Sermon preached by Rev. Robert Undercuffler
Hanover Presbyterian Church
18th Street and Baynard Boulevard
Wilmington, Delaware
September 3, 2006, 2006
(A disclaimer: This sermon was written to be spoken, which does not always translate into correct grammatical form for a document written to be read.)
WHAT IS TRUTH?
Jesus answered, "For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the TRUTH. Everyone who is of the TRUTH hears my voice.
Pilate said to Jesus, "WHAT IS TRUTH?" John 18:33-38
And Jesus replied: (Pick one --) (These are definitions I found in dictionaries)
Ø TRUTH is conformity to fact or actuality.
Ø TRUTH is a statement proven -- or accepted to be true.
Ø TRUTH is fidelity to an original or standard.
Ø TRUTH is a comprehensive term that in all
its nuances implies accuracy and honesty.
You are correct. JESUS SAID NONE OF THE ABOVE.
Rather, following Pilate's question there was a pregnant pause
that was filled with expectation.
What would you have Jesus reply?
I know you're not going to whisper a response
In Jesus' ear --
But what are you thinking deep down?
-- so now you want to give Jesus a nudge.
You are a disciple -- how do you, a disciple, fill that silence?
Where did the disciples look for Truth?
How did they find truth? (Or did the truth find them?)
n I wonder, how did the disciples fill that silence --
Those disciples who heard this conversation ?
Who hadn't yet turned to run ?
Those followers of Jesus who weren't arranging deals
trying to buy time or to protect their backsides --
-- I wonder if any disciple -- Thomas, perhaps, remembered Jesus saying --- remember, Thomas had said, "Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" And Jesus replied, -- "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me."
I wonder if Thomas -- when he hears Pilate's question, What is TRUTH? POINTS TO JESUS. THERE IS THE TRUTH.
JESUS IS THE TRUTH.
"I walked with Jesus and saw unquenchable love.
-- Astounding forgiveness --
The blind see --
The deaf hear --
New life --
God's rule is among us.
JESUS IS TRUTH!
Let me drive around now on another side -- What is truth?
Pat, certainly you remember Rachel who came to Buckhorn Children's Center -- The Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency (That's where Pat and I worked for 18 years before returning to Wilmington)
Rachel was a 14 year old girl welcomed into Buckhorn's care.
Let me tell you the TRUTH about Rachel. The TRUTH was found in 8-10 inches worth of files accumulated through 12 previous failed placements including 2 psychiatric hospitals.
This was Rachel's TRUTH --
Oppositional-defiant
Severely behaviorally and emotionally handicapped.
Delinquent - - Truant
Manipulative
Borderline personality
Assaultive
But there was another way to discover the TRUTH of Rachel --
Live with her
Walk with her
Encourage her
Highlight her positives
Set and stick with some clear and consistent boundaries.
Have some high expectations
LOVE HER --
and in the journey -- in the relationship with Rachel here is what was discovered --
THE TRUTH OF RACHEL --
Rachel is
- traumatized
- Confused
- Insecure
- Shy
- Seeking a friend or two
- Succeeding in school
- Deeply spiritual -- seeking something-someone she can trust.
WHAT IS TRUTH?
I believe TRUTH is discovered in relationship?
AND The TRUTH is discovered in relationship with the living God revealed in Jesus Christ. In the journey with Christ, our Lord and Master
As we submit to the winsome tug of Jesus' way.
One of the 5 purposes of the Church, for Presbyterians, is for the PRESERVATION OF THE TRUTH.
And how preserve THE TRUTH? I must admit, I have trouble with that concept, Preservation of the TRUTH. For me . "preservation" has to do with canning and freezing -- with mausoleums and mummies and museums.
So how about this --
Let's preserve the truth by opening windows to fresh winds of Holy Spirit. To stand courageously in the gale.
Last week I watched some replays of interviews of folks struck by Katrina. A Mississippi woman had been interviewed. She was sitting surrounded by devastation. She moaned, "I lost it all -- except for my family" "They are my hope" -- and her husband was sorting through rubble -- her children playing in the mud and debris. THERE'S PRESERVATION OF TRUTH.
I believe TRUTH is preserved in tHE heart-felt cry, "I believe, help thou my unbelief."
I believe TRUTH is preserved as we bask in the Godly vision of old Isaiah -- "Look, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Let us envision that TRUTH for Hanover.
And that Godly vision is preceded by this instruction -- which is good for any people serious about TRUTH and PRESERVING TRUTH ?
"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Look, I am doing a new thing." Isaiah 43:18, 19
