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Devotion.al

Tag: death

  • Domination

    Domination

    Ecclesiastes 3:16–4:3; Psalm 148; Revelation 5:13 (read online ⧉)

    Long has human pride (and bad interpretation) taught humanity that we were to dominate Creation. Even when this interpretation came to the forefront in thinking, Creation was pretty brutal: typhoons, hurricanes, floods, droughts, pestilence, insect swarms, disease, and so on.

    Humanity has, for far too long, focused on dominance. The domination of other humans, especially through war, has been one example. The other is the attempt to contain Creation. Our forms of agriculture are predominately formed as an attempt to mitigate the disasters of Creation, with some success. Other attempts such as damn and levees don’t work as planned.

    Humanity’s attempt to control fire has been somewhat successful. Then again, the regular summer fires show that things aren’t really under control.

    Ecclesiastes puts us into perspective. While humanity does have the Imago Dei (Image of God) imprinted in us, this doesn’t mean that domination is the way. We became obsessed with power over others, rather than God’s overwhelming love.

    While talking about the reality that we all pass away, just as the animals do, isn’t all bad. Often, it is our mortality that drives us forward.

    Fantasy writers long understood the danger of not fearing death. They wrote about “elves”. These magical long-life creatures would become…bored. They could live almost forever (from a human point of view). Mortality just wasn’t there. Our mortality helps us live.

    “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.” —Westminster Shorter Catechism

    If Ecclesiastes is correct, and the Westminster Shorter Catechism is correct (in larger concept, at least), then Creation’s purpose is also to glorify God.

    As we read in Psalm 148, this isn’t a stretch. The list of non-human worshippers of God is impressive. Even that which we do not consider alive praises God. In Revelation, it cannot be ignored that all of Creation bows down to Jesus on the throne.

    What does this have to do with you? Pride. Jesus submitted to death. We are called to live similarly. While we have the Imago Dei, that does not give us license to do as we wish. It means we have a responsibility to serve.

    ※Prayer※

    Holy Spirit, convict us of our pride. Convict us of our desire to put others down. Convict us of our desire to raise ourselves over others. Give us the conviction to lay down at your feet. Amen.

    ※Questions※

    1) Why might serving Creation be important?

    2) What does serving Creation look like?

    3) How does or did God serve Creation?

  • What’s in the back?

    What’s in the back?

    Matthew 6:5–9; Mark 9:43–50; 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 (read online ⧉)

    Prayer closets are a thing for some people. They have taken Jesus’ words in such a way to step into a private and personal space to pray to God. This is not a bad thing. Most do not pray solely in a prayer closet. If they do, that means it is quite difficult to pray with and over others, which we are called to do.

    Jesus’ words were primarily a counterpoint to the ritualistic attention gathering prayer performed by so-called pious people. Their piety was merely a mask for the selfish desire for human acclaim. By providing a very private alternative to the public activities, Jesus was making the point that prayer is a relational activity between a person and God, rather than an act to be seen. One thing to keep in mind though is that in First Century housing a private room was unlikely for poorer people, who primarily shared communal spaces, so Jesus’ words aren’t inherently what we often interpret them to mean.

    The other aspect of this is the other stuff we keep in that “prayer” closet. The prayer closet we should be using to bring requests, needs, praises, gratitude and so on is often contaminated by the darkness of our hearts.

    Jesus’ harsh words about cutting off your hand or plucking out your eye or cutting off your foot aren’t really about the hand, the eye, or the foot. It is about the heart. What is in our hearts that we try to hide in our closets?

    Another way to think of this is our “Christian” walk. We look good on the outside, but perhaps we are merely whitewashed tombs who look clean and fresh but are filled with death and decay. This may seem harsh. However, each of us has certain things that we try to contain that come out of the darkness and wounds of our lives.

    Perhaps, if we used the closet for prayer rather than unmentionables, and put our unmentionables out on the streets, we might not have to cut off our hands or feet or pluck out our eyes.

    The real question is what are the things that are in our closets. Paul’s list seems pretty straightforward, yet it is a list with a spirit, rather than a list of crimes. The list is more about the heart of the sinner, rather than the act itself. Yes, the act is bad. It comes from the heart.

    We are not immune to any of these crimes. How they are expressed may be different in each of our lives. It could be the manner of speech we have with our interested gender. It could be how we treat and interact with others. It could be just how we look at another as a step toward our goal, rather than a child of God.

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, break our hearts for what breaks yours. Break our hearts for the darkness in them. Heal our hearts from the wounds the bind. Let us be your free and holy children. Amen.

