Scripture/Sermon of the Day. June 12, 2022

John 16:12-15

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Reflection/Sermon:

I. There was a movie from 1997 starring the actor and comedian Jim Carrey called Liar Liar. Carrey is a lawyer who built his career on lying, but he becomes cursed and could only speak the truth for a single day, which caused him to almost lose his career. And while he struggled with all the truth coming out of his mouth, he was also trying to reconcile with his ex-wife and son whom he had alienated because of his pathological lying.

II. This is a great movie because though it’s a comedy, it shows an impulse in human behavior that we all have to struggle with: lying. It’s so major a problem that God had to include it in the ten commandments (9): “You shall not bear false witness.”
I’d guess that every ancient culture has some version of that command. Because people-not-telling-the-truth is part of the human condition. Dishonesty must be illegal because it destroys the trust that holds relationships and societies together. And yet, lying is so common, there are many names for it: fib, canard, prevarication, falsify, perjure, untruth, fabrication, yarn, red herring, disinformation, dissimulation, mendacity, sham, cock and bull story, fake news.

III. Last Thursday night, June 9th, about 20 million people in the United States watched the first hearing on the House's investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to Nielsen. This hearing is important and every American should see it because there is a Big Lie that has been floating around since the presidential election of 2020 and this Big Lie has been dividing our country more and more. Who won the election? Joe Biden was sworn in as president, but the other candidate still says he won and that the election was stolen from him. And both Republicans and Democrats have different opinions about this. The majority of people in the United States believe Biden won. But millions of others — many of them viewers of Fox News — who believe Trump won. The committee investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol, made up of both Democrats and Republicans, wants to use evidence and video and audio recordings to answer important questions about the last election. There were 12 networks that carried the hearing live between eight and 10 p.m. eastern time. The only major network that won’t carry these hearings is Fox News. So twenty million Americans from both political parties watched the hearings, and about 3 million chose to watch a News station that did not consider a violent attack on the US Capitol as newsworthy.

IV. And why should I mention this Congressional hearing? Because it concerns truth — the spirit of truth. Jesus said, “When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you in all truth.” Even the truth about who won the last presidential election? Yes. Jesus said ALL truth.
There are two narratives — two “truths” — about the war in Ukraine. Putin’s and Zalensky’s. Who’s telling more of God’s truth?
There are two narratives of our last election — who’s telling the truth? Who really won?
There are different bodies of Christianity and they interpret the Bible and the teachings of Jesus differently. Which is closer to the truth? Will everyone ultimately be saved?
And why is any of this important? Because Jesus said he is the truth, and knowing the truth makes us free. If Jesus is truth, then knowing the truth will bring us closer to love and compassion, because that’s what Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit are. Love and Compassion.

V. Ultimately, the truth that sets us free isn’t going to come to us from any TV station, or social media or the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post. But some of it might. And the truth that sets us free won’t even come from the Bible — because there are too many interpretations floating around and many of them are wrong.
The truth comes to us from God. God brings it to us every day. Do we hear it or see it or receive it?
But if it is the truth that is from Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit, we know that it must meet certain criteria: it must be loving; it must be gentle — like the “still small voice” the prophet Elijah heard. It must have compassion for all people and all animals and living things.
God sends us, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth, which is love, gentleness and compassion, today. Let us pray for the grace to receive it.