28 Jan-2 Feb

Cross Talk

3  9 June, 2018 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, part 2

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

You shall not worship any god other than Me You shall not make any idols of any type You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain Remember to keep the Sabbath Holy Honor your father and your mother You shall not murder You shall not commit adultery You shall not steal You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor

Suzanna Suzanna lived the Truth and was set free  her choice was not to sin, even if she falls in the hands of sinners (v 23)  in the midst of her problem which seemed to have no solution, she looked up to Heaven and sought for help from above (v 35, 42-43)  The Lord sent her Daniel, at the last minute, and rescued her (v 44)  What was done in darkness was eventually put in the light which led to it being doomed  Many people, like Suzanna, hoped for God’s justice to bring forth the truth and did not defend themselves against the evil that fell on them as a result of lies; Joseph (Gen 37), Stephen (Act 6:13), the Lebanese Saint Marina Honesty  Being honest means, among other things, bearing responsibility and living it to the fullest  Lying is a double sin; it usually hides another sin or another lie that it wants to cover up and prepares the ground for future lies  In Gen 3:14 try to count the number of sins involved in one act performed by the devil The ninth commandment is addressed to both speaker and listener  The listener who accepts the lies of the speaker encourages the speaker to go on lying

 ‘If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked’ Pro 29:12

Transparency is living in the light and not in the darkness 1. God’s Word is a ‘discerner’ of the thoughts and the intents of our hearts. Everything is clear to God and is naked before His eyes and we are accountable to Him. God’s Word requires decisions, one of them is to decide to be transparent and to tell the Truth. This decision can shape our lives (Heb 4:13 ; Mat 10:26 ; Mar 4:22) 2. We need to be transparent with ourselves and to admit that we have sinned. If we deny our sins, how can God have mercy on us and how can His Word change us? To live the Truth means to have faith in the atoning blood of Jesus and never be afraid of telling the truth (1 Joh 1:8,10 ; 1

Tim 1:5)

3. Being transparent in this way leads us to admit our trespasses to each other; this builds healthier relationships founded on the truth (Jam 5:16) When we fail to live the above, we may end up with the following: 1. The outright lie  The total fabrication of new facts (tax fraud, giving dishonest information, making misleading advertisement, fortunetellers…)  Sometimes we make simple statements that we think are not harmful but the truth is that they are lies. Example: I was just about to call…  In the Garden of Eden, the challenge of the devil to God’s Word was an outright lie. It denied the truthfulness of God’s Word and made false promises about the consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience 2. The half truth  Telling part of the truth is one way of bearing false witness. However, it gives us the feeling that we have not told a lie at all and here lies its danger  In the Garden of Eden, the devil twisted what God had actually said, he totally misrepresented God and drove Adam and Eve to suspect and doubt the Word of God. He did that by saying part of the truth 3. The excuse  By making an excuse, we divert the blame from ourselves onto someone or something else  ‘It’s not my fault’, little children have the habit of saying. As they grow up into this habit, they blame the circumstances for everything wrong that they do later in life. They have not been trained to admit their responsibility for something wrong that they could have done  The disease is called BSE (blame someone else)  Adam laid the blame on Eve who in turn blamed it on the devil  Making excuses is doubly harmful. It harms someone else and it stops us from dealing with the problem  By transferring our guilt, we have no opportunity to repent, we go into ‘denial mode’ and cut ourselves away from God’s forgiveness

4. Gossiping  Gossip is a sort of ‘social wood-worm’  It slowly and quietly undermines all that we do. It takes at least two to gossip  Refuse to listen to gossip when you are invited to do that. Either stay silent or speak positively about the person being subject to the gossip 5. Flattery  Though it is the opposite of slander, it is as bad because both the flatterer and the slanderer do not care about telling the truth 6. Exaggeration  Being ‘elastic’ in telling the facts in order to make ourselves look good 7. Keeping silent  Keeping silent when there is a need to state the truth is lying by omission. Stand up and defend the person who is unjustly accused of something, even if that person is not present 8. Others  Stating wrong facts about the dead by way of polishing their image at the memorial service  April fools  Duplicity in speech and therefore in behavior  Telling jokes about someone, joked that involve untruthful details. It is wrong to lie even in jokes 9. Subtle forms of lies  Insinuation: making a statement that leads people to think something that is not true. Encouraging others to jump to wrong conclusions. Offering building blocks for other people to construct a lie  Insinuations can be enhanced by a gesture or a tone of voice. By putting emphasis on certain words. Asking questions such as ‘really?’ or ‘are you sure?’ the way the devil did. He undermined Eve’s belief and trust in God. He insinuated that God was preventing them from having something that is good for them  Watch out for insinuation in your own speech and in the speech of others. Challenge others by inviting them to clearly state what they were insinuating at Bibliography 1. J. John. Ten service Outlines for Church Leaders based on The Ten Commandments (UK: Monarch Books, 2001) 2. Pope Shenouda III. Contemplations on the Ten Commandments, The Sixth Commandment, Do not Murder (Egypt: al-Abbasiyyah, 2012), Vol 3. 13th edition 3. New King James Version: Know the Word Study Bible, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, ePub Edition September 2016