    ※Questions※

    1) [This is a private and personal question] What has God brought to mind about yourself in this? How will we confront and redeem it?

    2) How does hiding the bad stuff in our prayer closet affect our relationship with God, especially our prayer life? How might this affect our lives with others?

    3) Submission to Jesus Christ (yesterday’s, 11 June 2020, devotional) includes the stuff in the closet. Why do we often not want to submit it to Jesus Christ?

  • Will You Follow

    Will You Follow

    Matthew 8:5–13; Matthew 8:18–23; 1 Corinthians 12:12–28 (read online ⧉)

    Amazingly…no, really…amazingly…people aren’t perfect.

    Leaders are people. Therefore, leaders aren’t perfect.

    Yet, when we look at our leaders, whether they are political, corporate, or church leaders, we often expect perfection. Political leaders are the most afflicted with this. It often takes only one mistake (or even just a difference in perspective) and a political leader’s career is over. Corporations are somewhat more resilient in that regard, yet with the increasing weight of social media and the 24-hour news cycle, even corporations are behaving in such a way.

    While, mercifully, a lot more grace is shown in church circles, a leader’s failures can tank everything. This is not to say that criminal or unChristian behavior should be allowed, just that the Scriptures do have a way to deal with that.

    The ultimate danger, though, becomes both fear of failure and fear to try something new. This is often lived out with the infamous phrase, “we’ve never done it that way before.”

    There are several kinds of leaders out there. There are two big ones in the church. One of the big leader types is the manager/maintainer. This is the person that seeks to maintain the status quo. Often portrayed negatively, they are often the ones that keep people from going off the rails.

    There are the visionary leaders. These are the people that break things, all for the right reasons (hopefully), but breaking hurts, because often it is things we’ve (unknowingly) setup as idols that get broken.

    There are 3 other character traits, though, that deeply affect the culture of the church, leaders, and even of our lives. First is the follower. Most of us follow at least somewhat, and followers are for tomorrow. For now, let’s talk about rebels and mavericks. This was great insight provided by Larry Walkemeyer.

    Often the church views the mavericks and the rebels as the same. On the surface, that may well be true. It certainly would seem to fit with the things they often break.

    However, the rebel (such as the family leaders from yesterday’s readings) is in it to achieve something for themselves, almost always at a cost to others, and importantly will neither report nor submit to authority. For the church, whose Savior submitted unto death, a lack of submission is often a sign of spiritual immaturity.

    The maverick, on the other hand, is there to achieve something, and it might even be gratifying. However, if the cost is others, then they are open to correction. Mavericks also, despite their independent and solo tendencies, will submit to authority. The church needs a lot more mavericks. However, mavericks, oddly enough, need to put themselves within a framework so that there are limits and responsibilities. However, as their spiritual maturity deepens, the limits are removed, and they can shake the world.

    Lastly, though, is the part where there are two problems. Those in authority often like neither rebels (which is understandable) or mavericks. Thus they limit the catalyst for change. In addition, leaders also must be able to admit that they were wrong regularly and openly, and church culture doesn’t like that much, let alone the leaders. Thus the mavericks are turned into rebels by those who dislike challenge and/or change.

    Church and Christian leadership starts with submission to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father (not necessarily in that order). Without that submission, one of the biggest points is missed.

    ※Prayer※

    Oh, God, you have called us to be humble, and we often fail at that. You call us to yield our will to yours, and we often fail at that. You love us despite our failings, and for that, we give you praise. As we walk through this life with our fellow Christians, help us to submit to you and to one another in love. Amen.

    ※Questions※

    1) Have you ever seen a “rebel” leader? What was the context? What was the result?

    2) Have you ever seen a “maverick” leader? What was the context? What was the result?

    3) Why is perfection the enemy of leadership? How does that apply to our lives?

  • Dividing Teaching

    Dividing Teaching

    Galatians 4:12–20; 2 Peter 1:16–2:3; 1 John 4:1–6 (read online ⧉)

    While yesterday’s devotional was about the doctrine (and reality) of the Trinity, this isn’t the only issues that face Christians as they try to discern True teaching versus false. While many divisions in the church have been over interpretation and living out of certain pieces of the Christian life, most (over time) have been discovered to not be heretical. While there are heretical tendencies in some denominations, by-and-large there are core beliefs that we hold in common.

    While the Trinity certainly is a crucial one, it is a doctrinal one, meaning that for most people it is not part of the rubber-meets-the-road of their daily life. It is usually the daily life parts that will affect a person’s Christian walk more than other things.

