Christ Church

A Message for the Mayor and City Council of Moscow

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The Text

“Then Jesus said to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:31-32).

Introduction

There is a long tradition in the Christian Church in which ministers of the gospel delivered sermons that were directed to kings and governors and judges. Moses preached to Pharaoh. Jeremiah was called by God to preach to nations and kingdoms. Paul preached to a number of Roman Governors. John Calvin dedicated his Institutes of the Christian Religion to the King France. And you can read whole collections of sermons from early American preachers full of messages to the governors of the colonies.

So, Mayor Lambert, Counsellors Bettge, Kelly, Laflin, Sullivan, Taruscio, and Zabala, this message is respectfully for you. The Bible is clear that Christians owe magistrates honor and obedience in the Lord. And the Bible is equally clear that we are to pray for all who are in authority, and this is with the goal that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty. I have had the pleasure of meeting only three of you, but I want you to know that you have all been in my prayers, especially recently.

An Ocean of Opinions & Feelings

My message for you today is fairly simple, but it has enormous ramifications. It’s sort of like gravity – once understood and formulated, you realize it affects everything. And the message is based on a question that I believe has been pressed upon you all in recent days. It’s a question many rulers and officials have asked over the centuries, especially in moments of uncertainty and crisis. In fact, it’s inscribed in the Bible, in the mouth of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate when Jesus was on trial before him and a mob had gathered. The question is, “What is truth?” I imagine you all have been asking yourselves and one another that same question in the midst of this coronavirus crisis. We all have. What is truth? Are the data models being circulated true? How bad is the virus? How quickly does the virus spread? Are the numbers we are seeing true? Can it be treated? Can it overload our hospitals? What is truth?

I can only imagine what you have been through over the last number of weeks. I can only imagine that you have received more input from your constituents than ever before. No doubt, you have received advice, counsel, pleas, denunciations, theories, angry outbursts, maybe even worse. And my message for you is that the only way forward, the only way out of this mess is the truth. Jesus said, “if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:32).

But in order for truth to set you free, you must know what truth is. And unless the answer to that question is something firm and fixed, something that does not change, something that goes all the way down and reaches all the way up through all of reality, you will always be adrift in a story sea of opinions and preferences and emotions.

Bedrock Truth

For the last fifty years or so, our culture and universities have declared that truth is whatever you want it to be. Whatever is true for you, is true for you, and whatever is true for me is true for me. We call this relativism or subjectivism. Everyone is their own sun, and their truth, their story, their reality is whatever they choose to make revolve around themselves.

But what you are finding is that this theory simply doesn’t work in the real world. No doubt you have been bombarded with many truth claims in recent days. Many citizens have no doubt been sharing their realities with you – with varying degrees of correspondence. But what you are no doubt finding is that these various claims to truth are competing and in many cases in direct contradiction. The pressure is on you, and the fact of the matter is that you cannot make everyone happy. Right now you have many business owners and freedom loving citizens upset, and when the isolation orders are lifted you will no doubt have many who are upset because the threat is still in their opinion very grave. But the fact of the matter is that the coronavirus cannot be both likely to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans and likely to only kill tens of thousands of Americans. The coronavirus cannot be likely to overrun hospitals and not likely to overrun hospitals. One of those is true and one is false. Or some other fact is true and both are false. You have been and are being forced to take sides, to choose which claims you find more plausible, more likely to be true. And this is because truth is by its very nature fixed, firm, immoveable.

Truth does not vary from day to day. Truth does not change. It is the same on Monday and Wednesday and Friday. It is the same this year and next year. Our understanding of truth can certainly change. We change. But truth does not change. Two plus two is four all of the time.

But in order for truth to be true there must be a bedrock that it rests on. That bedrock is what we call reality. This is why we say that someone who denies basic arithmetic or gravity is in the process of denying reality. And this is why we say that reality doesn’t care about our feelings. Reality doesn’t care what we believe. You can believe you can fly with all your might, but flapping your arms wildly and jumping off the roof of your house cannot change reality. Gravity doesn’t care.

