A few years ago when the #me too movement became extremely popular following the arrest and incarceration of several high profile individuals because of their alleged abuse of women, the term speaking my truth became virtually a call sign, a pointer to the newly found confidence that women in particular showed in being able to speak about their experiences of harassment primarily, sexual harassment and sexual abuse at the hands of powerful men who always seemed up to that period to be untouchable. A cultural wave was washing over the world, and women were finally being heard and taken seriously after years of being ignored or treated with contempt or blamed for their horrendous experiences. Many women of course had to deal not only with sexual violation but also the whole cultural attitude up to that time which made it seem acceptable to treat women with disdain and disrespect whether in the home or at the workplace or anywhere else. It is in this context that two expressions that were known for years before gained a new lease on life. These are, “Speaking truth to power” and “Speaking my/your truth”. As we remember and reflect on those events and how the world has changed its attitude to and treatment of women and girls since then, we also pause to remember and to commemorate today as it is Trinity Sunday. Trinity Sunday, is that day in the Church when as Christians we pause to reflect on the nature and work of God as revealed in three ‘persons’, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit also called Holy Ghost. Our text for today asks us to think about that age-old question that Pilate asked Jesus at his trial, “What is truth?” (See St. John 18:38 NIV) The word truth is one of the commonest and most important words in the English dictionary. It is commonly used to mean the identification and presentation of a fact or a factual and real situation or occurrence. Truth is also used in ways that suggest sincerity or consistency in one’s action or thought. In this light, someone can be true to himself or herself by acting consistently in how they have always been known to act or behave. In our text and in other references to truth in the gospels it was always meant to be revelation of something or someone else. When Jesus famously told the disciples, “I am the way, and the truth and the life” in St. John chapter fourteen (14) (See St. John 14:6 NIV) he was telling them that he was the revelation of God among them. To know him is to know God. Similarly, he was pointing to himself as God’s revelation to humanity when he said to some Jewish believers in St. John chapter eight (8), “Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (See St. John 8:38 NIV)
Our text for today is part of a longer discourse starting from chapter fourteen through to chapter seventeen where Jesus is preparing the disciples for his imminent physical departure from them and introducing the work of the Holy Spirit to continue to lead them into the truth. That truth is greater revelation about who Jesus is and how they will be empowered and equipped to carry out his mission in the world. Truth, as I pointed out earlier, is not just the identifying and recollection of facts. It is of no doubt extremely important in human relationships to let factual reality be our guide to living with each other but it is even more important to know who God is. This is the truth that was the essence of the messages of the prophets long ago and this is the truth that Jesus accused the Jewish leaders of essentially being blind to. (See St. Matthew 15:14 NIV) This is the truth that ultimately should guide human relationships and as a result teach us how to use factual realities and experiences honestly with the intention of helping one another, not distorting reality or being deceptive to one another.
As we can see from the statements above, everyone can have his or her version of truth or reality. A fact may be universally known but unfortunately it can be misused or misinterpreted sometimes innocently but also deliberately and maliciously as well. A fact or reality can be universally known but not universally accepted. We live in a time when everyone sees reality and factual situations through different lenses or experiences. Most of the time people live in a reality where things are spun in such a way that is acceptable to them. We live in a time when people no longer care about truth and truth telling. They care more about what advances their agenda or their interests no matter how much falsehood they have to spread to achieve this. What they are interested in hearing and accepting is what suits their particular interest at any given time. This is nothing new. Humans have always desired to attach themselves to those things that they want, or listen to what they want to hear or what their version of the truth is. Take note of what the writer of the second letter to Timothy said in chapter four when he said, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (See 2 Timothy 4:3-4 NIV) This is as true for the secular world as it is for the Christian faith. That’s who we are. We find and accept the information and messages that we want to hear. We don’t care much about the things that we need to hear especially if it is unpalatable to us. Remember that some disciples stopped following Jesus according to St. John chapter six when many of them said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (See St. John 6:60 NIV) Many Christians too only want to hear and accept interpretations of scripture that suit their selfish interests and desires or simply what they find more attractive or palatable, not that which will teach them the truth. So then, what is truth? Truth is the revelation of God in humanity. Truth is seeing God’s will at work in human beings. The prophets of old pointed to the truth in their messages as they tried to help people to see what God wanted them to be. Jesus came as the living revelation of God and his teaching and his miraculous signs were evidence of the truth. God’s truth continued to be revealed in the life and witness of the Apostles and the truth is revealed in all who today seek to show that God is in them through their daily lives. When Jesus says that “the Spirit will guide you into all truth” he was in essence telling them that the Holy Spirit’s filling is what will enable them to live lives that more fully show God’s will and purpose for all humanity. The commitment and passion of the Apostles of the first century for the spread of the gospel that made them willing to give up their lives to death for the sake of Christ is the best example we have today of what the truth is and how it drives a person’s life-long commitment to Jesus.
Today is Father’s Day and it is important to note that the all-important role of parents in general but particularly of fathers is to teach their children the truth. Our duty, for all of us who have been fathers or are still fathers, is to teach our children that truth is not just verbal but it is how we live with each other. Truth is the utmost demonstration of godliness because truth is letting others see and know who God is by your life. As we who are fathers and grandfathers and father-figures in the lives of others, as we model godliness in our daily lives, we will show our children who God is and help them to have the desire to know Jesus for themselves. That’s the most important thing all of us as parents can give to our children. The question for all fathers and all Christians is simply, how do we live the truth so that our children and those who come after us will see this as the most important way of living? The answer according to scripture is through the power of the Holy Spirit actively engaged in our lives daily. Jesus told the disciples, “…when He the Spirit of Truth comes He will guide you into all truth.” (See St. John 16:13 NIV) It is clear that the truth comes from God and it is only those who have the Holy Spirit in them can truly know the truth and live the truth. The truth is not merely identifying and repeating facts, but more so living a life that shows who God is to the world. In order to do this you must have the Spirit of God in you, working through you so that the world can come to know who God is. By this we do not emphasise “our truth” but “God’s truth”. Putting it another way, we could say when we speak our truth, it must be a testimony or a declaration about what God has been doing in our lives. We must not only speak it but show it in practical daily acts.
In a world where people prefer to live by their own version of the truth or what suits them best, we must let our lights shine by being kind to others when it is easier to be unkind. We must work for peace in our families and among our neighbours and in the world at large, when others seem to revel in inflaming situations and causing conflicts unnecessarily. We must demonstrate the willingness to be humble, even if it means losing out on advantageous positions, when others are striving to win at all cost. We must show what it is to be concerned about the marginalised and most vulnerable among us, even when the world tells you to look out for yourself first. These are the kind of things that will demonstrate God’s truth and these are the things that will make life more meaningful and worthwhile for all people, not just a few. These are the ways in which all people can see God in us and the world and know that God is here for them too irrespective of their race, their political and religious views, their nationality, their gender or anything else that is used to divide people today.
There is a song which has the words, “…they’ll know that we are Christians by our love”*. May we as fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, and all who have nurtured young ones and more importantly all of us as Christians go from here with a greater desire to show to the world God’s truth in our lives as the Holy Spirit enables us day by day so that this chaotic and turbulent world of conflict will know God’s truth by our love. Amen.
*From the song ‘They’ll Know We Are Christians’ Author Peter Scholtes Copyright 1966 F.E.L. Publications assigned to The Lorenz Corp., 1991.