    In his letter to the Galatians, Paul is addressing the constant battle going on with people trying to bring into force the Law of the Jews. This is not a fight against teaching and helpful traditions, but the thought that only proper execution of the Law will result in salvation. In other words, the free and grace-filled gift of Jesus’ death and resurrection was null-and-void. Paul didn’t want the Galatians to fall into that trap.

    Except they did. It was so bad that the Galatians who used to honor (or “bless”) Paul now—according to Paul—viewed Paul as an enemy. What a change! A man they honored was now an adversary in their hearts.

    Peter knew that this was an issue, and not just with the Galatians. He warned the church that there have always been and will continue to be false teachers. Amazingly and similarly to Paul’s concerns, one of the concerns is that Christians would begin to deny Jesus Christ. As Peter continues, I’m sure many of us have seen things that would seem to fall within his list.

    This leads us to John, who urges us to test the spirits. First and foremost, we have God (the Father), Jesus, and the Holy Spirit [all 3 being the Trinity]. Then Jesus died for all on the cross and was resurrected, to free us from sin (including the Law). There is also the spirit of love and unity. Truly, when we are confronted with someone whose path is in opposition to these (and a few others excluded for simplicity and brevity), we are indeed able to discern where the false teachers are.

    We are blessed that those that went before us went through the pain and division of false teachers, for we can learn from them. As the church begins to head (very slowly) toward a form of reunification, there will continue to be people that will seek to divide the church further and try to keep it separated. Jesus calls us to be one.

    ※Prayer※

    God, you gifted us the Holy Spirit, so that we would not be led astray. Lord, help us to trust your Word over our desires, that we might finish strong to the end. Amen.

    ※Questions※

    1) Why is unity hard? What is your responsibility in maintain and seeking unity?

    2) Why is unity significant in regard to false teachers and prophets?

    3) Have you ever met or dealt with people whose teachings divided the Body over either false doctrine or teachings that are not essential for salvation?

  • Only the Beginning

    Only the Beginning

    Psalm 104:24–35; Joel 2:18–29; Romans 8:18–24 (read online ⧉)

    We have lost a lot in the modern age. One of the things is awareness of the land. In the current COVID-19 situation, we may be regaining some of that, as prices go up with agricultural workers being unavailable due to illness.

    The health of the land was deeply tied to the health of its people. We’ve seen some strange perspectives of that with both environmental activists and blind corporate juggernauts.

    For many the environmental ties to a flourishing people are obvious. To others, not so much. In the era of Jesus and even today, when nature has severe weather, agriculture often takes the brunt of it. In Paul’s age, they were very much aware of that, especially as there were a series of famines. Thus the land needing healing was quite obvious to any person.

    The land was tied to prosperity. An unhealthy land made for unhealthy people. It was also the case, which was Joel’s point, that an unhealthy people made for an unhealthy land. Paul noted that it was just humanity that longed for a Savior…the rest of Creation longed for it, too.

    Pentecost wouldn’t seem to have much to do with that, yet, it is the empowerment by the Holy Spirit of the people of God, that would be the new shepherds to heal the land. Justice and mercy were not just to be attributes of God, they were to be attributes of his people.

    The land isn’t just the physical land and the animals, it is the heart of the people in it, too. The land, our land, is very sick. It is not just COVID-19, it is something far deeper and even more ill. There is an illness that is infecting the souls of the people of our nation and even the people of the Body of Christ.

    We may not be able to fix it all, and we certainly cannot heal it all. We can be the messengers of love, grace, and mercy. In so doing, as we guard our words and actions, we will be different than the world that seeks to attack and destroy others.

    The love of Jesus Christ cannot back down, and the Body of Christ cannot just let the vileness that pervades continue to build and lash out. We are not called to lash out as the world. We are to say that Christ died for them to heal their pain. We can only walk them on the journey.

    ※ Prayer [BCPOnline] ※

    O God, who on Pentecost taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

    ※ Afterward ※

    Questions seem superfluous. The recent death of George Floyd has taken an anxiety-ridden world and launched chaos. The rise of mayhem and violence will not heal or reconcile. It will only harden hearts. We are called to be the church for such times as this. How we can and will respond in this and in all such, we can only pray that we bring honor and glory to God.

  • Responsible

    Responsible

    Exodus 34:1–7; Numbers 14:26–38; Jeremiah 31:27–34 (read online ⧉)

    For those of us whose American individuality is almost hardwired into us, it seems inconceivable that God would punish us for other’s sins, especially for those who sinned before we were born. In fact, in many respects, we struggle with the result of anyone else’s sins being borne by us.

