Today’s focus is the Eighth Commandment:
“You shall not bear false witness against
your neighbor.” … Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go
to the house of the Lord.’ Now that our feet are standing within your
gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten
our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to
you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
A reading from the Gospel of Saint
Matthew, chapter 18, verses 15-20. … Jesus said, “If your brother or sister sins,
go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to
you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two
others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two
or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and
if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or
a tax collector.
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind
on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven.
Again, truly I tell you that if two
of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by
my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with
them.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
I have gone from the Fifth Commandment
where my sermon opened with, “I doubt any of us has broken this commandment, but
we may know someone who has,” to one where I can confidently state that we,
including me, broke this commandment.
What does it mean to bear false witness
against your neighbor? In his Small Catechism Luther answers, “We should fear
and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him,
slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and
explain everything in the kindest way.”[1]
Luther expounds upon this in his Large
Catechism. First, he reminds us that our good reputation is an indispensable
treasure; then, he states, “God does not want our neighbors to be deprived of
their reputation, honor and character any more than of their money and
possessions.”[2]
Bearing false witness is different than
lying. When I lie, I sin against myself in order to get out of trouble or to
gain an advantage over someone else. I used the illustration of the football
receiver who trapped the pass, but acted as though he caught it for a first
down. There was no malice involved in his lie, but when I bear false witness, I
attack my neighbor and my community. I attack the entire community because, as
Luther teaches, “this commandment pertains to the public courts of justice.”[3]
This commandment involves not only court witnesses, but also those who sit in
authority and judge others. In the printings of the Small Catechism during
Luther’s lifetime, a woodcut and a Bible reference accompanied each commandment.
The woodcut and reference for the Eighth was the story of Susanna from Daniel
13, where two prominent elders and judges falsely accuse the lovely Susanna of
adultery because she rebuffed their advances. Condemned to death by a community
stoning, she cried aloud to God.
“Eternal God, you know what is hidden
and are aware of all things before they come to be: you know that they have
testified falsely against me. Here I am about to die, though I have done none
of the things for which these men have condemned me.”[4]
God hears her cry, rouses Daniel, who
turns around the crowd, re-examines her accusers, and discovers their ruse.
Their punishment? The same one inflicted upon Susanna. In short, the Eighth
Commandment looks out for the little person.
That woodcut and Scriptural reference
illustrate Luther’s first application of the commandment – “that all people should
help their neighbors maintain their legal rights.”[5]
Luther’s second application encourages preachers and good Christians to endure
having the world accuse you of being heretical, seditious, desperate
scoundrels. “The Word of God must suffer in the most shameful and malicious
manner, being persecuted, blasphemed, contradicted, perverted, and falsely cited
and interpreted. But let this pass; for it is the way of the blind world that
she condemns and persecutes the truth and the children of God, and yet esteems
it no sin.”[6]
The third aspect forbids all sins of the
tongue by which we injure or offend our neighbor. Elaborating that it applies
to the blasphemous teaching of preachers, the lying and malicious talk of judges
and witnesses outside the courtroom, Luther states the commandment applies
especially to our “detestable, shameless vice of backbiting or slander.”[7] He
then concludes the paragraph with these insightful words. “It is a common, evil
plague that everyone would rather hear evil than good about their neighbors.
Even though we ourselves are evil, we cannot tolerate it when anyone speaks
evil of us; instead, we want to hear the whole world say golden things of us. Yet
we cannot bear it when someone says the best things about others”[8] … Ain’t
that the truth!
Citing the text from Matthew 18, Luther
points out the difference between having knowledge about sin and judging. Referencing
2nd Peter, he likens people who spread gossip to pigs rolling in manure. Consider
that colorful illustration the next time you talk about someone who is not in
the room. … Moreover, if someone wants to engage you in gossip, Luther offers
this bit of advice. Tell them to bring their complaint before the proper judge.
The exception is the person who publicly
violates the commandments and brings harm to others. In that case, Luther advises
that you can without sin shun and avoid people who have brought disgrace upon
themselves.
… On the other side of the coin, what
should a responsible Christian do? Two words – GET INVOLVED.
If I truly care about the people in my
community, I will identify with society’s true victims and get involved rather
than sitting on the sideline complaining about the players. Here’s an example.
People who love sports love rivalries. I
never root for the Cleveland Browns, the Cincinnati Reds or the Philadelphia
Flyers. Most baseball fans of one team revile the New York Yankees. But in 2001
when New Yorkers were devastated by the attacks on the World Trade Center, a
man showed up at a game in Chicago with a banner that read: WE ARE ALL YANKEES.
We’re not going to stop rooting for our
team, but that sign was to show that the New Yorkers nightmare could have just
as easily been ours.[9]
I close with a few words from David
Hazony’s book, The Ten Commandments. “Creating a redemptive society requires a
certain frame of mind, a psychological disposition, a spiritual poise and
self-affirmation. People who are hesitant to take on the commitments of
community are often too busy protecting their jobs and families and
achievements and resources, or too afraid of what unknown burdens the commitments
of community might entail.”[10]
My friends, you and I broke the Eighth
Commandment thousands of times in the church parking lot if not the courthouse.
Our gracious God has forgiven us for our sin. He calls us not only to confess
our vice, but also to convince others that we have truly repented by living a
more virtuous life free from even the smallest sins. May God’s Word restrain
our desires and retrain our hearts that we may reach out to our enemies with
acts of compassionate love as the Lord has reached out to us. And when you do, may
the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). Amen.
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