To Tell the Truth

To Tell the Truth

A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer September 22, 2019

Amos 5:10-15; Ephesians 4:15, 25-32 GNT

Some of you are old enough to remember the black and white television show called “To Tell the Truth.”   “To Tell the Truth” began airing in 1956 and ran continuously until 1978, and intermittently since then.  And it has been revived again recently with Anthony Anderson as the host. 

The premise of the show is that three people, or challengers, all claim to be the person in question.  Often the one in question has some very unusual job or profession.  And a panel of famous celebrities asks questions of Number 1, Number 2, and Number 3.  Two of the challengers are lying imposters, of course, and the panelists have to decide which one of them is telling the truth and actually is who he or she says they are. Prize money is awarded depending upon how well the panelists are fooled in choosing the real person.

Evidently there is an ongoing American interest in trying to determine who is being authentic and actually telling the truth!

Well, maybe it is the revival of the “To Tell the Truth” television show.   Or maybe it is because of what I have been reading lately.  Or maybe it is because in today’s world – especially the political world and world of celebrities – telling the truth seems to be passe, and lying seems to be the accepted norm.

The writer of the New Testament book to the Ephesians had to admonish his early Christian hearers to always “speak the truth in the spirit of love” (4:15).  Later in the same chapter he says, “No more lying, then!  Everyone must tell the truth to his fellow believers . . .”  Such a thought is two-pronged, it seems to me. 

On the one hand, we are called to always be truthful with one another, as opposed to being deceptive and deceitful.  Relationships are built upon trust, truthfulness, and openness.

But the other part of “speaking the truth in love” has to do with telling the truth to others in love, even when it is painful to do so and they may not want to hear it.  “Sometimes the truth hurts,” as they say.  A good example of this would be an intervention when family and friends sit down with someone and share with them how concerned they all are about that person’s addiction to alcohol, drugs, gambling, illicit sex practices, and so on.  Such a task of speaking the truth in love certainly is not easy.  But every now and then, all of us are confronted with the decision to just let things keep rolling along toward a possible destructive end, or to take the bull by the horns, as they say, and speak the truth in love.  The intervention example is just one of many possible scenarios.

As a minister and preacher, I have been challenged many times over the years in wanting to speak the truth from the pulpit or in a committee or board meeting, but to do so instilled great fear within me.  There have been times when I felt I should speak the truth in love about some issue in a congregation, or some issue in our nation or state, but I was hesitant to do so, because I feared what the backlash might be and my family depended upon me keeping my job!  And so, as a preacher it sometimes can be easier to preach a feel-good pastoral sermon that leaves everyone feeling warm and fuzzy inside, rather than to preach a sermon that is weighing upon my heart, proclaiming the truth as illuminated by the teachings of the Hebrew prophets and Jesus that calls out social sin, injustice, or issues that may make people squirm in their seat. 

Speaking of the prophets, Amos realized 2,800 years ago that often people do not want to hear the truth, even though they know it to be the truth.  “You people,” Amos preached to his own countrymen, “hate anyone who challenges injustice and speaks the whole truth . . .” (5:10).  People may know deep in their hearts the truth of a matter, but they don’t want to hear it.  To hear and accept the truth is to threaten the status quo, life as we now know it.  If we give in to opening ourselves up to the truth, then it may require something of us, some change in our lives, perhaps even some personal sacrifice.

You may remember that classic line in the movie “A Few Good Men” where the character played by Jack Nicholson is being interrogated in a military court of law by the character played by Tom Cruise.  And he says, “I want the truth!” And Nicholson’s character yells, “You can’t handle the truth!”

Well, as the prophet Amos realized, some people can’t handle the truth.  The truth is too threatening, too demanding, possibly too disruptive to the comfortable lives they have built for themselves.

In the 19^th century, many southerners couldn’t handle the truth that slavery was wrong.  It was much easier to pick a few verses out of the Bible that encourage slaves to be obedient to their masters, and to justify slavery as being ordained by God, than it was to face the truth that slavery was horribly wrong, since their southern plantations and the lives they had built rested upon it.

The same thing was true in the mid 20^th century – many Americans couldn’t handle the truth that segregation and Jim Crow laws were wrong.

The older I get, the more I feel that I need to try to do my best to “speak the truth in love.”  For the truth, you see, is truth whether we want to hear it and perceive it so or not.  The truth is pure and absolute, like a perfect diamond.

The problem is all of us see the truth through our own personal filters.  The reality is all of us look at the diamond of truth through our own life experience eyes or glasses, which may cloud or color the truth, and thus, we all may see it differently.  This is the reason there are so many “versions of the truth” in the world today.  But again, the truth is truth.  The earth is round.  Fire will burn you.  If you cut yourself with a sharp knife, you will bleed.  Such is truth.

Likewise in the realm of ethics and morals, as Amos proclaimed, inhumanity to man is wrong.  Injustice and oppression of the weak and helpless are wrong.  Lying and deception for selfish gain that hurts others – wrong.  This, too, is truth.

There is a saying often heard in United Church of Christ circles to the effect of “speaking the truth to power.”  Such is what Amos sought to do – speak the truth to power.

Sister Joan Chittister, in her new book The Time Is Now:  A Call to Uncommon Courage (which I made reference to last week), says that “Prophets do not tiptoe around the truth nor do they distort it or exaggerate it or embellish it for the sake of being heard.  The truth is enough.  The truth itself commits us all to something better.”¹  On the next page she continues, “It is finding the courage to utter the first word of truth in public that takes all the strength we can muster.  It is learning to say, quietly, unequivocally, ‘I think differently about that,’ and then explain why.”²

So, why was I impressed to share this message today?  Well, there are several reasons.  The reading I have been doing in Sister Joan’s book has led me to think a lot about the topic, the need for truth in the world and in our relationships, and the lack of truth daily in the news.  In our national life and our wider world, even, much of the time we have no idea what the real truth is.  But other times we know that what is passed off as the truth is just the opposite.

So, I would hope that the points that each one would take away from today’s sermon are these:

1.             First, be cognizant of the fact that being a preacher (as I mentioned in a sermon a few weeks ago) is a call to preach the truth as we understand it in light of the teachings of the Hebrew prophets and Jesus.  It sometimes is a tension-fraught position to be in.  So I, and Suzanne as well, I think, would ask for your understanding and support in our role as “truth tellers,” even if you don’t agree with our position 100 % of the time.

2.             Second, be cognizant of the fact that a lot of what we hear in the media from elected officials, celebrities, foreign world leaders, and so on is not truth.  All of it can’t be true, because we often hear contradictory messages about the same issue or event.  So try as best you can to determine what is the pure and absolute truth.

3.             Third, in church, family, and community relationships, whenever there is a difference of opinion on an issue, it is always advisable that as much as possible, we speak the truth as we see it in love.  I love Sister Joan’s suggestion that we quietly say, “I think differently about that,” and then lovingly explain why.

4.             And finally, I hope that when faced with the need for an intervention with a family member or friend in order to address some kind of destructive or potentially dangerous behavior, that we will have the courage to “speak the truth in love.”  To tell the truth, and to hear the truth: what a complex and sometimes difficult endeavor it can be.  God give us grace as we all seek to navigate the truth in today’s world.  Amen.

¹Joan Chittister, The Time Is Now: A Call to Uncommon Courage.  New York: Convergent Books, 2019.  Pp. 53, 54.