    If we are honest with ourselves, our personal and national (and even religious) histories carry a lot of baggage, and a lot of that has to do with actions that others took, for which we had no knowledge, or participation, or approval of. The purposeful and accidental killing of Native Americans by Europeans due to diseases (such as smallpox) is such a thing. It is unlikely any of us would condone such a thing, but the consequences remain even to this day. The clearances of Native Americans to reservations and all that went along with also remains today. Slavery, war, migration, all had and continue to have consequences.

    We are not unique in this. Much of the conflict in the Middle East is because of something that happened yesterday, but of something that happened generations and even centuries ago. The same can be said in Asia, as well. This is not unique to America or the United States. What is unique, though becoming less so, is our individualistic response to it.

    For the Israelites, a tribal culture, what one’s father did or grandfather did have great import for the current generation. The concept of holding the subsequent generations accountable for one’s own actions was actually quite reasonable for them. The blessing, too, made sense to them.

    As harsh as the words in Exodus seem to our modern years, we see the development of it in Numbers. Yes, the children pay the price. On the other hand, those children grew up into a powerful army. This army was needed for the next step. They also developed a rhythm when it came to God. Their food came from God. Their gathering was guided by God (6 days of work; 1 day of rest). Their habits revolved around God and God’s mercies.

    Did they receive the result of their parents’ misdeeds? Yes. Were the ultimate results bad? No. This wasn’t the ideal. The ideal would have been obedience and trust by their parents.

    This punish/reward pattern would remain for generations until God’s declaration to Jeremiah. The whole grapes quip showed that Israel had forgotten exactly what meant and intended. Now, it became everything (which it still was, but God was about sin, not failures).

    We read these verses in Jeremiah and can be immediately be lead to the concept of our individual salvation through Jesus Christ. It’s not that this is invalid, but that it is incomplete.

    As Christians, we are called to bear one another’s burdens. That often includes their failures and even their sins. While the ultimate cost (death) is paid, the consequences remain. Those consequences remain for lifetimes and even lifetimes to come.

    ※ Prayer ※

    Heavenly Father, we read you Word and often wonder if we’re missing something, for we cannot understand the entirety of who you are. We thank you for your Son. Jesus, thank you for your time on Earth, allowing us the grace to see God’s face. Holy Spirit, guide our hearts and actions, not just for the now, but also to heal the hurts of the past that are not our fault, but we, as your children, are called to heal. Amen.

    ※ Questions ※

    1) Have you ever been held responsible for someone else’s action over which you had no influence or control? What was that like?

    2) What is the difference between consequences and punishment? Which path do you see God following?

    3) What if your salvation was dependent upon others? How would you behave differently?

  • Planned Disruption

    Planned Disruption

    1 Samuel 16:1–5; Luke 14:28–33; James 4:13–17 (read online ⧉)

    But mouse-friend, you are not alone
    in proving foresight may be vain:
    the best-laid schemes of Mice and Men
    go oft awry,
    and leave us only grief and pain,
    for promised joy!

    Still, friend, you’re blessed compared with me!
    Only present dangers make you flee:
    But, ouch!, behind me I can see
    grim prospects drear!
    While forward-looking seers, we
    humans guess and fear!

    From “To a Mouse”, by Robert Burns
    modern English translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

    The current situation with COVID-19 should put to rest how fleeting our plans really are. However, while everything is in an uproar and rather chaotic, we are still coming up with plans. What becomes emblematic of human behavior is that we know we are making plans for a target that doesn’t yet exist.

    These are strange times indeed.

    Samuel had a plan. In fact, at one point it seemed a pretty solid plan, since it appeared to be God’s plan. The Israelites decided they wanted a king, “just like the countries around them”. So, while Samuel was upset (along with God), it was done. This king, Saul, seemed to be destined for great things. He was physically imposing. He was successful militarily. He even had a starting bought of prophesying.

    While we cannot say that Samuel loved Saul, there does seem to be some sort of strong emotion that Samuel had for Saul. We see this in God’s words to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul?” Samuel knew that Saul wasn’t dedicated to God, yet Samuel still mourned the fact that Saul would lose his kingship and was not blessed by God.

