14th Sunday after Pentecost – A Review of the Eighth Commandment – September 6, 2009

 

            When you hear the term, presidential race, what do you think - months of commercials, wasted money, November 4th?  For me, I think of mud slinging.  Isn’t that sad?  But doesn’t it sometimes seem like the goal of every politician is to make sure that their opponent is given a bad name?  To make sure that no one thinks well of the other guy?  To ensure that everyone takes their opponents words and actions in the worst possible way?  If you were given a dime for every time those running for office broke the Eighth commandment from the beginning of their run for president to the day of election, you might very well be a millionaire.  Oh how far away they are from keeping the 8th Commandment as Luther explained it, “We should fear and love God that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, or give him a bad name, but defend him, speak well of him, and take his words and actions in the kindest possible way!”

            But you know, mud slinging politics and the breaking of the 8th Commandment are nothing new.  In fact, not much has changed in the past 3,000 years!  Just listen to our lesson from 2 Samuel 15:1-12:

 

In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him. 2 He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He would answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” 3 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you.” 4 And Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice.” 5 Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel. 7 At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the Lord. 8 While your servant was living at Geshur in Aram, I made this vow: ‘If the Lord takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the Lord in Hebron.’” 9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he went to Hebron. 10 Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’” 11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter. 12 While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from Giloh, his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept on increasing.

 

            Absalom’s ambitions were simple – become king – and his methods to accomplish his goal – well, anything goes.  So he lied about his father and his administration.  He intentionally gave his father a bad name.  Can’t you just picture him standing on the side of that road saying, “My father’s too incompetent and too inept to adequately deal with all of your problems.  If only I were put in charge, things would be fair.  Dad, he’s lost touch, he hasn’t got a clue.”   He even lied to his father about his reasons for traveling to Hebron, hypocritically disguising the trip by saying he was going to offer sacrifices to God. 

            What a piece of work!  How despicable!  And no doubt, the Pharisee in all of us wants to say, “God, I thank you that I am not like Absalom.”  But wait a minute, are we really that much different?  True, you and I aren’t running for office or trying to win a kingdom, but how well do we keep the 8th Commandment?  If there were a hidden microphone recording every single word you spoke this week, how comfortable would you be to have it played back in front of everyone?  But remember, God doesn’t need a microphone.  He hears every word.

            God gives the 8th Commandment in order to protect our reputation and the reputation of others, because the gift of a good name is priceless.  But we ruin reputations when we speak careless words.  One of the ways we do that is when we lie to another person or about another person.  When you and I lie our reputation is perceived as untrustworthy and dishonest, and we can ruin the good name of others if we lie about them.  Remember how Potiphar’s wife lied to her husband about Joseph.  Joseph’s good reputation was ruined and he was thrown into prison.  When was the last time you lied to protect your own name, or to pass the blame on someone else? 

            We ruin our name and the name of others when we betray another person’s secrets.  Judas was guilty of this sin when he betrayed Jesus.  If we share private conversations, our reputation is ruined and the things that are to be kept quiet may harm others.  Proverbs 25:9,10 says, “If you argue your case with a neighbor, do not betray another man’s confidence, or he who hears it may shame you and you will never lose your bad reputation.”

            We also break the 8th Commandment when we say anything that will give another person a bad name.  This is what Absalom did as he criticized his father King David.  How about you, did you smear your parent’s name this week?  “If only my parents weren’t so lame!  I can’t believe how clueless they are!”  Think back to the conversations you had this past week.  Did you pass on some dirt about someone else?  Did what you say shine a bad light on the other person?  What a sad commentary on us is made with Luther’s words, “Human nature is infected with this common disease, that one rather hears evil than good about one’s neighbor.” 

            The 8th Commandment commands us not to give false testimony against our neighbor.  And what is false testimony?  False testimony is all talk, whether false or true, that comes from a heart with evil intentions.  The Pharisees, as seen in the gospel lesson this morning, were great at this.  They often asked Jesus questions, but their intent was not to gain more understanding about the kingdom of God but to try and trap Jesus in his words.  We are pretty great at it too!  So often behind the words that we speak is the hidden agenda to make someone look bad, or at least to get someone else to share in our low opinion of that person.  And how often don’t we try to “spiritualize” our sin by sharing some dirt with someone and then saying, “I’m only sharing it with you so that you can pray for them?”

