Collect for Easter 7
God our redeemer, you have delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your Son: Grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life, so by his continual presence in us he may raise us to eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 John 5: 9-13
John 17: 6-19
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
‘And what is Truth?’, said Pilate. Of all the world’s most cynical sayings, Pilate’s is one of the worst. His whole life has known betrayal and lies. He speaks from experience of intrigue and political deception in search of power. We don’t know how many bribes it took to land him the position of Governor – what we do know, from his actions, is that he was weak and eager to please both his Roman superiors and the Jewish religious hierarchy in order to maintain a fragile accommodation of his role and position.
‘And what is truth?’. Pilate’s philosophical position is what we would today call ‘post-modernism’ – the denial that there is any absolute reality. ‘Truth’, for him, is relative and changeable according to prevailing circumstances.
For others, ‘Truth’ may be whatever the majority of people are led (fooled) to believe – a weakness that many unscrupulous aspiring leaders manipulate. Hitler’s rise to power – and that of others since – was dependent on that naivete. So long as the lie is big enough, and repeated often enough, people will believe it.”
Or ‘Truth’ may be personalised – truth is whatever I want to believe. Whatever is most convenient and useful to me personally.
For some, ‘Truth’ may only be found in a particular tradition or culture, denying the value of other experiences and driving sectarianism.
On ethe other hand, Secularists would say that ‘Truth’ can only be defined by what can be scientifically ‘proven’ – but the more science discovers, the more we find out that we don’t actually know much (Actually, Socrates said that first). When confronted by the unpredictability of subatomic particles, Albert Einstein, who wanted absolute certainty, never found it – but he continued to seek it, in his frustration insisting ‘God does not play dice’.
No. He doesn’t.
In our secular, physical, world, we can search for absolute truths and look to prove them on the basis of ‘facts’. Good luck with that…
But in Christ, a much more reliable ‘Truth’ can be found. Truth in the ‘Logos’ – the Word. The Word made flesh. We find truth in Him – and the proof is the existence of that strange God-given thing called love. Undefinable, irrational, self-denying, unexplainable, unconditional love
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