November 26, 2000
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Truth is Coming The reading from the gospel of John is most familiar to us as one that we normally hear in the weeks of Lent and Easter. We hear it now because many congregations will celebrate Christ the King Sunday. It is a day when we lift up the reign of Christ in heaven and on earth. Revelation after all can seem mystical and strange. But it's really only a visionary letter of encouragement sent to seven churches. The number seven is a symbolic number that stands for wholeness. Here the John of Revelation is sending a signal that the churches at Ephesus, Smryna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea are stand-ins for all the congregations of Jesus Christ in John's world. Both Revelation and the Gospel of John are good reminders of the truth of who it is we celebrate in our work and worship and of God's great gift to the world. They help us look back to the end of the gospel story and to look forward to the fulfillment of the promises of God. The truth is coming, and we are busy preparing ourselves to receive it once more with renewed hope and heart. Both Revelation and the Gospel lesson are faith stories that talk about the truth of Jesus Christ. Revelation proclaims the truth of who Jesus is for the church. The Gospel of John portrays Pilate's confusion over the truth about power, about who Jesus is, and about who it is that holds the ultimate power and authority. His attitude is what ours is sometimes. We think of power as the ability to dominate, to bully, to force others to our will, to do what we want done, when we want it done. But all power is the ability to influence. Pilate believes he will have the last word, but the truth is he really does not. The reading from John joins the second act of the final drama of Jesus' life. Jesus has been arrested at the urging of the religious leaders, whom John refers to collectively as 'the Jews'. Most of you know that the phrase has been used as an excuse for the church's anti-Semitism, or anti-Jewish attitudes. The operative word here is excuse. What John describes are those religious authorities who are resisting the new, radical, inclusive ministry of Jesus. They do not recognize who Jesus is, they can't see the truth of who he is anymore than Pilate can. It is interesting as we consider Pilate that the gospel accounts of his tenure are relatively kind. Perhaps to make an uneasy peace with Rome, the early church usually portrayed Pilate as a kind of naïve and hapless bureaucrat. In fact, Pilate has some power and influence of his own. He was after all the governor of Judea for ten years, maintaining his power not by mutual respect or by consent, but by force. For instance, he was so incredibly insensitive to the people he governed that he allowed the soldiers to bring into Jerusalem, standards, those long poles on which we would carry one of our banners into the city with the likeness of Caesar on top of the poles. Such an action was an affront to the people of Israel and to the city of Jerusalem. It would be like the Confederate flag flying on the state house grounds. The act so outraged the people of Jerusalem that they engaged in acts of civil obedience until Pilate was forced to remove them. Pilate really was like the villain in the TV shows we watch. He particularly reminds me of the character Luther Mahoney from the show, 'Homicide: Life On The Street'. Luther's voice was always cool and calm, his demeanor was always polite and professional, but he was in fact a drug dealer and a murderer. He thought he was in control, but he was always looking over his shoulder. Pilate has convinced himself that he is in control of things, after all when he speaks, he does so with all of the authority of the Emperor. But the truth is that Pilate is always looking over his shoulder, trying to satisfy Rome and working for the religious leaders, while he does their bidding. We overhear the conversation between Pilate and Jesus in the second act of the drama. Jesus is being held inside, Caiphas and the other leaders are outside. Already we know that they will not enter his headquarters, Passover is near and they will not be defiled so Pilate runs back and forth like a messenger between the religious leaders and Jesus Christ. They cannot say what crime Jesus has committed but they urge Pilate to convict him anyway. They have no authority to put anyone to death, so they urge Pilate to bring the full force of the Roman government to bear in order to get their will accomplished. Pilate honestly does not know what to do. Looking for an out, he wants to hear from Jesus one more time. "Who are you? What are you about?" Are you the one who people are saying you are? Are you in fact the King of the Jews? Pilate knows that if Jesus says yes, he is the king of anything, he will be guilty of treason and Pilate will have the legal right to charge Jesus with a crime. But he wants to know the truth and so asks a question about the identity and purpose of Jesus. By what authority do you do what you do? People will ask us the same things. What is it that you are about? Are you the face of Jesus in this place, do you care about people who are inadequately housed, fed, clothed, and educated, the ones who are left out of the old and the new economy. What about the ones who are not part of the high-tech boom. Jesus welcomed all who wanted to let go of their lives of destruction and spiritual hunger. Can you help me? What ministries do you offer to people whose families are in chaos day by day and need to know that this is a community of care and help, and hope? "Who told you to ask?" Are you asking for yourself or did others tell you to ask me. Who put you up to this?" We might hear in Jesus response a bit of defensiveness. However, Jesus is responding in a way that frustrates but shows that the answer to Pilate's question is not always easy. People in their search for the truth will ask those of us in the church some hard questions and the answers are not always easy. In fact our answers about the power of God to do anything and to help us withstand anything can lead to more questions. If Christians are so nice, why do they sometimes say such terrible tings about each other? Why does God allow suffering? Why did God take my loved one who was so good while rapists and murderers go free after all even the Psalmists asked, "why do the wicked prosper?" What is this resurrection and eternal life? The answer depends on who is asking and why? If you are asking for yourself, then I can answer based on need and experience. If you are asking for others, the answers might be a little different. Are you asking because you want to know, or because you are trying to trap me? "Look, Jesus, I am asking for me. Who are you representing? Don't you know that your own people gave you up. The people who you thought you could trust to hear you have not. These people are screaming for your head. What did you do anyway? I am sure that Pilate's frustration and confusion grew as Jesus said to him, "you don't