Every Christmas a friend of mine, who passed away some time ago would, give me a bottle of whisky as a present.
It was probably the cheapest whisky that could be bought in the UK. It didn’t have a label that was easily recognised and the shop that sells it only stocked that one brand.
I’m not sure that I want to confess this next bit, but I used to open the bottle of whisky take a very small sip and pour the rest down the sink.
There I have confessed. It is not that I don’t like whisky, I do have my favourites, that is why I recognise the ‘no name bottle’ to be not the greatest whisky in the world. I was able to say to my friend that ‘I had had a wee nip, thank you very much…’ All truthful of course, but behind the remark was a deception. It was not carried out to deceive and hurt the giver of the gift, in fact only I knew about it. I kind of wondered if it was even a real deception. But I know this, I did not want my friend to find out about it.
Yes, the giver gave me the gift out of kindness and a good heart. Maybe I’m just a coward and should have said something years earlier? I just could not find a way to change tack. In the very beginning of this episode I did try, and the next Christmas was given three large cigars! Pointing out the hazard in such a gift it was back to whisky the following year and subsequent years.
As I mentioned, it is not that I don’t like whisky, pour me a large fine malt and I will be as happy as a sand boy. There are many fine whiskeys to choose from; some cost thousands of pounds and with so many to choose from, my annual Christmas present was a challenge.
I digress, to keep us both happy I played out my small deception year by year. I hadn’t told a lie, my gift was thankfully received and opened and tasted. But was it the whole truth?
I recognised the truth of the deception; I was still the only one who knew a deception was taking place. I justified the dilemma I was in, a small harmless deception that did not hurt anyone, nobody knows. But was I denigrating the giver of the gift? I was on occasions caught up with the thought, continue or confess?
Jesus never tried to deceive anyone. He was who he was. Conducting himself before men and women with all integrity; healing, preaching, and teaching as he journeyed to the place where all deception has its focal point. Jesus was not acceptable to the ruling authorities, the chief religious leaders regularly denounced him as a fraud. These same people constantly challenged his authority and ultimately decided to do away with him. Their pursuit of Jesus was relentless and the irony of it all, they thought that they were doing God’s will.
My small deception was no different to all other deceptions, I knew it was wrong, even if I thought it did no harm. The deception of those who took Jesus to the cross was their own blindness and justification. Being one of Jesus’ men I had to confess that I had got it wrong. And the wonderful thing is I feel better for confessing. Confessing sets us right with God and demands that we live right before all men. The small but important burden had been lifted, maybe it was more like a pebble in my shoe.
