Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from God’s Son and our Savior, Jesus the Christ.
Wow! Some gospel reading this morning, ay? Sometimes Jesus just puts it out there. I mean BAM—he lets us have it. No holds barred, no punches pulled. No thought-provoking parables or interpretive miracles—no riddles and signs. Just the truth. Right there. Right now.
Today’s truth is—wait a minute, before we get into that, we need to answer a very basic question. And that is, “What is truth?” What is truth? Well, that’s right up there with “what is the meaning of life?” when it comes to a complex question. Because truth, contrary to popular belief, is a slippery thing. It just won’t sit still so you can grab it. Because it’s effected by a plethora of factors.
For instance, truth can be bound by time. Something can be true - for a while. If I say it’s 9:27, that is true for 60 seconds—then it is true no longer.
Truth can also be relative to perspective—how you uniquely see it. Standing on the top of Mt. Washington and looking down at him, our beloved congregation president, Ken, is smaller than a flea to me. Truth. But if he takes the Cog Railway up the mountain and stands besides me—he is one tall dude. Also true. Based on your perspective.
Truth can be dependent on knowledge—what is currently known about a thing. Example. At one time, people believed the earth was flat—now we know better. What’s true has changed because we have new information.
Does logic define truth? That’s it’s function. The intersection of two arguments equals the premise, or truth. I f A is B, and C is an A, then C equals B. It is mathmatical as well. But then what about this logic? If God is love, and love is blind, and Stevie Wonder is blind, then Stevie Wonder must be God. Flawed logic leads to false truths.
Perhaps truth is more of an aesthetic thing? English poet John Keats in his Ode on a Grecian Urn, wrote that “truth is beauty, beauty truth.” Brilliant! But if your spouse asks, “Does this make me look fat?” you better be ready if you tell the truth—cause it won’t be pretty!
You see what I’m getting at? Truth is slippery. Just when you think you got a hold of it. Zip! It slides through your fingers and you’re left with questions and doubts, along with prior truths that have been demoted to veritable relics. Thomas Henry Huxley, the 19th century biologist who championed Darwin’s theory of evolution, summed it up. In his book Science and Culture: Origin of Species: he wrote, “History warns us that it is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and end as superstitions.” Well said. A scandalous proposal, an accepted fact, an embarrassing antique—such is the lifespan of most truth.
But isn’t there such a thing as absolute truth? Something that is true now and later, no matter where or who we are, despite what we know or can reason out? The new generations tend to discount the notion, cynical bunch that they have been brought up to be. The older ones tend to take absolute truth for granted. A part of life, not to be questioned. But perhaps it is this “absolute truth” to which we must refer in our quest for a definition of truth. Truth is that premise which we trust is unchangeable. True forever!
So, truth. That’s the thread which runs through each of the readings this morning. In Jeremiah, Yahweh rails against false prophets, who substitute their own “feel-good” message for God’s “fire and hammer” truth. The psalmist poetically reveals how God’s truth is to be carried out, defending the humble and needy. And the author of Hebrews credits faith in God’s truth with being the connection we share with all those who came before us in the grand story of salvation.
And then there’s the gospel itself. Like I said at the top—this is Jesus at his most strident. And what he tells us about discipleship is chilling. Division. Hostility. Rejection. It is an unsettling picture. But it is a true picture. But you gotta wonder, “why?” Why, if like the evangelist Luke, you’re trying to make converts, why do you include in your promotional material that, oh yeah—this will probably lead to division in your family and hardship in your life? It’s like an Army recruiter telling a prospect, “Well, there’s a good chance that where we send you, someone’s going to be shooting right at you.” Doesn’t exactly sell the experience. And the gospel writers could have just left that part out. But they didn’t. Why? Partly because Jesus said it—and capturing that was their main goal. But also because it was the truth.
They knew it was because they were living that truth. Their families were split up due to one believing and another not. Fathers were pitted against sons, etc, etc. And so Jesus’ words spoke directly to them—even thirty or more years after Jesus’ ascension. From their perspective everything Jesus had warned about was happening to them. So they were a part of the great struggle pictured by Jesus.
Division, hostility, rejection. Truth! It was as plain as the nose on their faces! If it was a snake it would’ve bit them! Even so, Luke drives the message home by adding another snippet of Jesus’ sermon. “When you see clouds a-rolling in, you know to go close the windows cause it’s gonna rain. And when the wind comes up from the south—you know it’s gonna get hot.” You know these things. So apply the same logic to your interaction with Jesus. Let him into your life, there’s going to be heartache—sure as the day is long. That’s the God’s-honest truth.
Well, that was them—what about us? How are we to “interpret the present time?” Here's what I think—and I quote Bob Dylan- “you don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.” And you needn't have been at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Chicago two weeks ago to know there is division in the family—our Lutheran family. There has been for some time now.
Should we, as a church, bless the love and promise of fidelity in same gender unions? Should a person in such a relationship who discerns the call to ministry be allowed to serve the church as pastor, associate in ministry, or in the deaconate? The division is mostly along those lines, but those issues are really symptomatic of disagreements in more crucial, more foundational areas. Like how do we read the bible? And what is sin? And how are we as followers of Jesus to relate to our modern-day culture? And, perhaps most importantly, how do we interpret the person and work of Jesus for today?
Basically though it all boils down to “What is truth?” For today. For here in New Hampshire. For the ELCA. What is truth? People on both “sides” of these issues each claim truth in their convictions. Can each be right? What is truth? And is it possible that only an absolute truth can be the catalyst for reconciliation?
Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, I know what you're thinking—have we used up our nine lives on these issues or has it been only eight? I have to admit n all the excitement I've lost count. But you all are looking down the barrel of a full blown schism, the worst possible scenario known to the church, that would alter Lutheranism as we know it. And so. you have to ask yourselves a question? Truth or dare?
At camp we used to play some pretty stupid games. I Spy. I spy with my little eye, something colored green. Right—the paraments. Thumb wrestling [go and wrestle one of the youth]. And the granddaddy of them all—Truth or Dare. You either had to answer a question with the utmost truthfulness, or take the dare—which could be something like drinking water from the toilet (I told you it was a stupid game!).
The question we have to ask ourselves is just that; truth or dare? Do we want, as a church, to seek that truth that binds us together. Or do we dare risk the diverse unity of the church, and a future outcome that may well be palatable to all?
As for me—I pick truth, the truth that is Jesus Christ. Who, although he knew that the radical nature of his gospel of all-out total acceptance would cause dissension and even rejection, none-the-less so loved the world that he died on a cross to destroy sin and unify all creation in the reconciling power of God.
I choose that truth knowing full well it doesn't settle our issues, but rather reveals the stronger bonds of God's love that we share as his children. I choose that truth because it is unchangeable—absolute--nothing I do or say can ever disprove it, no logic can unseat it, it is timeless, the same from all angles, and it is beautiful. I choose it not by reason, not by calculation, and not by wisdom or knowledge. I choose it, along with a great cloud of witnesses—by faith. A faith given me by the Holy Spirit. I appeal to all of you, in debated matters of rightness and purity, to hold fast by faith to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Be his witnesses, speak the truth in love, be mindful of the burdens we each bear, love one another as he first loved you.
You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind' blows. And you don't need a theologian to tell you God loves us all. And as Luther put it—this is most certainly true. Or if you prefer, paraphrased by Lily Tomlin as Edith Anne; “and that's the truth!” [braaack!]
Amen
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