Deo Gloria
Sermon for September 5, 2021
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Proverbs 19:9
Theme: Wisdom For All Time
Lesson: Honesty Is The Best Policy!
- You can’t lie to God.
- It doesn’t pay to lie to others either.
Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue.
Honesty is hardly ever heard, but mostly what I need from you.
Those are the words of a song sung by Billy Joel back in the late 1970s. Sad to say, I don’t think things have changed much in the past four decades. Honesty is still a pretty lonely word. From the White House to the courthouse to your house and mine, honesty can be awfully hard to come by sometimes.
This morning, as we conclude our study of the book of Proverbs, the bit of wisdom Solomon has to share with us has to do with honesty. He states it in the negative. He says, “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will perish.” Stating it positively, we might put it like this: “Honesty is the best policy.”
One thing I’ll always remember about Mrs. Porisch, my teacher in grades K-2, is that she was one person you could never lie to. Somehow she always knew. She just seemed to have this sixth sense to know when you were telling the truth and when you weren’t. After a while you didn’t even bother. You just told the truth. She’d find out anyway. Have you ever known someone like that?
What was true of Mrs. Porisch is true in an even greater sense of God. You cannot lie to God either. You see, God knows. It doesn’t even pay to try, because God can see right through it. God doesn’t have to rely on what we say. He can look straight into our hearts. “Man looks at the outward appearance,” we are told in 1 Samuel 16, “but the LORD looks at the heart”(v. 7). Even if you can keep a straight face, even if you can keep from blushing, God knows what’s in your heart. He knows your very thoughts. It is simply impossible to lie to God.
When it comes to our relationship with God, then, honesty is without question the best policy, especially when it comes to our sins. Trying to play games with God by trying to hide our sins or deny them or pretend like they never happened is pointless. “If we claim to be without sin,” the Bible tells us, “we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”(1 John 1:8). God knows what you said the other day. He heard you dragging his name through the mud. God knows the thoughts that ran through your mind as you were watching that movie. And he wasn’t too pleased either. God knows what you did with your friends the other night. No, mom and dad might not know, but God does. It’s no secret to him.
So just be honest. Admit it to God. You won’t be telling him anything he doesn’t already know. In humility confess your sins to the LORD and ask for his forgiveness. He’ll handle them the same way he handles all your sins. He’ll cast them into the depths of the sea. You see, thankfully, God is not like us. God doesn’t lie. In fact, in the book of Hebrews we are told that “it is impossible for God to lie”(6:18). God doesn’t tell us one thing and then do something else. What he says, he does. God has promised that for Jesus’ sake he will forgive our sins, and that’s exactly what he will do with them: “If we confess our sins,” John tells us, “he [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”(1 John 1:9). When it comes to our relationship with God, honesty is definitely the best policy.
The same is true in our dealings with others. Can you lie to someone and get away with it? I’m sure you probably can, but it still isn’t worth it. Let me give you three reasons why.
#1 – Lying is a sin. Every time you lie, you are sinning against God. You are damaging your faith and throwing another monkey wrench in your relationship with God. And if lying becomes a habitual sin, it could even destroy your faith and end up separating you from God forever. This is what John saw in his vision of eternity recorded in the book of Revelation:
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those
who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–their place will be in the fiery lake of
burning sulfur. This is the second death.(21:8)
And isn’t that what Solomon indicates in the verse we have before us? “He who pours out lies,” he says, “will perish.” Honesty is the best policy.
Reason #2 – Lying leads to more lying. You see, once you tell one lie, then you have to tell more lies to cover up the first one. Let me give you an example:
“Hey, Johnny, where were you the other night?” asks mom.
“Over at Tom’s house.”
“Oh? Mr. Johnson said he saw your car over at Pam’s house.”
“Well, ah–yeah, we were over at Pam’s house. You see, Pam called while I was over at Tom’s, so we went over to her place for a while.”
“What did you do at Pam’s house?”
“Well, we watched a movie.”
“What movie?”
“Ah, let’s see. What was it? Oh, yeah, ‘The Revenge of Sponge Bob Square Pants.’ It was really good.”
“Oh, was it? Mr. Johnson said he saw you and Pam and Tom climb in the car and leave. So, where’d you go?”
“Ah, well, ah, we went, ah–we went downtown. Yeah, we went downtown, and ah….”
And pretty soon your goose is cooked.
On the other hand, when you tell the truth, you don’t have to lie to cover up your tracks. You don’t have to remember what you said to whom and why and under what circumstances. Likewise you don’t have to worry that someone might try to check out your story. And you’ll never end up getting caught in a lie. When you tell the truth, you don’t have to worry about any of that stuff. Honesty is the best policy.
Reason #3 – Lying leads to hard feelings, as well as a loss of respect and trust. When you lie to someone and they find out later on, they’re usually not too pleased with you. In fact, more often than not, they’re upset, and rightly so. You lied to them. You didn’t even respect them enough to tell them the truth. In fact, if you want to ruin a friendship with someone, just start lying to them. It will be over in no time.
In addition to the hurt feelings, there is also the loss of respect and trust. Again, when you lie to someone and they find out later on, their respect for you goes out the window. And so does their trust. Next time you tell them something, chances are they won’t believe you. I mean, why should they? You lied the last time. If you lie to your parents about where you went with the car, next time you ask to use the car to go over to a friend’s house, they very well may tell you you can walk. After all, you lied to them last time. Why should they believe you this time?
“But, Pastor Bentz, if I tell the truth, I’ll get in trouble.” If you do things that are wrong, you’re probably right. You probably will get in trouble, but not half as much trouble as you will if you lie and get caught.
I don’t know how it is in your house, but when I was growing up, if we did something wrong, we were in trouble and we would be punished. If, however, we did something wrong and then lied on top of it and mom and dad found out, then we were in really big trouble. In fact, we could pretty much count on our punishment being doubled. So instead of being grounded for one week, we were grounded for two. Or instead of not being able to use the car for two weeks, we couldn’t use it for a month.
On the other hand, if we did something wrong and went to mom and dad and told them the truth, they would always say, “Well, we’re still not very happy about what you did, but at least you were honest about it. And we appreciate that. We’ll talk about your punishment later.” Though I never enjoyed finding out what my punishment was later, at least I still had their trust and respect. That was important. And the same holds true at your place of work, or at school, and in every aspect of life. If you mess up, the best thing you can do is be honest and own up to it. People will respect you for that, even if they don’t appreciate what you did. Honesty is always the best policy!
Back in the 1860s there lived a man named “Honest Abe.” He never wrote any songs, but he did become the 16th president of the United States. And his reputation for honesty is one of the things that helped him attain that prestigious position. Though you may never get to be president of the United States, the honesty of Abraham Lincoln is still an excellent example to follow. Whether it’s in our dealings with God or in our dealings with other people, the best thing you can do is be honest and tell the truth. With God’s help, let’s strive to make lying the lonely word and honesty our only policy. Amen.