“The Politics of Truth”, Based on: John 18:28-38a
11/23/03 (9:30 & 11:00)
Undercurrents…today…Unseen, but very real…beneath surface…
Today: Surface…Heritage Sunday/Spec Off…Under: first live web cast to 55 mil Am & Buckeyes
Text: Surface…Jesus arrested; on trial before priests; handed over to ruling gov’t=Romans & Pilate
Undercurrent: Pilate up to his neck in politics; big troubles with people rioting; innocent man
Pilate has to deal w/ Jesus…as do we…
John 18:28-37a is just a sliver of one of the greatest trial stories ever recorded…
Read Text & Pray…
Jackie Kennedy…
11/22/63… Dallas, TX…No doubt this week you’ve been reminded of the day John F. Kennedy was shot…
We are now 40 years from that day…4 more years than I’ve been alive…
A lot has been said of those moments when the motorcade turned left off Houston Street onto Elm where…
…chaos…cued by bullets that took flight…triggered by evil that took life…
Of those images and details you recall…I’m wondering if you remember…
Jacqueline Kennedy’s words…
When she threw herself over her husband’s bleeding body?
She said: “Oh God no! They have shot my husband.” (PAUSE) Who were “THEY”?
Jackie Kennedy lived in a world of indistinguishable, but very real, hostile forces…
that would harm or kill her husband…this was true…she didn’t make that up…but who were “THEY”
THEY had no names…where did THEY come from…where did THEY live…
why did THEY shoot her husband… Who were “THEY”?
40 years later, many still wonder what the TRUTH is behind that question… Pilate’s question: What is ?
And it has been since that dreadful day, 40 years ago, that TRUTH has become ever-more elusive…
as we live in a world of “THEY”…
A lot of people live in a world of “THEY…” Have you heard of this place? It sounds like this: “They say
· …Lee Harvey Oswald had nothing to do with it…what they say! Who? THEY!
· …in 20 years we’ll have no ozone left…have to live indoors…what they tell me!
· …John Malvo was brainwashed when he shot those people in D.C…what they say!
Have you heard of this world of “THEY”? Do you know anyone who lives in a world of “THEY”?
That world void accountability…where there’s no blame/no credit…no responsibility…
No TRUTH to be found…that becomes even more frightening as it gets closer to home…
· “They say……terrorists are on the move again…gonna attack Battelle…that’s what they say…
· …going to shut down our elementary school…that’s what they say…
· …they’re going to tear down South Campus build a mall…REALLY? Member? What about we?
Sometimes, the world of “THEY” is downright ridiculous… “They say…”
· …Gov’t is going to give tax credit for church attendance…that’s what they say…
· …for $125K, they can freeze your body, and bring you back when technology catches up…
· …Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be Gov of CA…that’s right…HE IS!
In a world of “THEY”, TRUTH is difficult to find…
Pilate lived in a world of “THEY”…no wonder his last words were: WHAT IS TRUTH?
THEY took Jesus to high priest…then…THEY handed him over to Pilate who asked, “What’s he done?”
THEY said he was a criminal…” “Are you, King of the Jews? That’s what THEY say.”
“Do you ask on your own…or, did THEY tell you that?”
THEY… THEY… THEY… THEY…7 times in 5 verses! WHAT IS TRUTH?
Sometimes, TRUTH is standing before us…and we can’t even see it…just ask Pilate…
Sometimes, TRUTH is right in front of us…but it gets lost in a vague, undefined world of “THEY”
So we ask: WHAT IS TRUTH? I have a couple of thoughts…
There was another sad death on November 22, 1963… C.S. Lewis…well-known Anglican theologian died…
Among his famous works were Screwtape Letters; Great Divorce; Mere Christianity
But probably, most known as the creator of Narnia…land beyond the wardrobe
…where great struggles b/t good & evil, right & wrong played out…
I’ve just been reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to my older 2 kids lately…
…depicting the conflict b/t great lion Aslan (Christ), and White Witch (embodiment of evil)…
I’ve read the book several times before, but this week…thinking about this text…
I was struck by the experience of the 4 children as they hear the name of Aslan for 1st x
Read quote page 68…AT THE SOUND OF ASLAN…SOMETHING JUMPED
Jesus hints at an answer to Pilate’s question…our…: WHAT IS TRUTH…when in his response he says:
“Everyone who belongs to the truth…will hear my voice…” Jesus was saying…
We can hear it…feel it…at times touch it…know it in our soul…TRUTH is palpable…
Like the children in Narnia, hearing the name of Aslan…something jumps inside…
When TRUTH comes to us…we feel/hear/see/touch…something jumps…PALP
“Everyone who belongs to the truth…will hear my voice…”
Something jumped inside me a week ago…my empty stomach…Sheila was out of town with kids: Chipotle.
Standing in line, cafeteria style…watching them make dinner…at same time…
…listening to conversation between the cashier and the woman in line ahead of me…
It went like this… Cashier: “Do you have any cash? Our credit card machine is down…can’t take credit…”
Woman: “No…no cash…just cards.” Cashier: “Dinner’s on us…thanks!”
