Tell Me the Truth

Sermon from April 6, 2012

(Good Friday – Year B)

John 18:1-19:42

Delivered at

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Waco, Texas

I can remember sitting on the floor, red-faced and with hot cheeks.

I can remember sitting Indian-style at one end of the living room floor.

And my younger brother sat on the floor at the opposite end of the living room.

And my mother sat in a chair between us - with her arms folded in front and with a look of disgust on her face.

My mother glared first at my brother and then she glared at me and exclaimed:

“You boys are not going anywhere –

Until one of you tells me the truth.”

I can’t remember now exactly what my brother or I had done.

Maybe one of us had knocked over a lamp and broke it.

Or maybe one of us had made a mess in the playroom.

Yet no matter what it was that my brother or I had done,

Neither one of us was willing to tell the truth.

So my brother and I sat at opposite ends of the living room floor, with my mother perched on the judgment seat.

After a few minutes, she repeated her direction:

“Tell me the truth.

Tell me now who did it.

Because you are not getting up from here –

Until one of you tells me the truth.”

Eventually, one of my mother’s sons broke down and admitted the wrongdoing.

One of us brothers broke down and told the truth.

And one of us was exposed as a liar.

Because my mother was always true to her word.

No one was going anywhere, until someone tells the truth.

When I hear the story of the passion of Lord Jesus Christ, as it is told in John’s Gospel, I am always intrigued by the encounter between Jesus and Pontius Pilate.

Pilate demands that Jesus tell the truth.

And Jesus answers:

“For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.”

Pilate and Jesus sit at opposite ends of the living room floor.

One of them is a liar and one of them is telling the truth.

Yet Jesus was born into this world, to tell the truth.

Jesus walked on this earth, to tell the truth.

Jesus died on a cross, to tell the truth.

In fact, John’s Gospel is filled with evidence that Jesus is the truth.

In the opening words of the Gospel of John, we hear that:

“The Word became flesh and lived among us.

And we have seen his glory…full of grace and truth.”

In the Gospel of John, Jesus explains:

“You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus proclaims:

“I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.”

And then, on Good Friday, Pontius Pilate asks Jesus:

“What is truth?”

And Jesus answers with deafening silence.

But Jesus does answer the question -

By stretching out his arms upon the hard wood of the cross.

Jesus is full of grace and truth.

Jesus is the Truth.

Jesus tells the truth.

And the truth is love.

When I read my newsfeed on Google news, I am thirsty for the real truth.

When I read about the death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman, I want to know the truth.

For those who don’t know what I am talking about, Trayvon Martin was the African-American boy who was wearing a hoodie.

And Trayvon was recently shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman.

In my search for the truth, I wish that I could put both Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman into opposite corners of the living room.

I want to sit on the judgment seat and ask them:

George Zimmerman: did you act in self-defense?

Trayvon Martin: were you an innocent victim of racial profiling?

I am thirsty to know the truth:

Which one of you is a liar and which one of you is telling the truth?

Yet, like Pilate, we are looking for the wrong answers.

Because no matter who was at fault,

The truth is that a life was tragically lost because we are a people of violence and prejudice and sin.

The truth is that we are a broken people who crucify others - rather than love others.

The truth is that Jesus exposes all of us as liars.

For the truth is love.

On Good Friday, Jesus looks squarely into our eyes and proclaims:

“For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.”

And the truth is love.

On Good Friday and on every day, we sit on the judgment seat, trying to figure out what is a lie and what is the truth.

We are seeped in a culture that tells us that everything around us is ours.

We have been told that the cars that we drive, the houses that we live in, the jobs that we have, the debit card in our wallet –

These are all ours, gained by our hard work.

Yet that is a lie.

The truth is that heaven and earth are full of God’s glory and the stuff that we have is actually God’s, on loan to us so that we might use it to love others, rather than use it to love on ourselves.

On the cross, Jesus exposes that the god of consumerism and consumption is a liar.

And the truth is love.

We are seeped in a culture that tells us that violence and prejudice are the answer to our problems and differences.

We have been told that if someone looks black and is wearing a hoodie, then they must be up to no good.

We are told that if someone looks like a redneck, then they must be a bigot.

We are told that if we just had bigger bombs and better weapons and more crucifixions and just one more spiteful thing to say to put our meddling mother-in-law into her place,

Then we would be safe and secure.

Yet that is a lie.

The truth is that Jesus goes willingly to the cross –

Never, ever retaliating or acting out of self-defense.

On the cross, Jesus exposes that the god of violence is a liar.

And the truth is love.

Love is the only truth.

Love is the only measure by which we are judged.

And Love is on the Cross.

For God is Love.

On Good Friday, Jesus and Pontius Pilate sit at opposite ends of the living room floor.

And my mother was always true to her word.

No one is going anywhere, until someone tells the truth.

So from his cross, Jesus finally confesses:

“For this I was born, and for this I came into the world,

To tell the truth.”

AMEN.