Pentecost 14B

14th Sunday after Pentecost

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Russian author who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970. The only work of his that I had ever heard of was the novel The Gulag Archipelago, but he also wrote an epic historical work about the 1917 Russian Revolution titled “The Red Wheel”. He wrote quite a few other works of fiction and non-fiction, for which he is remembered as one of the greats.

Although he served the Russian army faithfully in World War 2, he began to be vocally critical of the totalitarian leadership of his country, which bought him some time in a Gulag, and later resulted in his exile from his country. He settled in Vermont with his family in 1976.

I want to share with you parts of an essay he wrote in 1974, which was released on the day he was arrested. This essay is titled “Live Not By Lies”:

“We are approaching the brink; already a universal spiritual demise is upon us; a physical one is about to flare up and engulf us and our children, while we continue to smile sheepishly and babble:

‘But what can we do to stop it? We haven’t the strength.’ [or so we tell ourselves…]

We have so hopelessly ceded our humanity that for the modest handouts of today we are ready to surrender up all principles, our soul, all the labors of our ancestors, all the prospects of our descendants—anything to avoid disrupting our meager existence. We have lost our strength, our pride, our passion. We do not even fear a common nuclear death, do not fear a third world war (perhaps we’ll hide away in some crevice), but fear only to take a civic stance! We hope only not to stray from the herd, not to set out on our own, and risk suddenly having to make do without the white bread, the hot water heater, a Moscow residency permit.

We have internalized well the lessons drummed into us by the state; we are forever content and comfortable with its premise: we cannot escape the environment, the social conditions; they shape us, ‘being determines consciousness.’ What have we to do with this? We can do nothing.

But we can do—everything!—even if we comfort and lie to ourselves that this is not so. It is not ‘they’ who are guilty of everything, but we ourselves, only we!

Some will counter: But really, there is nothing to be done! Our mouths are gagged, no one listens to us, no one asks us. How can we make them listen to us?

To make them reconsider—is impossible.

The natural thing would be simply not to reelect them, but there are no re-elections in our country.

In the West they have strikes, protest marches, but we are too cowed, too scared: How does one just give up one’s job, just go out onto the street?

So has the circle closed? So is there indeed no way out? So the only thing left to do is wait inertly: What if something just happens by itself?

But it will never come unstuck by itself, if we all, every day, continue to acknowledge, glorify, and strengthen it, if we do not, at the least, recoil from its most vulnerable point.

From lies.

When violence bursts onto the peaceful human condition, its face is flush with self-assurance, it displays on its banner and proclaims: ‘I am Violence! Make way, step aside, I will crush you!’ But violence ages swiftly, a few years pass—and it is no longer sure of itself. To prop itself up, to appear decent, it will without fail call forth its ally—Lies. For violence has nothing to cover itself with but lies, and lies can only persist through violence. And it is not every day and not on every shoulder that violence brings down its heavy hand: It demands of us only a submission to lies, a daily participation in deceit—and this suffices as our fealty.

And therein we find, neglected by us, the simplest, the most accessible key to our liberation: a personal non-participation in lies! Even if all is covered by lies, even if all is under their rule, let us resist in the smallest way: Let their rule hold not through me!

And this is the way to break out of the imaginary encirclement of our inertness, the easiest way for us and the most devastating for the lies. For when people renounce lies, lies simply cease to exist. Like parasites, they can only survive when attached to a person.

We are not called upon to step out onto the square and shout out the truth, to say out loud what we think—this is scary, we are not ready. But let us at least refuse to say what we do not think! ...

Our way must be: Never knowingly support lies! Having understood where the lies begin (and many see this line differently)—step back from that gangrenous edge! Let us not glue back the flaking scales of the Ideology, not gather back its crumbling bones, nor patch together its decomposing garb, and we will be amazed how swiftly and helplessly the lies will fall away, and that which is destined to be naked will be exposed as such to the world.

And thus, overcoming our temerity, let each man choose: Will he remain a witting servant of the lies (needless to say, not due to natural predisposition, but in order to provide a living for the family, to rear the children in the spirit of lies!), or has the time come for him to stand straight as an honest man, worthy of the respect of his children and contemporaries? ...

It will not be an easy path, perhaps, but it is the easiest among those that lie before us. Not an easy choice for the body, but the only one for the soul. No, not an easy path, but then we already have among us people, dozens even, who have for years abided by all these rules, who live by the truth.

And so: We need not be the first to set out on this path, Ours is but to join! The more of us set out together, the thicker our ranks, the easier and shorter will this path be for us all! If we become thousands—they will not cope, they will be unable to touch us. If we will grow to tens of thousands—we will not recognize our country!” [Taken from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Center — Solzhenitsyn Live Not by Lies, 27 Aug 2021]

Solzhenitsyn’s essay really hit home for me when I read it earlier this week. Although this was written 47 years ago, and in Russia, it feels like it could have been written to us today. Our country has become - is becoming - something I don’t recognize. Truth has become subjective. Instead of “the” Truth, we hear “my truth” or “your truth”. Celebrities, famous athletes, and politicians used to be the sort of people that we wanted our kids to look to as role models. Today, we are better served to insulate our children from their influence. Many of them are either caught in lies and illicit behavior, or they are defending that behavior by other famous people. I think most of us have been skeptical of people on the national stage - especially politicians - but in the last several years, I am far more likely to distrust a famous person than I am to trust them. Frankly, I expect that most of what I hear now are lies until I am given proof that it’s true.