But you cannot insist on these bedrock facts without also insisting on their origin. Where do bedrock facts come from? Where does truth come from? One of the root causes of our relativism – claiming that truth is whatever you want it to be is the theory of evolution. You cannot hold that absolutely everything in the universe accidentally came from nothing, and then by millions of years accidentally mutated and adapted into being andhold simultaneously that truth is fixed and changeless. You cannot hold that everything has changed and then arbitrarily decide that something cannot change.

If evolution is true then “might makes right” and “survival of the fittest” really is the only law. To say we evolved into caring about the weak or caring about truth doesn’t matter. Who cares? Maybe one of the more enlightened protoplasm once thought that they were the height of evolution too. But if evolution is the law, evolution doesn’t care. Mutation doesn’t ask for permission. Mutation doesn’t care about love or justice or mercy. It really is random and arbitrary, mindless and heartless.

Is There a Law-Giver?

So this is my message for you. And it is in the form of a question: What is truth?

And there really are only two options. Either there is no such thing as truth. Everything evolved, and therefore everything is an accident and meaningless mutation. Or else there is such a thing as truth because this world was created. It was designed. And therefore, it has meaning because it was meant. There are laws of nature because nature has a law-Giver.

And this is not something that is a particularly religious opinion. This fact, this truth was permanently etched on the history of our nation in the Declaration of Independence, which states that sometimes it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve political bands and to assume a separate and equal station, which the “laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” entitle them to. The Declaration of Independence acknowledges that Nature has laws and that Nature has a God. That was part of the basis for America deciding to declare independence from Great Britain. The same document closes by stating, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

And so the question that ought to occur to us occasionally is: What were the founders of our nation actually relying on? When they risked their lives in declaring independence from Great Britain, were they actually relying on a real and true thing, the “Protection of Divine Providence,” or would it have been just as true for them to say they were relying on cotton candy, pink balloons, or the Easter Bunny? Is what they wrote true? And if you say it was true for them, then you might as well say it wasn’t true at all. It doesn’t matter if they had warm fuzzies in their belly when they wrote it, if it isn’t really true. It doesn’t matter if they felt deeply about it, if it isn’t really true. Remember the one who believes very deeply that he can fly by waving his arms wildly while jumping of his roof. Reality doesn’t care about our feelings. It only cares about what is real, what is true. So again, I ask you, what is truth?

The Truth-Teller Meddles

Logic and sound reason say that truth, for it to be true, must actually correspond to reality and must be as firm and unchanging as reality, and therefore, reality must have an intelligent and intentional origin. If there are laws of nature that are true, then nature must have a law-Giver. Or, if there is truth that is firm and fixed, then there must be an ultimate Truth-Teller.

And so we come to point: the only way through the fog of human opinion, the only way through the storm of prejudice and preference and paralyzing fear is with the truth. If everything is just flux and mutation and change, then everything is just emotion, opinion, and it doesn’t matter. But if truth – true truth really does correspond to reality, then truth really does out. Truth really does matter. There may be a storm, there may be uncertainty, but it really does pay to be as close to the truth as possible. The truth really does set you free.

But this really is the terrifying thing about truth. Truth is not arbitrary or selective, and truth cannot be cordoned off in a special room for special circumstances. If you decide to embrace Truth, not just true-for you, scratch-and-sniff truth, but true truth, you should be prepared for the fallout. And it really is a wonderful fallout, but it’s also quite bracing. It’s the only safe place to be, but it will not stop with Covid-19 or the laws of nature. And what I mean is that if you embrace Truth, you must be willing to tell the truth everywhere, and in everything. And this really is the central offense of truth. It’s why people, for all their lip service to truth, really don’t prefer it at all. Everyone is fine with truth-telling so long as is it doesn’t get personal, so long as the Truth doesn’t get to meddling. But the Truth does get to meddling.

How can you say you believe in truth when it comes to gravity or mathematics or logic, but when it comes to whether you have always told the truth, you won’t have it? But there it is anyway. Have you always told the truth? To your parents, to your employers, to your spouse, to your children? Will you embrace the Truth or not? Or how can you say that you want to know the truth about Covid-19, but you do not want to know the truth about whether an unborn baby is really a human being? How can you say that you want to know the truth, but you are not really interested in knowing anything about the Maker of the Universe, the Creator God?

