We live in a society which is prone to exaggeration: think about this I found this in yesterdays Press, what kind of car is this? “The sportier, sleeker, you won’t want to stop. One look and you’ll be seduced by the curves and fine lines. With even more specification and features than you could ever imagine. “I’ve got quite an imagination, I hope they’re right, sorry back to the advert, “book a test drive, but be warned, you may want to book ahead.”
What car is this that seduces, with its fine lines that people are booking up to test drive. Audi, BMW, Lexis no none other than the Sportier, sleeker Honda Civic.
Not that I’m knocking Civics’ I’ve owned one myself, but did you pick up the exaggeration.
Or this how many stars out of five would you give this report, from Kate Rodger of TV3 talking about Michael Jacksons This is it, this is what she said. “It’s like watching one of the best live experiences ever seen.” That great it gained four and a half stars. Mmm slight exaggeration in her comments then.
From exaggeration to lies. Illicit Cola says this. Life wouldn’t be much fun without a bit of entertainment and mischief. Don’t grow old and boring – live life on the edge. Take a dirty big gulp of illicit and get amongst it! Illicit cola – it’s good to be bad.
Well the times I’ve been bad weren’t good. In fact it’s a complete contradiction in terms. I also know that you can have plenty of fun while keeping out of mischief and living life on the edge for me was in the outdoors not hyped up on caffeine.
Why these examples? Truth is an interesting thing and this is what we are going to explore today, there are four Proverbs in the book of Proverbs all grouped fairly closely together that talk of the value of truth and the negative points of lying, as well as a few hints on how to tell the truth. Let’s look at the proverbs now then spend a little time dissecting them.
12:17: “A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies.”
12:18: “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
12:19: “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.”
12:22: “The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.”
Now why spend any time at all talking about truth and lies, falsehood and the like?
Because in life we are going to come across the odd spin doctor, the odd yarn spinner, yip liars. I’m not talking about those who write fiction, I’m talking about those who are what can be referred to by many colloquial terms that I can not use from the platform, so I will say they are liars.
Just so we are on the same page, here’s a story about a famous story teller. This is an example of a piece of fiction.
Napoleon often told this story: Once, while visiting a province he came on an old soldier with one arm severed, dressed in full uniform. On his uniform the proud fighter displayed the coveted Legion of Honor. “Where did you lose your arm?” Napoleon asked. “At Austerlitz, sire,” came the soldier’s brisk reply.
“And for that you received the Legion of Honor?”
“Yes, sire. It is but a small token to pay for the decoration.”
“You must be,” the emperor said, “the kind of man who regrets he did not lose both arms for his country.”
“What then would have been my reward?” asked the one-armed man.
“Then,” Napoleon replied, “I would have awarded you a double Legion of Honor.” With that the proud, old fighter drew his sword and immediately cut off his other arm.
This story was circulated for years. One day someone asked, “How?”
Here is an example of a lie and it’s on going effects:
The United Press International repored of an angry Israeli judge who refused to allow a lady to be her own age. The 1975 story:
In 1955, Miss Melania Neubart decided she wanted to be 10 years younger in hopes of paving an easier road towards marriage. Claiming there was an error in the official records, Miss Neubart obtained a court declaration stating she was born in 1923 instead of 1913 (she would have been age 62 in 1975).
At that time, she went to magistrate’s court to change her year of birth back to 1913 and admitted she had lied the first time because she wanted to find a husband. Still single, she realized she was officially too young to qualify for a national insurance pension.
The judge refused the applicant’s behavior as “bold impertinence,” saying she made the court “an unwitting accomplice in the perpetration of a lie.”
Well for Miss Neubart her lie certainly backfired. They often do; as those who tell them have to have very good memories as well as the fore thought to figure out the implications of what they say. In this case justice had to be served and the court could not be implicated in a lie. Her loss, no pension.
Back to Proverb 12:17 :“A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies.”
The writer of this proverb realised that true justice can only be done when the truth is told, no doubt over the years many liars have given false testimony and gone free and a good number of innocent people have been jailed. When it comes to truth there are tests that people can be given, lie detectors, and some people read facial expressions. We are told this about truth, in scripture.
As believers everytime we lie, we put ourselves out of sorts with God. Not only that, when found out we put ourselves out of sorts with those we have lied to.
Some may say that sometimes it’s better to lie than tell the truth because someone could easily be hurt by the truth. Couldn’t they?
Well I think this is why we have verse 18 following verse 17 lets look at it again “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
Now I could stand here and sing, and I really love to sing, I however guarantee that most people would not say anything about the terrible job I do of it. Some may even compliment me to make me feel better. How can I tell? Because some people have been told they can sing when really they can’t. They go on shows like American and Australian Idol and are disappointed when this bloke tells them to not give up their day job.
He says this about the truth.
“Harshness to me is giving somebody false hopes and not following through. That’s harsh. Telling some guy or some girl who’ve got zero talent that they have zero talent actually is a kindness.”
“The object of this competition is not to be mean to the losers but to find a winner. The process makes you mean because you get frustrated. Kids turn up unrehearsed, wearing the wrong clothes, singing out of tune and you can either say, "Good job" and patronize them or tell them the truth, and sometimes the truth is perceived as mean.” Simon Cowell.
Year after year these shows get people who are more out of tune than me, trying to be the next great star and sadly they get hurt, if only they had been told the truth. Remember this though, from the proverb “the tongue of the wise brings healing and reckless words pierce like a sword”. If you need to say something that could pierce like a sword, take time to consider your words, carefully evaluate the need and remember that sometimes its best just to tape the song and play it back. This does not just apply to singing.
Best to maintain an ongoing friendship, be kind, tell the truth with gentleness, be a peacemaker, amongst these proverbs is Proverb 12:20 “There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace.” Be a peacemaker.
Our words have eternal consequences. Proverbs 12:19 tells us “Truthful lips endure forever, but the lying tongue lasts only a moment.”
Interestingly what is true / will always be true. Even if a truth is denied it will eventually come to the surface, There’s even an old English phrase from the pen of William Shakespeare “the truth will out.”
The point of the proverb that “the lying tongue lasts only for a moment” means that it will last for the wink of an eye, it will soon be found out.
The eternal consequences of lying are full and final, scripture tells us that at the end of the age the New Jerusalem will be established and that “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Rev 21:27)
Why is this so? Proverbs 12:22 Makes it clear “The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.”
It comes down to this God is Holy and that’s with a capital ‘H’, God is just and we are called to be just also, as God and injustice are opposed to one another, God cannot abide injustice, we as followers of Jesus are to act justly and to see that justice is done. Watch this clip from amazing Grace, (The smell of Death, Wingclips) a film about William Wilberforce’s fight against slavery the clip showed the cost of the truth and that understandings of the truth eventually lead to freedom for many slaves. The truth had to be spoken for this to occur.
We are to walk in and be a witness to the truth, we are to hold fast to the truth.
Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth twice in the gospel of John. Jesus told his disciples this, “And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)
Interestingly we will never be distant from God as we are always in his presence; there are times however when we feel separated from God, those times when we act in ways that damage our relationship with him, the things that pick up the deep theological term ‘SIN’. Lying is one of these things.
In the proverb we are told that the Lord delights in men who tell the truth and this is not exclusive to one half of the species, he delights in all who tell the truth. We are delighting God when we hold fast to the truth. (SBI)
Truth is for some a stranger, for others it is stranger than fiction, for us it is a necessity we are called by Jesus to be his disciples, he even tells us “if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
What’s coming out of our mouths; are our words delighting God? Jesus died so that we could be set free, to live life in all its abundance. We are set free from the lies that hold us back from the freedom of a relationship with our Heavenly Father.
We can travel through life caught up in reality or lies. At times the fantasy of escape in lies seems inviting; we only deceive ourselves, and remain separate from the truth, separating ourselves from God, why? Why would we, when we can delight God by holding fast to the truth.
Jesus said this, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
Our call is to speak the truth; our challenge is to live displaying and making the truth known, the truth of injustice that still exists, and the truth of the gospel of Christ.
In a world where exaggeration and lies are every day in our faces, we can be caught up in them, or we can walk with Jesus who is the truth, delighting God as we hold fast to him.
Appeal.
Benediction.: May God be in your head,
And in your understanding;
May God be in your eyes,
And in your looking;
May God be in your mouth,
And in your speaking;
May God be in your heart,
And in your thinking; (adapted from SASB, from a book of
hours, 1514)
May God be your Rock of Truth!
If you’ve read it, could you please rate it.Ta Andrew.
