“The Truth of Christ”     November 22, 2009
John 18: 33–38           The Rev. Dr. Beth Braxton

Let us remember why Jesus is standing before Pilate.

Jesus is brought before Pilate for both ecclesiastical and political reasons. As the Gospels indicate, the chief priests have charged him with blasphemy. The matter is of no concern to Pilate. But, because it is expedient for them that Jesus be put to death, the chief priests have delivered him to Pilate for capital punishment. From Pilate’s perspective, this petty matter should be returned to the local officials for judgment; he is not concerned with their religious squabbles. The Jews were free to worship as they pleased, so long as it helped to keep peace in the province. But, the ecclesiastical issue has political implications, and therefore Pilate is pushed to investigate. The chief priests have apparently accused Jesus of claiming to be the King of the Jews. That if proven true, would be considered an act of treason, punishable by death under Roman law.

Read scripture John 18:33-38

There was an article in the Post a number of years ago around Thanksgiving time about a pie store in Loudon County. I remember it vividly because it so infuriated me. The article was entitled “Va. Pies: Weapons of Mass Diplomacy” because many diplomats in DC ordered their pies from the Hill High Country Store. They even told which kind of pies different embassies liked best. It said by Monday of Thanksgiving week that customers had pre-ordered 3,200 pies and that they expected about that many walk-ins. “With the scent of fresh-baked apples hanging heavily in the air, customers can just imagine the scene in the kitchen: Mom, wearing a flour-covered, red-gingham apron, rolling out ingredients. Dough hitting the counter. Flour poofing into the air; freshly diced apples being expertly laid in rows. One pie after homemade pie.

Except it’s really like this: A bunch of factory-frozen pies are dropped off outside the back door, and then workers… stick them in the oven.

So where do the pies actually come from?

We get them from four or five different vendors,’ said David Heimburger, another owner.

‘One of them is Sara Lee. Nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee.’” I felt duped–for all those who drove a long way just to get homemade pies from the Hill High Store. This Post article should be called “Va. Pies: Weapons of Mass Deception!”

What is truth? A question that can haunt us on many fronts.
What is the truth about Afghanistan? That is the question that haunts me these days as I know it does our President. What is the truth about what Afghanistan needs?

20, 30, 40,000 more troops OR 10, 000 engineers, 10, 000 nurses and 20, 000 teachers? Do they need more military personnel or do they need massive humanitarian support?–Do they need more weapons or more books for us to be more secure and the Taliban less a threat? More might or more education? What is the truth?

I remember a time back in the 80’s when many Central American countries were involved in liberation movements. Our government’s military were involved, our mission co-workers were involved. Each gave different accounts of what was going on. If I spoke about the concerns the missionaries were telling me; it was against what the Pentagon folks here were telling me. I remember distinctively saying, what is the truth? Who is right?

That reminds me of the film short, “In the Eye of the Beholder.” A mugging takes place in Brooklyn, NY. There are several eye witnesses. A person from the second floor apartment gave one account of what she saw. A man walking along on the other side of the street gave a different account; and a man in a car stopped in traffic and a street vendor gave still other accounts. Who was right? What was the truth of what happened? Is truth just one perception? Is the truth in the eye of the beholder?

Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” BUT…

Pilate knows how the world works: the strong rule the weak: the powerful judge the actions of lesser folks.
Pilate knows that this weak, beaten man before him is not a ruler.
Pilate knows that he holds the power of life and death over this prisoner of the Jews.
Pilate knows also that the chief priests hold a certain power over their people, but they were too weak to deal decisively with this one.
Pilate knows something about kings. Caesar is king, was to be honored, worshipped as supreme power.
Pilate knows that Caesar’s authority rested upon his own shoulders.
All this was true.

The only thing Pilate does not know is the philosophical, theological answer to the question that is THE question that has haunted all peoples down through the centuries–what is truth?

Well, in the 2000 years since Pilate voiced this question you could say we have come to some answers. Probably not through much of the Dark Ages, although we did get the decimal system from India. Through the Renaissance period we gained insights through the arts and philosophy, the power of the printing press. Then came the Enlightenment period where historical truth only came from the objective examination of human record, there were new ideas for progress–John Locke’s checks and balances; we learned many truths of nature and metaphysics. Then the Industrial Revolution of the 1800’s with steam engines and the typewriter. The Modern era brought empirical tools, radios, cars, airplanes;–we had many scientific answers to questions and to diseases like polio and smallpox. The technology of the 21st century has given us tremendous communication vehicles through cell phones, computers, and the internet to search out truth everywhere! In fact we get flooded today with information claiming to be truth. There are college courses on deciphering the truth in media. Yet we still have no uniform answer to Pilate’s question.

