Belonging to Truth
John 17:6-19[1]
The concept of “Truth” is
becoming more and more challenging in our society. Part of the problem is that
many of us seem to have a rather flimsy approach to “Truth.” It seems that
everyone has his or her “own truth,” and that no matter what that truth may be,
no one has a right to dispute it. This plays out in politics, in religion, and
in family life. It seems that there’s no aspect of our lives that hasn’t been
affected by the fact that everything seems to be up for debate. It shouldn’t
come as a surprise that this muddy outlook on “truth” has led to confusion and
turmoil. If we can’t even agree on basic convictions that guide our lives, how
can there be any stability in our society?
On the other hand, part of
the problem seems to be that many of us have a rather rigid approach to
“Truth.” We hold fast to the convictions we’ve always believed, regardless of
whether the facts may fly in the face of those convictions. This has been a
particular temptation for those of us in the church. We throw out some verse
from the Bible and assume not only that our understanding of “Truth” is
correct, but also that we have God on our side. The problem with this approach
is that when we’re not willing to admit that we may not have it all down, we
stagnate in our own personal growth, and we throw up walls against those who
disagree with us and label them as “enemies.”
As I mentioned last week, the
section of John’s Gospel from which our lesson for today comes contains Jesus’
teachings to prepare his disciples for the fact that he would be leaving them
soon. Not only is he “pulling out all the stops” in his effort to communicate
his message to them. He’s also tying up all the previous hints and clues in
John’s Gospel that he had been dropping all along about his purpose and his
mission. In our lesson for today, Jesus uses the opportunity to pray for the
disciples that they would indeed understand and follow the truth he had sought
to teach them.
One of the most important
themes in this Gospel is that the “Truth” Jesus taught his disciples was a
unique kind of truth. It was not the truth of science or mathematics, where
formulas and equations all add up. It was not the truth of philosophy seeking
to come up with a rational answer to just about every question one could think.
Nor was it the truth of dogma, where scholars try to fit all the teachings of
the Bible into a neat and tidy system. Rather, the “Truth” that Jesus came to
bring was the truth of a relationship with God whereby we experience God’s
grace and we embrace God’s ways and purposes in this world.
I think we see this reflected
in our Gospel lesson today in several ways. First, the “Truth” that Jesus
taught his disciples was something that Jesus had received from his Father. We
see this in an interesting interplay between the “Name” and the “Word” and the
“Truth” Jesus says that God had given him. The point of this is, as Jesus says,
“Now they know that everything you have given me is from you” (Jn. 17:7). The
fact that everything Jesus did and taught had come from his Father reflects the
relationship between Jesus and the Father. It was such a close relationship
that Jesus could say that what he was doing only what the Father had taught
him.
At the same time, the theme
is expanded here to include the disciples in that relationship. Interestingly,
just as the Father had given Jesus the “Name” and the “Word” and the “Truth, so
Jesus says that the disciples were those whom the Father had given him. The
reason why Jesus had taught them the “Truth” he had received from the Father
was so that the disciples could share the joy of his relationship with God.
Jesus said it this way: “I speak these things in the world so that they may
have my joy made complete in themselves.” (Jn. 17:13). The truth Jesus spoke
was the kind of truth that was intended to draw the disciples into the same
relationship with the Father that Jesus enjoyed.
But there was more to it than
that. The truth that Jesus taught his disciples was the kind of truth that
would not leave them where they were. It would change them, and it would change
them through and through. Jesus said that the ultimate purpose of this truth
was that they may be “sanctified in the truth” (Jn. 17:17, 19). In the Bible,
sanctification is one of those fifty-dollar theological words that means to set
something or someone apart for God’s purposes. I like the way the CEV puts it:
“let this truth make them completely yours” (John 17:17 CEV). The kind of truth
Jesus brought was intended to make those who followed it into people who belong
completely to God.
When we receive and embrace
the truth Jesus taught, we are changed so that we become people who belong to
God and to God’s truth through and through. We enter into a relationship with
God, a covenant, if you will, that both brings us joy and makes a claim on our
lives. That may not answer the problem of “Truth” in our world. But God’s truth
is a different kind of truth than that. God’s truth gives us clarity, but
doesn’t make us into religious “know-it-alls.” God’s truth defines more than
what we recite as our creed; it defines how we live our lives. God’s truth is
about a relationship, and when we embrace that truth in Jesus Christ, we are
changed into people who belong to God’s truth.
[1] ©2018
Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 5/13/2018 at Hickman
Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
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