We read the opening words of John’s gospel a few minutes ago but to start looking at today’s topic of Truth and Wisdom I think it’s helpful to jump to a scene near the end of the gospel. It’s the scene in chapter 18 where Jesus is being examined by Pilate. Jesus says, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth…” And Pilate asks him, “What is truth?”
That’s
an age-old question and one that’s been pondered by countless
philosophers. Truth is a wonderful
concept but one that gets complicated when it meets the real world. Of course there are very basic truths. If you put six apples in a basket the truth
is there are six apples there. If I
insist there are seven apples there no matter how much I argue and badger there
are still six apples there.
I
think a lot of people want truth to be that simple. Many people believe the field of science
delivers such simple undeniable truth.
But once you’ve gotten past the most rudimentary science experiments you
do in middle school you know that even science doesn’t deliver absolutely clear
truths. When you become more advanced
you discover that if you run the same test exactly the same way over and over
again you are going to get a variety of answers. Standard method is to run an experiment often
enough to get a statistically valid sample, and that sample will probably look
like a bell curve. The body of your data
will suggest a central reality. But
there will always be variety, and there will always be outliers that you just
can’t explain.
I
suppose the coronavirus vaccines that we are currently using make a great
example. Ask the questions, “Are they
safe and effective?” and you could answer, “Yes.” But are they 100% safe and 100%
effective? No. Based on widespread testing and field
evidence they are some percentage of safe and effective. We have decided that that percentage is high
enough to declare them to be safe and effective.
If
you’ve ever done any fact checking on our political leaders to see if they are
lying or telling the truth you’ve probably found that what they say may not
exactly be an outright lie, but it is the data arranged in such a way as to
back up what they want to say. When was
the last time you heard a major political leader say, “I was wrong. We should have done things my opponent’s
way”?
I
don’t kid myself into thinking that if I were in government leadership I’d be
any better. Oh, I tell myself I’d be a
bit more honest, but I know I’d always be nuancing what I say so that I could
weasel out if something blew up in my face.
I think “plausible deniability” is in the thoughts of just about anyone
in a leadership position!
And
so we know that the truth is not as straightforward as we would hope.
In
John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” And in 8:32 Jesus says, “If you continue in
my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth
will make you free.”
So
what is this truth that Jesus so often talks about?
Well
let’s go back to Pilate when he asks Jesus, “What is truth?” Perhaps, given that Jesus was there right in
front of him, he should have said, “Who is truth?” That gets us to the answer we need. John’s gospel is all about who is
truth.
One
of the greatest current scholars on the gospel of John is Gail O’Day. Of the opening verses we read today she says,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God”
(1:1) and “the Word became flesh and lived among us” (1:14) are the foundation
on which the entire gospel is built.
“Jesus is the incarnate Word of God.
That is, Jesus derives from the most intimate relation with God. Jesus provides unique and unprecedented
access to God because Jesus shares in God’s character and identity… Yet, it is
as the Word made flesh that Jesus brings God fully to the world. Jesus’ revelation of God is thus not simply
that Jesus speaks God’s words and does God’s works, although that is part of
it. It is, rather, that Jesus is
God’s Word. No line can be drawn between
what Jesus says and what at does, between his identity and mission in the
world. Jesus’ words and works, his life
and death, form an indissoluble whole that provides full and fresh access to
God.” (New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume
9, Pg. 495)
What
is truth? Or perhaps, who is truth?
Jesus
Jesus,
fully revealing God’s nature in human form, was there at the beginning. Jesus fully reveals God’s logic, God’s
wisdom, God’s organizing principles behind the entire creation.
And
most importantly, when Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one
another as I have loved you. No one has
greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (15:13) Then Jesus goes on to do just that.
I
think our imaginations easily see God’s ultimate nature and power as a great
bearded man in the clouds with a lightning bolt in his hands. John’s gospel would say that God’s real
nature – the truth of God’s power – is in love; self-giving love. That creates a very different scene. We’re going to be exploring parts of John’s
gospel for the next four weeks. We’ll be
dwelling on that in the time to come.
For today though let’s say something that is going to sound very much
like Mark’s gospel that we just read through:
If
you want to picture God – clearly, absolutely, as God has revealed God’s
nature, God in as God wants to be envisioned; in other words, if you want to
envision God truthfully;
the
truth – the absolute TRUTH – God as most glorified;
then
your picture of God needs to be that of Jesus crucified and dying.
That is truth.
That is not to fill your mind with a
picture of gore. Nor is in to make you
feel bad or guilty or anything like that.
It is to be a statement of love.
It is God saying, “This is how much I love you. This is how much I want you.”
As John’s gospel presents it, this
is the truth we are to build our lives upon.
It is to make every decision based upon being loved by God. It is to have every action based upon being
loved by God.
John’s gospel begins with the grand
poetic words of creation. John wants us
to understand how creation – existence itself – has come into being through
God.
God
created life – and life is stronger than death.
(Or
perhaps that beingness is greater than non-beingness.)
God
created light – and light is stronger than darkness.
God
is love – and love is stronger than anything.
So many people live in
darkness. So many people live in
fear. So many people live in shame. So many people live feeling worthless. Those people can be people who live in the
gutter to people who live in penthouse apartments. You never know.
“Truth” is that God’s love gives you
-and everyone else- undeniable value, a sure and certain future of goodness,
and a safe abiding place now.
If the world were to ever be willing
to let God’s light shine, then the simple truth would become real.
As children of God our purpose is to
live the truth – God’s love. That would
be to shine light into the darkness.
Our theme today is truth and wisdom. I have not brought up wisdom at all yet, and
I barely need to so. To live wisely is
to live by the truth. As Jesus said,
know the truth and the truth will make you free.
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