This Sunday, we welcome Pastor Jeremy Peters of Court Street United Methodist Church to preach as part of our Lenten series, All Y’all. Jeremy is among my favorite preachers, and we’re all blessed to have him among us.
Pastor Jeremy will bring a God-inspired message focused on this week’s text. Meanwhile, I’m offering this article as one way to think about what Jesus is saying to us.
It’s getting harder to know what to believe.
Turn on the news. Scroll through social media. Listen to political speeches. Statements are walked back. Facts are reframed. Stories shift depending on who is telling them. “Misleading” doesn’t quite capture it anymore. “Spinning” feels too soft. I’m tired of hearing excuses for what is clearly a lie.
There are too many times when what we’re hearing simply isn’t true. And it’s gotten much worse over the past year. So much so that it feels like something is beginning to wear down—not just our trust in leaders, but our sense that truth itself is steady, knowable, or worth holding onto.
We’re beginning to expect exaggeration. We assume distortion. We’ve grown numb to it. And without realizing it, that erosion doesn’t stay “out there.” It begins to shape us.
Yet, speaking at a time when the world was not so different from ours, Jesus says: “Do not swear at all… Let your ‘Yes’ be yes, and your ‘No,’ no.”
In His time, people had developed systems of oath-making—ways of strengthening their words when simple honesty wasn’t enough. Some promises counted more than others. Some could be broken if phrased the right way. It was a culture where language had become slippery.
All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ Anything more than this comes from the evil one.
Matthew 5:33-37
Jesus doesn’t offer a more complex system. He offers something far more demanding: Become the kind of person whose words don’t need reinforcing. This teaching isn’t about avoiding certain words. It’s about telling the truth. Not performative truth. Not strategic truth. Not truth shaped to protect our image or advance our position.
Just… truth.
Because when words are constantly stretched, shaded, or weaponized, they stop carrying weight. And when words lose their weight, relationships begin to fracture—between people, within communities, even within our own hearts.
It’s easy to see the problem in politics. It’s harder to see how quickly we adapt to it. We soften what we say to avoid conflict. We exaggerate to make a point land. We say “I’ll be there” when we know we probably won’t. We present versions of ourselves that aren’t quite real. Not out of malice—but out of habit.
In a culture where truth is flexible, honesty can feel risky. But Jesus calls us to something different.
Imagine a community where words are simple and clear. Commitments are taken seriously. People say what they mean—and mean what they say. No hedging. No inflation. No hidden clauses.
Just integrity.
That kind of community doesn’t happen by accident. It’s formed one conversation at a time. One honest answer at a time. One kept promise at a time.
In The Little Prince, the fox tells the young boy, “You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.” It’s a simple line, but it carries weight. The relationships we form—through care, attention, and trust—create a kind of quiet bond that cannot be undone.
The same is true of our words. When we speak, we are not just passing along information; we are shaping trust, forming expectations, and, however subtly, binding ourselves to what we say. To speak truthfully, then, is not just about accuracy—it is about responsibility. It is about recognizing that our words belong not only to us, but also to the people who receive them.
Truthful speech requires courage. It means: Admitting when we don’t know. Owning when we were wrong. Following through when it would be easier not to. It also means resisting the urge to fill silence, impress others, or protect ourselves with half-truths.
Jesus invites us to slow down enough to speak truthfully—and to live in such a way that our words don’t need decoration.
This week, try this: Before you speak, pause and ask: Is this true? Is this mine to say? Will I stand by it? Then let your answer be enough.
Yes. Or no.
You can join us each Sunday in person or online by clicking the button on our website’s homepage. Click here to watch. This button takes you to our YouTube channel. You can find more information about us on our website at FlintAsburyChurch.org.
This is a reminder that we publish a weekly newsletter called the Circuit Rider. You can request this publication by email by sending a request to FlintAsburyUMC@gmail.com, or let us know when you send a message through our website. We post an archive of past editions on our website under Connect – choose Newsletters.
Pastor Tommy
Series concept and substantial content created and shared by © The Rev. Jeremy Peters, Court Street United Methodist Church, 2026. Used with permission.
Additional content from: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The Little Prince. Translated by Richard Howard. NY: Harper Collins, 2000.7