“Liar, Liar!”
Text: 1 John 1:1—2:2
4-7-2024
In the name of our risen Lord and Savior, dear friends in Christ. There’s a little ditty that kids sometimes say to a person they think is being untruthful. Let’s see if you remember it. “Liar, Liar...” Right! “Liar, Liar pants on fire.” I read a comment on a website that said, “It is an overall stupid thing to say, since if your pants actually caught on fire when you lied, more politicians would be dead.” Ah, let’s not gang up on the politicians. The fact of the matter is that kids sing that ditty because even at their young age they despise a liar. Well, that is, unless they’re doing the lying! It’s pretty easy to call someone else a liar, but we don’t like that label applied to us personally, do we?
So, are you a liar? Don’t start splitting hairs or playing semantic games with the word, just answer the question. Are you a liar? That’s not an accusation, it’s a question. It’s obvious that you’re uncomfortable with it. I suspect (or at least hope) that most, if not all, of you answered that with an emphatic “I am nota liar!” Let’s face it, none of us wants to be called that. That’s because we’ve been taught lying is bad and to be known as a liar is like a death sentence. No one trusts your word. I pride myself on being honest, but sometimes I catch myself flirting with the edges of lying. I too despise a liar and that’s what pulls me back from being untruthful.
Well, how about if I make this a little tougher (or perhaps easier depending on your perspective)? “Who is the big fat liar; you or God?” Oh, you probably think that’s a trick question. Kind of like asking a man, “Are you still beating your wife?” It’s a no-win question. If he says no, then it implies that he used to. If he says yes, well, you get the drift. But I’m serious here. “Who is the big fat liar; you or God?” Trust me, it’s one or the other. Either you are the “Liar, liar pants on fire” or God is. Lest you think that I’m toying with your mind or being irreverent, let me assure you that I am not. And I didn’t come up with this on my own. In essence, this is the difficult question that St. John poses in the Epistle Lesson. So, if you think I’m calling you a liar, I am! And I’m calling myself a liar too! How dare I say that? Well, let’s follow the progression of what John says in our text. Then the question and the answer about being liars will become clearer.
John opens by laying the foundation that he and others were eye witnesses of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the basis for what unites us in fellowship with one another and with God. Then in verse 5, John uses one of his favorite metaphors: darkness versus light. Notice that God is described as pure light. And sin, of course, is the exact opposite of God. It is described as darkness. Think about it, darkness is simply the absence of light. The 2 cannot coexist. Where light shines, darkness is driven back and disappears. So it is with God and sin. Sin is the absence of God’s holiness, His light. God and sin cannot coexist. Wherever the light of His holiness shines, the darkness of sin disappears.
Okay, how does that apply to us being liars? Well, John says, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” Do you get the picture? If you claim to be a redeemed child of light, a Christian, and yet you go on walking in a sinful way of life, then you’re living a lie. Youare a liar! It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about intentional or unintentional sinning. You are living a lie. “But wait a minute Pastor, even devout Christians sin every day. So you’re saying we’re all liars!?!” Yep! Now before you get too confused, listen to how John immediately applies the Gospel. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” In other words, a baptized child of God has hope. We know that by the power of the Holy Spirit we can walk in the light of God’s holiness, having been cleansed of our sins. That is living a life of truth rather than living a lie.
Ah, but John doesn’t stop there. He returns to our lying tendencies. He says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” There it is again. However, this time you’re not just lying to others, you’re lying to yourself if you say you have no sin. You are a liar! And then in verse 10, John writes, “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him {that is, God} a liar, and His word is not in us.” There’s the awful question. If we claim to be without sin then either God is a liar or we are. So which is it? Let me venture a guess and say that your response goes something like this: “Well, I don’t claim to be without sin. In fact, I just confessed my sins at the beginning of the service. So I would never say God is a liar! End of story!” That sounds good, but is it the truth?
