Freedom Through Honesty
As we approach Forgiveness Sunday, the prophet of God reminds us that the difference between being captive and being free is the hard work of being honest!
I love the look on my daughter’s face when I tell her, “You can do what you want to do AFTER you do what you have to do.” Training a child (or, for that matter, me!) to delay gratification is one of the most important life lessons any parent can teach.
This essential ability of the mature pays off life dividends in both practical and spiritual ways. If I had started saving for my retirement in my 20s, the miracle of compound interest would have made me a very wealthy man. If I would have put off playing when I should have been studying, I would have made better grades. If I would have… oh, you get the idea. If only…
The delusional temptations of either wishing I had done differently or dwelling on my past actions all enslave me to the fantasy of a world where I can’t do anything about it. It’s the perfect trap of the evil one to keep my life in neutral!
But I must mature enough to see the joy in discipline before I can find the strength to practice it.
Look at our Lesson in Zechariah 8:7-17. This book is between Habbakuk and Haggai towards the end of the Old Testament.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country; and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets, since the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in; for I set every man against his fellow. But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the Lord of hosts. For there shall be a sowing of peace; the vine shall yield its fruit, and the ground shall give its increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.”
For thus says the Lord of hosts: “As I purposed to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, so again have I purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, says the Lord.”
The prophet Zechariah tells the People of God that the Lord will save His people from captivity and bondage in the coming days. God used Zechariah to encourage His people, who had just returned to Jerusalem after captivity in Babylon. These refugees were overwhelmed by the task of re-establishing themselves in their homeland.
So, Zechariah tells them what God says “SHALL” do. It doesn’t sound like a suggestion, does it?
Look at what the Lord tells them:
First, speak the truth to one another.
Delusion and fantasy are enemies of spiritual and even societal health. If you lie to yourself, you’ll stay sick. If you lie to one another, society will remain sick. Communion between people grows where truth is encouraged. It dies where truth is punished.
Next, make judgments based on truth and peace.
This is an interesting combination because in our society today, whole groups insist they want peace, but what they really want is power. Peace doesn’t come without truth, but truth must be comprehensive to produce true peace. If your rhetoric is only partial truth, you won’t get peace.
Next, don’t plan evil towards another in your heart.
When we do this, we plant the seeds of division, bitterness, and hate in our lives. This always leads to conflict, never peace.
Finally, love no false oath.
It seems that honesty, both within and without, is the running thread of wisdom. However, honesty first requires the humility to see that you need it and the trust that God will not use the Truth against you. You have to trust that honesty really does lead to freedom and maturity. As we approach Forgiveness Sunday this weekend, that commitment to honesty will serve you well!
St. John Cassian the Confessor was born in 350. He was well-educated and served in the Roman army. Upon finishing his service, he became a monk in Bethlehem and dedicated his life to Christ. It is interesting to hear how many Christian monks came from the ranks of military service. The disciplined life is attractive to one formed by discipline. He and a fellow monk traveled to Egypt when they heard of the monastic lives of the saints there, and St. Jojn wrote about his observations and lessons in a very influential book called Conferences. He was made a deacon in Constantinople by St. John Chrysostom in 403. When St. Chrysostom was exiled, St. John took letters to Rome to defend the exiled Archbishop. There. St. John Cassian was ordained to the priesthood. St. John indeed held the mind of the Church and could articulate the power of God’s grace and the call of God to Man to exercise his will in cooperating with God’s grace for our salvation.
Today, what are you doing to build honesty inside yourself and with others? The constant discipline of speaking the truth in love creates a sense of peace and sobriety in our lives. And it is precisely the goal of the spiritual disciplines of the Church. Learning how to live honestly flows from a committed and purposeful Normal Orthodox Christian life. You can do what you want to do AFTER you do what you have to do.
P.S. The image of God, was faithfully preserved in you, O Father. For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By Your actions you taught us to look beyond the flesh for it passes, rather to be concerned about the soul which is immortal. Wherefore, O Holy John Cassian, your soul rejoices with the angels.
Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV
