What is Truth?

The Gospel text that accompanies this sermon manuscript is John 8:31-36. Sempre Reformanda; Always Reforming

What is truth? It seems like an easy question. Are not our brains programmed to discover the truth? Do you remember the true/false sections on tests? Those were always the hardest sections of the tests. Trying to pick the true statement over the false statement was always difficult, especially when the teacher would add a clever turn of phrase or change one letter in the date of some event. We are taught to seek the truth. So again I ask; what is truth?

It’s not an easy question is it? Now if I were to ask you if it were true that the sky was blue, you would say…yes. Of course we know that it’s true, that the sky is in fact blue. Scientist may say otherwise, reminding us that there are a number of things that go into the color of the sky and how we see it and that perhaps we are not really talking about a truth, but more of a fact. But I think for our purposes today, we can say that the color of the sky is blue and that it is a truth we live with. So again I ask, what is truth?

It’s a hard question, is it not? When we really get down to trying to figure out what truth is, the answer escapes us. The definition of truth walks around the idea of fact and reality, but I think the answer is more complicated. In my mind, truth is perhaps something philosophical. It’s the big questions, the life questions, the soul searching questions. Truth is hard to define at times, hard to wrap our minds around. Truth is complicated.

So when we hear Jesus say in the Gospel text for today, “If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth and truth will make you free,” we may be pushed to ask the question, “What is truth?” We would be in famous company at least, it’s a question John puts in the mouth of Pontius Pilate just a few chapters later in John’s Gospel. Jesus stands before Pilate stating that he “came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (18:37). To which Pilate replies, “What is truth?”

And perhaps we would be in more famous company still if we look at the life of Martin Luther, one of the key figures in our lives as Lutherans and one of the faces of the Reformation, an event we celebrate today. The life of Martin Luther is an interesting one to say the least. From law student, to monk, to religious professor, to reformer, his life is something upon which many books have been written. But what is important for us today, as we celebrate the Reformation, is to remember what was at the heart Luther’s life; his relationship with God. Luther was not seeking to upend the church, he was not seeking to radically change the religious landscape, he was simply looking for the truth. Martin Luther’s journey from monk to reformer is marked by the quest for truth. So the question, what is truth, is at the center of our celebration today.

Luther did not start out as monastic material, nor did he grow up with the dream or call to become a priest. As the story goes, he was driven to the monastery out of fear, whether that fear was born out of a rough childhood or a lightning storm no one knows for sure, we’ll leave that up to legend. But whatever the reason, Luther found himself taking his monastic vows and learning the pious life of a monk. He was rather good at being a monk, even in his own recollection. He was devout and disciplined in his daily tasks, but he struggled with one major issue, his relationship with God. He saw God as the almighty judge, dealing out punishment for sins. He was in a deep spiritual despair. He recalled later in his life, “I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailor and hangman of my poor soul.” In his life as a monk, Luther was just seeking the truth about how God worked in his life. He would spend hours in confession trying to purge every last sin out of his heart for fear that he would be judged unworthy by God. Luther’s theology, his understanding of God, at this point of his life can be understood as a forward pointing arrow (us -> God). The arrow points from us to God, the action moving from us to God. It’s a works based theology, entirely contingent upon our actions. Luther thought he had to make himself perfect before God by his own works. It’s not a comforting theology. It is a theology that is still present in our world today.

Luther’s advisor, Johann Von Staupitz, decided that Luther needed more work to keep him from thinking about his perpetual sinfulness, so he sent Luther to Wittenburg to continue his academic training and become a professor. Luther’s studies led him to the New Testament, he studied the books of Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians and his view of God began to shift from merciless judge to merciful savior. Through his continual study of the Word, Luther discovered the truth about God, the truth Jesus talks about in our Gospel today.

“If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth and truth will make you free.” What Jesus lays out for us is a way of life, it’s a call to discipleship, it’s a way to discover the truth about God. So what is truth?

The truth Jesus talks about is not a general truth, he’s not talking about the color of the sky. He’s talking about truth in terms of God’s revelation. Jesus is talking about who God is and how God works in our lives. But this verse is just a glimpse of the truth.

To get the whole picture of the truth we have to step back and look at John’s Gospel as a whole. John begins his Gospel with the poetic hymn to God, “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God.” And then a little later on, “The Word became flesh and lived among us.” The Word is the heart of God made flesh, made human to come and rub elbows with the people of the world. The Word is Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ, he’s the truth. John writes, “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” And Jesus even says it himself later on the Gospel, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life…” What is truth; the truth is that God loves us so much that he sent Jesus Christ into our world so that all who believe in him would not perish, but eternal life. The truth is that God sent Jesus into our world, not to condemn the world, but that the entire world might be saved.

The truth that Luther discovered in his study of Scripture is that the arrow is actually pointed in the other direction. The arrow from God is always pointed towards us (us <- God). This is the heart of Luther’s theology; it’s the heart of what we believe as Lutherans. This is the great truth that we celebrate today and every day of our lives; God always comes toward us.

Through Jesus Christ we see the truth, through the word made flesh, God comes to us. Through scripture we hear the truth, through the good news of Jesus Christ, God comes to us. Through Baptism and the Lord’s Supper we feel the truth; God comes to us through the water, bread and wine. God meets us in our lives, fills us for the journey and turns us loose to encounter the world.

This is the truth that Jesus is talking about today; this is the truth Luther discovered with his life. The beautiful thing about this truth is where it leads us. Remember the end of the phrase, “you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” Life in the truth leads to freedom. When you encounter the truth, your life is changed. When you encounter Jesus, your life is changed; you are set free from the bonds of sin and death. Through our baptism into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are set free from focusing on ourselves. Because God comes to us, we are free to live beyond ourselves and into the lives of others. When Luther realized his freedom, he changed the world, that's what we're celebrating today. Luther translated the New Testament from Greek into German, he wrote the Small Catechism to help children grow in the faith and gave them materials to learn how to read and write.

Today is not just a celebration about our past; it’s a challenge for our future. We are a church of the Reformation and we can never be satisfied with good enough, we can never stop reforming. Our challenge today is to live into the promise of God and to be open to how God will work through us. Our challenge is to change the world. Change comes in all shapes and sizes, you just have to be open and live into the freedom given to you by the grace of God. God always comes to us, so that we can turn towards others in an active life of love.