Worship, October 16
Let us worship!
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer
—From Psalm 19:14
A prayer to center you
Holy God,
we come to you.
Guide us now.
Speak to our hearts the truth of your ways.
Prepare your hearts to hear your word and lead our feet to walk in your ways.
Amen
Holy Scripture
James, CHAPTER 5, VERSE 12
Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
Reflection:
For some reason this one random verse from a somewhat lesser-known book of the Bible has held a lot of influence over me throughout my life. Maybe because I am a horrible liar, so lying was never really an option. As a child I could not fib to save my life and I never got much better at it. I also could not keep a secret to save my life, which I have also not outgrown. My family always had to be careful what they said around me because of these two things. (I was also a huge talker as a child, which I have also not outgrown, so anything was likely to come out of my mouth).
The whole concept of lying was a little foreign to me, thus making me extremely gullible. In college I had a roommate that convinced me, quite easily, that it was the Beatles on Stone Mountain. I just never understood why lying would be a thing or why people would do it so often. I like to believe that most people are honest at heart, and I am often so disappointed to learn when a person is not.
In raising my children, I put great emphasis on not lying. I am sure that both of my children can recite my spill about how trust is easily lost and very hard to regain as well as how being truthful is a core character trait that speaks to their very personhood. There is nothing in this world that they could do that would disappointment, except to lie.
In parenting, and in life, I have found that it is so important to be able to trust other people. How important it is to be able to stand by your word, to let your yes be yes and your no be no. This sounds easy to some extent, but when you look at it closer, it is not so easy.
Unfortunately, we live in a world were that is not the case. I have struggled with my kids to walk the line between not being rude on occasion and not lying. Yes, that shirt (you are already wearing out in public) looks nice, this meal (with my least favorite food in it) is delicious, that new hair cut looks great! It is a fine line that we walk. A study in 2014 found that 76% of people found it okay to lie sometimes. Another study found that Americans lie at least 2 times a day. So maybe letting your yes be yes and your no be no is not always so easy.
But we are our actions and our words. James’ words ring true and stand as a pretty high standard. Words are only words, our actions must back up what we say. You can make promises and swear by oath to this or that, but if your actions do not follow through, your character is lacking. If you say one thing and do another, your character is lacking.
But there is also the aspect of saying yes when your heart wants to say no. How many times do we agree to do something at work, for our significant other, for our children, that we really did not want to do? How many times in this situation do we end up feeling resentful because we agreed to something that we did not really want? The balance between pleasing others and pleasing ourselves is not always easy to walk either.
God calls us to live into our own truth, to own our own actions, to speak our own truth. It is not always easy, but truthfulness will build our character and increase the quality of our lives. If we only agreed to do things that we actually want to do. How nice it would be if we could trust everyone in what they say. How wonderful if we knew that all people would atleast try to live up to their word (we all fall short sometimes). What a testament to our character if we strive to let our yes be yes and our no be no in all that we do and to let our actions reflect our hearts and works. It could set us free and those around us. Truth and trust, hand in hand, helping us to live a better life in Christ.
Thinking it through…
Being honest with yourself (you don’t have to share), how often do you tell lies?
Have you ever had a relationship change because of a lie either you have told or that was told to you?
Do you see a difference between “nice” white lies (to protect a person’s feelings) and other lies? Why or why not?
Can lies help in some cases? How does that fit with this Scripture?
Can they hurt? How?
Word in action
Pay attention to the truth this week.
Your truth, the truth of others.
Try to live into your own truth in word and deed.
Let your yes be yes this week
Let your no be no.
Prayer of sending
God of all,
you know us truly and deeply,
help us to live into our truth,
to know ourselves,
to know you!
As we leave this space,
help us to find our own truth
and give us the courage to let our
yes be yes
and
our no be no
that we may find joy and peace in our being.
Amen
Going out.
Go out into the world, renewed and revived by the word of God.
and in all that you do, may the love of Christ Jesus uphold you,
the peace of God sustain you and may the Holy Spirit guide you each step of the way
Let all God’s people say: AMEN
