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10:30 am Worship

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Psalm 5: 11-13

⁸ Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness, because of those who lie in wait for me;
make your way straight before me.
⁹ For there is no truth in their mouth; there is destruction in their heart;
¹⁰ Their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.

One of the great uncertainties for all humans can be ascertained only by asking a question. A statement cannot resolve the difficulty. The question?

Who speaks the truth?

This question affects everyone and everything we can see. I don’t know how it came to be, how it came to my attention, but it greatly affected my life. Somehow, casting around in uncertainty in my second year of college, it became important. I didn’t know what field of study I should undertake. I had tried pre-medical training and found I disliked mathematics and the hard sciences. I took a battery of tests offered by the university, seeking to identify my strengths and weaknesses. When all was done, the counselor told me I could study anything I wanted.

No help at all.

Finally, examining the various scores I had compiled, I saw I had high skills in writing. Journalism, I thought. I will major in journalism.

There, in that field of study, I stumbled on the question which would govern the rest of my life.

Who speaks the truth? I wanted the news stories I wrote to be truthful, accurate, fair. I treasured truth above all things. I also learned truth has many colors. Once, asked to write a news story about a utility company press release, I discovered the press release contained a long list of statements which were true. The only problem was that, taken together, they told a lie. The company listed all the sacrifices it had made to ensure its power plant was safe. True. It had done all the things it said it had done.

But the press release failed to say the nuclear plant it described had recently almost melted into the earth because of safety shortcomings. Every step the company had taken was required by government regulators.

Truth of a different color.

The Bible spends considerable time on this issue. True prophets versus false prophets.

Abraham Heschel, a great 20^th Century rabbi, said true biblical prophets differed from ordinary humans in one respect. Most people, he said, regarded experience as a source of certainty. They saw something happen and felt certain they knew what happened. Not so the biblical prophets. Their truth did not come from an internal process of observation and report, but rather depended upon something outside themselves. An inspiration. An in-breathing of the Holy Spirit.

False prophets speak visions from their minds. True prophets speak the word of God. Their most common statement? “Thus says the Lord.” Each one may proclaim that his or her word came from God, but it is not always so. False prophets abound.

How can we discern truth when every person is speaking his or her own truth?  

I learned as a journalist to ask questions. Many questions of many people. Those who saw truth from one side and others who saw a different truth. I had to listen, to weigh, to discern, to test each person’s truth. Was this person concerned for self or for others? Who might profit from this truth, and how would they profit? I looked for motivations.

God taught me a hard lesson: Even those with whom I disagreed vehemently might speak a valuable truth.

I searched for truth, and I found love. I discovered God wanted me to love even the liars. It didn’t mean I had to buy what they were selling.

Hymn of the day: Be Thou My Vision. Online at Rossford UMC - Media.

Rev. Lawrence Keeler