What Is Truth?
Posted on Oct 26, 2014 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
Today is the last Sunday in October, which means in the church calendar today is Reformation Sunday. For many Lutherans, it is kind of like our “national pride day.” We like to talk about how it was Luther who challenged the church of his day and sought to bring about change. We like to hold our heads high today and highlight the changes Luther and his followers brought into the church and into the culture. But these are really not what this festival day is all about. No, in the church, this festival day is designated so that we might take the time to reexamine our faith and part of that is recognizing the truth about our inadequacies, our failings, and our sinfulness. Those of us who celebrate this day are called to look in the mirror seek to see our every flaw and wrinkle. We are called to do this, not so that we can punish ourselves, but so that we might seek ways to change ourselves. We seek this change, not for our salvation, Christ has already done that, but so that we might change for Chris’s sake so that we can be agents of change in this broken world. If we are serious about changing the world, then we must change first.
Last week we heard four incredibly awesome statements of faith by our confirmands. I was moved by all of them as I listened to these four young adults share with us what it is they believe about Jesus and his claim on their lives and the relationship each of them is hoping to have with Christ. Afterward, I had several of you come up to me and ask me to make sure I shared with them how powerful their statements were and I did that at the confirmation banquet last Sunday evening. But, after I did that last Sunday evening, I got up Monday morning and once again began preparing for today and so I read our texts for today, I was reminded of something very important and that is, as important as believing Jesus is, believing is just the beginning. Yes, Jesus did say that all who believe will be saved (Mark 16:16), but believing is only step one. Once we believe, as today’s text notes, we must then abide in Jesus. That is we are called to walk in Jesus’ words, or live them, so that we might know the truth and the truth Jesus speaks of is living as Jesus lived.
If we are going to live in Jesus’ words, if we are going to walk and live as Jesus walked, then we must begin to build relationships with the poor, the homeless, the outcast, those who are on the margins of society. If we are going to live in the truth, then we are called to come to know the truth and the truth is, this world is broken. Although we all go home to warm comfortable beds at night, many in this world do not. The truth is, although we have food on our tables for every meal, many in this world do not. The truth is, although most of us have had the opportunity to attend incredible schools and have had great educations, many in this world, many in nearby communities, do not have that opportunity. The truth is, although most us have jobs that pay a livable wage, the majority of the people in this world do not. The truth is, until we, the church, begin to build real meaningful relationships with those who are different from us, those on the margins and those who are truly in need, we cannot truly live as Jesus lived.
In just a few minutes, I will invite our four confirmands to come forward and when they do, I will ask them to reaffirm the baptismal vows their parents made for them when they were baptized. In doing this, I will say:
Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy baptism:
to live among God's faithful people,
to hear the word of God and share in the Lord's supper,
to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,
to serve all people, following the example of Jesus,
and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?
Those last two lines are the critical part of this affirmation today. We come to this place to worship, we live among God’s faithful, we seek to proclaim the Good News, not for our sake, but so that we might serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.
This is at the heart of Reformation Sunday. This is the heart of Confirmation. We do these things, we go through confirmation, not so we can graduate to some place we never come to church again, or so that we can say we no longer need to study God’s word, but so that we take the time to remind ourselves of our call which is to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.
In essence today is about remembering that we have been commanded to love God and love our neighbor and those neighbors we need to love include those we do not know.
As you know, two weeks ago we kicked-off work on our 2015 Growth Appeal and Mission Appeal. Over the next seven weeks we will be talking a lot about money and our goals to raise enough to cover our almost $500,000 annual budget and our goal to raise an additional $400,000 over the next three years. Now our first inclination might be to say, no way, that is impossible, that is too much money. But the truth is, this campaign is not about money. This campaign is about living into the truth we claim to believe. This campaign is about being a faith community that not only proclaims the Gospel, but lives the Gospel.
So, today, as I ask each of the confirmands if it their intention to fulfill their baptismal covenant, I pray that each of you, ask yourself if you, too, are prepared to live out your covenant, so that together we might come to know the truth that we have been called serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth. Amen.