There was some big news at the CIA last week. Christine Axsmith, a 42 year contractor was fired from her job because of her blog. If you’re not familiar with what blogging is, think of it as a journal that is posted on the Internet for everyone to read. In her case, this one was internal, but you get the idea. You see, even though she was just a software tester, she somehow thought she was qualified to speak for the CIA when it came to the policy on torture. She even claimed to have seen some documents about it in a previous job, and just started writing about that. Talk about taking on the air of authority.
Now, you can imagine why the CIA might have a few qualms about anyone who would take it upon themselves to write something that might make people think she spoke for them. She was a software tester. What did she know about the reputation of the CIA? And yet, her blatant disregard for it ended up costing her job.
Now, I have no knowledge of what she wrote. She may have written with journalistic integrity and had the truth on her side. Equally as likely, this being a blog, she may have just made stuff up. It doesn’t really matter now – the point is, in publishing her private views in such a public fashion, she was acting as an ambassador to an organization that did not ask her to do that.
Now, you might wonder why I’d be talking about that when the commandment we’re covering this week is: “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” After all, what does that have to do with lying? Well, I want to suggest to you this week that there’s more to bearing false witness than lying. They’re definitely related, but you need to understand the fullness.
You guys know I don’t like to throw around a lot of Greek, but this week’s word is really good. When the Hebrews first translated the Old Testament into Greek, into something called the Septuagint, they believed that the 72 translators who did it were every bit as inspired as Moses himself. The translators used an interesting word to translate “No false witnessing.” The word was pseudo-martyr.
Let me break that down for you. You know what a pseudonym is. Samuel Clemens never had a birth certificate that said “Mark Twain.” Mark Twain was a false name for Sam. Technically, it was a lie. It was a fiction – a pseudo-name that everybody accepted when he wrote. Anything pseudo is just that: false.
As for martyr, I know you first impulse is to think about Christians tied to a stick in the coliseum. But realize what it was those faithful witnesses were doing. They were testifying with their lives, and ultimately their deaths, as to who Jesus was. They were witnessing with all it was that they are.
So, when the Lord told Moses ‘No false witnessing,’ he was saying something pretty bold. He was saying, “Don’t misrepresent me!”
Now, if you’ll indulge me here, I want to give you my translation of the whole text – Because I don’t want you think I’m making this all up. In Greek and Hebrew, the verb is something understood – it’s not in there, you get to figure it out. You could translate it two ways: “No False witnessing in regards to those near you” or you could say “Don’t be a false witness according to those near you.”
In the first case, it’s almost exactly what we think of as lying – or more specifically, perjury. Don’t lie in court if you don’t have a good lawyer. It’s a bad idea, and it can land you in jail. But, I’ll tell you, I think I like the second one even better, because it conveys the general principle better. Don’t be a false witness.
Possibly the most famous case of possible perjury in recent years depended on what your definition of “is” was. Now, regardless of what that man’s jury ever decided as to the exact facts of the case, the public figured out pretty quickly he wasn’t being truthful – he was acting falsely. And that’s not a good idea. Legally, he may have been right. Politically, he was toast.
There was a TV show on many years back where a guy decided to become a priest . Now, it was a comedy, but what struck me was their perception of what a priest does. The running joke was that the guy wasn’t terribly bright, and yet the job of priest was thought to be that of a lawyer or a judge who could supposedly tell you what the “ethically right” thing was in any given preposterous situation. It was as though they thought the Bible was nothing more than case law that needed to be applied in legalistic fashion.
Well, the Bible mentions interpreters of the law a lot – they were called Scribes and Pharisees. But you and I both know what Jesus thought of them.
You see, Christianity isn’t about case law. It’s about the Christ who loves us. And, if we love him, we’ll be like him. You know this line: If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments. We’ll naturally bear witness to him by what we say and what we do. It’s not some legalistic precedent, but the principle of a person and his life.
You’ll notice that I prefer to leave the marginal issues, well, out on the margins of my sermons. Again, that’s because the point isn’t the letter of the law but the Spirit who indwells.
Knowing the principle also makes it really easy when the hard questions come. When it comes to lying, for instance, the hard question is always, “What about white lies?”
You know, like when I ask my wife, “Do I look fat?” How is she supposed to answer? The kind answer is not necessarily the truthful one. But, depending on whether or not I’m exercising, it may be just the kind of answer I need to keep me going. On the other hand, if I’m being lazy or just plain vain, sometimes I need to hear the truth – in love.
You see, loving someone means doing what’s best for them, not what’s best for us. That’s why our God doesn’t treat us like machines to whom rules must be applied. We aren’t case law, we’re children. We’re not legal principles, we’re loved.
I suspect, if I asked Jesus “Do I look fat?” his answer would be, “I love you.” Scripture tells us that it’s only man who looks on the outward appearance – God looks on the heart. And, I’m proud to say that my wife is more concerned about my heart too, and that’s why she’s kicking me in the butt to get it healthy again!
There’s a great story in Judges 3, which if April Fool’s Day weren’t also Palm Sunday next year, I would have been sorely tempted to use as a text. The story basically goes like this – A guy named Ehud comes up to the tyrannical king Eglon and says, “I have a message from God – but its for your ears only.” So, the king gets rid of his advisors, and when they are alone, Ehud pulls out his sword and sticks it in the king. The Bible says that the king is so fat that the sword gets stuck in his belly. The king basically falls back onto the toilet, where he dies.
Now, the best part of the story is this: his advisors understand the king is sitting on the ole porcelain throne for a long time, but nobody is willing to go into the bathroom to see if the king is okay. In the meantime, Ehud is able to rally the Jews to listen to God and go storm the castle.
You might have figured this out, however: Ehud was lying. He didn’t have a message for the King – he had task from God. He was faithfully doing what God had told him to do. He wasn’t bearing a false witness – he was bearing the sword of the Lord. Now, I’m not suggesting that we are called to lie or skewer fat kings with a stick. But look at the principle: God was glorified by Ehud’s obedience. Ehud was in fact delivering God’s message – that God’s people are to be free to obey God alone. That obedience is the most important thing.
I can’t think of time in my life where God ever called me lie or for that matter, to kill someone while they’re sitting on the toilet. In fact, most of the time, he commands me to proclaim the truth from the mountaintops. A false witness would make it impossible for that message to be heard. But in all things, the chief aim is that God should be glorified. Who God is – in all His essence – Love, Truth, Joy; God is the whole reason for what we do.
But, let me illustrate that principle a second way. If you’re asked, is it okay to tell a “white lie,” I’d have to ask you this question: What about Corrie Ten Boom, or Oskar Schindler, or the family that hid Anne Frank, or even Pope Pius XII. Each and every one of them lied about the Jews they were hiding. Even if they didn’t say it out loud, they were legally under compulsion to turn over Jews in hiding. They were harboring fugitives.
But look at what they were doing in lying or breaking the law. They were bearing witness to God’s chosen people with all they were. Some of them died as a result of what they were doing. Others were imprisoned. Some were lucky enough to see the prison bars only from the outside. But in doing unto to the least of these God’s brethren, they produced a true and faithful witness to the God of Life who loved, and even died for them.
Tell me, who was the real liar in that war?
They say hard cases make bad law, and they’re right. Please don’t misunderstand me – I’m not saying that we should feel justified in breaking the law if it accomplishes a good end. Again, you’ll note the witnesses that inspire us today most are the one who came to bad ends, but who were faithful nonetheless.
All I’m saying is this: If the principle is love, and the end is to bear witness to God’s love, I think we’re on pretty solid ground. Good Christians can and do argue specifics – that’s fine. But we can agree on a lot more than we ever argue about. Love should be pretty obvious.
The life that we live is pretty obvious too. Whether we like it or not, the world looks to us to bear witness to our God. They’re pretty smart too.
It gives me no end of joy that Rachel is already beginning to talk about Jesus. She knows that Jesus is our friend, and she knows that Jesus died and rose again. I’m not sure she really knows what died means just yet, and I am sure she’s picking more of that up from her mommy than her daddy, but it makes me feel good to know that she’s picking that up.
On the other hand, I’ve seen her pick up some other traits too, perhaps of which I am less proud. I’ll pick on someone else by saying that last week, she learned a lot of new things from her cousin – yeah, her cousin – that I wish she hadn’t. You know, it’s amazing how they pick up on the bad traits so much more easily than the good ones. Either way, whatever witness we make is left with our children for the rest of their lives.
But don’t think it’s just our children.