    The plans for the King of Israel changed. Now, a new path would be before Samuel. In obedience, he followed it to a boy named David. While it might have not been as abrupt as all that has come with COVID-19, for a culture such as this “just” changing the king was a big deal. This is clear when Samuel brings his worry of being killed before God. It shouldn’t be ignored that God gave Samuel a way around a reprisal coming from the king or his minions.

    Plans are worthwhile. It’s not as if they should not be made. Jesus even used the example of construction and war plans to lay out to wannabe disciples that they need to plan for the costs of following him. Jesus makes it clear that if we follow him, we can expect a lot of worldly things to be prioritized at a much lower ranking than the Kingdom of Heaven.

    Often we count the cost…and we lie to ourselves. “God doesn’t really want…” “I can grow by just…” “My life is too busy to…” “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” We count the cost, and determine that following Jesus isn’t really worth the price.

    Sometimes, and especially in times of turmoil, our plans need to be laid at the feet of God, and not at our comfort. When James talks about people making plans (in particular speculative plans about enterprising and wealth-building), he’s warning each an everyone of us that all of our plans are worthless if they do not begin with God.

    What should especially concern us is when we hold so tightly to our plans, that we do not respond to God’s prompting to change the plan.

    ※ Prayer ※

    Father God, you know the plans you have for us. May we be ready to respond. Jesus, help us to follow your example of obedience and submission even unto death. Holy Spirit, guide our hearts into all Truth, hope, and love. Amen.

    ※ Questions ※

    1) What are your current plans (personal, professional, family, religious)? How does God fit into those plans (even the religious ones)?
    2) How will you know if God wants you to continue your plans, or change them?
    3) How often do you still count the cost of following Jesus, whether it’s your family, your profession, your stuff, your time, or something else?

  • Oath Busting

    Oath Busting

    Genesis 13:1–18; Numbers 13:30–14:4; Numbers 14:36–45 (read online ⧉)

    God had made a promise to Abraham. As God is the make of the promise, following yesterday’s devotion, it was an oath. Abraham’s descendants would flourish in the land that Abraham would walk.

    At the time of Lot’s and Abraham’s separation, the land that Lot had chosen was the better land. The lesser, more difficult land was Abraham’s. Yet, it was on this lesser more difficult land that God would build a nation with God’s name on it.

    After many years, Abraham’s descendants had finally arrived to “take” the land. The tribes that had flourished with the absence of Abraham’s descendants certainly weren’t going to be willing or eager to just hand the land over. As far as they, the current inhabitants, were concerned this was their gods’ land. The Israelites were nothing.

    Even those technically related were just as harsh to the Israelites. Yet, there was an oath made by God. Perhaps the oath was no longer valid. Perhaps God broke the oath.

    This is where it gets interesting for us, too. When God made the oath, there was no promise of easy living or being able to just get the land. The Israelites had to work for it, too.

    This is also the case for us. God calls us to be his people. God made an oath to always be with us. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. In fact, part of being with us was part of telling us that things would be hard.

    The Israelites, just like us, weren’t going to have anything to do with this difficult stuff. They wanted the easy street. At one point, God tells the Israelites about when they will worship and sacrifice with produce they didn’t plant, with labor they didn’t spend. They had to value the fulfillment of God’s oath.

    Instead, they decided that they were going to break the oath. It might sound a tad harsh. However, it wasn’t God that decided that the oath wouldn’t be fulfilled. They decided it.

    So, God “accepted” their decision, and gave the consequences. And they decided to try to break that, too. Moses also makes a point to them, that is also for us. God wasn’t with them. They would fail. If only they hadn’t tried to break the oath (that wasn’t theirs to break) in the first place.

    ※ A Prayer of Billy Graham ※
    …Father, we thank You for the promise and hope of [the future], and we look forward to it with expectancy and faith. This [we] ask in the name of our Lord and Savior, who by His death and resurrection has given us hope both for this world and the world to come. [Amen]

    ※ Questions ※
    1) Have you ever had someone try to break the oath or promise of another person? What was the situation? How did it work out?
    2) Why would a person try to break the oath or promise of another person?
    3) What can the short-, medium-, and long-term consequences of promise- and oath-breaking?

  • Easy Listening

    Easy Listening

    Jeremiah 26:20–24; Matthew 23:29–24:2 (read online ⧉)

    The most famous Uriah in the Bible is not the one we read about in Jeremiah. The famous Uriah died because the king slept with his wife. He was…inconvenient for the king.

    Perhaps being named Uriah isn’t a blessing?

    Uriah, son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim, was also inconvenient. Just as Jeremiah, too, was not popular with what he preached as a warning against and condemnation of Jerusalem (as a symbol of the whole of the Jewish people), Uriah wasn’t popular either.

