Truth—Regardless
Of The Consequences
Mark 12:13-17
Back in December of 1994, Bob Greene wrote column about Rob Mouw
-senior soccer player at
--big game vs.
--Wheaton Christian down by one goal in final seconds
-Rob was dribbling ball, running
full speed down field
--as he was preparing a last gasp goal
attempt, he caught sight of the
scoreboard
clock...and it clearly read “00.00”
--like any good athlete, Rob shot anyway and
ball found back of the net
---ref signaled “goal” and the game ended in
a tie
-Rob’s team and fans went nuts,
but the other fans and players protested
So Rob had a choice to make
-could say nothing and avoid the
loss—this was an important game
--after all, it's ref's job to decide
calls...not his responsibility
-Rob approach the referee and asked
him whether the official time is on
the scoreboard
or on his stopwatch
--the ref replied that scoreboard time was
official and ran off field
*What would you do? [HUM the
Final Jeopardy theme]
Rob ran to his bench, explained to his coaches that he'd seen all zeroes
-since he didn't hear a whistle,
he kept playing
-but he knew the goal was
late, and he didn't think it should count
His coaches agreed, and they took a long walk across the field to the
-Bob Greene's article concludes
with quote from Rob Mouw
--Every
time in your life you have an opportunity to do right, you should
be
thankful. For a person to know what
right is, and then not do it—
that would
be sin. To have won the game—I mean,
really, who
cares? Doing the right thing is more important.
Great story, except many coaches would have told him to be quiet
-many teammates would harass
him, many friends would ridicule him
--that's because in the real world, truth
is not always welcome
-that often makes many of us afraid
of speaking the truth
--perhaps because we don't want to offend or
hurt someone else
--but more often, because speaking the
truth will hurt us
Someone once remarked (maybe from experience!) à Tell your boss what
you think of him and
the truth shall set you free!
Don't always want hear the truth from doctors, mechanics, preachers
-a pastor described a couple who
were first-time guests at his church
--afterwards they angrily told him they didn't appreciate his message
---he didn't understand, since he preached
on God's forgiveness
----so he asked what, exactly, had offended
them
--they replied that idea of forgiveness
implied they had something for
which they needed to
be forgiven!
-often the truth hurts...author Aldous Huxley à You shall know the
truth
and the truth
shall make you mad.
The final scene of A Few Good Men
is set in a tense military courtroom
-Jack Nicholson asks Tom Cruise,
"What is it that you want, Captain?"
--Cruise, who plays USMC
attorney replies, "I want the truth, Colonel"
-Nicholson snaps back, "You
can't handle the truth!"
--sure, it’s a memorable line in a great scene
--but ironically, it's also true—many people
cannot handle the truth
Thing is, the truth is exactly what we need
-we need to hear and we need to
speak the truth in love everyday, in
every
situation, regardless of the consequences
-Martin Luther à I find it impossible to avoid offending guilty
men, for
there
is no way of avoiding it but by our silence or their patience; and
silent we cannot
be because of God's command, and patient they
cannot
be because of their guilt.
15 months ago we began journey through Mark's account of Jesus' life
-today's text asks an
interesting question—Do Jesus’ followers pay taxes?
--Jewish religious leaders ask this very
thing trying to trap Jesus
--they figure however He answers He'll anger
either crowd or Romans
-but as they approach Jesus,
they butter Him up
Read Mark 12:13-17
Truthful (NAS), true (KJV), righteous, honest (CEV), real, genuine
-even though the Jewish leaders
do not understand Jesus...they do not
believe
He is the Messiah...they do know this
one thing about Him—He
always
speaks the truth
--His words are always
true and He is always true to His word
Listen to something Jesus taught during the Sermon on the Mount
-Read Matthew 5:33-37
--we’re not going to get hung
up on His ban on taking oaths ("swearing")
-Jesus' point is that our speech must always
be accurate, precise, without
hedging
absolute truth, without exaggeration
--the truth, the whole truth, nothing but
the truth
--and the consequence of
living that way is that you have no need to
swear
or to take an oath to get people to believe you
---give no one any reason to doubt the truth of what you say
*Choose your words carefully—be accurate (3 lb. fish = 3 lb. fish)