The Jesus who said that truth sets us free, is the same One who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me.” It really is an extraordinary claim, an exclusive claim. Many people say that they think Jesus was a good, moral teacher, but very few of them wrestle with this claim – that He is the truth, and that He is the Way, the only Way to God. That same Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross for all our lies. He was betrayed for all of our betrayals. And He rose from the dead in order to make all things new.

Conclusion

George Washington once said “It is the duty of nations and as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God … and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.” George Washington said nations are only blessed that acknowledge God.

The preamble to the Idaho State Constitution says, “We, the people of the State of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and promote our common welfare do establish this Constitution.”

If this is true of nations and states it is no doubt true of cities – cities like our wonderful Moscow, Idaho. But that is the question. Is it true? Is it really true? Do we need God’s blessing on the city of Moscow in order for Moscow to thrive? Do we need His help in this time of crisis? And if so, have we asked Him? Have you formally, publicly acknowledged this truth?

You have our prayers.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

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A Ladder Up to Heaven

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Introduction

A distinguishing feature of the Christian faith is that we proclaim the assurance of salvation. Christians aren’t left guessing if God hears their prayers. We aren’t crossing our fingers wishing that our God will be gracious to us. The saints of God aren’t cowering in the corner wondering what sort of mood God is in today. No. Those who are born again are as certain of their standing with God and His love to them as they are that the sun will rise tomorrow.

The Text

“The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man” (John 1:43-51).

Summary of the Text

After renaming Simon to Cephas (or Peter)––which means a stone (v.42), we have the unornamented call of Philip (v.43), what his hometown was (v.44), and his first act as a disciple: fetching Nathanael (v.45). Philip goes to find Nathanael, tells him that they’ve found the Messiah which Moses and the prophets foretold: a one Jesus of Nazareth (v.45).

Nathanael is dubious something as good as the Messiah could come out of Nazareth, but at Philip’s insistence, comes anyway (v.46). When Jesus sees Nathanael coming, He makes a (seemingly) odd pronouncement about Nathanael (v.47). The prophetic declaration strikes home, and Nathanael is left dumbfounded at Jesus’ discernment (cf. Is. 11:2-3), and asks, “What gives?!” To which Jesus reveals that He saw what Nathanael was up to before Philip even called him: being a true Israelite (under a fig tree) (v.48, cf. Mic. 4:4).
This is enough to persuade Nathanael of Jesus’ Messiahship (v.49). Jesus affirms his faith, and then reveals that greater things shall be seen by Nathanael (v.50). Jesus then describes those greater things by referencing a story about the patriarch Jacob, and a vision he had once seen (v.51, cf. Gen. 28).

The Name-Changer

The reference to Jacob’s ladder––the open heaven with angels ascending and descending––is a curious allusion, that is well worth pursuing. To recap that story, remember that the patriarch was leaving the promised land of Canaan not on sweet terms, but in a self-inflicted exile, fleeing from Esau. On his way, he stops for the night, takes a stone for a pillow, and while sleeping, sees a vision (which is what Jesus is alluding to in our text). When Jacob awakens, he declares, “Truly, God is in this place.” He sets up his stone pillow as a pillar, then changes the name of that place from Luz to Bethel––the house of God.

Years later, right before he returns to the Promised Land––as a great host––he wrestles with God at Peniel (Gen. 32), and God declares that his name is going to be changed. A few chapters later––in the closing scenes of Jacob’s story––we see that he has returned to Bethel, and there God renews the Abrahamic covenant with Jacob, and renames him: Israel (Gen. 35:9-15). After God appears to Jacob, He “goes up/ascends” from him.

So, why does John recount this interaction with Nathanael? First, remember the preceding context of this section. Jesus has been changing names: Simon to Peter (a stone). In other words, Jesus sets up a stone, like Jacob had done long ago. Jesus tells Nathanael that he is not a Jacob, but an Israelite (the only time someone is called an Israelite in John’s gospel).

Nathanael declares Jesus to be, “Rabbi, Son of God, King of Israel;” but Jesus quickly “renames” himself: “son of man.” As one more layer to the “name-changing” going on in this passage, John is the only Gospel writer to refer to Nathanael; whereas the synoptic gospels refer to him as Bartholomew. In other words, Jesus is a name-changer. But only a father has the right to name someone, and only God has the right to rename someone.

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it (Rev. 2:17).”
“Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named (Eph 3:15).”

