"Guided into Truth"
"But when he, the spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth."
The Christian life is guided and it is purposeful. It has a goal or destination.
First we need to define truth. In an article from a Bible Dictionary, I came across this phrase from the Catholic Theologian Karl Rahner. "Our Culture has a lack of reverence for truth." He meant that we live in an age of relativism and skepticism. Our understanding of truth is shaped by our experience with mass advertising and political speech. A product may be presented by artificially stimulating a need in people, and then using images to convey a promise. It may indeed be a fine product, well made and useful, but the advertising will tend to connect owning that product with friendship or youthful fun. It is not a lie. But it is not real. The car does not come with friends gathered at an ocean beach. So it is not in that sense true.
With political speech, I heard a commentator argue that we must distinguish between political promises made before an election and the ability to govern once a person is in office. Again, the person running for office is not lying. He may well be expressing deeply held convictions about what he would like to see happen and programs he would like to support and initiate. But the reality of governing is different. There will be obstacles and compromises. The vision, the image used to get elected, is not the reality of what will happen.
So, as a culture, we have lost our "reverence for truth." That makes it hard to proclaim truth or introduce people to Jesus Christ, who is truth.
There is a dual history of the word "truth" for us in the West. The meanings of the word that come from Greek and Hebrew cultures overlap, and yet seem to lean in different directions. Both cultures affirm that the truth is that which is honest, accurate and reliable. The truth is a reality and not a deception. But the Greek understanding, especially among its philosophers, was that truth is an unchanging reality which is found primarily in the realm of eternal ideas.
The Hebrews tended towards a more practical definition. Truth is faithfulness. It is that which is stable, firm and reliable. Truth is found in God who does not break his Covenant promise with Israel. Truth is not so much abstract and timeless, but rather it is seen in concrete actions and deeds.
In the Gospel of John, the word "truth" is used 25 times. It is an important word for John, and by it he means reality in contrast to what is false. Truth is what is in the heart, and not just in the outward appearance. Truth is that which is valid, that which carries legitimate authority. It is the word made flesh that lives among us. Jesus is genuine, he is real.
So in the Gospel we meet a very skeptical woman at the well who meets the truth. We see a woman caught in adultery who experiences real forgiveness and protection from Jesus. We meet a man born blind who comes to have sight. We find a man who struggled for 38 years to get into the pool at Bethsaida, and then experienced total healing from Jesus. We meet Nicodemus, a teacher who came to Jesus at night and heard him say, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
In the Gospel of John, we come to meet Jesus, who is truth, who is real, who is living and life-giving. And Jesus says he sends to us the Spirit of Truth, who will guide us into truth. This gift of guidance is essential to our lives as Christians. Without guidance we will to some degree come to believe the world and follow its message.
Once a recovering alcoholic and drug addict explained to me the power of addiction. She said the thing we often do not understand is that the addicting substance works at first. When you begin to drink or use drugs your life for a time gets better. You have friends. Your grades go up in school. There is more peace at home. Life gets better for a time, and then it does not work anymore, and things begin to fall apart and unravel. But in your mind is the memory that there was a time when it worked, and maybe, just maybe, the next time you use it, it will work in that way again. That is why groups like A.A. are so important. People who know the power of addiction, know they need reality, they need guidance, and they need to be reminded of the truth.
I believe everyone needs that kind of guidance. None of us is without some voice in our memory that tempts us, that promises us what it cannot deliver, that distorts the truth of our lives. We are prone to wander and then tell ourselves that we are just exploring a little bit.
So we notice that when Jesus speaks about sending the Holy Spirit, he sends him first, not to comfort the believers, but to convict the world. The spirit comes first as "Paraklete," as Counselor – the word means "prosecuting attorney." What the prosecutor does at first is very interesting. The word can be read "convict" or "convince." Any parent knows that in dealing with a young person who has strayed into some trouble, that correction is a two step process. First comes conviction. The offender must come to recognize his guilt.
"Yes, I did that. I am responsible. I feel sorrow over what I did."
And the second step is to be convinced or persuaded to live in a new way.
"I see that there is in fact another way to live. I believe it to be the right way. I have hope that I can live that way and I will be supported in that way. I receive the power of God to live in a new way."
The Holy Spirit convicts and convinces.
Then Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit as a guide for believers. The Journey in Christ requires direction. We tend to believe that we can live it on our own. We tend to assume that others can live it on their own and we hope they will be OK. The Journey in Christ requires direction and guidance.
We do a pretty good job of accompanying our children and young people as they take the first steps of faith and grow their discipleship through the high school years. We teach them God's Word, we go with them on mission trips, we provide experiences at camp and retreats, we remain in conversation with them through youth groups and Bible studies. Our leaders show up at football games, soccer matches, school musicals.
The big difference that I have seen in youth ministry in the past 10 to 15 years is that young people today talk about what they believe in school and with their friends. They know students who are Muslims. They go to the Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs of their friends, and they talk about faith as part of normal conversation. So when they come to church, they have questions, and they are interested in what the Bible says. I am very encouraged when I see how young people are guided into truth here.
What I am more concerned about is that I don't think we do as well with our adults. What we do, the Bible studies, the Sunday School classes, the ministry groups, are doing very well. I just feel we are leaving too many people on their own. I believe that the Christian life is a guided life. We need to be reading the Word together, praying together, and serving Christ in our community together. I hope that the Ministry Fair sparks some interest and even initiates some creativity in new ways to help each other experience guidance into the truth. God bless you as you consider what God has for you this year, and as you make commitments, sometimes costly in time and energy, to live a guided life into the truth that is Jesus Christ.
Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah.
Amen.