Truth Matters
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
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We have a funny relationship with the truth. In the best of times, we cling to it, brandishing it like a weapon to humble our haughty foes, and in the worst of times, we can't push the truth far enough away because we don't like what we hear or see. Yet, no matter how inconvenient the truth or truths are, our trust in Jesus Christ calls us to work through whatever truth we find ourselves coming up against. Because without truth, nothing else matters. And it's not only considering what our relationship with the truth is like that should make us stop and think, but also from where we are getting the truth.
John Calvin, a key figure in Presbyterian history, understood that the Christian life didn't add up to any significant value without truth: “From this head of doctrine, that is, from the righteousness of the new [person], all godly exhortations flow, like streams from a fountain; for if all the precepts which relate to life were collected, yet, without this principle, they would be of little value.”(Calvin’s Commentary on Galatians & Ephesians)
Yes, without the divine principle of truth, we can add up everything else and not be left with anything of worth. And whatever "moral credit" we might think we have with God certainly will not increase if we buy into falsehoods instead of truth. Moreover, rejection of the truth can result in dire consequences both spiritually and physically. For example, it might negatively impact our bodies, health, mental well-being, or even our ability to perceive reality. What's worse, though, is that our rejection of the truth might result in the harming or death of innocent lives. The truth is the thread that binds us together, as our reading for this morning reminds us. This means that it can build up and just as easily tear down.
What is the truth? (There are certain absolute truths that govern the universe.)
General Revelation: John Calvin offers one method about understanding what is true or what is happening around us by using something called "general revelation." As the name suggests, we might see certain things in nature just click or make sense, things that point to the world's natural order, and if we are observant enough, point us towards God. These are truths that we can observe. For example, consider this [Picture of a Plant]. Without any special equipment or knowledge, we can deduce certain facts about what is needed for this plant to grow. The same is true for this [Picture of Fire]. We might not know the exact scientific reasoning for why fires start or why they continue to burn, but we can note that there are specific truths about them. So there are general truths about the world that we can glean by simply being aware.
Special Revelation: Some truths, though, take more work to uncover and understand. Unsurprisingly then, Calvin offers us the opportunity to utilize what he calls "special revelation," knowledge and truth revealed by means outside of the natural world. A very relevant case would be this [Picture of a Virus]. Greek philosophers understood that in some instances, people were plagued with more severe illnesses. Yet, it was not until the end of the 19th century that viruses were discovered. It took specialized equipment and advanced education to make a scientific and medical breakthrough. And from a theological perspective, Calvin would, of course, emphasize this as a critical component of special revelation [Picture of a Bible]. While we might find truths about God in the natural world, there is only so much we can learn from the stars and the trees, and so we turn to Holy Scripture. Just as we can glean truths from the world using our senses, there are particular truths that can only be uncovered with some elbow grease and hard work.
Where do you get the truth? (Where we get the truth is important.)
What "truths" then are we harboring in our hearts? Or perhaps the better question is, "What metrics are we using to determine the quality of what we perceive to be true?" We ask ourselves this question since not all things are true, and when we allow falsehoods and lies to propagate without speaking the absolute truth, we've allowed ourselves to fall away from the Christian life. So when it comes to determining what is true and where we find "truth," we should hold up what we read or watch or listen to against the words of Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. Is what we believe to be true life-giving? Does it encourage the sharing of resources over greed? Does it encourage us to be imitators of a God who sacrificed themselves for others? Or does it promote ill talk or the speaking of evil against others? Does it harbor bitterness and wrath and anger? If what we believe to be true embodies the latter questions, it probably isn't true and should be cast away or put off, as Paul would say.
It's clear that many (and that includes Christian folk) hold onto and share truths that are not of the life-giving heart of God. In malice and anger, they lash out; in greed, they spread falsehoods to make themselves more comfortable and deny sacrifices of others; and especially in times such as these, we find that those who grasp tightly to lies would instead unravel a year's worth of progress so that their lives would be less inconvenienced. Therefore it's up to those who do follow in the truth and life of Christ to shine a light on these falsehoods and lies, embracing a truth that meets the metrics of a life in Christ according to Paul. Of course, there is a time and a place for everything under heaven, but when we allow misinformation to spread and discredit the work and sacrifice of public servants, volunteers, teachers, officers, health professionals, scientists, researchers, and so on, we deny the very principle of life that supposedly marks the Christian life.
Embodying Truth & Sacrifice
I don't mean to get preachy (yes, the irony is intended), so I'll leave us with words from Paul, which I use in my own life to guide my moral compass, "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Let us be imitators of God. Let us stand for truth and set aside all falsehoods (and clickbait articles from unrespectable sources). To stand for truth, life-giving truth is what sets us on our way to living as the hands and feet of our risen Lord who sacrificed himself for the sake of the world. The least we can do is stand for truth and embrace it, even if it makes us uncomfortable or forces us to change our plans. For when we do, we live in the light of God. Amen.