The human race is full of Adamsons. But our family is under the judgement and wrath of God. Our family is in exile from the garden. We forfeited the deed to it back in Eden. We are cut off from heaven, and thus our lot is hell. Who will bring us back to God?

The Great Divorce

But the fact that Jesus is a name-changer is not the only feature in this passage. Name-changing is a divine prerogative, but a far off god is no good for sinners. What John is drawing our attention to is the tension between Christ’s divinity, and His humanity. Henry Law once well-stated: “[The vision of the ladder] shows Jesus, in the miracle of His person—man, without ceasing to be God—God, without scorning to be man.”

Jesus has come to be the one, sent by the Father, to change our names. He has come to adopt us into God’s family. Nathanael is dead on when he sees in Jesus a true Rabbi, a true priest, a true King (v.49). He is a faithful Israelite, who has longed for the promised salvation. But Jesus makes it plain that the way in which He will fulfill those offices is by uniting earth back to heaven.
In Eden there was, what C.S. Lewis called, a great divorce. We were cut off from God and from grace. In order to return, the debt must be repaid, and it must be paid by a son of Adam, a Son of man. While Nathanael was persuaded to believe because of Jesus’ prophetical declaration, Jesus expands the smallness of Nathanael’s vision. Jesus has come to suffer as one of us, but as God to rise from the dead. Or as the Belgic Confession puts it, “true God in order to conquer death by His power, and true man that he might die for us in the weakness of his flesh.”

In Jesus Christ we have a true Son of Man, who is also the Son of God. The great marvel which Nathanael would see is that reunion of heaven and earth in Christ. Our prayers, in the name of Jesus, ascend up to heaven. The blessings of His grace and mercy descend unto us.

Babel tried to build a tower into heaven, and they were denied. Heaven was closed. But in Jacob’s ladder it is God Himself who sets up a tower into an open heaven. Jesus tells us He’s the only way back to God. He says, “I am that ladder.” And that ladder is your assurance of prayers heard and salvation received. For those who look to Jesus, He brings your prayers and tears to God, and He brings down all of God’s grace, goodness, and promises to you. Nathanael, indeed, saw great things.

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The Truth That Sets You Free

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Introduction

The world is fundamentally divided between the truth and all lies. Jesus is the Truth, and He speaks the truth of God, and those who are born of God love the truth and hear His voice. But those who are not born of God cannot hear the word of God because they are sons of the devil, who is a liar, and the father of lies. So when we come to considering the importance of telling the truth, repenting of our lies, and learning to hate all lies, we are talking about nothing less than fundamental loyalties, allegiances, and eternal destinies.

The Text

31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41 Ye do the deeds of your father.

Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, evenGod. 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God (John 8:31-47).

A Summary of the Text

It’s striking that John says that Jesus spoke these hard words to those Jews “who believed in Him” (Jn. 8:31), but Jesus ends up by saying that some of them don’t believe in Him (Jn. 8:45). I take this to mean that there were both believers and unbelievers in the crowd. This doesn’t mean that all of the Jews who believed in Him were offended by His words or that the Jews who believed in Him were actually unbelievers and sons of the devil. But it does mean that Jesus was not seeker-sensitive. It also means that the hard truth is good for those who believe, especially when it is aimed directly at their pride. The hard truth is also good because it divides believers and unbelievers. Jesus, master preacher, immediately finds their pride hideout, which is apparently (and deeply ironically) related to the notion of freedom(Jn. 8:31-32). The Jews lie to Jesus, insisting that they have never been in bondage to anyone, which is a whopper if there ever was one (Jn. 8:33). Imagine some of the kids standing there getting shushed for asking about Passover. Jesus is undeterred and insists that all who sin are fundamentally enslaved, and only He can set men free (Jn. 8:34-36).

Their pride in their Jewishness, their lineage from Abraham, is all wrong since they want to kill Jesus, something Abraham would not have done (Jn. 8:37-40). Jesus says they are doing the works of their father alright, but he isn’t Abraham or God, because they don’t understand Him (Jn. 8:41-43). Children recognize the voice of their father in utero, and therefore, if the words of Jesus are nonsense to them, the devil is their father (Jn. 8:44). Some of the Jews are already plotting to kill Jesus, and this is hardly surprising since lies and murder go together. Lies are verbal murder and originate from the father of lies and murder (Jn. 8:44). Jesus insists that those who do not believe Him, fundamentally refuse because they hate the truth (Jn. 8:45). He makes the same point by inviting someone to testify that He is lying, but since no one will, He points out that the only other option is believing in Him (Jn. 8:46). Jesus concludes that it is all very simple: those who are of God love the truth of His word, and those who do not love the truth of His word are not of God (Jn. 8:47).

