Deo Gloria
March 26, 2025
Lenten Sermon
Pastor Martin Bentz
Commandments 7-10
Theme: Lord, Have Mercy!
- For Failing to Live with Integrity
Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue.
Honesty is hardly ever heard and mostly what I need from you.
Many of you will probably recognize those words as the refrain to the song Honesty by Billy Joel. In it he laments the fact that there is such a lack of honesty in our world, that people are so dishonest, so untrue. Things haven’t changed much in 45 years, have they? Billy Joel could still be singing that song today. In fact, maybe he’d want to add another verse or two because there’s still such an appalling lack of honesty and integrity.
Take a look, for example, at the Feeding Our Future scandal right here in Minnesota. $250 million dollars to supposedly feed needy children during the COVID pandemic. But instead of feeding any children, they were using the money to buy luxury cars and diamond rings and lake front homes in places like Prior Lake. That isn’t just government money. That’s our money. That’s our tax dollars. They’re stealing from you and me and lining their own pockets or the pockets of their friends. And all the while they try to come across as being so loving and so caring. “Oh, we’re doing it for the children. We’re providing food for the poor and needy children here in the Twin Cities.” And it’s all a lie. It’s all a scam, nothing but a scheme to steal from others and enrich themselves. It just makes you mad!
And it’s all too common. There’s the U.S. Senator who claims to be serving the people but then is convicted of bribery and extortion, including being paid with gold bars and half of a million dollars in cash. There’s the head of the charity who claims to be helping other people, but then is convicted of stealing from the charity and spending the money on lavish vacations for himself and his family. There’s the former head of the Minnesota Lottery who committed suicide when it was discovered that he was funneling all kinds of money to his friends and ultimately back to himself through no bid contracts. This is money that was supposed to help the environment and supposed to help save the loons, and he was stealing it for himself. And then there’s that classmate who seems so nice and so friendly, and then you find out she’s saying nasty things about you behind your back or posting nasty things about you on the internet. And then there’s that couple that lives just down the street. They seem so nice and so helpful, especially to the elderly man next door after his wife died. They’d take supper over for him a couple times a week. They’d drive him to the store or to his medical appointments. But before he died, they convinced him to change his will and leave most of his money to them. That actually happened to someone I know. Like I said, it makes you mad. This lack of honesty and lack of integrity is just disgusting.
And do you know what really makes me mad? When I see the same thing in myself, in my own heart, in my own attitudes. You see, if you take an honest look at the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Commandments, if you take a good, hard look at them, you soon find out that they focus on more than just our outward actions. They focus on our words, on our thoughts, on our attitudes, on our values. Sure stealing is an outward action, but what’s behind the action? What is the root cause of my stealing? Is it not greed and dissatisfaction with the things that God has given me? The 8th Commandment, of course, is about my words, about telling lies about others and slandering others. But why would I want to do that anyway? Why would I want to tell lies about other people or say bad things about them? Is it not because I have a jealous and evil heart? Is it not because of my sinful, selfish, human pride, that wants to make others look bad so I look better? And, of course, the 9th and 10th Commandments are both about coveting, about coveting my neighbor’s house or his wife or his workers or his animals and then scheming to get them for myself. But why would I want to do that anyway? Is it not because I’m not satisfied, because I’m jealous of others and what they have and I’m not happy with the blessings that God has given me?
And if I’m honest with myself and with God, I have to confess that I see those things in myself at times, in my own attitudes, in my own heart. No, I haven’t embezzled any money from the church. But sometimes my heart is less than thankful for God’s many blessings. No, I don’t go around telling lies about other people, but have I listened to gossip at times? Yes. Have I always come to the defense of those who were being unfairly criticized? No. And no, I’m not trying to convince my neighbor to rewrite his will and leave all his money to me. But have I always been happy and content with the blessings I have from God? No. It’s sickening what I see in my own heart sometimes. It’s disgusting. God has been so good to me. And still I have these sinful thoughts and sinful desires that make me want to say and do sinful things that would benefit me and hurt others. What a wretched man I am! I haven’t kept these commandments. Maybe outwardly I have at times, but inwardly, not a chance. I have failed miserably. Is the same thing true of you?
Lord, have mercy. And thankfully he has—in Jesus. Do you know Jesus paid the penalty for your stinking, selfish attitude? Do you know Jesus paid the penalty for your greed, your lack of gratitude, your lack of contentment? Do you know Jesus paid the penalty for your dishonesty, for your lack of moral integrity? He gave his life on the cross to pay the penalty for all our sins. And because of his suffering and death, they’ve all been forgiven, all been completely taken away.
Do you know that Jesus has also given you the wholeness and purity and moral integrity that you lack, that he has covered you in his own righteousness and his own perfection? So now when God looks at you, he sees someone who is perfectly moral and perfectly happy and perfectly content, someone who is always loving and kind and helpful to others and would never say a bad word about anyone. That’s the way God sees you because of Jesus.
And it doesn’t stop there either. God’s mercy transforms us from the inside out. As Paul says in Romans ch. 12, it transforms us by the renewing of our minds. God’s mercy to us in Christ changes the way we think…what we desire…what we value. I don’t need to covet my neighbor’s house anymore. I don’t want to covet my neighbor’s house anymore. Why would I want to? Jesus is preparing a mansion for me that far surpasses anything my neighbor has. I don’t need to tell lies about my neighbor anymore. I don’t want to tell lies about my neighbor anymore, or run him down behind his back so I might look better by comparison. I’ve already been affirmed and accepted and approved by God himself because of the love Jesus Christ has shown me on the cross. I don’t have to steal from my neighbor anymore. I don’t want to steal from my neighbor anymore. I already have the greatest treasure there is in Christ, and he promises to care for me and provide everything I need.
Here is the cure. Here is the solution to the disturbing lack of honesty and integrity that plagues our society and plagues our own hearts and lives. It’s found in the love and mercy of Christ our Savior. Lord, have mercy! Amen.