Hebrews 9:11-15 St. John 8:46-59

Who speaks for the truth?

The priest's youngest son was watching his father write his Sermon for
Sunday. "How do you know what to say?" he asked. The priest was deeply
engrossed in the interpretation of some difficult passage, so he
simplistically replied, "Well, God tells me." His son pondered the statement
for a moment and then said, "Then why do you keep crossing things out?"

St. Peter once stated that in St. Paul's writings there were some things
which were hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people tended to
twist to their own destruction, as they did also the rest of the Scriptures
(2 Peter 3). If we, as the holy Church of Jesus Christ, are to stand for the
Truth at all, we must realise that the Bible is not philosophical text book
in which the various formulas for a happy life can be found. Rather, the
Bible is God's revelation of Himself through His historic dealings with His
people in which His plan for restoring the broken relationship between them
was worked out in time and space.

As such, much may be difficult to grasp at first as it is not written from a
human perspective, but a Divine one. Unlike the many writings of other
religions, the Bible is not a collection of man's observations in his
pursuit of the meaning for existence, but rather the revelation of that
meaning by the One Who is the very Source of that existence. The Bible is
called God's Word as it is what God has told us about himself, about
ourselves, and about how we are to relate one to another. Thus, in our
attempt to interpret this Divine Word spoken, we may find that things we
once thought we understood may need to be crossed out at a later stage as we
delve deeper into the mine of God's heart. Hopefully, as we grow in Christ,
our thoughts will be raised up to the higher level of God's thoughts, and as
His Word begins to govern our minds and hearts more and more, the amount of
crossing out will become less and less as we decrease and He increases.

As we have seen in our Wednesday discussion group, the contemplation of
Christ's Passion presents us with just such a difficulty. That which we once
thought to be cut and dried, may suddenly reveal an angle we had not
considered before, especially in this day and age when most Christians
simply do not know the Old Testament background upon which the symbols,
images, events and teachings of the New Testament are founded. The lack of
adequate biblical knowledge has rendered many a believer powerless in the
face of the liberal onslaught. Thus when what they once thought to be true
is challenged by those who are considered by some to be in authority, the
bewildered Christian is unable to respond as their Lord once did with the
statement, "It is written!"

We must always remember that Jesus did not make the ultimate sacrifice only
so that you could compromise the truth. Current talks of so-called Church
unity are downright deceptive if the Word of God is not the foundation upon
which that unity is built. In His High Priestly prayer, our Lord prayed to
the Father, "Sanctify them by Your truth" and then defined what that
sanctifying truth was by adding, "Your Word is truth". The teaching of
Christ in our Gospel lesson for today speaks loudly and clearly to all those
who continue to seek ways in which to compromise that truth. "He who is of
God hears God's Words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of
God."

When the Church bluntly declares that it is not of one mind with regard to
matters which the Scriptures and the United Early Church clearly considered
abominable and incompatible with acceptable Christian behaviour, there can
no longer be talks of maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace because the Word of that same Spirit, Who has already revealed the
mind of God in the Scriptures, has been cast aside and trampled underfoot.

Any attempt to seek His blessing while compromising with those who doubt His
Word is nothing less than dishonouring to God. As St. Paul once exhorted the
Ephesian church: "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather expose them". The Church is supposed to be the Guardian of the
Truth, but the recent actions of some in the Church seem to indicate that
they no longer know what that Truth is!

Too much has been crossed out for the sake of socio-political demands.
Compromise is not the language to use in the presence of the One Who is the
Truth. If we say we are of God, we must hear and obey His Word. To do
anything less is surely to crucify again for ourselves the Son of God and to
put Him to open shame. We must beware, dearest brethren, lest our desire to
run the easier race of compromise eventually leads us to our final
disqualification.

In our Gospel lesson, the Jewish religious leaders took up stones to cast at
our Lord at the end of His discourse. With Lent drawing to a close and the
shadow of the cross looming ever nearer, it may be a good time for us to ask
if we too would have had our hands filled with rocks at this point. In
rejecting the Word of God for whatever reason, whether noble or not, are we
not rejecting God Himself? Are we not throwing in our stones as well by
simply standing on that side? Which side would you be on, anyway? Would you
have dared to cross over the line drawn in the sand for the sake of the
truth? Or would you have stood your ground agreeing with Caiaphas that it
would be expedient that one Man should die for the sake of the preservation
of the nation? Or in this case, the preservation of a church? Remember,
within forty years after the death of Christ, Jerusalem was destroyed and
the nation of Israel was sent into exile. You don't fool around with God.

In verse 51, our Lord said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps
My Word he shall never see death". Is it not strange then to see people who
claim to be believers in this Word scrambling to stay in union with those
who do not keep His Word? Christ honoured His Father by keeping His Word and
was, in turn, honoured by Him. Can we dare to say we know God when we
dishonour Him by not keeping His Word? Why do we call Him 'Lord, Lord,' if
we refuse to hear and do the things which He has said? If we are not built
upon the Rock, are we not liable to fall? (cf. Luke 6:46-49)

Who speaks for the truth if not the Church? If we reject the claims of
Scripture or side with those who do, the only possible reaction is to
finally cast our stone in as well. On the other hand the only other option
on the part of those who do accept the claims of Scripture is to step away
from the crowd and to take a stand with our Lord, even if that means joining
Him in His lonely exodus out from the apostate city to the make the ultimate
sacrifice on Calvary.

The issue is clear. We cannot play the hypocrite - We cannot compromise. A
choice must be made. We are either on one side of the line or the other.we
simply cannot have it both ways. There is no neutral ground here. It is
either God's Word or man's word. Moral theology is not the same as moral
philosophy. Whereas the former is based on the Divine will for His Creation
and is thus unquestionable, unchangeable, non-negotiable and infallible, the
latter is based upon the finite opinion of man which will always be
questionable, changeable, negotiable and fallible.

As we come before the throne of the great "I AM" once more on this Passion
Sunday, ask Him to reveal to you whether you are on the side of the mob who
hurl stones at the Word of God incarnate, or if you are with those who hear
and obey what He has already told us. Ask Him to show you whether or not you
have crossed out so much of His Word that when the question, "Who stands for
the truth?" is asked, you will not know what or Who truth is.

© Johann W. Vanderbijl III 2004