Truth

Easter VII Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

What is truth?

That question has remained constant in human experience through out time. What is truth?
A Roman governor asked that question many centuries ago. He may have had in mind the already rich heritage of ancient philosophy and science. He may well have remembered sitting in the Imperial Senate and listening to endless debates about foreign policy and financial planning. He may even have been educated in one of the great universities of the time and have been trained in what the Romans called rhetoric and the Jews called disputation.

Pilate, like so many others before and since, asked the question sincerely and with a certain weariness. Just what is the truth? When even the experts can’t agree how can a mere governor, soldier or ordinary citizen know what is true?

There is a saying, gather four Episcopalians into a committee to discuss a matter and they will produce a report with five different and distinct opinions.

The problem is not with the answer, or lack thereof. The problem is in the question. The way we form the question affects the parameters for framing the answer. Jesus clarifies the question for us and resets the parameters to invite a new perception. The question Jesus invites us to consider is not "what is the truth?" But rather "who is truth?"

This is a very strange and different approach to the questions relating to truth. Most people simply want the facts. The facts are the truth. Many people what the further knowledge of how the quality of truth exceeds the bare facts. They seek understanding.

Understanding produces investigation and a myriad of theories and opinions. It also produces debates, contradictions and contention. All too often in human history it results in violence and wars.

A few people seek Wisdom. Wisdom ponders the application of factual knowledge and understanding. Wisdom requires two virtues most humans do not value. They are the virtues of patience and humility.

The Bible teaches us that Wisdom comes from a relationship not from a book, a law code, or a set of religious disciplines as important as they may be in their own sphere. Wisdom comes from associating with the wise. The source of Wisdom is God himself.

That is why Jesus reveals the truth is a person. The truth is the divine transcendent rational creative pattern of the universe, what the Greek philosophers called the logos, what the philosophers of India called the Dharma, and what the philosophers of China called the Tao.
The Beloved apostle John came to know personally, by his own experience, that Jesus Christ is the Logos in human form. Jesus Christ is the personal aspect of the divine transcendent rational creative pattern of the universe.

In his high priestly prayer, offered just before his arrest, torture and execution, Jesus prays for those who believe in him. He prays for his apostles. He prays for us. He prays to the Eternal Father, Sanctify them in the truth. Transform them in the personal relationship they have accepted in your co-eternal Son.

Sanctification is transformation. The purpose of truth is not to dominate or subjugate other people. It is not to produce victors and victims. It is not a means by which some can be right and others must be wrong.

Truth is a person. The essence of truth is the relationship that produces wisdom. The practical effect of wisdom is personal self responsibility. To be sanctified in truth is to be transformed by the relationship we choose to cultivate with the living Lord Jesus Christ.

That is why Jesus states that we, his followers, do not belong to this world of debate, condemnation and conflict over the question "what is truth". In Jesus Christ, we properly belong to the Way of living that pursues the question: who is truth?

In that pursuit Jesus stands with us. In that pursuit Jesus fills us with the Holy Spirit to gradually, gently and persistently transform our pride into humility and our insistent demand to get what we want when we want it into patience.

Jesus doesn’t make us right so others can be wrong. Jesus invites us into a right relationship with himself so we can be transformed into the image and likeness of Divine Love and Compassion. He does that so we can offer the gift to others. He does that so we can be a blessing to others.

Very seldom does a person come to faith through humiliation and defeat. A great debater can win all of the points in a dispute but lose the debate if the audience feels debased. Jesus offers a different way. It is the way of life. It is the way of truth. It is the reality of the infinite and eternal God slowly revealing the truth in the primary relationship that gives truth its form and function.

Jesus Christ just doesn’t teach the truth. Jesus Christ is the truth. We experience transformation from confusion into truth as we grow in our personal relationship with Christ. The Bible tells us you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

You shall know the love of God in Jesus Christ as you draw close to him in prayer, the Bible, the sacraments, and in a life of service to other people. That new way of living will set you free from the false demands and expectations of a world that is devoted to acquiring pride, power, possessions and prestige.

This is the gift God offers to all people everywhere. It is not an demand to submit. It is not permission to withdraw. It is not a command to conquer. It is an invitation into a personal life transforming relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus, our great high priest, prays for us today. Eternal Father, sanctify these your people in the truth. Transform them in patience and humility through the dynamic active personal relationship they have with you in the divine love embodied in your Son, who alone is the way, the truth and the life. Amen. So let it be.