Will The Real “Merle Jaarda” Please Stand Up?

For 25 years, starting in 1956, there was program on TV called “To Tell The Truth”.  It featured a panel of four celebrities attempting to correctly identify a contestant’s vocation or unique experience.  Along with the central character, there were two imposters who pretended to be the central character.  The celebrities questioned all of the contestants.  The imposters could and would lie; but the real central figure could not.  The panel had to identify the real person.

During this upcoming holiday season, there will be many parties and gatherings with family and friends, some who we know very well and others, not so well.  It will be a time when everybody tries to put their best foot forward, many pretending to be something that they are not.  It is easy to maintain a façade for an hour or two; but it gets harder as time goes on.  Some people are able to keep up a façade for years; but eventually the “real” person shows up.

There are many people who will attend church on Christmas Eve for the first or second time in the year.  They are the “Holiday Christians”, who come out on Easter and Christmas, maybe for weddings but definitely they will be there for their funeral.  Then there are the “Sunday Christians”, who show up in their Sunday dress or suit; but come Monday, you could never tell that they had been in church on Sunday.

As much as we might want to deny it, we all have a little bit of the “Holiday and Sunday Christian” in us.  When Jesus sent out the “twelve” in Matthew 10, He warned them about this about this, in fact He told them to expect it.

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. ²⁵It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! ²⁶Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

²⁷“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. ²⁸And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ³⁰But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

³²“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. ³³But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

Jesus had to deal with the Pharisees on a daily basis.  It was these same people who crucified Him.  He consoled His disciples by telling them that “there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known”.  Eventually the truth will come out.  Jesus also consoles and encourages them, “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ³⁰But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

The holiday season is a joyous time; but also a stressful time.  For many, it is a downright depressing time.  It is a time of lost expectations, lost relationships and broken promises, a time of memories past, before reality hit.  Before that what was done in the darkness, came to the light.

BUT,

“Do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.”