“YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS”

a 10 Commandments series - #8 a
1 Samuel 19:1-7

“She didn’t necessarily, as far as congress people are judged, do a bad job. She was just a victim of the sins
of her son.” That was the comment that Detroit political analyst Steve Hood made about U.S. Representative
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, after she suffered defeat in this past Tuesday’s election primary. If I can make a few
confessions, first, I didn’t go out and vote this last Tuesday. And second, I didn’t even know that this woman
existed before I read the story on Yahoo Wednesday morning. But let me tell you, if I had taken the opportunity to
vote, and I were in the right area of southeast Michigan where she was on the ballot in front of me, I wouldn’t have
voted for her; not because I think she was a bad person, or that she couldn’t lead properly. She may very well be a
lovely woman with a skill set for being a leader. It’s the name – KILPATRICK – a name that now induces a slight
gag reflex every time you hear it, a name that you cannot help but associate with corruption and greed in the city of
Detroit, even though she personally was not involved. The name is tainted, tarnished, and it’s going to take a very
long time, perhaps generations before a Kilpatrick will be able to hold office in Detroit.
How important is it, really, to have a good name and a good reputation? Solomon in his Proverbs 22:1 tells
us clearly: “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Besides all the
treasures that we have discussed as being indispensible these last few weeks, our bodies, protected by the 5th
commandment, our spouses, protected in the 6th commandment, and our temporal property in the 7th
commandment, the gift of a good name is truly one more treasure that we ought to hold dear because of its vast
importance not only for our own well-being, but especially for the mission of the church, and the work of leading
others to the cross of salvation.
Today we have before us the 8th commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” which
deals with much more than just lying about somebody or spreading gossip about someone. It is much deeper than
just that, I assure you. At the heart of this commandment is that way that we either protect or sabotage the name
and reputation of our fellow man with our tongues, Christian or non-Christian. At the core of this commandment
is our continued drifting towards judgmentalism, speaking the truth subjectively, as “we see it,” rather than speaking
the objective truth as God has revealed it, which always serves the eternal good! The 8th commandment: “You shall
not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Luther’s explanation in the Small Catechism is as follows: “We should
fear and love God that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, or give him a bad name, but defend him, speak
well of him, and take his words and actions in the kindest possible way.”
“You shall not bear false witness”...that’s very legal language, isn’t it? When we hear this commandment,
right away, we should be driven to think of a courtroom, the most common picture for testimony and judgment. In
every courtroom, there is a judge, and the judge isn’t just anybody off the street, it is someone who has been chosen
either by election or by appointment to serve as the one who weighs evidence and renders appropriate judgment in
cases, someone who is supposed to be blind to the individuals in front of them, and clear-eyed and sober-minded
when it comes to the administration of the law.
Everybody else in the courtroom who isn’t the judge, whether lawyer, witnesses, plaintiff, defendant, no
matter who it is, everybody else is a giver of testimony, a witness, people who are charged with simply telling their
side of the story as they have come to know it. And it is the responsibility of the attorney to prepare the witnesses so
that when they take that stand, they don’t waver one bit. They are sure of what the truth is and they are ready to
take that truth to the judge or the jury and proclaim it publicly. And if you talk to any attorney, (dad’s here today,
you can talk to him), the testimony of one witness can make or break a case. If they use their opportunity to testify
to speak well of, let’s say, a criminal defendant, that could mean a not guilty verdict. If their testimony is scathing,
then the judge or jury might be swayed towards a conviction.
Our tongues have tremendous power! They have power to bless and to sway others to trust or distrust. Just
take the example of Jonathan and David, which is before us today. King Saul literally hated David and wanted him
dead. Chapters 16-31 of 1 Samuel are full of all kinds of stories where Saul was chasing after David, scheming
David’s death, taking army personnel to run after him and kill him. But listen to what happened when Jonathan
used his opportunity as a witness to speak well of David to King Saul, even though Saul had already determined
what David’s sentence ought to be:
“4
Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant
David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he
killed the Philistine. The LORD won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do
wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?” 6 Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As
surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death.”