*Keep your word...commitments
-if you say you're going to do something—do it
*Keep you words clear and precise...don’t avoid the truth with
confusing,
complicated
language...don’t think telling part or even most of the truth
keeps
the true spirit of God’s commands
*Confess quickly when you fail...whether it’s intentional or not
-confess to everyone who heard you...therefore
it may need to be a pretty
public
confession
The rule of speech that holds up well is simple: before you speak, ask
yourself
three questions à
1. Is it true?
2. Is it necessary?
3. Is it kind?
That will immediately take care of gossip, of slander, of questionable
motivation
on your part, of “vicious” honesty (saying things that are true,
but you use the truth
to hurt someone intentionally, rather than to help
them—and
we know the difference between the two!)
-does that mean that I can
still preach on sin, judgment, and hell?
--sure...it’s true, it’s
necessary, and it is ultimately kind
Those who are trying to flatter Jesus and then trap Him, go on to say
something
else that is quite significant
Mark 12:14b à You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no
attention
to
who they are...
In other words, Jesus never allows His audience
dictate His message
-remember how He answers the rich
young ruler in chapter 10?
--Jesus would have benefited greatly from his
money and power
--Jesus could cater to him, to his wants and
his needs...He could have
told stories about the
advantages of being a disciple...He could have
chased after the guy,
bribing him with special attention, a nice meal, a
position of power...but instead
Jesus simply and plainly told him truth
about hard road of being
one of His followers
---some criticize Jesus,
saying He missed a wonderful opportunity to
gain some credibility in the eyes
of the religious and political elite
---but Jesus would not soften
nor compromise the truth in order to
gain a following
Jesus always treated people with the same respect
-prostitutes and priests, lepers and
government officials
-He never shows partiality to
those who could help Him
-He never resorts to flattery to
increase His popularity
The truth is, giving someone special attention because they are wealthy,
powerful, attractive, or
whatever...is sin (read the first part of James 2 if
you don’t believe me)
-sometimes I am told by
well-meaning people, “We need to get them in
our church. They could do a lot of good things for
us. You should pay
some extra special
attention to get them here.”
-believe me, that’s really
tempting at times...but my goal, my prayer is
that everyone will be
treated the same...regardless of the clothes they
wear, the car the drive, or
their position (or lack thereof)
When he was 27, Dr. David Nystrom (theology
professor in
invited to attend his denomination's annual
ministers' conference
-after one session, about 50 were invited to suite of one leader
--several hotel employees were serving
coffee, soft drinks, snacks
---because there were not enough hotel staff,
sodas were self-serve
--because he hates social situations like
that, Dr. Nystrom looked for
something to keep him busy so he began
pouring sodas for others
A distinguished-looking guest came to the table...Dr. Nystrom served him
-He treated me in the brusque, inhuman fashion that anyone who has
worked in the service sector knows all too
well. I attempted to engage
him in conversation, but with a dismissive
glance he simply walked away.
Not long after that, the denominational leader called the group to order
-they formed a circle to begin discussing the sermon
they’d heard earlier
--several people couldn't fit inside the inner
circle, including Dr. Nystrom,
who found himself sitting
directly behind the distinguished looking man
-leader said, "Let us begin
by hearing the opinion of our resident New
Testament specialist." ...he
then gestured to Dr. Nystrom
--man in front turned, his mouth dropped open,
and turned rather pale
-later, man kindly spoke to Dr. Nystrom in
highly flattering terms
--Dr. Nystrom
said à In his
mind, a "NT specialist" is to be accorded
more honor than the employee of a hotel.
*Never compromise the truth to get promotion, make sale, win friends, or
win soccer games
*As a church we cannot soften message of sin/cross to get bigger crowd
-as soon as the gospel is
compromised, it is no longer good news
Finally, back in Mark 12:14,
Jesus is described à You
teach the way of
God in accordance with the truth.
