Rev.Benjamin Glaser, 6/18/24
Good Morning,
My granddaddy used to say that it is easier to tell the truth because then you only have to remember one thing. Now, I’m sure he ain’t the first, or the last, to say that, but it’s honestly one of the most helpful things any of us can remember. Lies not only dehumanize the person being lied to, they also degrade the mind of people who need to keep track of what they said to whom about what the last time. It’s just simpler at the end of the day to be honest. In today’s prayer and worship help we are going to think through some of the reasons why we lie and why it would be wise of us to, in the great words of Bob Newhart, stop it. Christians are to be lovers of truth.
Why live any other way?
When Satan is introduced to us in the Bible it is in his office as deceiver. In fact the word “Satan” in the Hebrew identifies this fallen angel (Rev. 12:7-10) as the obstructer or adversary. Jesus in John 8:44 calls him the “Father of lies”. Taking the name Satan and thinking about false witness as something that gets in the way is a good means by which to understand what we do when we are not dealing in reality. It is even more important to ask the question in relation to the thing we are being turned away from in the lying. What are we being obstructed from seeing? The answer here is pretty simple, it’s God Himself, and thereby all the benefits that come from a right relationship with Him and those He loves. Keeping someone with a disease from the medicine they need to survive can not only be damaging to their health, but it can be even injurious to their very life. We would never intentionally do that in this case, why do we find it so easily to do so when it comes to the spoken word and our interactions with one another and the Lord Himself?
Part of our transgression of the Third, and Ninth, Commandment derives from the fact that we can’t see, or won’t see, the effects our sin has on others and ourselves. We refuse to love our neighbor as ourselves. We obstruct from our own view the consequences of our actions, especially as they play out in the future. Our fallen heart tells us that if we get through this one lie then we will be able to “fix it” later. It is so short-sighted. Yet we do it over and over again.
A Biblical story would be helpful at this point. You likely know the names Ananias and Saphira and what they did. This husband-and-wife team conspired to keep back from the Lord that which they promised to give Him, and that lie turned into their own destruction. Even when given opportunity to repent and reveal the truth they stuck to their common confession, hoping that if they kept it together it would all blow over, yet to death they would return. The scene there is pretty wild. However, nothing that happens there should be surprising to the Christian who has read his copy of the word of God. Solomon warned of something similar when he said:
“When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed—Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?” — Ecclesiastes 5:4-6
Everything that Ananias and Saphira had worked for was destroyed in their deception. They were obstructed from the kingdom of God by the willful misuse of their hearts desire to gain a hand over the one who gave them life. Why did they hold back what they promised? Simply because they wanted the glory of doing something good for the church, and also to get something out of it themselves. It’s the highest form of selfishness. Not only do you cause God to lament you cause your brothers to offer up false prayers of thanksgiving and praise. Falsely representing motives in support of the good work of Christ is so gross. It’s bad when a pagan magician fakes his faith trying to get the wondrous gifts in the book of Acts, it is so much worse when people who took vows of membership to seek the peace, purity, and prosperity of a local congregation impoverish it in their great lies. False witness soaks everything it comes into contact with in its ooze of sticky goo, and thereby good men and women get stuck in the consequences of it.
It is in these kinds of greedy endeavors that the world itself reacts against when it goes on in the church of Christ. God instructs Moses to tell Israel that they are to be a light to the world around them, they are to live and act in such a way that those outside the covenant family would have no reason to revolt against the good news of Jesus. Heathen nations have all the lies they can handle on a daily basis. Christian nations should be known for its love of truth regardless of where it leads. If the pagan sees the believer acting in the same morally reprehensible way, allowing deception, corruption, licentiousness, and all numbers of evil why should the man or woman outside the faith have any interest in joining in a life that is no different that what they experience in their own fallen world? For those who rest and trust in Christ we should never be the reason given as to why someone has no curiosity towards the wisdom of the One who made the Heavens and the Earth. The church should be a place where truth is always honored, and that begins with loving our neighbor enough to be honest with them. That of course starts in our own heart, in loving ourselves enough to be truthful with ourselves.
In closing, our God in the shorter catechism is described as truth. We who are made in His image should seek to be like Him in never feeling the need to hide our light of sincere honesty, given always in love, so that others might know what benefits come to those who seek uprightness in all things, for the blessing of all around us, in grace, in faith, and in fidelity to the word of truth.
Here’s a word more:
https://www.reformationscotland.org/2020/03/13/the-most-dangerous-kind-of-self-deception
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church