Devotion
Notes
Transcript
Truthful Words For Deceiving Sinners
(John 17:17) Lord, sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Amen.
They say There are always two sides to every story. They say that because they’ve been around the block a time or two. They say that because, more than likely, they’ve been burned before. Most of us learn that there are always two sides to every story the hard way.
There are certainly two sides to the story of Jacob and Esau. They were constantly competing for the upper hand. One day, while Jacob was cooking some red stew, Esau came home from an unsuccessful hunting trip and he was starving. Jacob took advantage. I’ll give you some of this stew, but (Gen. 25:31) first sell me your birthright—Esau’s double portion of Isaac’s estate. Esau’s response was over-the-top dramatic. (Gen. 25:32) Look, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me? (Gen. 25:33) But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” Esau did and Jacob threw in some complementary bread, as he fleeced Esau.
But the birthright wasn’t enough, Jacob also wanted his father’s blessing. One day, (Gen. 27:6) Rebekah caught wind of Isaac’s plan to bless his (Gen. 25:28) favorite son, Esau. It almost seems impossible that Isaac didn’t know that the Lord told Rebekah that the older son, Esau, would serve the younger son, Jacob. She had to have told him. Maybe he didn’t believe her. Maybe he didn’t want to believe her. But Isaac was feeling weak and could no longer see and wasn’t sure when the Lord would call him home, so he wanted to bless his son, Esau, before he died. He told Esau to (Gen. 27:3-4) go hunt some wild game and make him the kind of tasty food he liked so that he could give Esau his blessing before he died. So Rebekah cooked up some goat the way her husband liked and convinced her favored son, Jacob, to put on Esau’s (Gen. 27:15) best clothes and (Gen. 27:16) cover his hands and neck with goatskins so that Isaac would think Jacob was Esau.
Isaac thought it was strange that Esau was back so quickly and sounded more like Jacob than he did himself, but the hairy hands and musky smell was enough to convince him it was really Esau. Plus Jacob was so insistent. He lied three time and even said (Gen. 27:20) the Lord your God gave me success on my hunt. Finally, Isaac blessed Jacob as his firstborn. As Jacob left his father’s presence, Esau was right on his heels. He had no idea what Jacob had done, until Isaac trembled and asked: (Gen. 27:33) Then who did I just bless? Esau wept bitterly and begged for his father’s blessing, but Isaac could not bless Esau as he had Jacob.
That day, Esau made plans to kill Jacob the day Isaac died. Rebekah caught wind of this, too, and went to Isaac to complain about Esau’s pagan wives, a matter that also disgusted and (Gen. 26:35) grieved Isaac. Rebekah said if Jacob married someone like that, (Gen. 27:46) she couldn’t go on living. So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him again, this time knowingly. But he also gave him a new charge. Go to your mother’s land and marry from among those people. Do not marry a Canaanite woman. (Gen. 28:5) Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way to Harran, 500 mi away.
Though Jacob left with his father’s specific and personal blessing, it wouldn’t be strange if was feeling more cursed than blessed. He had swindled his brother out of the birthright—that double portion of Isaac’s estate—but was sent away empty-handed. He only had the clothes and supplies he could carry. He deceived his blind father and got his blessing of being (Gen 28:3) fruitful in number, but right now Jacob was all alone. His father didn’t send him with a company of soldiers or servants or even a guide. Jacob was on his own.
And maybe he was feeling bad for himself. Maybe you are sympathetic to his situation, too. You can imagine what it would be like to be the second-fiddle son. You can understand how Rebekah and Jacob convinced themselves that they weren’t really doing anything wrong because the blessing was meant to be Jacob’s anyway.
But remember there are two sides to every story. It might be easy to feel for Jacob. But it is just as easy to feel like he was an opportunistic, exploitative, manipulative narcissist—a good-for-nothing son and a back-stabbing brother. His brother came to him famished, and he just saw it as an opportunity to strike it rich. His father was blind and thought he was dying, and Jacob just seized the moment to steal the blessing Isaac intended to give to Esau. There are always two sides to every story, they say.