What power our words have! What authority our tongues command, authority to protect and to uphold the
names and reputations of our fellow man so that they are recipients of blessing from God, as we heard in our lesson
from 1 Samuel. With such power and authority at our disposal, why, then do we love to offer testimony that is
damaging and destructive? Our words have power to kill as well, to rob others of their good name and reputation,
and that seems to be the kind of rhetoric that we delight in the most. Those are the kinds of words we delight in
hearing the most, those which put our fellow man on trial and elevate us to a position of judge, where we really
aren’t allowed by God to be a judge.
Just as it is in our system of justice, so it is in the kingdom of the Most High. There are those who are
chosen by God, by grace, to serve as judges in the government and in the church, those who are to be blind to the
person(s) in front of them and simply administer civil or sacred justice where it needs to be administered, and
especially in the sacred realm, it is always for the eternal benefit of the precious blood-bought soul, who is driven to
repentance through the application of the law, who is led to the cross where justice is served in full through the
sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
How often, though, do we catch wind of something, do we hear something through the grapevine and all of
a sudden we feel it’s our job to be the judge? That it’s our job to make the jump from witness to adjudicator, put
on the judge’s robe, take the gavel in our hand and with our limited and probably skewed information, pronounce a
verdict that ruins and perhaps even destroys a person’s name and reputation, all so that we can revel for a moment
in the power that we have over someone else!! How often do we think that it’s our job to pronounce devastating
judgment on another based on subjective perception, rather than “taking words and actions in the kindest possible
way,” and allowing the Word of God and his appointed representatives to pronounce objective truth?
I have said time and again that the commandments are not merely to be taken at face value, and the 8th
commandment is no different. This isn’t just a mandate against telling a petty lie about someone else. At the heart
of this commandment is our sinful pride and arrogance that isn’t content to be the witnesses we are called to be by
God. Instead we long to be the judges, and to use information we receive not to help and bless others and
ultimately lead them to repentance and to the cross of Jesus, but to hurt and destroy, all so that we can revel in that
moment of power that doesn’t intrinsically belong to us, all so that we can force people to view things as we see it,
rather than communicate through spiritual wisdom the truth as God has revealed it.
Friends in Christ, you are witnesses. Use your tongue, which has tremendous power both to save and
destroy, use your tongue to not only uphold the name and reputation of your fellow man, but in the same process to
uphold and honor the name of your Lord Jesus, whom you are witnesses of in your words and actions. When we
spend our days digging up dirt and nosing around in mud like pigs (as Luther so colorfully puts it in the large
catechism) not only do we come out covered in mud too, but we do a grave disservice to our Savior by putting up a
barrier for the Holy Spirit’s work.
Be witnesses of the truth, not as “you see it,” for that will most certainly lead to sinful judgmentalism. Be
witnesses of the truth as God has revealed it! Be faithful witnesses which not only seek to uphold the reputation of
others, because such a gift is invaluable and indelibly your work to bless the names of others has a direct effect upon
your own name and reputation, but be witnesses who ultimately testify to the love of God in Christ Jesus, who
stood in the Almighty’s court on your behalf, who stood in your place, the place of the accused, and secured for you,
through his suffering and death, the greatest gift of all – a “not-guilty” verdict, a gracious acquittal that no one can
take away from you, no matter how you have dishonored your God with your tongue or your actions, because your
divinely appointed attorney has assumed your indictments, taken your guilt, served your sentence, and now sends
you out to testify to his love and faithfulness.
When we use our tongues in such manner, dear fellow witnesses, then we use it in the way and for the
purpose that God ordained it. Bear faithful witness to your fellow man, using every opportunity to uphold his
honor and reputation, for such gifts are truly indispensible. And when you do, you uphold the name and reputation
of your Savior Jesus, you protect your own honor and reputation and you help to accomplish the great mission of
our Savior, the mission of the Holy Christian Church that calls you to be faithful witnesses for Christ to the ends of
the earth! Amen.