January: Day 13:
Saint James, Bishop of Nisibis
(Every Lie Is Contrary To God)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
Saint James, Bishop of Nisibis
(Every Lie Is Contrary To God)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
I. One day Saint James of Nisibis, whose memory is celebrated today, went to a certain village. Three beggars, seeing him walking, thought of deceiving him, hoping through this lie and cunning to beg more of something from the Saint. One of them pretended to be dead. When Saint James approached them, they, pointing to their supposedly dead companion, asked him for alms for his burial. James gave them as much as he could, prayed to God for the soul of the dead man, and went his way. Seeing that the elder had already gone far, the beggars ordered their companion to get up, but he did not get up; they looked closely, and he really was dead. The beggars were afraid that their invention had ended very badly, and began to run after Saint James. Having caught up with him, they revealed to him the real truth, asking forgiveness. The holy elder was merciful: he returned to the dead man, resurrected him with his prayer and advised them not to joke like that in the future.
II. From this story we can learn the lesson that lying is very disgusting to God, that is why He punishes those who resort to it. God loves truth, and a Christian should love truth and hate lies.
a) Lies can be in words and in deeds. Often you can meet people who like to mix truth with falsehood, reality with fiction. Such people are considered boasters; because of this they lose the trust and respect of intelligent and dignified people, and this should be treasured; others, out of frivolity and vanity, allow themselves to joke and laugh at their neighbors, building up various fables about them, often very offensive to their honor and good name. From this it happens that friendship is broken and enmity arises between people, often great misfortunes are brought upon the feuding parties, among whom the most important thing is the deprivation of God's grace, which does not live in the hearts of evil people and slanderers.
There are lies in practice too. This lie is most often encountered in buying, selling, bartering and other different transactions that happen between people. But remember that every penny that is obtained in such an unjust and dishonest way is not durable and will never be of any use.
And the main thing that such people need to fear is the wrath of God, which often befalls people who live lies, both in this life and in the next.
b) Here are some biblical examples of punishment for lying:
Absalom, who sought the kingdom by deceit, was suspended between heaven and earth (2 Kings 18:8).
Ahithophel, who gave Absalom treacherous advice against David, committed suicide (2 Kings 17:23).
Ananias and his wife Sapphira hid part of their own property and one after the other fell dead at the feet of the Apostle Peter, whom they wanted to deceive (Acts 5).
God hates lies: "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight" (Prov. 12:22).
Let the terrible punishment for lying always be in our memory. "But there shall by no means enter it [i.e. Heaven] anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life" (Rev. 21:27). "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone" (Rev. 21:8).
c) The holy ascetics, who always loved the truth, give us some instructions to avoid lies in all cases of our life. “Lies are alien to God,” writes Holy Abba Dorotheos. “In the Scriptures, the devil is called the father of lies, and truth is God, for He Himself says: 'I am the way, the truth, and the life.' You see from whom we separate ourselves and with whom we unite ourselves by lies.”
"An infant does not know a lie, nor does a gentle soul know it," writes Saint John Climacus. "No one who is wise will consider a lie a small sin," he also writes, "for the Holy Spirit has pronounced a more terrible sentence against it than any other vice. If the Lord destroys all who speak lies (Psalm 5:7), as the Holy King David says, then what hope can those have who add an oath to a lie?" (The Ladder, Step 12:3).
III. May our word always be true, free from lies and untruth, deceit and hypocrisy.
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
