Jesus' exchange with Pontius Pilate in John's Gospel seems backwards. We expect answers to be responses to questions. But here, Jesus says that his mission - his purpose - is to testify to the truth and that everyone who belongs to the truth will listen to his voice. Pilate responds to that statement with a question that here, at least, goes unanswered.
"For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Pilate asked him, "what is truth?" (John 18:37b-38)
What is truth?
I've found that many of our political arguments these days are in fact about which sources we take to be credible. In an era of so much misinformation, spin, and even outright lies, we don't know who to believe. Facebook posts go on and on with both liberals and conservatives quoting from the sources within their preferred bubbles. But we talk past each other. We can't debate the issues because we can't agree on the "facts." On more than one occasion in this past week I've seen someone ask with no small amount of frustration: who do we trust to give us news, rather than propaganda? Why is it so hard to even agree on the "facts?"
As a preacher, I'd ask a follow-up question: what does the good news look like in a time of so much fake news? Because if the preacher challenges deeply held beliefs, even in the name of Jesus, there is bound to be some push back.
What is truth?
Karl Barth once said: "take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible." It's that second part of the quote that many forget to add, but Barth knew well what it meant to live in an age of (Nazi) propaganda.
Preaching is about connecting the dots from what is happening in our world - in this time and place - with the message of the Cross. But they are not equal conversation partners. The Word of God grounds us in the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, which is to say that it points us to the One whose voice is trustworthy. Listen to Him! What does the Risen Christ say about children in cages? I think that's actually a very easy question, unless we have co-opted Jesus into his own America First cage. Faith is hard, and getting to truth can be complicated. But this is a gimme! We learned it in Sunday School: Jesus loves all the little children of the world. And all means the poor brown ones too.
Preaching that ignores the world we live in is not preaching. This is why preaching cannot be simply "spiritual." We need to wade into the issues of our day and we need to take sides, not as partisan political operatives but for the sake of the truth which will set us all free. That begins and ends with learning to listen for that trustworthy Voice in the midst of so much shouting. It begins and ends with discernment.
The Preacher points the way, so that the community can go out to love and serve the Lord. As the meme above rightly reminds us, preaching is not an end in itself. The task of the preacher is to get us headed off in the right direction, so that God's people might be not merely hearers of the Word, but doers of it.
Thank you, Rich.
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