it was fairer and more splendid that all the rest. “Whose mansion is this?” she asked. “That,” replied the angel, “is the house of your gardener.” The lady was very much surprised. “Why,” she exclaimed, “he lives on earth in a tiny cottage.”

The angel made no reply, but presently he led her to a little, plain, low-roofed house that was just being completed. “And whose cottage is this?” she asked. The angel answered, “This is your house.” “Mine!” said the lady. “But I have always lived in a mansion.” “Yes, I know,” replied the angel, “but the Great Builder has to do His best with the materials that are being sent up.”

This is just a parable, but it contains a great truth. Every day, by our “doings,” we are building our characters as well as showing them, building them not only for this life, but for the great life beyond. And if we put in little, mean, shabby stones here, we shall have a poor, shabby building up above.

For God makes no mistakes. Many people whom the world honored and thought good will have very humble places in heaven, and many whom the world despised will have seats of honor.