Cosmic Vandalism
Lenten Devotional Series Day 32. Today’s meditation is on the Ninth Commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16.
I love DC’s annual Cherry Blossom Festival. People flood into Washington from far and wide to celebrate the city’s emergence from its long winter nap. Every year at this time I remember what a beautiful place this is to live.
Join me for an imaginative stroll through the Festival. It’s a crisp, sunny day on the National Mall. As we have walked, we’ve seen the beauty of the trees around the tidal basin and wandered past the Washington Monument. We’ve enjoyed a picnic beside the reflecting pool, and now we’ve reached the top steps of the Lincoln Monument. Having read again the moving words of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, we now turn to find a vandal painting graffiti all over Honest Abe.
Shocking? You bet. Nobody in their right mind would be comfortable witnessing such a thing, much less doing it. It’s an outrageous tragedy. But let’s take it a step further. What if it weren’t a statue of President Lincoln, but an image of God Himself? Wouldn’t the desecration be far, far worse?
That’s precisely what happens when we bear false witness against others. It’s cosmic vandalism.
In the days of the Old Testament, in the absence of modern communications, kings looked for a way to remind all their subjects–especially in remote locations–of their authority. So they had statues carved of themselves and placed throughout their kingdoms as a way of demonstrating ownership and authority in every place. But ancient Near Eastern kings weren’t the first to develop this concept.
God is the original statue maker. He created the cosmos, and then put us here as living, breathing statues (Gen 1:26-28). As images of God, we serve as reminders of God’s sovereign dominion and authority, even when he seems far off. He commands us to fill the earth so that all of creation will remember his omnipresent sovereignty. He commands us to have dominion over the earth as his agents and ambassadors, as a way of demonstrating his supreme dominion. Quite simply, it is our job to be living statues that remind all of creation about him.
Whenever we bear false witness against another person, we disfigure an image of God. In defiling another person’s reputation, we vandalize our Lord’s self-portrait.
Back to Lincoln. Were all of his policy and personal decisions flawless as judged either by contemporary critics or through the lens of history? No and no. And yet we honor him with a statue because aspects of his life and work remind us of core principles we share as a nation. Lincoln wasn’t perfect, yet it’s still unthinkable to desecrate his statue and all that it represents.
So it is with us. None of us is perfect, yet we represent something–or rather Someone–bigger than ourselves. Bearing false witness or attacking someone’s character it is a lot like spray-painting Lincoln’s statue, only worse. This kind of vandalism can’t be sand blasted away. It’s corrosive and permanent. It hides God’s image and eats away at his glory. And the cumulative effect of such vandalism over the years is the destruction of a living, breathing symbol God has given to us to remind us of himself. It’s cosmic vandalism, and it’s always tragic.
Today in prayer, begin with the Collect of the Day (below). Then search your life for instances when you have committed cosmic vandalism against another image of God, especially in speaking ill of another person. Ask the Lord to show you the motives that drive such speech and confess both the words you have used and the corrupt motives that gave birth to them. Trust in the Lord to cleanse you so that the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart are acceptable in his sight. Then finish with the Lord’s Prayer.
Collect of the Day. Almighty God, we pray that although we deserve to be punished for our evil deeds, yet by the comfort of your heavenly grace we may mercifully be relieved, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.