True for You: What is Truth?

Pastor Burcham’s Sermon

Sunday, September 13, 2009

[Video. Lie detector test. “Okay, Reverend Burcham, I’m going to ask you a few simple questions to get a baseline for our test. As long as you answer truthfully, there won’t be any problems. Is your name Ronald Burcham?” “Yes.” “Do you live in Urbandale?” “No.” “Are you married to Michelle?” “Yes.” “Have you ever stolen something?” “Well, that depends.” “Reverend Burcham, please remember to keep your answers to just yes or no.” “Well, that’s kind of hard to. It all depends upon your point of view.” “Well, we are just trying to get to the truth, Reverend Burcham.” “Truth? What’s truth?”]

Truth. What is truth? Good morning and welcome to the folks down in the Family Life Center. Good to have you with us this morning.

We will go to great lengths to get at the truth, will we not? The police will hook you up to a polygraph. They will measure your heart rate. They’ll measure your breathing. They’ll even measure your muscle movement just to get at the truth.

Two weeks ago, I had jury duty. I served on a trial and every witness that came up and took the stand was required to raise their right hand and to swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. But what is the truth?

Pontius Pilate may have been the first one to ever ask the question. He did it in the context of trying to decide what’s he going to do with this Jewish teacher called Jesus who’s in front of him? Jesus says to him, “And for this reason, I’ve come into the world to testify to the truth and everyone who agrees with the truth, then they’re on my side,” and Pilate looks at him and he says, “What’s truth?” Was it a rhetorical question? Was he being sarcastic? It’s hard to know. But this much I do know, his question is more relevant today than it was 2,000 years ago.

The whole concept of truth, my friends, is under question. The whole idea of something being right or wrong is sort of nebulous right now. What we used to say was acceptable is now unacceptable and what was unacceptable is now acceptable. What we used to say was right, we’re now saying is wrong. Truth is relative to the situation. We’re not quite sure. Truth is like a moving target in the world that we live in.

For some of you, that’s really challenging. From your generation, frankly, from my generation, we didn’t question truth. It was what it was. Either something was right or something was wrong. Either it was true or maybe it was false. But that’s not the world we live in. That’s not the generations that are coming up. For them, the whole concept of truth is in question. And for them and for most of society, there is no absolute truth. And you just might be surprised how much it has affected you.

It’s crucial that we take a look at this whole question of truth, though. And that’s why, for the next few weeks, I’m going to invite you on a journey with me as we explore what is this idea of truth and how can we then proclaim that truth to a world who doesn’t believe that it exists. It’s vital that we discover a way. It’s vital because of this, and think about this for a moment, what you believe to be true determines your behavior. Think about that for a moment. What you believe to be true, that determines what you do. It determines how you think. It determines the decisions that you make. It determines how you react to certain situations. What you believe to be true determines your behavior.

We have an example of that reported on the nightly news Monday through Friday. Monday through Friday, they always report about what happened on the stock market, right? The Dow went up most of the time, the Dow went down. But what do they always say? Investors believing, you fill in the blank, therefore, the Dow is down. Investors believed and trusting, therefore, the Dow went up. Now get this, it doesn’t matter whether what they believed came to fruition or not, does it? It doesn’t matter whether they were correct in their assumption. They acted upon what they believed to be true. What you believe to be true determines your behavior. That means what you believe to be true determines your morality. It determines your ethic. In fact, what you believe to be true affects your entire life, including your spiritual life. That means it has eternal consequences. What the world believes to be true, what your friends, your neighbors, your relatives believe to be true has eternal consequences. And what I fear, no, what I believe is that we have exchanged the truth for a lie.

Jesus said that He came to testify to the truth. I’m here this morning to tell you that there is one who is working vehemently against Him. Jesus testifies to the truth, and he testifies to lies and tries to deceive us and pull us away from the truth. Jesus identifies him as the devil, as Satan. He calls him the Father of Lies. In fact, listen to what Jesus says about this devil, this Satan. He says, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.” Now get this, “When he lies, he speaks his native language.” Let that sink in for a moment. When he lies, he speaks his native language, “for he is a liar and the Father of Lies.” Jesus testifies to the truth and the devil testifies to lies. And he wants to lie to mankind to pull us away from Christ.

Now do not underestimate him. Do not think that he’s going to tell such an outlandish lie that it would be self-evident to any intelligent person what he’s trying to do. That’s not how he operates. He’s much more cunning. He’s much more sly. He is the consummate con artist which means that when he lies to you, there is an element of truth to what he says. It’s not completely true. It sounds true. It feels right. At the very least, it’s hard to argue with what he’s saying. You see, if the devil can move us just slightly off the mark, that’s all he needs to do, just move us slightly off the mark, he will take us very, very far from the truth.

And that’s really what he’s been doing since the beginning of time. He says something that sounds true, it feels true, hard to argue with what he’s saying, just move us just a little bit off the mark so eventually we’re very far from the truth. That’s what God tells us in the book of Romans. God says this through Paul, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who” do what? “Who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” They exchange the truth of God for a lie. They exchange the truth of God for a lie.

