6-13-2021

 

Good Morning All!

         John 8: 31-32; “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

    If you have been watching or reading the news, you have heard of the new phenomenon of something called “alternative facts.”  It would appear that the phrase “alternative facts” has different meanings dependent upon who uses it.  To some it means that there are more than one set of facts or truths about a situation.  To others it means lies and distortions.  Whatever the phrase means, it might very well be our new future.

    Many of us grew up at a time when we held to absolutes and truths.  There were specific facts which led to specific conclusions.  An example of a truth that many of us held was that the good of the whole was greater than the good of the individual.  Think of John Kennedy and his “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”  This was held up as the standard by what we lived by.  There may have been differences in the best way to achieve that truth but there was only that truth to aim for.

    The next generation grew up and lived with the idea that there was no single truth.  You could find many truths which we just as equal and valid.  We saw the rise of the phrases “competing studies” or “socio-economic biases” or “competing facts”.  We still held to truth but that truth could be crafted by our selective use of facts.  We would search for or create facts to back up our truth.  We might accept someone else’s facts as valid for them but not for us or we might reject them completely out of hand.

    Now, we seem to be entering an era when truth is whatever you declare it to be.  You do not need any sort of facts; you only need the desire to accept what you think or believe is true or at least true enough.  That is all you need to trust “alternative facts” or “alternative truths”.

    No matter how they try, the world and the devil will never change the great truth of our life; Jesus died to pay for your sins and that by believing in Him you will have life.  This is the truth that has been since the foundation of the earth.  It was God’s plan from before the beginning of time to redeem us from our sin and to give us life and salvation.  We may hear “alternatives” to this great truth but they are not alternatives but mere lies by the devil to deceive us.  We must always hold to the truth; Jesus died that you may live.

    This truth is the basis for all our hope.  Because Jesus died for us we now can face this world knowing the, despite every lie that it tells us, we have victory over it.  We have eternal life and God’s promise of always being there for us.  Jesus died and now lives so that we may be children of God, living in his grace, comforted by His Spirit, nourished by Jesus’ body and blood in the sacrament, and certain of what is ahead of us.  Ahead of us waits our eternal salvation.

Gracious Father, your Word is truth and in you we have all truth.  Keep us mindful of our redemption and preservation through Jesus.  Keep us in your loving arms.  Guard us from all deceptions and lies.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret