RCL Proper 34B
24 November 2024
Anglican Parish of the Epiphany
Surrey BC
Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the [Jewish authorities]. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” (John 18.33-38a)
My late VST colleague, Sallie McFague, was and remains an admired theologian and a beloved teacher. One of the assignments she gave to her first-year students in theology was the writing of a ‘credo’, the Latin word for ‘I believe’. She thought that it was important that every Christian should answer the question, ‘What do I believe?’, so anyone who wanted to be a leader in the community should be asked this question as part of their formation. So, on this final Sunday of the Christian year when we celebrate the reign of Christ, I thought that you should know what I believe.
Some of you may know that I have been involved in creating and editing liturgical texts and services for the Anglican Church of Canada since 1989 – thirty-five years! One of the principles that guide liturgical creators and editors is this: Do not end a reading on a question! When you end a reading on a question, the congregation may be led on a ‘magical mystery tour’ and become distracted from participating more fully in the rest of the service. But there is another principle: Any rule without an exception is a bad rule! So, when I read the Gospel reading for today, I purposely added a verse that the lectionary officially omits. Why? Because Pilate’s question is, I think, the most important question in the world today: What is truth?
I don’t think that it is too difficult to understand why I think that this question is the most important question in the world today. When millions of people throughout the world vote to elect leaders who are shown to be liars, then truth becomes even more important. When millions of people read stories on social media that are proven to be false, then truth becomes even more important. When millions of people confuse religious nationalism with the kingdom of God, then truth becomes even more important.
What is truth? This is the truth: That when you meet Jesus of Nazareth, you meet God. Perhaps we meet Jesus in the members of the community of faith to which we belong. Perhaps we meet Jesus in the words of the Gospels and in the other writings of the New Testament. Perhaps we meet Jesus in some stranger who speaks to us or acts for us in a way that makes us realize that we have just met God. However we may have met Jesus, that meeting has brought us here and has placed us on a path towards a life of meaning. And when we have met Jesus, we have a new standard by which we measure our words and actions as well as the words and actions of every other human being in the world.
What is truth? This is the truth: Goodness is stronger than evil. I know that there are many of us here today who have experienced the reality of evil. That experience can lead us to doubt whether goodness is actually more powerful than evil. There are many leaders and opinion-makers who want us to become ensnared in that doubt and to feel that we are powerless to resist evil, but it is in those moments that we must hold tightly to the truth: goodness is stronger than evil. This is what I learned when I met Jesus.
What is truth? This is the truth: Love is stronger than hate. Hate is the product of fear. There are far too many voices in the world today, even here in Canada, who play upon our fears and try to lead us to hate. The Jesus we meet in the Scriptures teaches us this: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. . . . Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (1 John 4.18-20) So anyone who tries to make me afraid, anyone who tries to make me hate, is not of the truth. This is what I learned when I met Jesus.
What is truth? This is the truth: Light is stronger than darkness. When I say ‘darkness’, I do not mean the darkness of the night. I mean the darkness that is caused by purposeful ignorance, by intentionally refusing to listen to and for the truth. Light is the heart and mind and soul of a human being set free to learn from the wonderful diversity of God’s creation. Light is a human being set free from the snares of evil and the bonds of hate. Jesus says to us, “You are the light of the world. . . . (Let) your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5.14, 16) This is what I learned when I met Jesus.
What is truth? This is the truth: Life is stronger than death. For two thousand years the allies of evil, hate and darkness have tried to bury the truth made known to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Sometimes those allies have tried to bury the truth through persecution and violence. Sometimes they have tried to bury the truth by co-opting us into participating in the structures that oppress and deny the dignity of human beings. But even in a clear-cut forest, new life will spring up from the stumps of the fallen trees. An ancient Christian theologian once wrote that ‘the glory of God is a human being fully alive’ and anyone who has seen Jesus has seen such a fully alive human being. This is what I learned when I met Jesus.
What is truth? This is the truth: Jesus is Lord. I acknowledge the pain and anguish and despair that millions of my sisters and brothers endure every day caused by the evil, hate, darkness and death that run riot throughout our world. But I have also seen the victory of goodness, love, light and life – sometimes when walls that divide peoples tumble down, but most often in the choices that everyday people make in their neighbourhoods and homes to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God. This is what I learned when I met Jesus. This is the truth that has set me free.
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