Indeed, nowadays, philosophers say that there is no such thing as a universal truth. What may appear to be true for one is by no means true for the next person. We read in our Bibles that Abraham was going to sacrifice his son Isaac; our Muslim friends say that Abraham was setting out to sacrifice his son, Ishmael! In fact, many people hold multiple, contradictory truths and are not distressed by their incongruities. Truth today is relative and one truth can relate to another in a variety of compatible ways. Contradiction is one of them. Pilate could be right at home today with his question: What is truth?

Are we right back to the statement that truth is just in the eye of the beholder?

Let me borrow a passage from the story of Harry Potter and a reflection from another pastor (no it is not MaryAnn). In the book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Professor Albus Dumbledore reveals to Harry the prophesy made about Harry and Voldemort. Neither can live so long as the other survives. Prof. Dumbledore then tells Harry that his secret weapon is love, something that Voldemort neither values nor understands. In fact, in this scene, Harry himself doesn’t view his capacity to love as anything of importance or potency:

“I haven’t any powers he hasn’t got, I couldn’t fight in the way he did tonight, I can’t possess people or–or kill them–,” said Harry in a strangled voice.

“There is a room in the Department of Mysteries,” interrupted Prof. Dumbledore, “that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all. That power helped you to save Sirus tonight.
That power also saved you from possession by Voldemort, because he could not bear to reside in a body so full of the force he detests. In the end, it mattered not that you could not close your mind. It was your heart that saved you.” (New York: Scholastic Press, 2003, pp. 843-844)

What if truth is not in the eye of the beholder, but the heart! From another piece of literature, The Little Prince. It is named. “Only with the heart does one see rightly.”

Yes, art, critical thinking, scientific experimentation, technology all make sense of our world. Yes, the ideas of Aristotle, Plato, Kant, Newton, Edison, Einstein, Kierkegaard and so many more help us make sense of our world, but truth comes from the heart, from the heart of God who loved us so much he gave us Jesus to incarnate that love and show us the power of that love in our everyday lives.

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life for us!

“I came into the world to testify to the truth,” says Jesus. “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” What does the voice of Jesus tell us? If you listen to Jesus you belong to the truth. What do you hear?

I hear someone who says, “life does not consist in the abundance of one’s possessions.”

I hear someone who says, Blessed are the poor in Spirit for they shall see God.”

I hear someone who says, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

I hear someone who says, “Judge not, that you be not judged;”

“Let the one who has no sin cast the first stone.”

I hear someone says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you;” Father, forgive them for they no not what they do.”

I hear someone who says, “As you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you did it unto me.”

Yes, speak to our hearts, King Jesus; your Word is our answer in the noise, despair, violence and chaos of this world!

Jesus speaks of a kingdom that is not of this world. This kingdom is inclusive for all the world; it is where the least shall be first. It is a place of forgiveness and joy. Servant leadership and faith guides this kingdom, even if the faith is as small as a grain of mustard seed. It is where the ordinary produces extraordinary results. Compassion and care for those in need are a way of life.

I got a letter from a member of the church who has not been attending services recently. He was expressing his concern to me. His job is with the National Security Council Office Combating Terrorism. While I was hearing “turn the other cheek” at the church, I was involved in efforts to hunt down the terrorists. I struggled with this.

Yes, the kingdom of this world is in tension with the kingdom of God, we live in the “not yet” time and are called to live “as if”, as if the kingdom has come.–After all it is the prayer we pray every week “Thy kingdom come, They will be done.” My hope and prayer is that each one of us in whatever job we have will seek to live in this tension. It is the tension of truth.

What is truth?
The beginning of truth is faith in the love Jesus has for you and the world; the rest of truth is continuing to be revealed. As we live out the truth of that love each day, we see more and more of it revealed.

So speak love
Learn love.
Sing love.
Work in love.
Walk in love.
Think love.
Live love.
And give thanks to God for this love that is the truth!! Amen!