INTEGRITY: WHERE YOUR WORD IS YOUR BOND
Matthew 5:33-37
1. `My boy,’ said the businessman to his son, `there are two things that are essential if you are to succeed in business.’
`What are they, Dad? Asked the boy.
`Integrity and sagacity.’
`What is integrity?’
`Always, no matter what, always keep your word.’
`And sagacity?’
`Never give your word!’
2. Sadly, this story reflects the epidemic of lies, falsehood, deceitfulness, and distortion of truth that permeates our entire society today. We hardly know any longer who or what to believe in virtually every field of human endeavor.
• We have largely abandoned any concept or hope of universal, objective truth – that which is true for all people everywhere, irrespective of age, nationality, ethnicity, gender, education, or income level.
• What is true for you may not be true for me. Truth has become a very subjective and personal thing.
• Truth is whatever a particular political party claims it to be – such as “George Bush lied about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq” or “Bill Clinton did not have sex with that other woman”
• Companies have assured their clients that their private financial or health data is totally safe and secure with them, until a buyer was found willing to offer the right price.
• Huge corporations have gone out of business or their executives have been imprisoned because of lies they told their investors.
• The health of millions has been jeopardized because tobacco companies never told the truth to smokers about the high risks of cancer.
• Drug companies have withheld serious risk factors of their products until deaths of patients precipitated legal proceedings.
• Tragically, some Christian organizations have also played fast and loose with the faithful contributions of their sponsors.
• And sadly, so much of the legal profession today is caught up in trying to find clever, sophisticated ways to bypass, avoid, evade, undermine or conveniently twist the law and the truth to suit their client’s purposes. It would take a highly trained, high paid lawyer to interpret to most of us all the convoluted fine print of so many of the deals and transactions we make, that we generally just sign and hope for the best.
3. To try to get the truth in a court of law, we used to have to raise our right hand and place our other hand on the Bible and “swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God”.
• But the fear of God, the mention of His name, and the use of the Bible have been banished from our judicial system. However, it is still assumed that when you stand before a judge and make a statement under oath that to knowingly give false testimony, makes you guilty of the crime of perjury.
• Even as children, we learned early that we couldn’t always take a friend’s word for what it was, and so would make “pinky promises”.
4. Jesus already described the heart and character of a Christian disciple in the Beatitudes. What we have here in the verses that follow is His instruction on how His followers flesh out and fulfill the true meaning and purpose of the Law.
• The legalists of His day - the Pharisees - would add additional statements and clauses to their testimony – swearing by heaven, swearing by Jerusalem, swearing by their head – as a way of assuring others of the veracity of their promises.
• But Jesus says that His followers are to be such people of integrity that there is no need to back up their words or embellish them with an appeal to any higher authority, holy name, holy place, or on pain of losing a part of their body.
• He says, “Simply let your YES be yes and your NO be no. Anything more than this comes from the evil one”.
5. Are you and I known as men and women of integrity? Can people take it for granted that our word is our bond - that if we say we will do something or be somewhere at a certain time that our word can be counted on?
• Integrity is a reputation of trustworthiness that is built up over a period of time and is proven by our behavior, our conduct both in and out of the limelight, both in the public view as well as when no other human is looking.
• A man or woman of integrity lives their life in the conscious presence of God and so speaks and behaves no differently when people are looking and listening than when they are alone.
• A man or woman of integrity is not perfect – they make mistakes like anybody else. But they are quick to acknowledge them and will never try to cover them up or make excuses for them.
• Sometimes in their desire to serve and be of assistance a man or woman of integrity may take on more than they can handle and tasks they had committed themselves to doing just cannot get done. People of integrity don’t just walk away. They humbly acknowledge their lack of judgment and immediately try to renegotiate the contract or find a faithful substitute who will work with them and for whom they accept responsibility till the job is done. They remember that the buck stops with them.
6. So let’s each just do a little integrity check here for a moment.
• How’s our integrity with God? Are we keeping the vows and commitments we have made to Him? When we chose to call Him Lord and Master, we decided that He would be the owner of our life, our time, our resources and all that we have. How are we doing on that commitment? What portion of His resources are we spending on those things that will advance and expand His Kingdom and what on ourselves? Are we constantly seeking to bring our lives into alignment with God’s agenda or are we too busy promoting our own?
• How’s our integrity with the church? When we joined we vowed to participate by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service. How are we doing in those departments? How is your prayer life? How much time of each day is spent in heart-to-heart conversation with God about the things that are on His agenda? How often do you lift up your brothers and sisters in prayer? How regularly do you show up and actively participate in the worship life of the church? Just when it is convenient or doesn’t clash with other priorities? How are we doing in terms of offering and using the gifts and talents God has given us in His service? When we joined the church, we accepted the fact that we became a member of a body, not a member of a religious club. Members of a club can frequently do their own thing, attend when they want to as long as they pay their dues. Members of a body are integrally joined to and responsible for and dependent on one another. Which members in this body are you dependent on and who are you responsible for?
• How’s our integrity towards the one we vowed “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part”? How are we doing in communicating our love and commitment in word and action in such a way that our beloved feels honored, cherished, and precious?
• How’s our integrity toward our families – our children and our grandchildren? When we presented them for baptism we vowed that we would “nurture them in Christ’s holy church and by our teaching and example guide them to accept God’s grace for themselves and to profess their faith openly and lead a Christian life”. We committed ourselves to do “all in our power to increase their faith, confirm their hope, and perfect them in love”. When last did you talk with your children or grandchildren about Christ and encourage them to draw closer to Him?
7. I would like to assume that each one of us must have felt at least one or more twinges of conscience as we reflected on our level of integrity in each of those areas.
• If your conscience was pricked then it is evidence that it is alive and well – and that is cause for rejoicing! For it means that you still are able to be responsive to the voice of the Holy Spirit within you and that you have not become numbed to His voice and desensitized to His touch.
8. In just a moment we will have opportunity to participate together in Holy Communion. This is a sacred meal not for perfected saints, but for wounded, imperfect and repentant sinners.
• If you fall into that latter category, as do I, then this Holy Meal is specifically for you. Jesus Christ came not for those who think they are well, but for those who know and acknowledge they are sick and need a doctor.
• Doctor Jesus is in the house and the medication He dispenses is His own life – His body and His life-giving blood. His blood washes, cleanses, and pardons us from all sin, His stripes and wounds heal our minds, our memories, our emotions, our bodies and our relationships. And His body feeds and nourishes us and fills us with new hope and joy.
9. Jesus Christ is the epitome of all integrity. He never made a promise He did not keep. He never made an offer He could not and did not fulfill.
• As He has done for countless others, so He will do for you today as you respond to His offer, “Come to me all you who are tired from carrying your heavy loads and I will give you rest”
• “Whoever eats the bread that I give will never again hunger. Whoever drinks from me will never thirst”.
AMEN.
