“The Truth About Truth”
Scripture Reading: John 8:31-41
Sermon Transcript for February 26, 2006
By Rev. Dan Sinkhorn
The Truth about Truth—talk about a challenging subject! Here we go; we’ll start with this experiment. I would like everybody on this side of the sanctuary to take out your hymnal and I would like you to put your finger on the best hymn in the hymnal. Take out your hymnal and put your finger on the best hymn in the hymnal. Now, everybody on this side of the sanctuary, I would like for you to look at this picture and you have just a couple of seconds to tell me how many jelly beans there are in that picture. I will give the folks over here time to find their hymn. Okay, everybody got a hymn? You have picked the best hymn in the hymnal and you are sure you know how many jelly beans there are in that picture. The truth is—you are wrong unless you said 170 because there are 170 there. The truth is, you are right, but probably the person in the pew with you has picked a different hymn. So the fact is that the number of jelly beans in the picture is an absolute truth that no one can deny. But the truth about those hymns is that it is a matter of your opinion which is the best in the hymnal. So we know that there are absolute truths. And most people will argue about that with you because they’ll say, “Well, of course truth exists. It exists in science, it exists in monetary things, it exists in a material world, but we’re not so sure truth exists when it comes to ethics and religion. In fact we think that a lot of that is just all relative.” What’s true for you is true for you. What’s true for me is true for me. That’s what a lot of people were saying.
What is truth? The simplest definition of truth is that truth is that which conforms to reality; that which is real. Now when we are confronted with the truth, though, we have to ask ourselves how we are going to respond. If we encounter truth that conforms with reality, how do we respond? Some of you are probably elated because you got that number right on those jelly beans. Some of you probably thought, “Well, he didn’t give us enough time.” And reality is when we are confronted with the real truth, most of us run away or we go in a different direction because that is easier. Winston Churchill has said many great things, but one of the things that he said about truth is that “occasionally men stumble over the truth. Most pick themselves up and go on, as if nothing had happened.” Theologian, Thomas Merton, said that occasionally we are like Pontius Pilate asking, “What is truth?” and then crucifying the truth that are standing right in front of us. Another great theologian, G.K. Chesterton said, “Having an open mind is nothing, the purpose of an open mind, as of an open mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.” And so open-mindedness is a great value but we have to occasionally get a hold of certain things that are solid and hold fast to them.
What is the truth that you build your life around? What is the truth that is your guideposts for your living? And are these truths the kind that occasionally makes us uncomfortable? This is the way it was when Jesus was talking to the religious leaders in the passage we heard a moment ago. Jesus said something absolutely unbelievable and it stunned them. Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will se you free.” He said, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin and if the Son sets you free, then you are free indeed.” Now you have to study that passage a little bit to get the semantics but basically what Jesus is saying is, “I know the truth; I am the truth and by me you will be judged by truth and set free by truth.” No wonder they wanted to kill Him! Ho could dare say a thing like that but God Himself. And so Jesus has set the standard for us that when we are gathered here in this church, at least, we have to abide by. He has said, “I am the truth and by me sins are forgiven and you are set free.” Here is an absolute truth.
We live in a society where truth is fickle; where truth is a kind of bias or slant. Our culture says, “It’s all relative.” And when it comes to God, God is whatever you want God to be. But we know better than that. And so we are troubled by these sayings but we don’t know how to respond. Well clearly our Lord expects us to respond in love. He has challenged us to even love our enemies. So how can we express that love? How will we disagree with people who say things that we don’t consider true and yet stand for the truths that we hold sacred? Well, we must be patient. We must persevere in tolerance. And tolerance is an often misused word in our culture so we need to talk about that just a little bit. To be overly tolerant is to make a big mistake. We must be willing to care for those we disagree with and love them but we must not be willing to compromise on truth. So there’s our dilemma because in the name of truth we have to be tolerant but in the name of truth we must also be rigid and unwavering. We approach those who don’t hold the truth that we consider sacred with patience and perseverance. And then to counterbalance what the culture says and we know is wrong, we meet together in this place and in small groups and we surround ourselves with fellow believers and focus on the truths we hold in common that come from the truth Himself, Christ, our Lord. The Bible teaches us that tolerance can give validity to every point of view. And as the Body of Christ, we must assemble a community of faith that is founded on truths that we agree on like that Creed we said earlier in the service. And yet as we listen to others with different points of view, we grant them latitude. We listen in love. We genuinely care for them. And then we witness Christ’s grace and mercy. But remember, Christ never wavered on the truth either and it cost Him everything.
