HONESTY...

“Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.” (2 Corinthians 8:21)

Was it Billy Joel who sang those late ‘70s lyrics, “Honesty, is such a lonely work, everyone is so untrue; honesty, is hardly ever heard, and mostly what I need from you.”? Well, if it wasn’t Billy Joel it was one of those pop singers of thirty years ago.

Honesty.

Somebody sent me a FORWARD e-mail message just recently which told the story of a pastor who was new in a community and who received twenty-five cents too much as change at a supermarket register. He started heading home, thinking, “Well, it’s only a quarter, it’s no big deal.” He instantly became so uncomfortable about it that he had to just make his way back to the checker and give it back. The checker told him, “I knew who you were and I wanted to see if you were honest. I’ll be visiting your church next Sunday!”

I don’t know if that story is true or not, but we’re all tested in that area of honesty. I got home late last night from an Assemblies of God ministers’ meeting. It was a good meeting and I was in a good mood. Like so many adults of 2009, I just HAD to check my e-mail at 11:20 p.m. (I don’t know how I’m going to do with my “internet fast” when I’m on Sabbatical leave!) There was an e-mail from my friend Ed in Texas, entitled something like, “You’re Not Going to Believe This!”

Ed can be a very sensational writer- even more so than me! I wasn’t sure what to expect when I opened his e-mail. Ed is a former Assemblies of God minister. He pastored a church in suburban St. Louis for a number of years. His wife, an executive with a communications company, took a company transfer to Dallas about ten years ago. Ed gave up on pastoring and became a rural letter carrier. He had recently been sweating out “mail count”. “Mail count” is an official federal procedure which can determine your pay scale, the number of days you work, and even if you get to keep your job. Ed has been full-time for a number of years. He makes a pretty good salary, works Saturdays, but has Thursdays off for errands and doing things around the house. Ed had recently written that the carriers had been told most of them would lose their day off, have to work 6 days, and get pay cuts. One coworker of Ed’s was angry and said he’d quit.

Saturday morning, I received an ecstatic e-mail from Ed. Yes, he’s even more sensational than I am. He wrote that there’d been a “miracle” and after the word miracle there were about ten exclamation points. Ed was going to be able to keep his day off and keep his rate of pay. Most of his coworkers were not.

I felt his ecstasy! The Bible tells us in Romans 12:15 to rejoice with those who rejoice and I did. What a GREAT story! God has blessed Ed!

Last night, I opened Ed’s “You’re Not Going to Believe This” e-mail. Ed had carefully looked at the postal service’s paperwork and evaluation which had involved him keeping his job intact. He discovered mathematical errors! The postal service was WRONG! He did NOT qualify to keep his job, as is. The true information indicated he needed to also lose his day off and take a pay cut. He told his superiors. As of April 25, along with the others, he is losing his day off and taking a pay cut.

I am ashamed to admit that my first thought was, “Maybe he shouldn’t have told them. Maybe they wouldn’t have known. Maybe they would eventually find out, but in the meantime he’d be O.K.”

Well, of course those thoughts are wrong and sinful. They’re dishonest. NOT telling the superiors would mean having no integrity.

It reminded me of an episode of the 1990s CBS show, “Northern Exposure”. In that particular episode, Ruth Ann Miller, the elderly lady who ran the general store was under an I.R.S. audit. The female I.R.S. agent was going through a divorce and was under enormous personal pressure. For that reason, she did NOT notice that she’d made a major mistake in her calculations in Ruth Ann’s favor. At first, Ruth Ann was not going to report it. She reasoned that she’d been ripped off by the I.R.S. enough times, and that this was pay back. She wrestled with it and wrestled with it. The audit took several days and several sessions with the female agent. Finally, Ruth Ann said, “You made a mistake in your calculations.” and pointed it out. The viewer could tell it was painful for Ruth Ann, but at least she knew she’d done the right thing.

Romans 15:12 also says to weep with those that weep, so now I “weep” with Ed.
Yes, I know, many people are losing their jobs and it’s good that he still has a job. It is. But I know how Ed’s wired. He’s a lot like me. He needs that “mental health” day during the week to putter around the house, do things with his model train hobby, just take a ride to the mall, and so forth. He’s going to have to adjust to life without that stuff.

If you get twenty-five cents too much in your change today, what will YOU do?