Legend Refers to mandatory readings

Verse to memorize ‘Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world’ Philippians 2:14-15 During the coming week, let us pray expectantly 1. seeking the Lord’s will to be done in Lebanon 2. for CrossTalk to find a locale 3. to become more of saints and less of sinners 4. to seek the Lord in every word I say, every act I do and every thought I think 5. to help in building His Kingdom by building His Church on earth 6. to thank Him for creating us and each one around us, on His image and likeness, and choosing us to reveal His splendor 7. to all the sick 8. to all those in prison 9. to the unity of the Christians 10. to one another to be honest and not lack integrity 11. to put all that we have in the Lord’s hands trusting His management 12. to all the Christians who are being persecuted, and to those who are persecuting them 13. to all families, that the Lord unites the parents together in His Name and stops all fights 14. to the situation in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and the whole region

During this coming week, we will lift the Greek Catholic Church in prayer ‫الصالة الربّانيّة‬ ‫أبانا الّذي في السّماوات‬ ‫ليتقدَّسْ ﺇس ُمك‬ ‫ليأت ملكوتُك‬ ‫لتكنْ مشيئَتُك‬ ‫كما في السّماء‬ ‫كذلك على األرض‬ ‫أَعطنا خبزَنا كفاف يومنا‬ ‫وا ْغفرْ لنا خطايانا‬ ُ‫كما نغفر نحن‬ ‫لمن أَسا َء ﺇلينا‬ ‫وال تُدخ ْلنا في التّجارب‬ ّ ‫لكنْ نجِّنا من ال‬ ‫شرّير‬ ‫آمين‬

‫قانون االيمان‬ ‫أؤمن بإله واحد‬ ‫ب ضابط الك ّل‬ ٍ ‫آ‬ ‫ كلّ ما يُرى وما ال يُرى‬،‫خالق السّماء واألرض‬ ‫قبل كلّ الدّهور‬ َ ‫ المولود من اآلب‬،‫ ﺇبن هللا الوحيد‬،‫وبربٍّ واح ٍد يسوع المسيح‬ ّ ‫ق من ﺇله ح‬ ّ ‫ ﺇله ح‬،‫نور من نور‬ ‫ق‬ ،‫ مسا ٍو لآلب في الجوهر‬،‫مولود غير مخلوق‬ ‫ الّذي من أجلنا نحن البشر ومن أجل خالصنا‬،‫الّذي به كان كلّ شيء‬ ‫نَزَ َل من السّماء وتجسّد من الرّ وح القدس ومن مريم العذراء‬ ‫ب عنّا على عهد بيالطس البنطي‬ َ ‫ وصُل‬،‫وتأنّس‬ ‫ وقا َم في اليوم الثّالث كما في الكتب‬،‫وتألّم وقُبر‬ ‫لس عن يمين اآلب‬ َ ‫وج‬ َ ‫وصع َد ﺇلى السّماء‬ َ ‫وأيضًا يأتي بمج ٍد عظيم ليَدينَ األحيا َء واألموات‬ ‫الّذي ال فنا َء لملكه‬ ‫ الرّ بّ ال ُمحيي‬،‫وبالرّ وح القدس‬ ‫ الّذي هو مع اآلب واإلبن‬،‫ال ُمنبَثق من اآلب‬ ‫ النّاطق باألنبياء‬،‫مسجود له و ُممجَّد‬ ‫ رسوليّة‬،‫ مقدّسة‬،‫ جامعة‬،‫وبكنيسة واحدة‬ ‫وأَعترف بمعموديّة واحدة لمغفرة الخطايا‬ ‫وأَترجّى قيا َمةَ الموتى والحياة في الدّهر اآلتي‬ ‫آمين‬