I remember sitting in High School English when a non-believer said, “If you want to know what a church is like, just watch them as they leave the parking lot.” He had claimed to see Christian commuters cutting each other off just to make it one light cycle ahead of the other guy. It’s a witness alright. I hear cops talking pulling over cars with what must be “flying fish” plastered on the back. They’re taking note of our witness on the roads too.
I was talking to a mom recently whose witness really impressed me. She lived mostly around people who were a lot better off than she and her family were. But her witness to her children was far more valuable. She told me with great and right pride of the day her son came to her. She was a little bit surprised at first, because he was supposed to be out playing with the other boys. But the other boys had decided that they wanted to try shoplifting. They were just doing it for the thrill of it – but remember, here’s a boy who probably could have used the stuff they took.
But the boy had been watching his parents’ witness. He said, “Mom, they want to steal, but I know that’s not the right thing to do.” He had been watching, and he had been learning.
Our words are extremely important. Out here, we just take it for granted that our word is our bond. I remember my wife being very clear to me that when somebody thought I was a “talker,” that wasn’t a compliment. If the walk didn’t match the talk, that wasn’t a good thing.
If our words are not matching the Truth, we are bearing a false witness. After all, we claim to love the God who is Truth himself – it’s hard to see how a lie would honor him.
But don’t be so limited in your understanding of witness that you think it just ends with your words. The song says, your entire life is an open book, people are reading it through and through. Say, does it point them to the Lord? Do others see Jesus in you?
Long Branch Baptist Church
Halfway, Virginia; est. 1786
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Enter to Worship
Prelude David Witt
Invocation John 1:1-18
*Opening Hymn #147
“We are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder”
Welcome & Announcements
Morning Prayer
*Praise Hymn [See Insert]
“Unto Thee, O Lord”
*Responsive Lesson [See Right]
*Offertory Hymn #405
“We are called to Be God’s People”
Offertory Mr. Witt
*Doxology
*Scripture Exodus 20:16
Sermon
“An Unwitting Ambassador”
Invitation Hymn #294
“Let Others See Jesus in You”
Benediction
Congregational Response
May the grace of Christ of Savior / And the Father’s boundless love
With the Holy Spirit’s favor / Rest upon us from above. Amen.
* Congregation, please stand.
Depart To Serve
RESPONSIVE LESSION
Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
For certain intruders have stolen in among you, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts.
Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son
Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen."
Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments is a liar. In such a person the truth does not exist.
For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.
So then, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you therefore on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
What is desirable in a person is loyalty, it is better to be poor than a liar. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
In spite of being right I may be counted a liar; my wound is incurable, even though I am without transgression.
By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true. It may be our injustice confirms his justice altogether. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.
Jude 3-5; 1 John 5:10; 1 John 4:20; 1 John 2:4; 1 Cor 15:15; Matt 15:19
2 Cor 5:19-21; Prov 19:22, 1 John 2:22; Job 34:6; Rom 3:4-5 (par); John 8:32
• Please plan to stay after for a business meeting.
• Remember Homecoming is September 17th – and there’s still a lot to do in preparation for it!
• If you are available to help with 7 Loaves, please call Joanne Glascock (540)428-0029.
MORNING PRAYER
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply on us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we will pass through this temporary, contemporary life and not lose sight of things eternal. We rightly say before you that we have not been right before you this week. We have done things and left things undone. But we also know that you are faithful to forgive us, if we will confess our sins, and so we do so now.
– Time of Silent Confession –
Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
O God, you are our refuge. Whenever I am afraid, I can trust in you. Whenever I am sick, you will bind up my wounds. Whenever I am alone, I know that you desire to comfort me, and I rejoice in the day that I will see you face to face. I eagerly desire that you would know me, even as I am known. I praise you know, and ask for a taste of that relationship now.
– Time of Silent Praise and Desire of a Deeper Relationship–
Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
O God, we lift up our neighbors too. Lord, we pray for those whom we fear are closer to leaving us for you. We admit to our selfishness in desiring they would remain here with us, but we pray for their health that we could praise you with them. We desire deeply that you would prolong life in Warren and Marian, that you would preserve strength in Susan and Martha and Ann, that you would encourage and lighten Mark and Lori and Cindy and Lee. We lift up Michael especially in this time of trial and for these others too:
– Time of Silent Supplication (Praying for the needs of others) –
Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
We lift up our country and our kin through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with your Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever, who pleads with us, and intercedes for us, in words as your Word says, that are groanings too deep for comprehension. He even teaches us to pray, saying …
