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Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, I’m using the epistle reading today, Paul’s letter to Timothy, as the text. Please be seated. At the beginning of that text, Paul encourages people to pray for all people, and for kings, and authorities, and people in high positions. In an election year, those are sometimes, oftentimes, people that we don’t like. And yet, God wants us to pray for them. There are some people that are just so easy to dislike. They can be so disliked that it’s almost enjoyable when bad things happen to them. Can I get an amen? I know what you’re thinking. Some celebrities, athletes, and of course, a Lutheran Christian sermon.
Well, according to the reading, God desires that we pray for them, but He also desires that we speak well of them. And I get to quote to you today from one of the best books ever written, the small catechism of Martin Luther. I’m sorry if this is bringing back bad memories of confirmation class for you, but I’ll deal with it. Anyway, the eighth commandment is, you shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. Or if you have the older version, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
And there’s the good Lutheran question: What does this mean? Luther says that we should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation.
