Guiding Truth

Intro

Good morning ascension. It is a pleasure to be with you again.

If there are any visitors or those with poor eyesight here, obviously, I am not father Joe Murphy, I don’t have the impressive beard that he has.

I don’t want anyone to be confused.

We are doing well in Warsaw, and my job with Humana is going very well.

Normally, my family comes down with me but we weren’t able to make that happen today.

They send their greetings.

The Season

Well, today is Trinity Sunday and we have just celebrated Jewish festival of Pentecost.

We just re-experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised, which is mentioned in our text this Sunday from the Gospel of John.

Some refer to this part of the Christian calendar as “Ordinary time.”

I don’t find anything exciting about anything ordinary, and if you’re like me, my ordinary life can be quite discouraging at times.

When I was first introduced to the Christian calendar, it took me a while to learn, but ordinary time is that stretch of season in the Christian calendar where there are no major seasons.

But more importantly, we are invited to experience the fullness of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in our ordinary lives.

This morning, we will find that our ordinary lives are exactly where God desires to do his most powerful work, transforming us into his likeness.

That work is possible anytime,

anywhere,

and in any circumstance no matter how impossible or hopeless it seems

because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth.

We tend to fixate on that word “truth,” but the key to that transformation is relationship with the Spirit of truth, one another, and the world around us.

Some Background

This emphasis is quite a bit different than the evangelical roots that I was raised in.

I do deeply appreciate those who invested in me and who contributed to who I am today.

But for me, growing up there, was, and still is, a significant emphasis on a different form of truth,

that is, believing the right things,

doctrinal statements,

statements of faith,

and position papers.

If you could repeat those points to others, you could convince the wayward world how to remedy its ills.

Within the church, preaching and spiritual growth was oriented in the same direction.

Three point sermons with note-taking and a major emphasis on intellectual comprehension.

The three bullet points from the sermon held the key to a different me.

As I’ve learned over the years, however, no matter

how many books I read,

how many correct lists I put in front of me,

these never led to transformation.

In fact most of the time it resulted in further discouragement or a staleness of faith.

I suspect this is because the information-based approach to transformation put me at the center of that transformation.

Can any of you relate to this?

A Clarification

Now, before I am grossly misunderstood, I want to affirm that

there is an important role for statements of faith, they just don’t work well for transformation.

And, I hold a PhD in biblical studies, so I hope there is no doubt that I highly value intellectual knowledge.

And, as a priest, I affirm the Nicene Creed, the 39 articles, and so on, so, those are important to me.

The Problem

The Gospel of John raises some interesting questions along the lines of what I’ve just expressed above.

First, Jesus says in verse 13

“when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.“

I thought the disciples had been hanging around Jesus for the last three years and knew the truth. (Duh-sciples - BW3)

And how does one guide someone into truth?

Surely the Jesus club had a doctrinal statement or membership agreement they could pull out.

I know for sure they had a list of hard saying of Jesus.

And second, right before that Jesus says,

“I still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now.”

Note, He does not say they can’t understand them.

This points to the fact that the problem is not related to having enough or the right information.

Jesus is quite comfortable with where they’re at at that moment in time.

He just knows they can’t handle the things he’s not ready to share with them.

To put it another way, where we might wonder “Did they know enough to be saved? I mean, what if Peter died that night?”

This is not Jesus‘s concern in the least.

The Good News

The good news Ascension is that

God makes his truth known in relationship.

You and I don’t need to know everything, we need to know the spirit of truth.

When we control the truth we acquire, our transformation is limited.

When the spirit of truth guides us into truth, our transformation is limitless.

The Readings

Before unpacking these two questions from John raised above, I want to point out briefly in our other readings this essential point, that God makes his truth known in relationship.

Truth in Isaiah 6

In Isaiah 6, it is the prophet’s experience of seeing the Lord in his glory and hearing the Seraphim call to one another in praise of God that brings the truth home to Isaiah about himself, his nation, and God.

He doesn’t read statements about God’s glory, he experiences it.

It is in relationship that grasps the depths of his sin, the source of it, and the problem the nation was in.

It was in seeing the king, the Lord of hosts that he discovered the truth.

It is also in relationship where he experiences forgiveness, as the Seraphim cleanses him with a coal.

And one last thing before moving to the Psalm, where else have you heard the words

“holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory?”

This occurs in the Sanctus during the Eucharist.

So, later as we celebrate together may you meet the Lord in a powerful way as we sing that together.

Truth in Psalm 29

In Psalm 29, we have a Psalm of praise.

The focus is on the voice of the Lord.

The voice of the Lord represents the ongoing and active relationship that he has with all creation, not just his people.

People in the temple cry “Glory” in response to deer giving birth and the forest being stripped bare presumably by a windstorm.

His people receive strength and peace through relationship with him.

They know truth through their relationship with the Lord.

Truth in Revelation 4

In Revelation 4, John is personally invited to

“come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

The book of Revelation provides the 7 churches of John’s day with a serious critique of their relationship with God and the empire in which they lived.

Truth is not known in what the 7 churches claim to believe, but in their real life in ordinary relationships with the world around them.

They are exhorted to return to truth by returning to relationship with Jesus.

The good news Ascension is that God makes his truth known in relationship.

Truth in the Gospel of John

All right let’s jump back to the Gospel John and look at those two questions once more.