My friends, I am so vehement about this and I’m so passionate about this next series of messages because I really believe, I honestly believe that this is a great credit to our generation. It is a significant threat to our generation. If we don’t understand that there is truth out there, if we don’t understand that there is one out there working against us and lying to us, that he’s trying to pull us just slightly off track because it sounds true, it feels right, it’s hard to argue against it, it threatens the whole basis of truth.

The devil has two weapons in his arsenal. The first one is relativism. The second one is subjectivism. Truth is relative. In other words, depending upon my circumstances, depending upon my point of view, depending upon my situation of that defines what is true, what’s right and what’s wrong. So truth is relative, right? It depends. I’m serious. I’ll demonstrate it to you. Is it right to tell a lie? That depends on whether it’s right to tell a lie. For instance, when I was in the courtroom and people came up and took the stand and they swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, if they didn’t tell the truth, they’d be held in contempt of court. And there are legal actions, there are ramifications for what they’re doing. Not to mention, the whole justice system. So, in that case, it is absolutely wrong to tell a lie. Aright? Okay, how about it’s Friday night and you’re getting ready to go out to dinner and your wife says, “Does this make my butt look fat?” That’s self preservation. Now you get what I’m saying here. If you’re going to hurt somebody’s feelings by telling them the truth, if there’s nothing to gain by telling them the truth and there’s everything to be gained by maybe just telling a little fib, making them feel a little bit better and not hurting their feelings, isn’t it more loving, more compassionate, more kind to just lie to them? Truth is relative. It sounds right, doesn’t it? And that feels right. It’s kind of hard to argue against that. The truth is relative to the situation that you’re in.

This also says that truth is always growing and evolving. Truth is always changing. And that makes sense. Think about all the changes that have happened over the last 2,000 years. How about just over the last 100 years? Think of all the knowledge that we’ve been blessed with. Think of all the technology. Think of all the things that have come into our sphere of being, of living that we didn’t know about 100 years ago. And so doesn’t that make sense that as society grows and as our knowledge base grows, what we once considered to be wrong, well, now we see that really isn’t wrong but it’s actually okay and it’s acceptable now. That makes sense, doesn’t it? That sounds true. It’s kind of hard to argue against that point of view. But just move just a little bit off the mark and it will take you very far from the truth.

An example, I don’t want to get too much into this subject but you know back in August, the other church body, the ELCA, they made a ruling when they were in convention that said openly gay and lesbian clergy could now be in monogamous, committed relationships and faithfully serve in their parishes. Okay, I don’t want to get into that right now. What I want to get into is what one official said when he was challenged on that on the news and this was his quote to the news, “Isn’t it time that the church caught up to society?” That’s relative truth, my friends. Truth evolves. Truth changes with the times. What once was unequivocally unacceptable now is unequivocally acceptable because truth has changed, truth has evolved with time. That’s relative truth.

The second weapon is subjective truth. Subjective truth says I, the subject, determine what’s right and what’s wrong for me. So what’s true for me isn’t necessarily true for you. What’s true for you isn’t necessarily true for me. And it is absolutely wrong for me to stand in judgment of you or you to stand in judgment of me. You see, because you don’t know what’s going on in my life and you don’t know how I feel about this subject matter. Therefore, you’re not into my shoes so you can’t stand in judgment of me. “It’s true for you? Okay, that’s fine. I can accept that. But it’s not true for me.” That’s subjective truth.

Subjective truth says, “I know that it’s wrong but, you know, just down at a gut level, it just feels right. I know that this is supposed to be wrong but it just feels right and if it feels that right, can it really be wrong?” That’s subjective truth. “I know others say that I shouldn’t do this and that I’m wrong but the fact of the matter is I am happier now and more fulfilled in my life than I’ve ever been before and I’m having a real hard time saying that something that brings such joy into my life and such fulfillment is wrong.” That’s subjective truth. “I know you don’t agree with me but I am sincere in my beliefs and I am passionate about what I’m going after and I really take offense at the fact that somehow you want to impose upon me your beliefs.” That’s subjective truth. “I know that society may say this is unacceptable behavior but the fact of the matter is why does it matter, as long as I’m not hurting anyone, as long as I’m not affecting anyone else, it only involves me, how do you have a right to tell me what I can and cannot do?” That’s subjective truth. And it’s all around us.

It’s all around us. Whether you want to believe it or not, that is the generations that are coming up, that’s your friends, your neighbors, maybe it’s you. That’s the world that we live in. There is no absolute truth. And you’ve probably been affected by it more than you care to admit.

Have you ever said, “Well, who am I to judge?” That’s subjective truth. Have you ever looked and seen some movie star or some athlete and say, “You know, I don’t agree with what they’re doing but, man, they are passionate about what they believe in and you really can’t question their sincerity and the doggedness with which they go after what they believe. You have to at least admire them for that.” That’s subjective truth.