But they also say, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Isaac and Rebekah, Esau & Jacob were a dysfunctional group. Jacob was untrustworthy and duplicitous. If there’s an advantage he’s taking it. If you let your guard down, he’s taking for you a mile. Jacob was constantly trying to get the upper hand over his brother and his father.
Far too often, like Jacob, we think and talk and act in way that downplays the dangers of deceitfulness. Sometimes it’s an ends justify the means mentality. Most of the time, we are far too permissive of deceitfulness. Not other people deceiving us. Never that. But us walking right up to the line of bald-faced lying. We tell little white lies at work. We almost instinctively cover for friends when think they might be lying. We spin stories to make ourselves look better or feel more justified in our actions or reactions. We massage headlines so that the side we support looks virtuous.
And we ought to know, from history and personal experience, that deceitfulness is destructive. As a child, how many times did you tell your teacher or your parents what you thought they wanted to hear, or what you wanted to be true, even when you knew it was anything but accurate? Your homework wasn’t done. Your room wasn’t clean. You weren’t giving it your best. You weren’t being careful. As you grew, so did your deceitfulness. Now you said you’d be back at one time, with no intent on making that happen. You told your parents you were going one place, only to head to another. You told them it was just a couple of friends and no one was going to do anything illegal—but you knew what was really planned. You deceived them about how amorous you’d been with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Even as you moved to the next stage in life, deceitfulness found your forwarding address. Soon you found yourself deceiving bosses and co-workers. Exaggerating your credentials and experience, your numbers and your importance to the company. You rounded up on your time clock or your expenses and deductions. You rounded down on your taxes and how much blame you deserved for the latest mistake. All the while you told yourself that the only reason you were less-than-honest was because the business world was so competitive, so cutthroat, so blood-thirsty! But that was the biggest deception of all!
Because you’ve been deceiving from the time you could form full sentences. And even now, retired from that cutthroat company, you’re still practicing deception. You make excuses about being too busy to people you don’t really want to talk to or spend time with. You assure your spouse you were really listening, and parrot back a few words that make it seem that way, when you know you were giving anything but your full attention to the conversation. And when you’re mad, instead of being open and honest, you resort to passive aggressiveness and the silent treatment.
And here’s the really scary thing about deception. I could give you a thousand examples of ways that you’ve deceived people. And for nearly every single one, you’d have a justification. A reason why it was okay. An excuse about how no one is getting hurt and maybe you’re even sparing somebody’s feelings. Deception deadens your mind to the power and impact of the truth. Over time, (Heb. 3:13) deception hardens your heart. Left unchecked, deception destroys the soul.
When we see people who have deceived everyone around them, manipulated situations and exploited vulnerable people, we have little pity for them. They made their bed, now they have to lie in it.
Well that is right where God found Jacob. He had made his bed and all was not well. He was more alone and forsaken than he had ever felt in his life. Then God came to him in a dream—a stairway to heaven with angels ascending to heaven and descending to earth. These powerful messengers and guardians from God were all around him. That alone would make a lonely man feel much safer and much more loved.
But then the Lord speaks to him beautiful words of blessings. Property. Population. Prosperity. Presence. Protection. Words that he had spoken to his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham. Words that almost sounded too good to be true—but they were from the Lord his God. Our Lord is not like us. He never speaks deceitfully. He never tells people what they want to hear. He never promises something with no intention of following through. In fact when he speaks and he promises it is as good as done. And this is what he promised to Jacob, the deceiver, to Jacob, the manipulative brother, to Jacob, the exploitative son, to Jacob, the single man without a single soul on his side: I will give you and your descendants this land on which you are lying. Your descendants will cover the earth like dust. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. The Lord his God promised Jacob—the man who was always trying to get the upper hand—that he was in the Lord’s hands. That he did not have to scheme to get what he deserved. Rather the Lord was going to give him far more than he could ever deserve or even dream of. I am with you. I will watch over you, wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you. I will do all that I have promised for you.
