"Called as Witnesses"

First Presbyterian Church
November 12, 2006
Peter S. Buehler
Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 19:15-21; Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Let no evil talk come out of your mouths,
but only what is useful for building up, as there is need,
so that your words may give grace to those who hear.

The 9th Commandment reads you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. It is the Commandment about "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," but it is also about human community, how honesty holds community together.

The courtroom is where it matters most. When there is a dispute and people are at odds and the dispute ends up in court -- this is when the stakes are highest: when someone is accused of wrong-doing, when his future hangs in the balance, when her life's reputation lies in the hands of others, a judge and jury -- at times like this it is not  a Commandment at the bottom of a list, number nine out of ten.
This is the one that matters most.

In the legal system of ancient Israel the Commandment against false witnessing was critical, because the burden of proof always fell on the accused. It was "Guilty until proven innocent." Therefore reliable witnesses were key. And there had to be at least two; no one could be convicted of any crime or wrongdoing on the testimony of a single witness. False witnesses, or "malicious witnesses," as they were called, jeopardized the entire system, so the penalties for lying were severe. If the case you brought against your neighbor was false, the case was then turned against you, and you suffered the penalty that was to be your neighbor's. "Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" -- the law of retaliation, as it was called, sounds harsh to us, even gruesome, but its intent was not to condone violence, it was not about giving people permission to get back at anyone who had wronged them. The message was simple: don't lie in court; don't even think about it.
We don't need to think twice about it. We would never lie in court. We might remember something differently than someone else, we might have a different version of an incident or a conversation, but we would never lie.

Though most of us have. We remember when we were young, when we did something we shouldn't have done and got caught. And we amazed ourselves at how easily falsehood, utter deceit, came out of our mouths! We kept a straight face, we looked our accuser in the eye, we could not have been more convincing as we protested our innocence. "Who hit the ball that broke my window? Was it you?"
"Oh no. Not me. Wasn't me. And this bat I'm holding in my hands isn't my bat. I picked it up somewhere, I forgot where. I think it belongs to that guy over there. In fact, I don't know how to play baseball.
I don't even know how I got here!"

We protested too much, and got caught. And, as much as we hated it, getting caught was a good thing, because our early lessons about honesty taught us that truth is way less complicated than lies. We learned that if you lie you had better have a good memory so you can stay consistent with your fabrications. Honesty is far easier on the memory. But there's another benefit to getting caught, for we see what our dishonesty does to those we love, how easily we can hurt those who trust us.

So the 9th Commandment isn't just about false witnesses in court, or even how honesty is learned. The 9th Commandment is also about who we are as human beings; how we do struggle with truthfulness. How being honest takes great effort; how truthfulness requires discipline.

Because we're tempted all the time. A recent associated press article titled "Americans frown on lying but do it anyway, poll says," showed that "white lies" are generally acceptable to most of us, depending on the situation. A 25-year-old mom tells her 4-year-old son that there were no more cartoons on TV; they were all gone, all finished. "One day, he'll probably figure it out," she said. "(after all) there are cartoons on all the time!" But, she added, "we couldn't have the TV on all day." Deep in her heart, she knew telling him the truth would have been better, though more time-consuming, as discipline often is. "It's the easy trap of a lie," she said. "it's easier than telling the truth."

Even about being truthful! In the AP-Ipsos poll, for example, four in 10 people answered that they had never had to lie or cheat. But one in ten of those people said in the very next answer that yes, they might have told a lie in the past week (SBNP, July 13, 2006, p.B5). Maybe they were the honest ones!

We're not so different. Who among us has not been in a conversation with someone who said something we didn't agree with or weren't comfortable with, but nodded our head in agreement because, after all, it was just a conversation with a friend, not a debate. Who among us has not refused an invitation not because we were busy, which is what we said, but because we didn't want to be busy, we just wanted a quiet evening at home. And have we always been completely truthful when our spouse or best friend has gotten a really bad haircut? "Honey, you should go back this minute and have her re-do it, because you look dreadful!" It may not be completely honest, but saying something like "I like your new haircut," Or "I'm glad you're experimenting with a new style." Even something like "are those new shoes? They sure look great!" may be the kinder and gentler thing to do.

There are, after all, lies that come from kindness, and while there are times when bluntness and sheer honesty, while difficult and risky, is the best thing. But we must also ask ourselves whether we're being truthful or just critical. Sometimes silence is kindness.

The Apostle Paul gives good guidance to those of us who want to keep this Commandment, who want to live by the spirit of the law. "Speak the truth in love," he tells us. By this we will "grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ." When we do this, he says, we promote "the body's growth in building itself up in love."

So when even one person holds together truth and love, honesty and grace, the entire body is built up. Like a sculptor working with wood or bronze or stone, followers of Jesus make the church a work of art when we speak words of honesty and encouragement to one another.
I wonder if we do this enough. Would it not make a difference if we made a point of offering encouragement to at least one person every day. For many of us, it's criticism comes naturally; we're good at it. We're expert at knowing how things can be improved, how people can be improved, how the world can be improved. Yet our comments are half-truths if we don't share them constructively and with love.

Usually we can tell when someone is being honest with us from their heart. It may hurt us at first, but we realize that we are being given the gift of a new perspective on our world and on our selves. I was asked once in an interview how I respond to criticism. I thought for a moment and said something like, "You mean after I stop crying?" But the question really had to do with the reverse side of the 9th Commandment: Would I be a part of a community where this new kind of honesty was practiced? Would I be willing to grow as a pastor and as a disciple by accepting criticism as well as encouragement? It was an important question.

One of the great blessings of the church, I believe, is the opportunity we all have to grow in faith and maturity through the honesty of sisters and brothers. This is the other side of the Commandment, the positive side: it is our calling to be truthful witnesses, true friends to one another, encouragers of one another, even when what we offer is a truth that is difficult to speak and difficult to hear.

Which is why this is the Commandment about Jesus.

First, because if we want to know the truth, we come to him and to his word. Jesus who was convicted on the testimony of false witnesses, his truth was so threatening to those who believed their authority was higher than God's. But we remember our baptism -- that we have died to sin, even the temptation to be our own authority, our own God. We remember our baptism and know that we are raised with Christ, that we have new life. It is in the power of this life that we are free to be ourselves and to become ourselves. We don't have to put other people down to build ourselves up. We don't have to gossip to feel important. We don't have to judge others to feel righteous ourselves. Because we are loved as we are, perfectly and completely loved, we are free to be human alongside other human beings. When we are most ourselves, God works through us to make a difference in the world.

Second, this is the Commandment about Jesus because in trusting truthfulness we are showing our willingness to pay a price, to give of ourselves in some significant way. Even if it means taking more time to explain to our child or grandchild why we are saying no to them, or explaining to our spouse or friend why we disagree with them, why we must be honest with them -- that is trusting Jesus, trusting the way he took his time, trusting the way he didn't try to save himself, but emptied himself.

And last, this is the Commandment about Jesus because it is about his church, about life in his church. It is the Commandment about the special kind of truthfulness we practice here: the care we take to show love when we are honest, the time we take to offer others honest encouragement.

Some see churches as buildings constructed out of brick and mortar.
We know better. The church of Jesus Christ is a place where people practice what it means to be redeemed. The church of Jesus Christ is people witnessing to how his truth has changed their lives, our lives -- how his truth changes the world, one neighbor at a time.