Telling the Truth – Being the Truth
Rev. Eugene N. Nelson, Jr.
The Community Church of Sebastopol
November 23, 2003
John 18: 33-38
The business and service organization, Rotary International, has a Four-Way Test of what we say and do. It is a series of four questions. The first question of Four-Way Test – Is it the truth? The trouble is, it is not always so easy to know or recognize the truth.
A foreign observer of American culture recently suggested that when it comes to our ever-deepening involvement in Iraq – more money, more casualties, the growing humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people, the awarding of huge contracts without any competitive bidding, the plans to establish four permanent military bases in that country, even the ongoing discussion of weapons of mass destruction – when it come to all this and more, Americans are demonstrating a “will to ignorance” – we don’t want to know the truth. Perhaps, in the memorable words of Jack Nicholson, we “can’t handle the truth.” And that is just fine with Washington.
Charles Kingsley, an English clergyman and author of note, once resigned a professorship in history on the grounds that there is no such thing as history, no dependable knowledge of the past, just reminiscences that are colored by prejudice and bias. “You never can get at the truth,” he observed.
It was Aristotle who observed so long ago: the young man seems so close to truth, the more mature, less so, and in old age he seems to have more doubts and less truth then ever. The truth is an illusive thing.
And then there is Jesus, face to face with Pilate. Jesus, standing before the bar of Rome, beaten and broken, seemingly weak and powerless, yet insisting, “Everyone who belongs to the truth, listens to my voice.” And in one of the Bible’s most dramatic scenes, Pilate asks, “What is truth?” Jesus doesn’t answer. Or does he?
What is truth? I ought to be able to answer that timeless human question in one sermon, don’t you think? The Greek word for truth means: making manifest the hidden. In the thinking of the ancient Greeks, truth is hidden and must be discovered. No one possesses it naturally. It dwells in the depths, below the surface. The noted theologian, Paul Tillich, pointed out that the Gospel of John accepts this Greek concept of the truth, but at the same time transforms it. Phrases such as, “doing the truth,” “being the truth,” and “I am the truth,” all indicate that in Christianity, truth is something which happens; truth is something new, something which is done by God in history, and because of this, is done in the individual life. In Tillich’s words, “Truth is hidden, truth is mystery – in Christianity as well as in Greek thought. But the mystery of truth in Christianity is an event which has taken place and which takes place again and again…Truth is a stream of life, centered in Christ, actualized in everybody who is connected with Him…In Greek thought, truth can only be found. In Christianity truth is found if it is done, and done if it is found…”
In other words, if I am reading Tillich and the Gospel correctly, the truth is found in who we are, in what we do. And so, when Pilate asks, “What is truth?” Jesus does not engage him in intellectual discussion. Instead he just stands there. He offers himself. That is his answer, for truth is who you are, what you do.
It’s a story shared by a colleague – I’ve shared it with you before. He writes, “In my first congregation there was a quite remarkable man. He left me a legacy I have never fully spent…himself. Andy was a small businessman who one day found himself bankrupt. Deep in debt, his children yet to be educated, in the middle years of life, he had to start all over again. But he refused to declare bankruptcy. ‘Why not?’ I asked. ‘It’s a legal remedy for an impossible situation.’
“He replied, ‘I just can’t do it. I have to live with myself for the rest of my life. People who loaned me money or gave me a charge account for materials were not investing in my business; they were investing in me! Somehow I must give them a return on their investment.”
Concludes my colleague, “He did just that. It took a decade right out of the heart of his best years. But, in a way, I suppose that is exactly what they were - his best years. The truth of the matter was…what he did, what he was, what he is!” Pilate asks, “What is truth?” And in response, Jesus offers only himself. For truth is what you do
Here in Sebastopol I have often heard people say that they like shopping in our smaller stores – “you can trust them better.” I think what this remark means is this: “I can trust the owner of that business or store. I know them. The truth is in him or her, not just in what they sell.”
In marriage, the truth is not in our bank accounts, the house we inhabit, the vacations we can afford. No, the truth in marriage is in the people – how we care for each other, listen to each other, enlarge each other’s lives. And so, in his most famous novel, Sinclair Lewis made this revealing comment: “The Babbits had a lovely house; it just wasn’t a home.” The truth is what you do.
I think of the question asked by that wonderful theologian, the cartoon character, Ziggy. As he peers toward the sky, with his characteristically puzzled look on his face, he asks God: “Is this just a dress rehearsal, or is it the real thing?” I suspect that Jesus might answer, “Both!” Yes, make yourselves ready for the Kingdom of God, but also live each day as if that Kingdom is already here, for indeed, even now it is among you. Bring the standards of God’s tomorrow into the often tumultuous, confusing and less-than-godly world of today. In other words, dare to do and be the truth, right now.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with Stephen Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. In the chapter entitled, “Begin with the End in Mind,” he suggests that you imagine your own funeral. (Well that’s a fun thing to do around the Thanksgiving table!) He tells you to visualize four different people who will say some words about you: a member of your family, one of your friends, someone from work, and someone from your church or other community organization you were a part of. Covey asks, “What would you like each of these speakers to say about you and your life? What characteristics would you like them to have seen in you? What contributions, what achievements would you want them to remember?” In other words, as people spoke about you and your life, what would your life reveal about truth – about the truths that most mattered to you.
As Covey observes, “If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.” Or in the words of that great philosopher, Yogi Berra, “If you don’t know where you are going, you are likely to end up someplace else.” Where do we want to end up? What wall are we leaning our ladder against? What do we want our lives to say about truth? How do we want them to reflect truth? For the deepest truths about life always come in fleshy form. For us who are Christians, this is even how God’s truth comes. As we read in the Gospel of John, “The Word became flesh.”
It is the Sunday before our national celebration of Thanksgiving. As I was thinking about Thanksgiving and today’s text, I came across these words of Robert Cueni, a Disciples of Christ minister: “Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all the blessings we have received. We have so much it is almost impossible to know where to begin. Let me make a suggestion: start by giving thanks for all the people and situations where you have an opportunity to give of yourself to them. Don’t concern yourself so much at giving thanks for what you get. Give thanks for what you give. Be thankful for the people you have had the opportunity to serve and to help. Give thanks to God for some of the painful situations where you have been called upon to forgive or have asked to be forgiven. Give thanks to God for the tough situations where you have served as reconciler. After all, these are the people and situations where you have had the opportunity to serve God’s purpose in your life.” What I am hearing him say is, “Give thanks for those times in your life when you have had the opportunity to be the truth.
And give thanks for this Consecration Sunday, yes, give thanks for the yearly pledge card, for it is another opportunity for us, not just to talk about the truth, but to actually give concrete expression and support to those truths that touch the deep places of our lives. Our use of money really does say so very much about those truths dearest to our hearts.
And so, Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?’ He expected a discussion. Jesus gave him something better…himself! The same holds true in our lives. All we really have to offer is ourselves. So, for all our talk about the truth, let us not forget to be the truth…for truth is something you do!