Honesty - Silence Is Not Always Golden

SERMON:

The next person, after hearing this message, who tells a lie, no matter how big or small.....will fall over immediately and die.

Ok maybe not, but hey, It could happen you know. Wait, it did happen.... Wait....it does happen......Wait.....it happens all the time. More on that in a minute.

Seeking God requires a high level of honesty that, at first, may seem quite threatening. We cover our faults and failures....it's an involuntary reflex. When we do this, it looks like the best course of action or the best option. We always want people to see the best in us......thinking positive of us......never questioning our integrity......we want people to respect us for our above board behaviors. However, humility, one of the first prerequisites to being honest, requires the willingness to be honest with God and others about our true spiritual condition.

A survey conducted asked the question "do you lie?" 50% admitted they lie from time to time - the other 50% are liars.

Have you ever heard these famous sayings?

- Abe Lincoln said if a person doesn't lie, he wont have so much to remember

- Honesty is the best policy

- "Let me be honest with you"

- "Honest to goodness"

- "Honest injun" (refrain from this one because it is degrading)

- "He is honest as the day is long" (it's what a man does at night than can be scary)

- "Some people are just brutally honest"

- A little white lie will never hurt anyone

We lie every day.....many times a day. Here are some common every day lies:

- we lie about where we have been

- checks in the mail

- said we did a chore, but didn't

- I need 5 minutes of your time

- Let's have lunch sometime

- went somewhere when you were supposed to be somewhere else

- claim you didn't say something that you really did

- money cheerfully refunded

- open wide, this won't hurt

- what does the IRS have on file about you?

- is the time card at work accurate or do you "fudge it" from time to time? What is "fudging anyway?

- you seen the car accident but ain't telling who was at fault.

- have you ever taken credit for something you didn't do?

- went silent when you could have provided facts that would reveal the truth (sin of omission)

- tell a half truth. It's like saying you "dodged a bullet". Is that physically possible to actually dodge something that is traveling 1250 feet per second?

- I tried to call you but I couldn't get through. You really didn't call....did you?

And the list is endless.

Why do we lie? Back in the 70's, the TV show "Laugh-In" had a character played by Flip Wilson. Her name was Geraldine. Geraldine always lied about stuff. When asked why she lied, she quipped "the devil made me do it".

Does the devil really make us lie or is it from our sinful self that these decisions are made?

Proverbs 28:13 says: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy".

Proverbs 30:7-9 states: "Two things I ask of you Oh Lord, do not refuse me before I die (vs 8) keep falsehood and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread".

Gen 3:13: "Then the Lord said to the woman "what is this you have done?"" "The woman said "the serpent deceived me, and I ate"". Eve claimed the serpent deceived her. That may be so, but Eve made the decision to lie about it.

Acts 5:1-11 has a scary story about what happens to someone when they lie. It's the story of Ananias & Sapphira. They never seen it coming. Did the devil make them do it? Or did they lie because they felt their personal gain was in jeopardy if they told the truth.

Read Acts 5:1-11. The story of Ananias & Sapphira.

verse 5 & 10 are the scary parts. Boom! When the lie slipped out of their mouth, the scripture indicates death was immediate. Does that happen to us when we lie? Yessiree! Everytime. We may not actually fall over dead, drawing our last earthly breath, but we do die. Our relationship with God is dead! At least temporarily. More on this later too.

Why is it difficult to be honest and transparent in everything we do? Answer: We don't want to air our "failure laundry" with anyone. We always want to impress people, not showing any weakness. We want to be seen as blameless. We don't want to take responsibility for our missteps or errors in judgement. We always want to better our position in some way.....no matter how small it may be.