Truth

 
 Lately, I've been thinking about truth.  Pilate said in a cry of despair, "What IS truth?"  When faced with the possibility that all he'd ever known had been a lie, and seeing the light of Jesus' love and sacrifice, Pilate chose to turn away and go back to believing what he did before.  He could never say, however, that he hadn't known--although for but a moment--the truth.  Agrippa made the same decision years later when confronted by the same truth spoken through Paul.  Looking at Paul's chains and the price of "freedom," Agrippa chose to stay in slavery--captured by chains much deeper and much harder to see.  Which of the two was truly free?  Agrippa exclaimed, "Almost, you persuade me to be a Christian."  As Isaiah 44:20 says, Agrippa, deluded by the cares of this world and feeding on ashes (the fleeting riches of a kingdom in decline, and the prestige and honor given by fickle man), couldn't bring himself to ask, "Is this thing I have in my right-hand (in highest esteem) a lie?"
     Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one comes to the Father but by Him.  The Father loves us so much that He gave a way back to the Truth and back to the center of His heart.  By Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, He paid the price for us to walk with Him, again.  His blessed Holy Spirit warns us when we go to the left or the right, and keeps us grounded and steady so that we have the strength to follow Him.  Some people say that God can't love us outside of Jesus.  I say that God loved us so much, He gave up that which was most precious to Him to "win us back."  Jesus said He can do nothing He doesn't see the Father do.  That means the love we see in Jesus--His life; His mercy; His compassion; His faithfulness--is how God the Father feels towards us.  God isn't some distant, jealous God waiting to squash us when we get it wrong.  Rather, if it says God is a jealous God, it means that as a loving Father, He longs for us to know Him; to never wander away; to not be fooled by the trappings of this world that will only cause us pain and keep us from the things He wants to give that will last us longer than the temporary pleasures we might try to grasp.  He longs to bring us to His side and teach us what is truly important, and against all the lies, and idols, and false rulers we accept: against them, He wars and thunders, and fights "jealously" to draw us back to Him where we are finally whole.

    At the same time Jesus reached for the lost and hurting, He overturned the money changers and railed against the Pharisees.  He declared His house a House of praise.  He stood against sin, and stood for truth, and wept for the sinners even while he scolded the "saints."  So what does that tell us, today?  We must stand for truth and freedom.  We must speak out against sin, but love the sinner.  We aren't to be quiet in standing against injustice; control; religion that puts demands on us without drawing us into relationship with Jesus; idols that would take the place of God in our hearts.  But we are never to hurt one another in the name of "truth" and "freedom"; we aren't meant to be judging, and accusing, and letting our pride tell us that we know best what others should do.  Jesus said in Matthew 24, the day would come when people would think betrayal, judgment, criticism and fault-finding ("delivering" one another up to be crucified) were being done on behalf of God.  May He free us from such a plight!
If it is against sin, let us stand.  If it is against injustice, let us be heard bringing life and freedom.  Against hopelessness, let us bring hope.  Against sarcasm and bullying, let us speak out with peace and love. But if it is to enslave and dictate to others, let us be silent.  If it is to cause others to feel inadequate or "lost" without our opinions, let us find mercy and compassion.  May our voices only be heard drowning out the darkness, but never drowning out the beauty God has placed within each other.  May we find a way to lay our lives down, again, for the ones God loves (in other words: ALL mankind; He doesn't desire that one of them be lost).  Let us not compromise when confronted with sarcasm; indifference; control; religion; hatred; oppression, but let us truly be, "slow to speak; quick to listen, and quick to forgive."  May all we do bring freedom, and may we truly, "Know the Truth, and the Truth will set (us) free" (John 8:32).