    Jeremiah had court protection and support. He was safe from the king and his underlings. For whatever reason, Ahikam had the influence and power to protect Jeremiah from the people and the King.

    Uriah fled to Egypt. It was an odd place for him to flee to, as King Jehoiakim was still a vassal of Egypt. It is possible that Uriah believed that he might receive some protection from Jehoiakim’s overlords, but he was disappointed. He was killed. The Book of Jeremiah strongly implies that it was because of the message from God that he dared to share (which was the same as Jeremiah’s). While we don’t hear about Uriah again, his story is important down the road.

    Jesus does not mention Uriah by name nor any of the other prophets (other than Zedekiah) that were killed after bringing God’s word to the people. He called the religious leaders to account for their hypocritical attitude as they “mourned” the prophets that their forefathers killed, and yet were of the same heart as their forefathers when confronted by the Word of God.

    Jesus foretold that they would repeat not just the scorn, they would also repeat the murder of the prophets and representatives of God. They would likely also celebrate such deaths for they “preserved” the status quo.

    While Jesus puts to their “account” the death of all the righteous, there isn’t an outright zero chance of escaping the judgment. If one looks at this as a prophetic warning (which it was), repentance was the way out. Judgment wasn’t fixed…yet.

    In addition, a number of commentators perceive the, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” both as a foretelling of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the return of Jesus as the Judge.

    While we are often quick to judge those who lived in Jesus’ day as ignorant or something because they could not recognize Jesus for who he was, how often are we guilty of condemning prophetic messages because they don’t match the culture.

    ※ Prayer※
    O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. [BCP 1979]

    ※ Questions ※
    1) What kinds of cultures do prophets speak against? In a non-religious setting, how would you test a prophet?

    2) What do you think is the biggest obstacle for people hearing a prophetic word? Have you been guilty of that yourself when a prophetic word was spoken to you?

    3) We focus on famous names, not like Uriah the prophet. How does that make us shallow? What might we be missing God doing?

  • Silence is Not Always Golden

    Deuteronomy 5:1–31; Matthew 26:57–62; Acts 6:8–15 (read online ⧉)

    Perjury is a crime. Knowingly providing false witness under oath is a criminal offense, as it should be. Knowing our system, however, perhaps the penalty is not severe enough. People speak “white lies” thinking they are doing the right thing (again, in a court case). People speak blatant falsehoods to change the results.

    Depending on the falsehood can result in a guilty man being freed and an innocent man being sent to death. One of the other oldest legal codes—Hammurabi’s Code—sets the penalty for such perjury as death.

    There is no question that bearing false witness was a sin according to God. Yet, in the 2 instances that we read today—Jesus and Stephen—that “minor” sin, that could easily be blotted out with a “minor” sacrifice, resulted in the death of innocent men.

    Matthew and Luke (the author of Acts) make it a point to state that the witnesses are knowingly bearing false witness. Was this an incidental miscarriage of justice, or was this a systemic one? While we really can draw too firm a conclusion, this is an indication that justice and truth were often not met.

    We often wonder why we have so many laws, and then we read stories like this (and these are not that unique in human history). There were the false witnesses. Those who either paid or otherwise recruited the false witnesses. There were those who were the “lawyers”. Then there were those who were the leaders of this travesty.

    All were party to it. All had culpability in it. By the letter of “the Law”, only those who were “actual” witnesses would be “guilty”. This would also assume that those who knew they were guilty actually did something about it. Of course, they didn’t for they achieved their goals.

    We all struggle with those who lie. It is that which empowers the lies that is the greater issue. With no culture of lying, lying becomes rare. A culture that disgraces the truth encourages lying. A power structure that encourages lying creates a culture that sends innocent people to death or punishment.

    This is also a culture that ceases to honor God. Instead, it uses God to strengthen the perception of itself, so that no one will struggle or oppose it. God becomes a word—a tool—and the relationship that the word is supposed to represent dies.

    Prayer

    Holy Spirit, as we walk through this life, counsel our hearts and tongues to speak truth and to be truth-seekers. Guide our hearts and minds to bring the light of Jesus’ Truth into our lives and the lives of others. May all that we do bring honor and glory to you, oh, God. Amen.

    Questions

    1) Why is it important to talk about more than just the lier? How does its relative importance to the commandment of false witness mean for you?

    2) What do you think other tribunals in front of these people were like for day-to-day things?

    3) How can and will you encourage a culture of truth?