Liars and the Truth

Speech is a divine attribute, from before any man was created. For the Word was in the beginning, and through him was every living thing made. And last of all, God created man in his image. And so it was that man alone could speak, and God brought the living creatures to man, and whatsoever he called each, that was its name. And angels also could speak, being the messengers of God. But some of the angels, envious of man, fell from heaven; and their chief, the devil, came as a serpent into the Garden, and spoke a lie to the woman, for his tongue was twisted. And his lie was, remarkably, to call God a liar; so the woman had a choice, whether to believe God or the liar. And she chose the latter, and so did her husband, and all of mankind fell, and not only listened to lies, but began to lie themselves. So today, all men are liars, as Psalmist also declares. And now we hear lies everywhere: in the news, in society, in the world, in the neighborhood. And we ourselves are prone to lie, for it is so easy to do. We are experts at exaggerating, at mingling the truth with lies, at lying.  And the whole world is filled with lies, lies, lies. But still  the Word came forth, and became incarnate, and in our flesh spoke truth to us, for he is the truth. And he took upon himself the penalty due for our lies, and rose the third day. But still the lies sound forth, and say it is not so, and bring false religion. And so Jesus said, Beware of false prophets! So let us turn from lies to the only one who cannot lie, to our Lord and his word. Here, in  this place where it sounds forth in its truth and purity, and we hear it by God's grace, and believe it, and then confess it. And have opportunity to reverse the fault of Eve. For now we are again presented with the truth and with lies. And so by grace we hear and speak the truth, and confess Christ, and look for the day of our resurrection, when only the eternal truth remains with us forever. Sermon for Trinity VII.