understand. This is not where my power is. The truth is that you think you are in charge but you are not. My kingdom is not here, not really. What you've seen in every person healed, in every one convinced to turn around and lead a new life, in every person restored, all of it is an echo, a foretaste, a mere hint of what is to come. If I were about an earthly kingdom only, by disciples and followers would be fighting in the street. But it is not about that." "So you are a king in your own mind?" One source has Jesus answer the question like this: "Am I a king? Not in the sense in which you use the word. But in a deeper sense, yes I am. Only my kingdom is a dominion not over people's bodies but over their minds and souls; and it is maintained and extended not by violence and force of arms by persuasion of the truth finding its way from heart to heart and winning for me willing subjects." Jesus says, say what you will, but understand that my soul reason for being on earth is to testify, to bear witness to the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth hears me. They will know who I am." Pilate has one more question. "What is truth?" Then he goes out to the religious leaders one more time, this time to say that there is no charge to be brought against Jesus. Pilate's final question continues to intrigue philosophy professors, theologians, legal scholars, and people of every education and income. What is truth? In the Old Testament, truth was believed to be constant, permanent, faithful, and reliable, God above all else is true. In Greek culture, truth was what could be known. It is not what is trusted, or what is reliable, but what we know deep in our minds and hearts. The New Testament uses both understandings of truth. "Now I know in part, then I shall know fully as I am fully known, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." The truth is that Pilate has not a clue that his power is limited and that power of Jesus is eternal. He has no idea of what we know as he sends Jesus off to Calvary and a cross, a tomb, and an ending. He thinks it is the end, but we know better. Jesus crucified, resurrected, ascended to heaven, has promised to return for the church in a way that will be dramatic and unmistakable. But Pilate is a politician, and for him truth is rather fluid. It is whatever it is that works, it is what is expedient. What is truth? Our answer to that question is not in our doctrine or the way we worship, it is in the way the church carries itself. It is in how we show our faith in the permanent place of God in our heart. It is the love that will not let us go. The truth is that if we are Christ's, then we know in our hearts and souls that the promises of God find their truth in him. What is truth? It is coming again into our lives. Next week begins Advent, a new church year, and just like on January 1, we can make some New Year's resolutions. We can resolve that the truth is coming, and in fact has already come to us in the person of Jesus Christ. What is truth, we ask Jesus, and his response is what it has been, "I am the way the truth, and the life. I am the door, the true vine, the good shepherd, the living water, and the bread of life. I am the resurrection and the life." Jesus is the faithful witness who stood before the Roman authorities and witnessed to his faith as we are called to witness to our faith. No matter where we are, in our work, in our study, in our conversations, we are witnesses for the good news of Jesus Christ. He is what Pilate suspects him of being. We who claim the name of Jesus Christ know Jesus to be the ruler of the kings of the earth. That phrase 'ruler of kings on earth' attributes to Jesus the title claimed by the Roman Caesars, whose claim to sovereignty John wants his readers to see as a false caricature of the real lordship of Christ." Caesar may be emperor of the known world, but Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of the world. He is the first born of the dead, and so signals for us that we have a future beyond our lives and our deaths. If God can raise Jesus from the dead, God can raise us from the places where there is no life in us, and lift us up to incredible and wonderful new life. I have no idea if people will really be swept out of cars and out of buildings in the great rapture. But I do know that every eye will see him, even those who did all they could to destroy him, and even those who do not yet believe the truth of who he is. In one of his great speeches, Martin Luther King asked, how long? His answer was not long because, "truth crushed to earth will rise again." Then he went on to quote a verse of the hymn, "Once To Every Man And Nation": "Though
the cause of evil prosper, Yet its truth alone is strong; I am also reminded of the truth of our faith in God and in Jesus Christ whenever I drive past one of the congregations on the east side of town. The congregation has been in the process of remodeling for more than a year. Their sanctuary is gutted, and they have been worshiping at another church for several months. I am sure that the people and their pastor are extremely frustrated, at the delays that have kept them out of their house of worship. But they are people of great faith, and the message on their sign proclaims the truth of their faith. It says, "God reigns, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. The truth is, we know that the Pilates and unknowing religious leaders will not have the last word, that word belongs to God and that we are getting ready again for the good news of the truth of Jesus Christ coming into the world again. Finally, the truth is that we can agree with South African church leader, Allan Boesak, who says: We are called to proclaim the truth…And let us believe: It is not true that this world and its people are doomed to die and to be lost. This is true: Jesus says, I have come that they may have life in all its abundance. It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger, poverty, death and destruction. This is true: the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the poor are hearing the good news. It is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word, and that war and devastation have come to stay forever. This is true: death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore. It is not true that we are simply victims of the powers of evil who seek to rule the world. This is true: the Lord whom we seek will suddenly come to the temple; and the Lord is like a refiner's fire. It is not true that our dreams of liberation, of human dignity, are not meant for this earth and for this history. This is true: it is already time for us to wake from sleep. For the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Because
the truth is embodied in the person of Jesus Christ, our coming and present
Savior, we can say without hesitation, thanks be to God who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. |
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Broad
Street Christian Church
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