What are some ways in which people are liars by claiming they have not sinned? Well, let’s start with the bigger picture and work our way down to us as individuals. God’s Word clearly says that homosexuality is a sin. But a large sector of our society is trying to convince us to agree that it’s a normal and legitimate lifestyle. Worse yet, there are whole church bodies which have accepted and repeated this same lie. In recent years, several major protestant denominations have approved the ordination of practicing homosexuals as Pastors. And in line with that, they have sanctioned and will perform so-called “gay marriages.” I hate the word “gay” being used in this context. They hijacked the word in order to paint a happy face on their perversion. Anyway, let’s ask the question: Who is the liar, God or them?
To contradict what God clearly says in Scripture is a sin. So, what about the Office of the Keys, which is the Church’s authority to forgive or retain sins? Some Christians deny that this power has been given to the Church. And yet, in our Gospel reading you heard Jesus hand that responsibility over to the Church on earth. Who is the liar, God or them? The same with the Sacraments. Some deny that these are God’s Means of Grace, that is, His way of distributing the forgiveness of sins. Here again, the Scriptures are very clear that the Sacraments do have this power. Who is the liar, God or them?
Okay, let’s get more personal. Some Christians argue that all these doctrinal disputes don’t. They’re just a difference of opinion. That’s not what St. Paul tells us in numerous places. So, who is the liar, God or them? Others poo-poo regular worship claiming that they don’t need to gather in God’s house in order to be a Christian. The Third Commandment and elsewhere in the Bible God says different. It’s through the Church that God offers His Means of Grace. Who is the liar, God or them?
So far you may have felt safe, but don’t. There isn’t a single person here who doesn’t have a pet sin, or two, or three, or a thousand. Sins like: gossip, swearing, telling “little white lies,” lustful thoughts, cheating, over-indulging on food and alcohol, being unforgiving, or lazy... and the list goes on and on. I know that certain sins seem insignificant and harmless. And yet God makes it clear that every sin is destructive and damning. There is no such thing as a trivial sin in His eyes. Our modern culture has gone so far as to tell us it’s natural to lie about certain sins, such as having sex with someone who isn’t your spouse. But by refusing to call a sin a sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. Sure, you confessed your sins earlier, but was it ALL of your sins? If you’re holding onto any sin then you’re claiming to have not sinned. So who is the liar, God or you?
It is our duty as a Church to identify sin so that it can be confessed. As your Pastor, that’s my job both from the pulpit and in my day-to-day ministry among you. Sometimes people don’t want to hear that. They say it’s intolerant or unloving. But if I didn’t call a sin a sin, no matter how well accepted it is by the world, then I would be the liar, and that would be a big problem. Because if we refuse to acknowledge a sin and confess it, then we have effectively cut ourselves off from the forgiveness that Christ won for us on the cross. By doing so, we are calling God a liar. He sent His beloved Son into this world because we needed a Savior. When we avoid confessing a sin, or refuse to acknowledge it as a sin, we are saying that the death of Christ was unnecessary and meaningless. Again, this is the opposite of what God says. So who is the liar, God or you?
I hope by now you’ve figured out the correct answer to my question. “Who is the liar; you or God?” We know it can’t be God and we’ve proven that it’s us who are the liars. That is humbling. It brings us to the point where we must confess that we’ve sinned against God “in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.” We can only throw ourselves at the feet of God begging for mercy. And that’s right where He wants us. Because St. John shares with us the glorious good news: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Forgiveness of ALL your sins is there waiting for you to grasp. All you need to do is humbly confess them to the Lord without holding back. Confess that you have been lying to the world, and to yourself, and most of all, lying to God about your sins. Confess them and receive His cleansing through the blood of Christ.
St. John was not naive about what he wrote. He recognized that even sanctified followers of Christ would fall into temptation and sin. That’s why he urges us to go to Jesus who is our advocate with the Father. His death on the cross is the “propitiation” for our sins. That is, His death pays the price and removes our sins from us. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are changed from being liars to forgiven saints of God. And I would add that what John describes here is an ongoing process. None of us will be free of sin until the day we die. But the constant process of God cleansing us from our sin makes us able to walk in the light of His holiness because we have been forgiven. That’s what Christ died and rose again for. That good news is what gives us such great joy in being able to confidently say, “Alleluia! Christ is risen!” {He is risen indeed, Alleluia!} Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!