"What is Truth?"

John 18:33-38New International Version (NIV)

33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.

Pope Pius XI started the tradition of Christ the King Sunday in 1925 and the last Sunday before Advent is typically celebrated with a feast.  We typically forget about this celebration because of the looming holidays of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and oh, Thanksgiving.  To be honest, I only realized the small significance of today during my prep for our service this morning.  I thought it was slightly odd that all the scriptures in the lectionary were focused on Jesus ministry on earth and how he was trying to redefine what it meant to be a king so I did some research as to why the lectionary went this direction right before Advent started.  The season of Advent celebrates the beginning of Christ’s ministry here on earth.  As Christmas nears, we are reminded of the miracle that was Christ’s birth and Advent helps prepare our hearts and minds for that celebration.  So Christ the King Sunday is like tailgating before the big game.  It’s the celebration before the celebration.  It serves as a good reminder as what Christ’s ministry is headed towards as we celebrate his birth.  I thought it necessary to give this background because our scripture for this morning seems a little out of place without it.

Now, getting to our scripture for this morning, the passage I have selected to share with you is the conversation between Pilate and Jesus.  The same scripture we typically hear during Lent in the Sunday or two before Easter morning.  When viewed as a prequel to Advent instead of near the end of Lent, to me it gave the scripture a different perspective.  Or maybe it was the events of the last week but either way, this scripture took on a different meaning for me than I think it otherwise typically would.  As scripture so often does, it applies best when we are connected deeply to the Word, to God and to the world around us.  The words in red, the words Christ spoke when he said, “... the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth” are the words that have stuck with me this entire week.  I couldn’t shake them and I prayed that God would give them meaning in the context of the Syrian refugee situation, the Paris terror attacks and the Mali hostage situation.  I have been trying to figure out where I stand on the refugee issue.  Whether or not to take some of them in: our calling as Christians in such a terrible situation, our duty as a country to help those in need, and our responsibility to keep our families safe.  When I began preaching I made a promise to God and to myself that I was always going to be honest.  No matter how badly I presented a sermon, no matter how poorly written a sermon may have been, no matter my own sins and shortcomings I knew I was going to be honest with this congregation.  This honesty means that I would share my struggles, my doubts and my questions with all of you.  I do not have an absolute answer to this Syrian refugee crisis.  Part of me says that we have to let them in because we are called by Christ to help the needy.  Part of me says that we need to take care of our own first.  And a large part of me is concerned about the safety of my family and friends if we would allow them to come to America.  The terror events of Paris and the hostage situation in Mali have me wanting to say absolutely no to the refugees for fear of future terror attacks.  But then I think about the terror attacks that we Americans take out on one another.  We just don’t call them that because, for whatever reason, terror attacks have to be foreign.  When these attacks come from within, we don’t use the word “terror”, but to me they are just as horrific.  They still excite fear and illicit emotional responses.  Part of we says that these refugees aren’t going to be any worse than what we already have here in our own country but that’s not a good argument.  Two wrongs don’t make a right.  99.9% of the refugees would probably do well in our country but it only takes one for all of us to say, “see, we were right, we should have never let them in.”  It only takes one.  Now this is often applied to many arguments, social or otherwise.  Typically, we take the first negative result and throw it in the face of any number of positive results when we are not in favor of the process anyway.  On the other hand, if it is something we are in favor of, we throw out that negative result and we will continue to do so.  I am just glad God’s grace, our salvation, and Christ’s love from the cross do not apply in the same manner.  There have been millions, if not billions, of terrible Christians in the past 2,000 years and thankfully God never once allowed them to ruin it for us.  He doesn’t even allow us to ruin it for us.  We make countless mistakes and continually fall short and yet God loves us anyway.  God grace extends beyond all of that.

So now you probably think I am completely in favor of accepting these refugees.  Good.  Now, the other side of the argument:  I will NOT allow anyone to harm my family.  I will do anything possible and within my control to prevent someone from harming my family and friends.  ANYTHING.  I see what some of these terror groups do to these women and children, how they kidnap, pillage and murder to shape future soldiers for their cause.  I see how they completely disregard human life and history.  I see evil in its most human form.  I see that and think no amount of telling them God loves them will stop them.  I see that evil and doubt very strongly that prayers will ever change them.  I see what they are capable of and think that allowing just one of them into our country, possibly our state or even our community, would be way too many.  We often throw around how much it would cost to fund these refugees and how many others are in need in our country as it stands now.  We ought to know and understand what kind of undertaking these refugees might be but don’t use homeless veterans as a statistic and then do nothing about it.  Don’t use a statistic on how many homeless and hungry children we have here already as an argument to not help any refugees and then do absolutely nothing to help feed and clothe those children.  Jesus said, “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”  Verse 38 was not apart of the lectionary scriptures but I included it because I thought Pilate’s response was exactly what mine would have been and what mine is in response to the Syrian refugee crisis “What is truth?”  What is the answer?  On this issue and most any politically dividing issue, we all think we are on Christ’s side of truth and that we are listening to him while the other side is not.

In conclusion, when I preach on love, respect and understanding I do so with the understanding that the other individual or group wants the same thing I do: peace.  In the case of terror groups, they do not want peace.  They only want their regime in charge and will kill anyone who stands in their way, including children.  We ought to pray that God someone how changes their hearts but this is not likely but we should keep doing it anyway.  Now, this is where it gets extremely difficult for me.  The question becomes: Am I willing to potentially expose my family and friends to a terrorist so I can prove I am faithful to God?  I don’t think so. Here is where my honesty will come through and I hope you can appreciate it even if you don’t agree.  Even if you do agree with me, don’t use it as an “I told you so” you also need to continue to educate yourself, as I am going to but I am not willing to expose my children, my family and my friends to potential evil. However, I am conflicted because I know that God calls us to help when we are able. I see that image of the young child laying lifeless on the beach after his family attempted to cross a sea to get to Europe and I refuse to call him a future terrorist. I am thankful I do not have to make these incredibly difficult decisions that our country’s leaders have to make.  We should be praying for them because no matter what they decide, they will be unfairly chastised for it.  What is truth?  It is not always easy to figure out.  But keep pursuing it because the answer to this issue, and many like it, are not so clear.  The constant pursuing of truth leads us to constantly pursue God.  It leads us to be better and this world needs better, it needs our best.  This congregation is at its best when we greet one another each Sunday.  I may not have an exact answer to the refugee crisis but I do know that if take that kind of fellowship out into the world we are spreading God’s love and grace wherever we go and by doing that, we slim down the areas where hate can fester and even thrive. Amen.