Acting like I hadn’t overheard this exchange, I stepped up to the cashier…dug my wallet our of my coat…
And extended to him…a CREDIT CARD…
Cashier: “Do you have any cash? Our credit card machine is down…can’t take credit…”
Those of you with an inflated notion of clergy, cover your ears…you’ve been warned!
Yes, I had cash…but I said “NO”…it was in my car… and fanned my wallet…
Cashier: “Dinner’s on us…thanks.” (Took food, went home, and ate dinner…)
Then my dinner began EATING ME! What I did was wrong/dishonest!
“Everyone who belongs to the truth…will hear my voice…”
Now, some clergy talk about the quiet…almost silent voice of God…NOT the voice I heard…
inside me was 4-alarm-fire-bell…siren-blaring…won’t-stop-til-you-shut it-off…voice screaming:
“Go back and make it right!” It was truth…it was palpable…could hear it/feel it…
Something jumped inside me…I jumped into my car…went back…paid my bill. $5.81
“Everyone who belongs to the truth…will hear my voice…”
Something inside you will jump…and it will be PALPABLE…and it will be TRUTH…
Even Pilate felt it, in spite of the world of “THEY” around him…he wanted to release Jesus?
He tried no less than three times to set him free…but failed to do so…and by failing…
Exposed the other half of an answer to his question, “What is truth?”
“Everyone who belongs to the truth…will hear my voice…” Yes…but that’s not the whole of it…
Truth is palpable…we can feel it, touch it, hear it, see it, know it…but until it’s PERSONAL = powerless…
Something might jump inside us…God knows we hear voices in our heads… inklings in our hearts…
But until we make it PERSONAL, we continue to live…stuck…in a world of “THEY”
The fastest way out of the world of “THEY” and into TRUTH…
Is to respond PERSONALLY…with “I”…
Jesus and his disciples were making their way to Caesarea Philippi, when suddenly he stopped…
They piled up…He huddled with them, and asked: “Who do THEY say I am?”
“John the Baptist…Elijah…Jeremiah…one of prophets come back from dead…”
Then: “Who do YOU say I am?” Peter blurted: “You are the Christ! Son of living God!”
Not: They say…I heard…They tell me… I say…
Jesus: “Blessed are you, Peter…on you I will build this church.”
First: “Who do ‘THEY’ say…?” and then: “Who do ‘YOU’ say…?”
Intentionally separating of the world of “THEY” from the world of “I”…same question for Pilate…
Pilate: Are you a King? JC: Do you ask this on your own, or did they tell you this about me? JC was in custody…but I say it was Pilate that was on trial!
Jesus is doing the interrogating…answering questions with questions of his…
Reminds me of the Rabbi who was asked: “Why does the Rabbi often answer a question with a question?”
He responded: “Why shouldn’t a Rabbi answer a question with a question?”
Jesus asks the disciples…(Who do YOU say) …the Chief Priests…Pilate…you…me…
Because he knows that until TRUTH is personal…it’s powerless!
Forget what “THEY” say…what do “YOU” say… YOU…deal with me…PERSONALLY!
40 years ago JFK was shot…CS Lewis died…and at least 15 people joined this church…(we celebrate you…)
When they stood here before the congregation on the day they joined…what do you think they said?
“They said JC was Christ… They told me to follow God’s will… They commit…?” NO!!!
They said: “I believe… I will… I commit…!”
Like Peter in the huddle…they took a palpable truth and made it personal…
They said, “I”…(read their names…) “Blessed are you…on you…”
Next month, I start 14th year as part of this staff…the most hurtful experience came to me Jan of this year…
Jan 12…it was the day I was to give my first sermon as the regular preacher at 10:55…
On my desk that morning, was a letter with my name on it…without any thought I opened…
Plain paper…typed…addressed to Dr. Wing and it said… “you’ve made a mistake…”
“JR shouldn’t preach…he hasn’t a clue…you’ve screwed up a good thing…”
Not a helpful or kind spirit…rather mean, hurtful…
This person may well be right…feel free to tell me…either way…I’ve learned to take criticism…
But what hurt me most, was NOT this persons assessment of me, my ministry, or my preaching…
But the way in which the letter was signed: ANONYMOUS
Truth is never ANONYMOUS…it’s always PERSONAL…
Does that mean we get to make it up for ourselves…whatever suits us…and our itching ears?
NOT AT ALL…just the opposite…don’t get to make it up…we get to PICK IT UP…
And carry it like a banner into a world of “THEY”…into every moment of LIFE…
And make them MOMENTS OF TRUTH…
Like the moment…
· Your boss asks you, what you think of so and so…who is up for the promotion you hoped for…
· You’ve climbed back into your car, counted your change, and realize there’s an extra $20
· At dinner, when your child/grand asks: Is it stealing when you download music and don’t pay?
· The doctor says, “Cancer spread…she isn’t going to make it…do you want to tell her…?”
· Over coffee at the curb…neighbor asks… “What do you believe about that war in Iraq?”
· You’re stopped at a red light…left is home and a marriage that needs help…right is a bar and a beer…
Moments of truth come to all of us…and THE truth will stand right before us…
PALPABLE…asking us to make it PERSONAL… WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?
Blessed are you that belong to THE truth…hear His voice…b/c on that God can build…