The Ninth Commandment

Because God created the heavens and earth by speaking (Gen. 1:3) and upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3), lying is always an attempt to unmake the world as it actually is, which is an act of pride and insolence and war (cf. Ps. 120). “A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin” (Prov. 26:28). Telling the truth is required by the ninth commandment, which specifically forbids bearing false witness against your neighbor (Ex. 20:16). But this is not merely a prohibition against actively lying under oath in court. This also requires active rejoicing in the truth and a hatred of all lies (1 Cor. 13:6, Ps. 119:163). This necessitates the active protection of your neighbor’s good name. This is a simple application of the golden rule: whatever you would have others do to you, do to them (Eph. 4:25, Mt. 7:12).

Truth Inflation

The problem with lies is the problem with all inflation. It devalues the currency, which effectively steals from others. Rather than letting your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” a “no,” lies and deception tend to drive language to extremes of oaths, profanities, and obscenities to try to make up for all the “fake news” (Mt. 5:36-37). This includes the lies and deception of trying to hide sin, excuse making, vain boasting, and flattery, either falsely praising what is not praiseworthy (complimenting an immodest dress or haircut) or else pretending all is well when it obviously isn’t (sipping tea while the house is on fire). Like fiscal inflation, lying tends to breed more lying. Most lies come in fire-sale deals of packs of 10 or 12. You had to lie to yourself the first time to justify the lie you told to someone else. Then you had to lie to yourself again when you didn’t immediately confess the truth. Meanwhile, you were lying to God the entire time, who sees and knows all things (Job 34:21, Acts 5:3). But since you’ve attempted to remake the world according to your own arrogant wisdom, everything else in the world must be (eventually) shifted to fit your version, multiplying lies exponentially. Maybe it started as lying about the five dollars missing from the counter or what you did with your friends last night, but now you have to explain where you got that five dollars and what you did with your friends last night. And be sure: your sin will always find you out (Num. 32:23), and with it will come great trouble (Josh. 7).

A Warning

It’s always a bit dicey preaching on something like this because there are certain tender consciences that are pricked at the thought of lying, and suddenly they wonder if they need to confess that one time when they said it was 3:15, but the second hand wasn’t quite all the way to the 12 and so it was actually 3:14. And then there are the folks who think everything is like rounding and approximating because they have no real regard for the truth. So here’s the rule of thumb directly from Jesus: do unto others what you have them do to you. Unless the difference between 3:14 and 3:15 was an intentional attempt to make yourself look better or give yourself some kind of advantage, you probably need to stop agonizing over it. Do not be cheated of the reward of a clean conscience by a false humility (Col. 2:18). Bearing false witness against yourselfis still bearing false witness. Some of you need to stop telling thoselies. But if you have a habit of rounding and spinning everything to your advantage and to others’ disadvantage, you are a liar, and those lies are murderous acts of hatred against God and your neighbor. And liars will be cast into Hell with the rest of the wicked (Rev. 21:8).

Conclusion: The Freedom of Confession

Since lies are fundamentally at war with God and His reality, it is a terrible existence to live with unconfessed lies. It is like a sickness that will not go away, like a weight around your neck, like a thirst you cannot quench, like a deep pit in your stomach (Ps. 32:2-4). And this is God’s hand heavy upon you. But God laid His hand heavy upon Jesus on the cross in order that you might confess your sins and be rid of them forever. This is the truth that sets all men free. But in order to be set free, you must admit that you have been enslaved to your sins. Do you want God’s hand heavy upon you or upon Christ? What will it be? And you cannot get this freedom piecemeal or by partial confession. It’s all or nothing, Christ or nothing. But when you come clean, when you confess, when you come to Christ in all honesty, there is complete forgiveness and freedom. God becomes your hiding place, and He surrounds you with His songs of deliverance (Ps. 32:5-7).

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