John 18: 33 - 37
Many years ago when I was in my
fellowship, the American Board of Internal Medicine offered the first
board exam in my specialty, medical oncology. Since it was the first
exam, we would be taking the exam with some of our teachers. When
the exam was over, we were surprised to find that one of our favorite
teachers had failed. His reason? Several of the questions had not
caught up with the research. We all knew what answers the exam was
looking for – if you read the latest textbooks, it was obvious.
But my teacher’s answers were in keeping with the latest research.
He could have answered the questions like the rest of us, but did
not. He had more integrity, I guess, than the rest of us – or
maybe he was just stubborn. In the long time since I've known him,
he's always spoken exactly what he believes; he has passed up
opportunities for advancement because he would have had to make
compromises. He was one of the most authentic persons I've known.
The readings are interesting today.
We have a reading from Daniel predicting the coming of the Jewish
Messiah who will be given glory and power and come in the clouds.
The reading from Revelation is similar; Jesus will come in the clouds
and will rule over everything. The Psalm also describes a glorious
king. And yet our Gospel reading shows Jesus bound in chains and
standing before Pilate who will sentence him to death. I guess we
can be forgiven for anticipating Jesus’ coming in glory. Most
Christians today believe exactly what Daniel and Revelation prophecy
– a time will come when Jesus will come in glory and establish his
kingdom once and for all. And yet we are shown in today’s gospel
that Jesus’ kingdom is not the kind of kingdom we imagine; he is
the king over those who belong to the truth. And just what does that
mean?
The Gospel of John is full of
statements about truth. Jesus is full of grace and truth; if you
follow his teaching, the truth will make you free; because he tells
the truth you do not believe him; he is the way the truth and the
life; he testifies to the truth; and after he is gone he will send
the Spirit of truth to his followers. It seems as though truth is a
big thing to Jesus.
I don’t think Jesus is talking about
truth versus lies as in real news vs. fake news. He’s talking
about the way he lives his life and by extension the way we should
live our lives. The four Gospels are written from different points
of view, but they all show someone who is authentic. We know Jesus
is not afraid of what people think about him or even what they can do
to hurt him. And we say, where does he get that? Is that from being
the Son of God? But remember, Jesus is human in every way except for
sin – that makes him perfectly human. And we all recognize that
authenticity is a desirable quality in a human being. We admire
people who don’t worry about appearances, people who aren’t
afraid to speak their minds.
Authentic people also understand that
while people can disagree over a lot of things there are certain
things which are not negotiable – like gender, like the nature of
marriage, like the prohibition against murder. Authentic people are
willing to live and let live, providing certain lines are not
crossed, lines that are written in our human nature. Jesus seems to
have directed a lot of his attention to the very ones who were
supposed to teach the people these things – the scribes and the
Pharisees. He challenged them over and over again on what they were
teaching; and he was a champion for the poor and the outcasts and the
handicapped because authentic people recognize the human dignity in
every person and grieve when some are living like animals or homeless
or abused.
Authentic people recognize not only
that they are fearfully and wonderfully made, that they are indeed
made in the image and likeness of God, that they are so beloved by
God that even if they sin terribly they will never be refused mercy
and forgiveness – but they also recognize that they are completely
dependent on God and that everything they have is a gift from God.
Jesus spends whole nights in prayer as he goes about his ministry,
and his prayer is not just asking for things – it is often
acknowledging how God works. Remember when he said, “ I thank you,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these
things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to children.”
Jesus prays prayers of thanksgiving and admiration for God’s work.
And when Jesus works a miracle, he often reminds his followers that
it is the person’s faith that accomplished the miracle. And faith,
trust that God has one’s best interest at heart, is authenticity.
And people who live the truth feel a
strong kinship with others who do so. I think that’s why Jesus
chose Peter and probably the other apostles – because even though
most of them were uneducated and worked as fishermen and carpenters,
they were honest and spoke their minds. Every time we meet Peter,
you can tell he’s saying exactly what he is thinking, except for
the time he denied Christ – which he immediately regretted. And
even that showed that he was trying to be authentic. When he failed,
and we all do, he did not blame someone else or make excuses. But he
also did not go off and hang himself like Judas. Presumption and
despair are not part of authenticity.
We can see examples of human
authenticity in most cultures and most religions. Mahatma Ghandi was
authentic. So is the Dali Lama. But Christian authenticity is
greater than this, precisely because the Christian is not becoming
authentic by trial and error, but rather, by learning from the very
model of authenticity, Jesus Christ.
So where should we go from here, on
this, the last Sunday of Ordinary Time? How can we become more
authentic? How can we belong to the truth? The best way and perhaps
the only way is through the imitation of Jesus Christ. We can only
imitate him if we get to know him. That requires a little work –
we need to read the gospels and we need to pray for God’s help.
Jesus came into the world to bear witness to the truth, and those who
belong to the truth hear his voice. His kingdom is made up of people
who struggle to live the truth, who work to be authentic human
beings, who make it a project to get rid of all falsity and pretense
and expose the living Christ that is our true self. Christian
authenticity is the same thing as sainthood.