As amazing as these beautiful words of blessing are, most of this is the very same promise God gave to Abraham and Isaac. But here’s what’s new. This is the first time God spoke these words to Jacob. And that is important. Because you can know that God did something. You can know that God promised something. But saving faith is more than just knowledge of facts. It is trust. Trust requires a personal connection. Trust is recognition that what God says, what God has done, is for me.
Do you know how God creates that trust? By speaking truthfully to us in his Word. In his Word, he tells us what we don’t want to hear.
We are all miserable sinners. We are selfish and lazy. We are rude and self-seeking. We are greedy and gossipy. And none of us wants to hear any of that. We prefer the lies we tell ourselves over the truth that is staring us in the face. But God will not let us live this lie. (1 Jn. 1:8) He will not let us claim to be without sin and deceive ourselves. Rather he is faithful and just and exposes our sinfulness in thought, word, and deed, not to embarrass us, but to move us to confess our sins. When we confess our sins—admit our iniquities and trespasses, dismiss our flimsy explanations and excuses, and turn to God crying out for mercy—he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Forgiveness, like a blessing, is not something we can take for ourselves or manipulate out of God, but it is freely given by the God who cannot be deceived and who is delighted to declare us not guilty.
How can he do this and still be the God of truth? Well, he kept the promise he made to Jacob. The Lord did not just stand above the earth and look at the destruction the deceitfulness of sin was causing to his creation. The Lord himself made his dwelling in this place of lies and yet, made it a point, to live a fully truthful life. (1 Pt. 2:22) “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
As a twelve year old, he was truthful and respectful when he reminded his parents (Lk. 2:49) Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house? In every situation, Jesus let his yes be yes and his no be no. He eviscerated the common practice of taking oaths to make yourself sound more truthful. When the Pharisees and the teachers of the law tried to trap him with tricky questions, he exposed the deceitfulness in their hearts and did not shy away from speaking the unvarnished truth. When a rich young ruler, who would have been quite the boost for his ministry, came to him and asked what he must do to be saved, Jesus spoke the unwelcome truth about the importance that material blessings played in his heart. When Peter rebuked Jesus for speaking plainly about his suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus spoke truthfully—even though it hurt Peter to be rebuked like that.
Speaking the truth is what got Jesus killed. Identifying himself as the Messiah, the Son of God and Son of Man, is why he was charged with blasphemy by the high priest and convicted by the Sanhedrin. Speaking the truth is what prevented Pilate from releasing him. If he has a kingdom, he must be a king; and if he is claiming to be a king than I cannot release him without drawing the ire of Caesar.
Jesus continued to speak the truth to his last breath. And at that moment another man was struck with fear and came to a new realization. (Mt. 27:54) When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” Then, three days later, he did what he said. His resurrection wasn’t wishful thinking. It was (Rom 4:25) for our justification. He gave his life in exchange for our souls. His truthful living and obedient sacrifice set us free from the deceitfulness of sin.
So how can we walk in darkness any longer? How can we stomach falsehood when we know the Way, the Truth, and the Life gave up his life for us all? How can we permit deceitfulness on our lips or in our lives? They may say that there are two sides to every story, but the only side we are interested in is the side of truth. What God says. What the Lord has done. This is why we eagerly search the Scriptures. Because that is where our Savior is to be found and he has (Jn. 6:68) the words and deeds of eternal life.
And that is where we strive to be found. In (Jn. 3:21) the light of truth, (Eph. 5:11) exposing the shameful deeds of darkness, (Eph. 4:15) speaking the truth in love, growing to become in every respect the mature body of Christ who is our head. This is the way of life we have learned from our Savior, who said, (Jn. 8:31) If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. We do hold to Christ’s teachings, not through our own effort or merits, but by grace, God’s undeserved love, through faith, the Holy Spirit’s free gift and powerful work through Word and Sacrament. This is how we know that Jesus is the Truth, who has set us free from the tyranny of sin, death, and the devil. And there’s no better blessing than that. Amen.
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