At the same time, our Christian values are being scoffed at, mocked, and even demonized by a growing number of our fellow citizens…even some of our elected officials and others of these very same famous liars. And although that’s not really new, what *is* new is that we have become a society where we as Christians can no longer live in peaceful disagreement with non-Christians. Even more troubling, it’s hard to live in peaceful disagreement with Christians who believe differently from us. Now maybe our problem is exacerbated by the freshness of our “divorce” from our former denomination, but the gap between us and our fellow “Lutherans” seems to be widening at an exponential rate. And they don’t just disagree with us; it runs deeper than that. Would it surprise you to know that I am not allowed to preach or officiate over communion at an ELCA church? The divide is wide and getting wider…and it boils down to what each of us believes is “truth”.

So what are we as Christians…as Lutherans… to do? Our lessons today are perfectly suited to answer that question. Again this week, Jesus points us to look into our hearts. “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” [ESV, Mark 7:21–23] I submit to you that when we encounter any of these things within ourselves, we should identify it for what it is - evil. The first few on the list are pretty obvious…and therefore easy. The difficult ones are the subtle ones. Starting with coveting; this one is often the sin that only you know about…at least at first. But it can often lead to something worse. “Wickedness” - well, that’s kind of vague. In the Greek, it conveys a sense of “unGodliness”. Deceit is not as difficult to understand. Sensuality can also be understood as debauchery…certainly it is related to physical pleasures that should be reserved for marriage. Envy is another that happens in the heart, closely related to coveting. Slander - this one is actually more like blasphemy - in this case Jesus means it for those who refuse to accept him as the Son of God. “ Pride” is another that really doesn’t need explanation…but it definitely has its home in the heart, but manifests itself outwardly for all to see. “Foolishness” - one source I read says this is last in Jesus’ list because it is “the chief and basic sin. Thus it can be understood as the source of the uncleanness which arises from within.” [Georg Bertram, “Φρήν, Ἄφρων, Ἀφροσύνη, Φρονέω, Φρόνημα, Φρόνησις, Φρόνιμος,” ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–), 231.]

If we have the self-awareness to see these evils in ourselves, we can at least seek the help of the Holy Spirit in battling them. And that is where Paul’s letter to the Ephesians may help us best. We must, as he says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that [we] may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” (v 11) The devil is, of course, the Prince of Lies. Where there are lies of any sort, I believe the devil has a hand in it somewhere.

Let’s be clear: I’m not talking about uninformed or misinformed statements. I’m talking about outright lies - where the person making the statement knows it’s not true. Recall when I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that our educational system is starting to teach our children a re-written history of our country, called the “1619 Project”. Even the creators of this pseudo-history admit that it’s not entirely true…and yet they continue to push it through the Department of Education, because it addresses so-called “systemic racism”. Let me state that again in plain English: they know it isn’t true, but they don’t care, because it serves their agenda. This is the kind of deceit and lies that I’m addressing.

“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” [ESV, Ephesians 6:14–18]

The only way we can put on this armor is if we know what these pieces are. “Truth” comes from God, and we find it in His Word. We must know His Word, and that is the sword of the Spirit. The breastplate of righteousness - living according to God’s Law, resisting sin and the temptations of the devil. Shoes for your feet - the raediness given by the Gospel of peace - this is to equip us to be peacemakers, not prone to conflict or to stir up trouble. How difficult is THAT in today’s world? Finally Paul offers us the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation. Faith - trusting in God in all things - will help us extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one. What are those darts? Anything he can throw at us to pull us away from God and off the path of righteousness set before us, he absolutely will throw at us. The helmet of salvation - we are secure in our salvation because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross, and it is the promise of salvation that we put our faith and trust in - in the God Who always keeps His promises, the promises that we can expect WILL come true. The promise of eternal life with Him in paradise. It is the very source of our hope, and perhaps the most important piece of armor we have.

In order for this armor to be effective, as any armored knight will tell you, it must be fit to us. In other words, we must be familiar with it. We must know the Word of God enough to know what the Gospel says, and what the promise means. We must walk the path God has set before us and follow His call in our lives. We must know God’s Word well enough to know what is true and what is not, because the devil is quite good at twisting God’s Word to suit his own evil purposes. Remember what he told Eve: “Did God really say...” He continues to use this same lie to us all the time.

It’s not that we “must” do these things to earn God’s favor or love, or for us to earn our salvation. Those come to us free because God already loves us. No, these things are what we “must” do to use the armor of God effectively…to protect ourselves against the flaming darts of the evil one. To stand against the schemes of the devil. We need the whole armor of God so that we can, as Solzhenitsyn says, choose the path that is not easy. So that we can confidently say “I will never knowingly support lies!”

As we watch the world around us continue its downward spiral into division and chaos and conflict, let us all stand on God’s truth, and reject the lies of the world. Let us use the armor and weapons that God has given us to defend ourselves and our faith. And definitely let us support each other and seek peace and reconciliation as we follow our Lord’s Great Commandment to all of us, to love our neighbors as ourselves. If we can do that in our own little part of God’s Kingdom, I believe we will be agents of healing in a time when it’s desperately needed. That, brothers and sisters, is how we live out our faith.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.