From the beginning to the end the Bible emphasizes certain absolute truths. One of those is the significance that we worship the One true God, the living God, the God of our ancestors and the God of those who will follow us. Scripture reveals to us that God is a living being, a unique creator. We are apart from Him. We were created by Him; we are loved by Him as a father loves his children, but we are not one with Him. We are not a collective consciousness. I’m sorry Star War fans, but it is not the “force”. We have a God who though majestic and mysterious and apart from us is real. And we are made in His image. And to some extent we can know something about His personality because we know ourselves. We can know how He must feel when He is misunderstood. The Bible tells us that God is grieved by the human condition, by human attitudes towards Him. There is an absolute truth about who God is and what God’s nature is like. And God grieves when we get it wrong. Have you ever had someone not understand you? Have you ever been the victim of misinformation and someone refused to believe what you knew was really true about you? If you have, then you can understand how God must feel when even His own children debate about His real nature when the Bible makes it very clear who God is and what His personality is like. And He is revealed in absolute truth by His presence on earth in Christ, our Lord.
The Bible makes it clear that God is good, and just, and holy. And because God is good, God has given us a conscience by which we can govern ourselves so that we can discern the difference between good and evil. And much of what our conscience tells us is universal because these truths are so absolute that even those who haven’t been raised in the culture of the Bible would accept them to be true. God is great and good and holy and we are unholy. As hard as we try to be good, as hard as we try to abide by God’s teaching, we fail, we fall short. We have in us an innate nature of sin as well as the capacity to sin every day and every hour. And I am chief among the sinners. But this is what I know is an absolute truth—that through Christ that has been reconciled and dealt with because He was the truth sacrificed for my sake and by His sacrifice my sins are forgiven. But this does not free us from living morally sound lives. This does not free us from operating within the consciousness or the mind of a child of God. We are to abide by God’s teaching. We are to witness His nature by imitating His nature to the best of our ability. We do that by following the example of Christ. We are led by the Holy Spirit throughout our days to live lives of integrity and goodness. When God created humanity it was God’s intention that it would be good. And yet God gave us something that is a mere image of Himself; He gave us a free will. And so by that free will, God allows us to depart from His way, to reject Him which is the essence of sin. And yet He calls us back every day to live within His guidelines because the absolute truth, when it is all said and done, are hard and fast boundaries around our lives, around our spiritual existence. And when we cross those lines, it grieves our Lord.
Early in human history there is the story we all know well of Noah. And people who had so disappointed God that God said that their wickedness was deep within them, that the thoughts of their hearts were evil. And the Lord was so grieved that He made the flood to wipe out the earth. But there was one man who sought to stay within the boundaries, one man who believed in the truth and abided by the truth. And it was for that one man’s sake that we are still here today and humanity didn’t get wiped out entirely. And so we need to understand that God is a judge, that God has set boundaries for us and “Yes” we can cross those boundaries and risk judgment. We must obey God’s truth. We must recognize that God is intimately involved in our lives and therefore every moment of our lives is a witness in front of Him or for His sake. God is not, as Thomas Jefferson said, “a brilliant clockmaker”. He didn’t wind all of this up and leave it alone. He is intimately involved. And this is why we worship Him. We come here every Sunday morning simply because we know He is real and intimately involved with us. And so we owe him our worship but more than that we worship Him, as we’ve said so many times, because we just can’t help it. And so this is the God of absolute truth—one who is real in every way, whose being is one with Christ, our Lord, who has saved us. Who is one with the spirit that is a part of all we do and say even at this very moment.
God expects us to trust Him and there is another absolute truth. If His word is true and everything God does is absolutely dependable, then we must be willing to put our faith in His word. To simplify that, you and I both know people in our lives who when they say “Yes” you know that is all that has to be said. They won’t let you down. And we know others whose word is not so trustworthy and true. And who here would say that God’s word is anything but trustworthy and true. Knowing that we must be like Caleb and Joshua. Do you remember their story? Joshua and Caleb were among the spies who were sent to the Promised Land to scout out the enemy and to look at the places where the people of Israel would go to live. All but the two came back and reported that the enemy was way to powerful and they were afraid. But Caleb and Joshua came back and said that they were certain that God was faithful to His promise and they looked forward to what God would do because they believed in the promises that God made about the future. And so Caleb became someone that we should revere even to this day because he demonstrated to us a truth that we must all abide by. If God said it, God will do it. We can rest assured on that. And if we really have to get right down to where the rubber meets the road, then we must agree that our eternal soul depends on it. If you’ve been around death lately, you know what I mean. At some point in every one’s life we’re going to have to realize that everything we believe about the life after our bodies perish is based on truth and we are sure hoping that that truth is true. We have witnessed the saints, generations of saints, to remind us that that is true. That we can believe, as Caleb and Joshua did, that God is true to God’s word. So there is truth in God’s word that is absolute and our eternity depends on it.
So how do we define such values? How do we set the moral standards for ourselves based upon the truths of God? Well, there is one very recognizable way that has been under fire a lot in our country lately. There are the Ten Commandments—these Ten Commandments are called commandments because they are absolute. If they weren’t absolute, they might be called the Ten Suggestions. But they are commandments; they are meant to be obeyed. They are universal. Whether you were raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition or not, the Ten Commandments are absolute enough for just about anyone anywhere. Jesus came with a new covenant that was built upon the old and He said that He would simplify those ten into this phrase, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul. And love your neighbor as yourself.” And this is no less of a commandment than the ten. Christ, the Lord, God in the flesh, has commanded us to love God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul. That sounds pretty absolute. He has commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves. And what could be simpler than that. Don’t do it to them if you wouldn’t want it done to you. This is absolute.
Unfortunately, truth exists in most cases separately from common sentiment. Truth exists apart from our culture at times. There are people in our history, like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and we could go on and on, who were willing to bet their lives that the truth was worth upholding no matter what the culture happened to think at the time. And their example has changed us and reverted us back to truth for we must be equally courageous. Even if it costs us something, we have to be willing to speak what we know is true and to stand for truth. Now this is not a call to extremism, never a call to extremism. The daily news illustrates for all of us what happens when extremists take action. Extreme vigilance leads to extreme violence. But this is also a call not to be extremely tolerant because extreme intolerance gives birth to extreme indifference. And we are a part of God’s activity on earth. As Paul says, “We are in this world but by our rebirth in Christ no longer a part of this world.” We are here to make a difference. We are here to proclaim the truth. We are here to witness to the truth by making the world a better place to the best of our ability knowing that it will always be imperfect. We are here to passionately persevere for the sake of justice, for the sake of decency, for the sake of God’s word which is true and good for all of us. And so we must be people of patience, tolerance, kindness and grace but we must also be firmly committed to the truth and unwilling to waiver in it.
I’ve been proud of my association with the United Methodist Church as long as I have been a part of it, especially since I’ve been a pastor because I recognize that our denomination is unique in a lot of ways because it has been extremely tolerant and open-minded and yet unwavering in certain truths. The only time we seem to generate any press is when someone comes along and tries to make us break from the truths that we uphold. And for the most part, the United Methodist Church has done well to take positions on complicated matters that honor the absolute truths but also make room for others. I’ve often referred to the United Methodist Church as the wide spot in the middle of the road. Extremists, if we are asked, are those who are usually in the ditches on either side of the road throwing things at each other. Which is what makes being in the middle of the road such a tricky place to be! But if we have the intellectual energy and the spiritual fortitude, we’ll persevere in that journey down the road.
There’s some ways we can judge the truth. First and foremost we must be in a personal relationship with the Lord through Jesus Christ. And you know the way to do that. If you don’t, come and ask me after the service. I’ll help you. But listen to this. Nancy Pearcey in her book, Total Truth, gives a number of suggestions for changing our culture toward an attitude of truth. And one of the things she says is that we need to be a lot less critical. We need to do less criticizing and more creating of culture. Criticizing our culture changes nothing. It puts us in the company of the rock throwers. The reality is that we need to be a culture built around the truth that is infectious. We need to be as dangerous in our community as bird flu so that our culture of truth is contagious. We need to be patient and persevere in love for the sake of the truth especially with those who disagree with us. We must be willing to take a gentle approach like a parent that is built on truth. Not because most people are inferior to us, but because we value them as much as a parent values their own child. Why do I use that reference? Well, parents, how many times have you had to prevent your child from doing what they wanted because you knew the truth about something that they didn’t know? And you were simply trying to protect them out of love.
If we are people of genuine love, patience and perseverance, we can debate with one another, we can discuss, and we can be a wide and varied group of people who are genuine and authentic in our love for one another. And together we will stand around and next to firm, absolute truths. Seeking a living with truth means that we are not going to stand on the sidelines—we are going to get in the game. We are going to run within the boundaries and be a part of what God is doing in creation. As a church we are going to do that by seeking to be a Word-centered community of truth-guided and Spirit-driven people who are joyful in fulfilling God’s Word on earth, to welcome others into the fold accepting them as they come and teaching them the truth for the truth sake, the truth who is Christ, our Lord. May God add His blessing to the hearing of his Word.
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