“THE TRUTH ABOUT TELLING THE TRUTH”

JOHN 1:43-51

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,  you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Do you remember the old television game show To Tell The Truth?  The premise for the game show was simple. A person with an unusual job or claim to fame would appear on the show along with two imposters.  A panel of celebrities would then question the three of them.  The two imposters of course were allowed to fib  while the real person had to tell the truth. You may remember that after they finished their questioning the celebrities would vote and then the host would say, “Will the real Mr. So and So please stand up.”

Sometimes you have to do what they did on that game show. You have to decide if someone is telling you the truth, and to tell you the truth, people today don’t always tell you the truth.  I say that because this is an age of little white lies or as Winston Churchill once put it “terminological inexactitudes.” 

People seem to have no qualms these days when it comes to fudging the truth a little and sometimes they fudge it a lot.  All you have to do is open the newspapers or turn the television on and watch the nightly news. Bernie Madoff lied to his clients for years and the end result was a $50 billion ponzi scheme.  A few years ago baseball player Raphael Palmerio pointed his finger during a Congressional hearing and defiantly said, “I have never used performance enhancing drugs.” A few months later we learned that he did used them. Then there’s Albert Arroyo.  He’s the Boston firefighter who found a doctor who was willing to swear that he had suffered a career ending back injury.  He was able to retire at full pay. That career ending back injury though didn’t stop him from spending endless hours in the gym.

People fudge the truth all the time.  Everyone does it. For example, according to a recent survey most of the people who call in sick to work really aren’t sick at all. Does that surprise you? The survey was conducted by the Harris Institute and the results were eye opening to say the least. What they discovered was that that 68% of the people who call in sick aren’t really sick. 

Employers also reported hearing some pretty bizarre excuses for not showing up for work.  For example, one person said, “I tripped over my dog and knocked unconscious.” Another person said, “I forgot to come back to work after lunch.”

Here are a few more.

·  I couldn't find my shoes.

·  I hurt myself bowling.

·  A hit man was looking for me.

·  My curlers burned my hair and I had to go to the hairdresser.

·  My brain went to sleep and I couldn't wake it up.

·  My cat unplugged my alarm clock.

·  I had to be there for my husband's grand jury trial.

·  I forgot what day of the week it was.

·  Someone slipped drugs in my drink last night.

Then there’s my favorite, “My monkey died.

When it comes to fudging the truth it’s probably best to remember these words of wisdom.  You can fool some of the people all of the time and you can fool all of the people some of the time but you can’t fool the God who came to dwell among us in Jesus Christ.  Just look at Nathanael.  His first encounter with Jesus was a little unnerving.  It all started when Philip told Nathanael that they had found the messiah.  That messiah, Philip said, was a man from Nazareth named Jesus.  Now Nathanael had his doubts that this Jesus could really be the messiah but he decided to humor Philip.  He went with him and as I said his first encounter with Jesus was a little unnerving.

Nathanael must have felt like he was standing naked in front of Jesus. That’s because Jesus sized Nathanael up before he even said a word.  Jesus says to him, “Behold an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”  Nathanael is surprised by the compliment of course and asks Jesus an obvious question.  He basically says, “Excuse me Jesus, but do we know each other?”  Jesus then makes it clear that while Nathanael doesn’t know who he is he knows who Nathanael is. Listen again to what Jesus says to Nathanael. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”   That’s enough for Nathanael to believe.  As soon as he hears that he cries out, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Jesus was right about Nathanael because he sees all and knows all. That’s enough to make me want to tell the truth?  How about you?

By the way, what happened to Nathanael wasn’t an isolated incident.  You see it over and over again in the gospels.  Do you remember the woman at the Samaritan well?  When Jesus meets her he tells her to go and get her husband.  When she tells him that she’s not married Jesus says to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”  She then runs back to the village and says to everyone, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”  (John 4)  Jesus was right about the Samaritan woman because he sees all and knows all.

Then there’s the moment at the last supper where Peter tells Jesus that he will never desert him.  Do you remember what Jesus says to Peter at that point?  He says to him “Truly I tell you before the rooster crows tonight you will deny me three times.”  (Matthew 26:34)  Jesus was right about Peter because he sees all and knows all.

You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but Nathanael will tell you that you can’t fool the God who came to us in Jesus Christ.  Nathanael will also tell you that as far as Jesus Christ is concerned honesty isn’t optional. Of course that doesn’t mean that he wants you to be honest in a way that you know is going to deliberately hurt someone. After all Jesus Christ doesn’t want you to be honest the way a little boy was with his parents one day.  It happened when they picked him up after spending a week at camp.  After they got all the luggage in the car they started off for home.  While they were driving along the little boy’s mother asked him a question.  “Did you get homesick while you were at camp?” The little boy thought about it for a moment and then said, “No.  I didn’t, but some of the kids who have dogs did.”

Jesus doesn’t want you to be honest in a way that you know is going to deliberately hurt someone.  Besides that exception though he does expect us to honest with him, honest with others and honest with ourselves.

There’s story about a pastor who accepted a call to a church just outside Houston, Texas. Shortly after arrived the pastor decided to take the bus from his home to the center of the city.  After he got on the bus he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him an extra quarter in change.  His first thought was to give the quarter back.  Then he thought, “Oh, forget about it.  It’s only a quarter.  Besides the bus company charges an arm in the leg for its fares and they’ll never miss it.  Just accept it as a gift from God and keep quiet.”  When the bus arrived at his stop the pastor paused before he got off and handed the quarter back to the driver.  “You gave me too much  change,” he said.  The driver smiled and asked, “Aren’t you the new preacher in town?” When the pastor said “yes” the driver went on to say, “I’ve been thinking about going somewhere to church.  I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change.  I’ll see you in church on Sunday.”   A few minutes later the preacher found himself standing on the sidewalk.  “O LORD,” he said to himself, “I almost sold your Son out for a quarter.”

That’s a good way of looking at it.  After everything is said and done Nathanael will tell you that each of us will find ourselves standing before the Jesus who sees all and knows all. When that day comes one of two things will happen.  Either Jesus will ask you why you sold him out or he’ll say to you, “Behold a man, behold a woman in whom there is no deceit.  Enter into the joy of your Master.”  If more people looked at it that way maybe we’d have a little more honesty these days. When you look at it that way it really is a no brainer.  To tell you the truth it’s best to tell the truth.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

January 18, 2009