The Romantic Truth

I want to say something more about truth. Truth is a wellspring of life. It’s beautiful, inspiring, warm and yes even…romantic. (As in the romantic period of classical music which “attempted to increase emotional expression and power to describe deeper truths or human feelings.”) Truth was meant to bring fullness and aliveness…far beyond mere facts and answers and information. It was meant to be an interaction with all that is true in a way that enriches our lives. Truth is a well-written novel, a masterful piece of music, a compelling work of art. It’s powerfully gracious and graciously powerful, interweaving itself into the places of real life.

I have a good friend who embodies this idea of romantic truth. We first met at a retreat cabin in southern West Virginia surround by lamas and colorful trees. It was the beginning of a kindred spirit relationship that has grown for almost twenty-five years. Together we have sung around campfires, climbed Seneca rocks, hung out, rafted the New, listened to music, gone spelunking. He is a maverick in a wonderful way sort of way. One who is always pondering what the truth means in real life. I have patterned my own life after his in many ways.

A few years ago he and I sat on a porch swing together on a warm summer morning as the sun rose over the far ridge. We were talking that morning of many things – our children, the Green Letters, the dynamics of the Spirit-filled life and our slow progress in it. In that conversation he made a thought-provoking comment that has stayed me ever since. “I feel like all of my life I have known the words of the Christian life, but I’m just now beginning to hear the music”, he said. It summarized well this idea of how enriching the romantic truth was really meant to be.

Gatlinburg First United Methodist

God’s Unexpected Encouragers

Last weekend was spent with my parents in the autumn mountains of the Smokies. Mom commented that it had been six years since she had her stroke. I hadn’t nor couldn’t forget that difficult time and have actually placed a blue stone in our story box that reads “Let not your hearts be troubled.” It serves as a reminder that just when we need it most God brings unexpected encourgers along to give us cold cups of refreshment in His Name.

One of the first of those was Christy. My first few days at the hospital were your typical hang out in the hospital waiting room stay. While mom was attended to in ICU, I visited, ate, changed and slept in that waiting room. It was a crazy existence of trying to get some sleep at night on two small couches pushed together, lights shining bright and cleaning crews interrupting. Christy came to my rescue. She was a teen in our very first youth group who eventually attended Moody Bible Institute where she met her husband Bruce. What an oasis they provided in their Knoxville home by graciously giving me a place to crash at night.

The hospital was newly constructed with a modern design that allowed each floor to look down on a large reception area. The tile and glass made the acoustics amazing – no amplification needed. Every evening James, an African American, would clock in to do his janitorial work. With mops and brooms in hand he would sing as he worked. Deep, beautiful renditions of Amazing Grace and other hymns would fill the hospital. It filled my heart, too, and soothed it. James became an unexpected encourger.

Hamlet made the long trip to Tennessee on a Sunday and drove late into the night to return back to West Virginia. He mostly came to bring Diana down so that we could be together a few hours. We visited, went out to eat and returned to the hospital. At that time mom had come through surgery but had gone a few days without recovering consciousness. After we had gathered around her bed for prayer, Hamlet leaned down near Mom and said, “Mrs. Harer, we are about to go now. It would be really nice if you opened your eyes before we leave.” In that instant as if on cue her eyes sprang open. It was a truly amazing moment and began a long recovery that one doctor called a “miracle.”

There were many others God sent along to us, but the last I’ll mention here is Hannah. When I first learned of mom’s stroke I threw some things together and headed off. One of the things that went in the suitcase was Hinds’ Feet on High Places. More often than not at a Panera Bread, Hannah Hurnard would encourage me with the story of Much-Afraid and her journey out of the Valley of Humiliation. Of her companions, Sorrow and Suffering, who were transformed into Glory and Grace. And of the stones of remembrance she had collected from the altars built during difficult times along the way. In the end those common ugly stones, “fell into her hands a heap of glorious, sparkling jewels, very precious and very beautiful.” Just like all the special people God sent into my life and will in all of our lives just when we need them most.

Reformation Day Celebration - A Photo Journal

Reformation Day Bullet Points

“In 1508 Luther went to Wittenberg, a town in the part of Germany called Saxony, to pursue a doctoral degree and to teach at the newly established university there.”

“Luther came to understand the true nature of the gospel, namely that God has already accomplished our salvation by the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, and that this salvation is ours through faith alone, not on account of our good works.”

“Spiritually earnest people tried to justify themselves by charitable works, pilgrimages, and all kinds of religious performances and devotions, but they were left wondering if they had done enough to appease God's righteous anger and escape His punishment.”

“Luther drafted a series of ninety-five statements in Latin discussing indulgences, good works, repentance, and other topics, and invited interested scholars to debate with him.”

“He nailed his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church on October 31, 1517. This was not an act of defiance or provocation as is sometimes thought.”

“The publication of the Ninety-five Theses brought him to international attention and into direct conflict with the Roman Catholic hierarchy and the Holy Roman Emperor. ”

“The Church demanded that Luther retract a number of his protests… During the meeting at Worms, he was accused of heresy, and announced that he could not and would not recant anything, ‘for it is neither safe nor right,’ he said, ‘to go against conscience. God help me. Amen.’"

“Luther went into hiding in one of Frederick's castles, and the Church declared Luther an outlaw. While in hiding, he began translating the New Testament from Latin into German, to make the Bible available to more people.”

“The movement Luther initiated spread and grew in popularity—especially in Northern Europe, though reaction to the protests against the church varied from country to country.”

The Truth Absolutely Matters

Truth is important to me. Truth is important to us as Christians. We have a deep seated regard for it and for good reason. Our King set the tone for us by saying things like, “I am the way, the truth and the life” and, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" and, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” So you can see why we hold it in such high esteem, not only because of wanting to be guided away from deception, but because of how intricate it was to the life of Jesus.

Modernism by way of the Renaissance began an erosion of the Bible as the foundation of truth. Modernism dethroned God and placed humanity at the center of all things. Francis Schaffer defines it well for us, “Humanism is man demanding to begin autonomously from himself and turning away completely from anything God might have to say.”

And so while reason, science, intelligence and logic were meant to serve the Creator, it instead usurped Him. The results have been increasingly disastrous. When the eternal has been sucked out of the equation, we are left with nothing more than what we can get out of this life. It empties life of meaning. “Let us eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.”

Now as we enter the post-modern age, the soul and spirit crave for something more than the particulars we can touch, see and measure. It’s an honorable ambition. Who among us is satisfied with an empty life? But keep in mind that this pursuit no longer takes place within the perimeters of absolute truth. No, in our post-modern world we purse relationships, social norms, morality, politics, lifestyles, spirituality and education from the realm of relative truth.

This means that individuals and groups are left to determine for themselves what they think to be or maybe more accurately want to be the truth. It’s a designer approach to life forged together from dozens of places regardless of inconsistencies and contradictions – various religions, majority opinion, traditions, positive vibes, philosophers, cultural norms, spirit guides, progressive thoughts, ancient teachings, scientific theories, mother earth or what we might discover deep within ourselves.

The consequences of throwing off restraints are self evident. When we lose the moral compass that points to True North both individual lives and societies eventually crumble. Everyone does what is right in their own eyes.

The truth is that absolutes matter. By that I mean an unchanging reality that transcends time, circumstances, events and cultures. I’m not referring to a set of very wise laws designed to promote orderliness. But instead the absolute character that flows from the immutable essence of God. The Truth that isn’t burdensome but freeing, isn’t lifeless but abundant, isn’t joyless but brings peace. And Truth that absolutely matters to all of us.