Now, I understand that in today’s political climate, one seeking the office of President must be prepared to undergo all sorts of scrutiny. I also understand that in today’s world it’s “voter beware” knowing that there are some who will say and do anything to smear the “other candidate.” But it really is a sad state of affairs that the fighting is so dirty. I would dare to say that every candidate’s campaign at this point has either generated untruths or exaggerated certain reports, so it’s hard to sift through all the information out there to get at any kinds of facts. This is not news to me.

However, what wounded me deeply in receiving that particular email a year ago was that some political somebody out there got my beloved friend, a pastor’s wife, a Christian to the core, to lie for them. That’s what gossip does. It not only hurts the starter of the rumor, it taints everyone on down the line who passes it on. Obama, like all the other candidates for President, will have to prove himself over and over again to his constituents, whoever they may be. I’m not as worried about him. I am concerned about the many good people out there who still take the news at face value, who still believe what they read - even on the internet, and who may never see or hear the retraction that gets so little air time on our 24 hour news networks that are geared for the sensational.

Though Obama immediately went on the defensive, I wonder, did anyone say they were sorry for this event? Was anyone held accountable for a rumor that seemed to cut more deeply than the usual political banter? There certainly hasn’t been anything outstanding that I can recall. What happens to each and every one of the people who shared this story – blanketly – with 20 or more people on their email list?

Certainly, we think that telling an untruth is perhaps not on the same par as murder or adultery, but in the scriptural big 10, there is no gradation of sins presented. Bearing false witness is on the same list. Actually I can see why. It breaks the code of living in covenant community to knowingly tell something that is not true about a person – particularly when the intent is to injure the person being talked about. The exposition on this commandment in Jewish law extends it to remind us that people of faith are to go the extra mile in telling the truth. We are to avoid following the majority opinion to stay with the “in crowd,” and we are to look beyond simply reacting in sympathy for the poor. In our greater relationships, we are to lighten the burden even of our enemies and refrain from oppressing the alien in our midst because we once were counted as aliens in Egypt. Rabbinic tradition today explains that not bearing false witness is more than just not making up lies. The rabbis teach that one may not say something about another that the person about which you speak would consider untrue.

Gossip is rampant in our society, but it’s also considered to be “something everyone does.” Dr. Phil aired a recent episode of his television show about two teenagers that bullied a classmate via “my space” pages so severely that they received a criminal sentence for their actions. In the same episode, Elizabeth, a 24-year-old woman was defending her right to own a website called GossipReport.com because she said, “With this site, you actually have a chance to defend yourself.” In characteristic Dr. Phil style, he said, “Come on. Are you serious?” Gossip is never a healthy response, and having to be one’s own defense amidst a wave of malicious gossip is a very difficult task indeed.

As both Hebraic law and Paul’s letter to the Corinthians remind us, the church community is not immune to gossip. In fact, today’s church might be much like the ones that Paul pastored. They were undergoing a time of great transition and change. New converts were anxious. They had many disagreements to solve. They were hesitant to trust leadership that was outside of what they typically knew, and they were quick to criticize. Paul had to remind them often that everything he did was for their greater good. Thank God he was willing to stick it out with them even when there was quarreling, gossip, conceit, and disorder. With a mighty degree of God’s grace, he mourned their sin, and he called them to a new way of being.

In this particular community of faith, we are currently in conversations about how to realize a new day in the ways in which we communicate with one another. We have all had that experience at one time or another when we heard something that sounded more like rumor than fact. It takes courage to find out if our gut instinct is right and ask. To make truth a priority in our faith community requires a willingness to challenge each other and help each other grow in our skills in that regard. Too much gossip goes on in our world unchecked like my friend’s email. We can take the time to ask, “Is that really true? How do you know?” We can ask ourselves, “Does this seem like my impression of this person? Would this person recognize the details about themselves as true or untrue?”

When we offer each other the benefit of the doubt and consider what’s being said before we pass any information on, we strengthen our support for all who truly want to serve this church in love.

The really good news is that gossip has a cure. Unlike murder or adultery that are virtually impossible to undo, the spread of gossip can be cured by spreading the truth. The pain of hurtful gossip can be mended by saying, “I’m sorry.” We say a prayer of confession every Sunday we are together, but that confession sometimes becomes rote or doesn’t seem to apply to us personally. We confess because we are human, and to be human is to make mistakes and fall short of the glory of God. We’re all in this together. Nevertheless, confession in the communal sense is taught to us as young children. When you hurt someone, especially with your words, you are taught to say, “I’m sorry.” It’s amazing the healing that happens in those two words.

Meg has a wonderful one-line prayer posted in her office. It says, “Dear God, please put your arm across my shoulder, and your hand across my mouth.” With an all out commitment to prayer and that little hesitation to reflect before we speak, I can almost guarantee we will begin to heal the pain present in this congregation. Continuing to despair and finding blame for our hurt will only make us feel worse not better. We feel better about ourselves when we are committed to the integrity of the whole body of the church. The instructions in Exodus give us an unusual example to follow which is kind of like the precursor to Jesus saying, “Love your enemies.” The Old Testament instruction tells us, “When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you MUST set it free.” That means, when your so-called enemy is being crushed under his load, it is your moral obligation to help decrease his burden even if that means that you, yourself have to lift it up off his back. Our moral obligations don’t stop with the people that we like the most or the people who are most like us. The community of faith is called to treat even one’s enemies with respect and concern.

George Orwell once said, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” In today’s politically-charged, beat up on your enemies, kind of world, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. It takes courage to name gossip for what it is. It takes far greater effort to unearth the truth than it does to believe a rumor. Being accountable for our own sinful behavior by offering up our remorse and our confession is something just short of a miracle in the climate in which we live. I know how hard it is to say, “I was wrong.” I’ve been there. I’ve done that. For me, it is a core value to own up to my own shortcomings and learn from my past mistakes. Otherwise, what good is it to make those mistakes?

I believe in this church – just as Paul believed in the church at Corinth. I do believe we can learn and grow together. We can begin by giving each other the gift of a fresh start. We can make it a value of this church to always speak the truth. We can work to heal the wounds of harsh words from the past, and we do that by really talking to each other rather than about each other. We can exorcise the ghosts of our past by naming them and then quit allowing them to have any power over us. They are just ghosts after all. And finally, we can offer our prayers to God as King David did, “Create a new heart in us, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within us.”

Now to the One who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.

Amen.