In 1 Kings 22:8, King Ahab is
asked if there is a godly prophet who can be
sought for counsel
-Ahab, speaking about Micaiah, replied à There
is still one man through
whom
we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never
prophesies anything good about me, but
always bad.
‘Just further proof that very few people really want to hear the truth
-Jeremiah 5:31 à The
prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their
own authority, and My people love it this
way.
Conventional wisdom advises us to give the people what they want...tell
them what they want to hear
-this is a temptation for politicians, preachers, and teachers
--but Jesus never does
that: never blows off sin
-instead He tells them what they need to hear: the truth
--when Jesus forgives the
woman caught in adultery in John 8, He
goes on to admonish her
à Go now and leave your life of sin.
Paul clearly warns the young pastor, Timothy à Read
2 Timothy 4:1-4
The rule to live by is found in Ephesians
4:15 à speak
the truth in love
When Harry Truman was thrust into the presidency by the death of FDR,
a friend took him aside: "From here on out, you're going to have lots
of
people around you. They'll try to put up a wall around you and
cut you off
from any ideas but theirs. They'll tell you what a great man you are,
Harry. But you and I both know you ain't."
-while the truth may hurt, when spoken in love, it also helps
Proverbs 28:23 à He who rebukes a man will in the end gain
more favor
that he who has a flattering tongue
Jesus, in fact, commands us to confront sin
-Matthew 18:15 à If your
brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if
he listens to you, you have won your
brother.
--easy?
No way!
--not easy, but on account of love, it is
necessary
Why is truth such a rare commodity?
-why do our children not
understand honesty and integrity?
---because they're seeing it compromised in
little ways by athletes,
politicians, and even
their own parents...
----who call in sick to work and then go
golfing or shopping
----who underreport income or fudge a
little on deductions
----who don't return money when given too
much change or don't
correct a bill that undercharges
them
In this life, integrity will rarely get you a promotion
-you'll probably never win an
award for honesty
-speaking truth, even in love,
may cost you game, friends, job
But consider the alternative
-if I am not a man of integrity,
I'll destroy my witness, ruin my credibility,
hurt this family church, and
I’ll be a hypocrite in the eyes of my children
Remember Rob Mouw?
--one day a letter arrived: "Dear Rob, I read Bob Greene's wonderful
column about you. I love sports and true sportsmen. My faith in our
future was renewed and lifted
by that column. Never lose your
principles. Always stand for what's decent and right. That's what you
told us all when you refused
the victory!
Sincerely, George Herbert
Walker Bush.”
For Christians, one day, we will hear the words that will beat President
Bush's hands down
-one day we will hear Heavenly Father say,
"Well done, my good and
faithful servant."
I want to be found faithful, serving, loving, and being a man of
integrity
-may the Holy Spirit speak to
you and to me...and convict us of any sin in
our lives
You need to hear the Truth this morning...and as Paul said in Romans 1, I
am obligated...[and] eager [to tell you the Truth, because I
am]...not
ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of
God for the salvation of
everyone who believes...
-you are a sinner...and your sin has not only
separated you from God, it
has
earned you the death penalty
--without Jesus Christ you have no hope in
this life...and you have no
hope
for eternity...in fact, you will spend eternity separated from
God in a place the Bible calls hell
---as someone has said, “If you live all
your life telling God to leave
you
alone, when you die He will give you exactly what you’ve
always
wanted.”
-with that sobering truth in
mind...consider another truth: you are
also
loved by God
--and He doesn’t merely say it, God demonstrates His love for
you...
when you were still a
sinner, Jesus Christ died for you (Romans 5:8,
paraphrased)
--Jesus was beaten, whipped,
nailed to a cross, and shed His precious
blood to pay the
penalty for your sin
---it is only by
God’s grace working through your trust in Christ, that
you have hope
---but when you surrender your life to
Christ, God will overwhelm
you with the
blessings of real life now and eternal life with Him
in heaven