John of anyone makes my point the best when Jesus says in John 14:6

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Right there we have clear evidence that truth is found in relationship with Jesus.

Now, in our passage here, when Jesus goes to the Father, he tells them the Holy Spirit will take his place and truth will be found in relationship with the Spirit.

There are two very encouraging points that come out of this text.

First, Jesus had many more truths to share with his followers.

But he says to them,

“you can’t bear them now.”

Jesus recognizes their limits and progress of growth.

When we look at truth as content to be mastered, we think of it like a cup being filled or a page being filled out.

Once we fill that cup or reach the last bullet point we’ve attained all truth.

When we realize that truth is found in relationship, there is no limit to our growth and we are ultimately not in control of our transformation.

The key to our transformation is our relationship with the Lord.

When we realize that truth is found in relationship, God provides us for what is helpful now.

He knows what we can bear and what we cannot.

He will be patient with us until we allow him to Guide us into truth.

For some of us that means learning the same lesson over and over again, am I right?

And when we realize that truth is found in relationship, we take comfort in knowing that God also allows for what will help us in the future.

Jesus knew that the disciples needed more time and more growth that would be acquired in relationship with him

but the Holy Spirit would take his place for that future growth.

Second, the notion of guiding into all truth brings to mind

a leader and a follower,

a master and an apprentice,

a Jedi and a Padawan; as you can tell I’m a Star Wars fan.

All of these involve relationships.

Of course there is information to be acquired, but it is not information to put on a list.

It is information to be put in the practice.

This notion of being guided into all truth also allows for room for misunderstanding, confusion, and mistakes.

Going back to the duh-sciples, it is extremely encouraging the patience and grace that Jesus extends his followers.

We receive that same patience and grace as we grow in him.

The idea of being guided into all truth also means that it will take time for us to grow.

We can neglect or cultivate relationship.

Our posture towards our relationship greatly impacts our growth.

Finally the idea of been guided into all truth means that it takes place in real life.

This is why Jesus spent so much time with people in ordinary settings.

These were the places that the kingdom of God were breaking in.

The truth needed to be known in the relationships of exploitation between oppressor and the oppressed.

It needed to be known in relationships between the poor and the wealthy.

It needed to be known in relationships between people going to court over one thing or another.

It needed to be known in relationships between ethnicities.

It needed to be known in relationships between their cultural values and what was near to God‘s heart.

And I could go on.

A True Story

As we end I’d like to share a brief snapshot of how truth in relationship develops and is effective.

I have a really good friend named Luke in Kentucky where we used to live. I’m sharing the story with his permission.

One day I was walking in the neighborhood where we had just moved and this guy was sitting out on his porch.

He was smoking away and a curious site.

I waved hello and he initiated a conversation so I went up to chat with him.

This went on day after day was little chats here in there.

Finally, he invited me to come sit on his porch where I found him all the time. So I did.

I learned that Luke had almost died multiple times.

Not yet 40, he was a former alcoholic with serious health issues.

Not long after meeting him, I told Amy, I’ll be surprised if he makes it through the week.

He was in terrible health and a lot of pain without much reason to live.

As we spent time together sharing our stories, we developed a good friendship.

He was not a believer and was appalled when he found out I was a priest.

Several times he told me he that had he known that he would’ve never sat down to talk with me.

Most of the time I just valued him as a human being,

cared for him in the best way I could,

and patiently listened to him curse and recount some of the hard things he had been through.

As he suffered health challenges I would pray with him over the phone when he was in the hospital or rehab center,

or we would pray together some evenings,

and eventually our conversations naturally turned to death, afterlife, and the meaning of life.

While I’d like to take credit for masterfully evangelizing Luke, most of the time I didn’t have a clue what to say or when to say or how to say it.

I just prayed that the Lord would give me boldness to say what was needed for Luke at the right time

and that he would keep me from saying things that would not be helpful.

I knew there were things that I could say that Luke would not have been able to bear.

I could’ve pulled out the 39 articles or a Creed or some statement of faith, but none of those would’ve been helpful in that relationship at that time.

There were also times that Luke would say things that I didn’t agree with that I just let go because again,

it would’ve been helpful to argue this little point or that one.

There were other times where I did challenge things that Luke would say with truth.

Often he was very harsh to himself and would speak negatively about himself.

At those times I would reaffirm his value as a person and tell him who he was as God sees him.

Eventually, Luke began coming to church and he is now a follower of Jesus.

To my amazement he has lived for over a year since we met

and gets out of bed each day with new purpose even as he struggles with the same pain.

In fact, he is currently in discernment to become a deacon in our former church.

There are still many places that Luke needs to grow in his faith,

but so do I,

and I’m not overly worried about those places of struggle

because Luke remains in relationship with the Spirit of Truth.

An Ordinary Time Charge

What about you?

Where in your ordinary life is God guiding you into truth?

Where in your ordinary life is God waiting to grow you more because you can’t bear it just yet?

Where in your ordinary life do you need to take comfort knowing that God allows for your misunderstandings, confusion, and mistakes?

What about as a congregation?

Where and how is the Spirit of truth leading you?

Transition to Creed

The good news Ascension is that God makes known his truth in relationship.

One of the things that I love about the Anglican way is that we are invited to experience the truth that we believe in the way that we worship.

As we turn now to proclaim our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed,

may these truths orient your affections and draw you closer to the triune God in your ordinary life this week.