But wait Mr. Pharisee, there’s more.  We’ve also broken this commandment by what we have failed to do.  We’ve remained silent when standing amongst those who are ruining a reputation because we don’t want to be ridiculed.  We’ve allowed gossip to continue by providing a listening ear.  We’ve sympathized with others by helping them bash the one their mad at, or simply nodding in agreement while they unload.  And we’ve even broken this commandment by not speaking out when God tells us to.  What do I mean?  Well listen, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you” (Matthew 18:15).  God gives us the command to talk to the person we see caught in sin, and not keep silent.  He tells us we are to deal with this person personally.  Luther explains, “Here you have a fine, most valuable lesson on how to rule the tongue, a lesson we should carefully note in order to avoid the repulsive sins of the tongue.  Conduct yourself according to this rule so as not to begin talking behind your neighbor’s back and spreading reports about him, but rather admonish him privately in order to help him to change.  Likewise, if someone whispers in your ear what this or that person is supposed to have done, tell the whisperer to go himself and reprove the man in case he saw him doing the wrong, but if he did not see it, tell him to keep his mouth shut.”

And so when we look into the mirror of the law, we do see Absalom staring right back at us.  How despicable we are!  How deserving we are of the names: gossiper, traitor, sinner!  How deserving we are to have God call us “damned!”  How much we rightly ought to shake in fear, for Jesus has said, “I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Matthew 12:36).  In other words, we will have to have an explanation as to why we have spoken careless words.  And if that’s true, then our words will condemn us!  All we can do is cry out, “God, help us!”

And rejoice that he does through Jesus!  Jesus offers a way out.  You see, just after saying that on the Last Day we will have to explain our careless words to the Judge, Jesus gives us a glimpse of what will happen for you and me who believe in Jesus as our Savior.  He says, “By your words you will be acquitted” (Matthew 12:37).  But what possible words could you and I say on the last day that will declare us innocent?  Our confession: “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord, who was crucified, died and was buried and on the third day rose again.”  Because we confess that Jesus is our Savior from sin, we are admitting that all he has done, he has done for our salvation.  Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30).  That meant that our payment for sin was completed in full.  When we confess Jesus as our Savior, we are admitting that all that he did, he did to declare us innocent of our sins against the 8th and every commandment.

When Jesus lived here on earth he never once opened his mouth in sin, he never once lied or gave false testimony or betrayed confidence.  Instead, he defended his disciples, he spoke well of other people, and even took the words and actions of those who were torturing him in the kindest possible way and prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).  He kept the 8th Commandment perfectly and remained perfect in every way.  Why?  So he could give that perfection to you and me.  On the cross Jesus took the name sinner upon himself.  He took your name and mine to the cross where God’s wrath was poured out against every sin we’ve committed.  And by that act, he gave us his names: Perfect; Sinless; Holy One.  Now you and I are no longer known as gossiper, traitor, sinner, damned, but through Jesus God looks at you and calls you by these new names: Christian; Forgiven; Saint. 

So, then, how will you, a forgiven child of God, respond in thanks?  Well, remember how a few weeks back I said that the Fifth Commandment is one of those commandments we like to think we’ve done a pretty good job of keeping?  Well, I don’t think the Eighth Commandment is one we think that way about.  We are all more than ready to admit that we use our tongue to do great harm.  But do we do anything to try and stop it?  In thanks for what Christ has done for us in removing these awful stains of sin, let us use his power to think before we speak. 

So, speak in such a way that defends the good name of others.  We’ve probably had this happen before: you’re standing in a group of people and there’s a “rag session” going on.  Someone is making fun of someone else who isn’t there.  Stop that conversation and say, “This individual is not here to defend themselves.  This isn’t right.”  Speak up for that individual and defend them.  Take the words and actions of others in the kindest possible way.  Let’s say that you’re walking through the store and you see someone you know and you smile and say hi.  They mumble something under their breath and keep walking.  You might be tempted to say, “Man, what’s their problem today?” Or, “What did I do to receive this treatment?”  If we follow God’s 8th commandment, we will take their words and actions in the kindest possible way.  They may be having a difficult day.  Maybe some tragedy has happened in their life that has caused them to act this way.  In the great love chapter of the Bible, the apostle Paul reminds us, “Love is not rude, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:5).  Do not gossip or slander.  You know how often this situation has arisen: someone approaches you and says, “Hey, did you hear about so-and-so?  Is that true?”  Or, “Hey, do you know what’s going on with so-and-so?  Come on, dish the dirt.”  Say to that person, “I’m stopping this conversation right now.  If you have a question about that person, go and talk to them about it.  I’m not going to be a part of this.” 

In the book of Proverbs, our God says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold” (Proverbs 22:1).  Rejoice in the good name you have through your Savior!  And with your new name, do all you can to protect the good name of others!  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.