Thoughts for the Day

O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.....

Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity.’
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord; for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his truth.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Social media, television news, and the newspapers all give what they argue are the truths about issues of concern. At the moment they are concerned with the cost of living, with Ukraine, and with natural disasters. But they can just as easily be about lawsuits between famous people. Each piece of news purports to be the truth. Often these accusations can be fought out in court, and in the end hardly anyone knows what exactly is the truth. Apparently we live in a 'Post-Truth world', where opinions and appeals to emotion are more influential in shaping public opinion than objective facts.

So what is Truth? For me, truth is something that agrees with fact or reality. When radio host Alex Jones declared in 2018 that the massacre at Sandy Hook School in the US, which killed 26 people, 20 of whom were children, was "a complete fake", he was sued by parents whose children had died. The factual evidence of their deaths was indisputable, and he was ordered to pay $965 in damages to the families.

For Christians (theologically speaking) Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, the will, and the character of God. Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." (John 14.6). Christians believe that Jesus is the human face of God. Try measuring what you see and hear in our world against the words and actions of Jesus. Do they match up to what our Lord said or did? Truth and error might become clearer! We must also remember that it is Jesus who will come 'to judge the people's with his truth' one day.

Lord God,
You bring the light of Truth
into our world.
When we look at You
and compare what we see
with that around us
we can begin to
discern truth from error.
May we keep our eyes fixed on You
as we travel through this world.
Amen.