06-25-2023 At Home in the Truth (Colossians 1:9-14)

At Home in the Truth Colossians 1:9-14 Here's my advice– "Do not lie." "A Christian is someone who is unable to lie." –Stanley Hauerwas “...the truth can be spoken only by someone who is already at home in it, not by someone who still lives in untruthfulness..."  –Wittgenstein  What does it mean to be at home in the truth?  Colossians 1:9-14 9 For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ...that you may... be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding walk worthy of the Lord bear fruit in every good work and  grow in the knowledge of God,  being strengthened with all power...  great endurance and patience joyfully giving thanks to the Father... share in the saints’ inheritance in the light... Why would we ever lie?  • Our lives are constructed of stories. • We are often tempted to lie because of pride and power "This distance between how we live and what we know to be true is painful and tempts us to change the truth rather than change our lives." –Stanley Hauerwas, The Character of Virtue: Letters to a Godchild • We often lie because we don't want our limits exposed. We fear our foolishness will be on display. Ephesians 4:15-16 15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. 16 From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part. Two of the richest fruits of truthfulness are trust and peace. • Speaking the truth means we must be what we seem to be. Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another. • A life of isolation and lies deforms us into the image of the devil. • The exemplary life of Christ is a life that is at home in the truth. It is a life that has undergone training to keep pride in check. "God has given us a wonderful exercise for training in truthfulness. That exercise is called prayer. To learn to pray is to have our bodies formed by the truth and love that move the sun and the stars.ul exercise for training in truthfulness." –Stanley Hauerwas, The Character of Virtue: Letters to a Godchild