Do You Remember Whom You Can Trust?
Good Morning Friends,
America is built on the myth of honesty. George Washington supposedly said, “I cannot tell a lie.” Abraham Lincoln, arguably our greatest president, was nicknamed Honest Abe. But Jimmy Carter, one of our most honest Presidents did not always seem effective. Of course, myths are built on half-truths, white lies and downright fabrications. All I can say is that thankfully God is not a politician. God does not exaggerate the truth. And God does not lie. So what is it with those who want to impress others and feel they must lie to be effective? Maybe we react to them with a failing memory and no sense of history. Friends, the world is becoming more transparent. We are not immune from the sin of telling a lie nor the sin of believing one. Do You Remember Whom You Can Trust?
Scripture: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:8-15 (NRSV)
and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20 (NRSV)
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.
I Thessalonians 4:13-14 (NRSV)
They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Matthew 22:21 (NRSV)
Message: Perhaps we recall such statements as: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” Or “I am not a crook.” Or “Read my lips. No new taxes.” Or “I did not attempt to sell Obama’s Senate seat.” Or “I was hiking on the Appalachian trail.” Still the bigger political lies were that of James K. Polk when he lied about negotiations with Mexico and our southern boarder during a time of Manifest Destiny and that of Lyndon Johnson when he lied about the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam. The reality was that John F. Kennedy had no Camelot and Ronald Reagan had no Shinning City on a Hill. The reality is that politicians have been telling lies since the first election. They are not trustworthy. They are Machiavellian and to be truthful at least part of us likes them that way. And here is where today’s scripture makes us to look in the mirror as we contemplate the things we can be sure about beyond death and taxes. And what is becoming clear for me is that people will lie. And the other side of the coin is that God’s Word is completely trustworthy. Friends, God has never lied to us even though some of the things we are asked to believe seem pretty outrageous. Today’s scripture from Paul can be counted among those sayings that are hard to grasp unless we first realize that there is more than one kind of death. But this is important so stay with me here. It is in your best interest to believe. Today’s scripture says that if we died with Jesus, we will live, if we endure, we will also reign, if we disown Him, He will disown us but that even if we are faithless, He remains faithful. Get your head around that for a moment. The thought of dying doesn’t sound good to most people but, of course, they are only thinking of one type of dying. The act of physical death doesn’t excite most people because they think that’s the end of life. But know this, the Word of God contains nothing but trustworthy sayings and they are manifested in the person of Jesus. And if that is true, and I believe it is, then there is more to life than just this existence. Friends, we are to believe in Jesus with the assurance of the sun coming up in the morning. Unfortunately we are all guilty, in some form or another, of being faithless. When we turn from the Lord and do our own thing. When we ignore God. When we lie. When we forsake the worship of Him. When we fail to give and serve and love as we know we should, we live less than we could. Thankfully our Lord is always faithful whether we are or not. So the message is this plain and simple truth: Trusting in God is a good thing. It is something you can depend on. For God is always trustworthy. His Word is trustworthy. His character is trustworthy. He will never fail nor forsake us. Friends, today’s message started out with a focus on politicians but I think by now we know that it is about our relationship with God. While we Americans profess to want honest leaders, what we really want are effective leaders, and sometimes lies in this Machiavellian world of ours seem to be a necessary evil if we want to get something accomplished in this world. But if we want to accomplish something in the next we need to think differently. So, who will you trust? I hope you remember. Jesus is coming back.
Pray the Lord gives us better politicians as leaders that are less inclined to lie but are still effective. Pray we recognize the lies and so become more trustworthy ourselves. Pray we follow in Christ’s steps and be found trustworthy in life, in speech, in love, in service, and in faith. Pray we believe in the life everlasting and experience it. Pray that when we go through difficult times that we endure. Pray we are dead to sin and alive in Christ. Pray we fear the second death and avoid it even though we may not completely understand it. Pray our love never grows cold. Pray the Lord humble us and make us faithful like He is faithful! Pray for Jesus to return and that we will not be fooled by imposters.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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