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Trinity 10 Sermon
St. John 8:25-36
Father Kasey Gage In the fast paced world that we live in today we are informed about what is true by the short snippets, pictures, and videos we catch on the radio, the web, or heaven forbid CNN. Unbeknownst to ourselves, we are under an assault for truth by a myriad of images that mold and shape our view of what is true solely by what is seen. Consequently, each responsible citizen of society now believes that he or she is the sole arbiter of what is true and what is not.
In Pastor Skip Ryan’s book, That You May Believe, he outlines the dilemma that modern man finds himself in regarding truth. He writes, “For most people in Western society today, truth is “what is true for me.” What is ultimately true is what a person finds to be true, and any claim to truth with authoritative backing, mediated from some spiritual or social order, is perceived as narrow and maybe even bigoted and dangerous.
He outlines this dilemma with an analogy of the baseball umpire. He says, “We could say there are three kinds of baseball umpires, and they each represent a different way of looking at truth. The traditional umpire says, “There’s balls and there’s strikes, and I call ’em the way they are. This view demonstrates that there is a standard by which balls and strikes are to be determined. This standard is a real and objective reality. Therefore, the umpire does not decide if they are balls or strikes. Rather, he declares them what they are based on true objective reality. A modern umpire says, “There’s balls and there’s strikes, and I call ’em the way I see ’em.” His view says that what is most important is not what is but what he sees. This view makes modern people reluctant to make moral judgments based on any external standard.
An example of this would be the political lefts discomfort with President Bush’s calling some political regimes evil. He may describe them in many ways but describing them as evil brings forth a judgment against them based on some measure of objective reality or truth, which to modern man is not attainable. The modern man believes there are too many extenuating circumstances and variables to really make such bold and emphatic judgments.
The Postmodern umpire says, “There’s balls and there’s strikes, and they ain’t nothing till I call ’em.” For the postmodern person, reality and truth are what he wills them to be. Traditions, standards of excellence or beauty, and morality are all judged by the individual’s own perceptions and desires. Essentially, the post-modern person has completely reversed the created order and made themselves their own deity. What each person declares to be true and moral and beautiful is, based on their own will.
In today’s second lesson for morning prayer, we find out that truth is not only an objective moral reality, but it originated and is perpetuated in and by our Triune God.
St. John writes in his Holy Gospel beginning at the 25th verse of the 8th chapter:
John 8:25 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.
John 8:26 I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.
John 8:27 They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.
John 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
John 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
John 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
John 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Here we find Jesus speaking to the teachers of the Law who were called Pharisees. The Pharisees inquire into who Jesus is. This is a reaction to the previous words of Jesus in which He proclaimed that he was not from this world. He was from above and they were from below. This was a reference to man’s creation in the beginning and Christ’s eternal existence in heaven with the Father. He proclaims that He is the same one from the beginning and that he has more to teach and to judge. Again, another reference to His deity, since He was from the beginning teaching (with his law) and judging those who violated it. He goes on to say that the One who sent Him (God the Father) is true and what He teaches is true because He only speaks what He has heard from Him (God the Father). When He is lifted up (a reference to His crucifixion) they will understand who He was by His obedience. True Godliness is realized by Jesus Christ’s words and works because He always obeys the Father. Even unto death he obeyed and was lifted up to the right hand of God the Father and was given the name which is above every name.
Next Jesus addresses those who believed upon him. He says those who continually obey His words and works are His disciples and with discipleship comes freedom. He said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” This freedom is freedom from the tyranny of sin over our lives. Jesus Christ work would brake the chain of sins tyrannical rule which lead to death and opened the door for humanities restoration to eternal life. The Pharisees objected. They proclaimed their freedom was based on their relationship to Abraham. However, Jesus points out that those who sin are servants of sin. The Pharisees could not make a claim of being sinless. But Jesus, the sinless lamb of God, knew His ministry would be one of sacrifice. His death would pay for the sins of the whole world and through faith in Him, we were given the right to become sons and daughters of God. Jesus goes on to state that the servant doesn’t remain in the Master’s house forever but the Son does. The Son has the ability to free the servant so that he can remain in the house forever also. A clear statement that He, as the Son, has the authority and ability to free all that truly turn to Him, including those Pharisees.
In Jesus we have the eternal word of God who leaves heaven and becomes incarnate. St. John wrote at the beginning of his Gospel “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
God had revealed to His people his eternal moral character and standard of truth in the Law and the Prophets contained in the Old Testament. But His people rebelled and did not remain in the truth by disobeying God’s word. In God’s mercy, He sent His dearly beloved Son to this world to redeem us from our servitude to sin. Through His Incarnation, He becomes the Son of Man and the Son of God. He takes upon Himself our nature and obeys God’s word fully incarnating truth among us. His death serves as a propitiation for our sins and His resurrection the first fruit of our redemption. God’s law, His eternal moral character and standard by which truth is distinguished from falsehood has been completely fulfilled by Himself. The second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, fulfilled the truth enabling you and I to take off our chains of servitude. We have been made Son’s through faith in Jesus Christ, the way the truth and the life. And we have been sent the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead that we might remain in the truth for eternity.
Truth therefore is best described as the eternal moral character and standard of God that originated in God and is perpetuated for eternity through our Triune God. Without this standard, we would live blindly in the world in servitude of the postmodern man. Postmodern man, instructed by media snapshots, declares that one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. His moral compass has been hijacked and he has no way to determine what is right and what is wrong. Consequently, he sees no difference between bombing a bus with innocent women and children and bombing armed soldiers in a war zone. After all, there is no objective standard to measure it by, so as his own god, he decides what is right and wrong. This viewpoint only leads to confusion and discord. It is the work of Satan, masquerading as an angel of enlightenment yet sowing confusion, discord, and perpetual death.
As God’s sons and daughters, we have been freed from our servitude of sin through our faith in Jesus Christ. Not only do we have God’s word to instruct us in the truth but we have been given the Holy Spirit to lead and to guide us into all truth so that we are without excuse. May God give us grace to continue holding to the truth once delivered that we might be a beacon of light in a world that has been darkened by the hubris of modern and post-modern man. And may God stir us up to share the only Gospel that can make men and women truly free. Amen
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