How many things in your lifetime that, at one point, were completely unacceptable to you? And now today they don’t even cross your radar. You don’t even think twice. That’s relative truth. Truth is always changing. Truth is a moving target. Never quite sure where it is at. That’s the world we live in. There is no absolute truth.

Now here’s the rub and here’s the challenge. The world we live in says there is no absolute truth. Anyone who claims to have truth, at best, they are considered arrogant or intolerant or judgmental. At worst, they’re considered dangerous. Now that puts me in a rather awkward position as one who has been called to proclaim the truth from God’s Word. That puts the church in an awkward position because God has called upon His church to proclaim the truth. And how do you proclaim the truth to a world that says there is no absolute truth and to claim that you have absolute truth makes you arrogant, makes you intolerant, makes you judgmental or even dangerous to society. That’s the rub, that’s the challenge we face and it’s huge.

And that’s what we’re going to try to address over the next few weeks. How do we face that challenge? Let’s start with this, just a little bit different perspective. Let this sink in for a moment. Making the statement, “There is no absolute truth,” is to make an absolute statement. To say, “There’s no absolute truth,” you’re making an absolute statement. You can’t do that. You’re going against your very own belief. That means there is room for truth. There is the possibility of truth.

If I am passionate and sincere about what I believe and, guarantee me, I’m passionate and sincere about what I believe, then do I not have every right and should I not have the privilege to proclaim what I believe to be true and I certainly do. And this is what I believe to be true, my friends, what I believe to be true is the devil has sold us a bag of goods. That’s what I think. I think we have bought into his lies because they sound good, they feel good, they feel right, at least it’s hard to argue against the things that he’s saying today and it is our challenge, it’s our responsibility to expose them for the lies that they are and to reveal the truth from God’s Word.

Over the next couple of weeks, that’s the journey that we’re going to go on is to expose those lies and to reveal the truth from God’s Word. Now I have to confess to you, I’m going to have to leave you hanging this week because those of you who are checking your watch and saying, “He’s windy today, isn’t he, wow,” I have a lot for you. And unless you want to spend another 40 minutes, no? Okay. Then I’m going to have to ask you to wait until next week. Maybe I should use this more often.

But let me leave you with this. Truth is not just a what. But it’s a who. Truth is not just a set of beliefs, a philosophical way of thinking, a set of principles or a mindset. Truth is not just a what but truth is a who. Jesus said that He came to testify to the truth. In that same gospel in Chapter 14 of it, do you remember what Jesus said? Jesus said, “I am the way and the,” do you remember? “And the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” If you want to know truth, my friends, then you have to know Jesus. Jesus embodies truth. He came down from heaven, took on flesh and blood and He is the epitome of truth. If you want to know truth, then you have to know Jesus. If you want to understand truth, then you have to understand Jesus. If you want to know more about truth, then you have to study Jesus. Read through the gospel, any one of them, and you will see truth in Jesus. What you will not see? You will not see arrogance. You will not see intolerance. You will not see a man who is judgmental. What you will see is compassion and understanding and love, a man who is associated with the highest of officials and the social outcasts of the day. You will see truth embodied in Jesus. But you will also see truth which is unwavering, unchanging because there is an absolute truth.

The gospel writer, John, put it this way, the first part of his gospel, Chapter 1, Verse 14, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us and we’ve seen His glory, the glory of the one and only,” who came how? “Who came from the Father full of grace and truth.” Those two things are not mutually exclusive of one another. Grace and truth. You see, one of the lies the devil has us to believe is by saying there’s an absolute truth, that equals arrogance. Absolute truth does not equal arrogance. In fact, if you’re the holder of truth, then the most compassionate thing you can do, the kindest thing you can do is to share that truth with someone who doesn’t have it.

One more statement from Jesus, Jesus still talking about truth, “When you know the truth, then the truth will set you free.” It will set you free.

A quick story about my oldest daughter, Emily. Emily is now 23. Back when I first came here 17-some years ago, she was just a little whippersnapper. I was working in my office on Saturday afternoon. She said, “Dad, I’m going to go for a drink,” so she went into the center wing. Maybe you’ve heard me tell this story before. She went in the center wing to get a drink. The big metal doors that are there came crashing closed behind her. She’s convinced she’s locked into the center wing. She doesn’t know what to do. I’m sitting in my office. She’s pounding on the door for all she has, crying, sobbing because she’s locked into the center wing. Finally, I have no idea how long she’s there, don’t put me up for Parent of the Year, I finally walk over. I walk up to the door and I open it right up. It wasn’t locked. Remember? What you believe to be true determines your behavior? She believed the door was locked. The truth would have set her free.

What the world believes to be true, what you believe to be true determines your behavior. We have a whole generation who doesn’t know the truth and yet that truth will set them free. Amen.

Copyright 2009 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church