“Knowing, and following, the truth”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Romans 1:16-25 (Forward, p. 51) CEV p. 1173
Truth: the mere mention of the word raises questions and objections these days. So many people in today’s world ask, ‘what is truth?’ and many of them question whether there is such a thing as truth. The skepticism of the Age of Enlightenment, and its prevailing rationalism, set the stage for this, and our present debates about ‘fake news’, set ablaze by today’s highly partisan political landscape and fuelled by the public and social media, haven’t helped it one little bit. It has created a world where many are disdainful even by the tiniest suggestion that truth might exist.
Here the apostle Paul runs entirely counter to all such notions. He begins by speaking of the Good News, the Gospel, and of how proud he is of this. He claims that this Good News has the power to change lives and save them, regardless of whether they be Jew or Gentile. But, he says, there is a catch: they must have faith, that is, accept its truth and put their faith in this Good News. And, in this of course, there is a problem for many ‘moderns’.
But there is more: Paul alleges that even without this ‘truth’, this truth as conveyed by his Good News, these folks still are without excuse. Paul says that God has already revealed Himself to them by means of the world He has made. Thus, they are already fully aware of His eternal power and character. And yet, even though they knew God in this way, they choose not to honour Him or thank Him. And so, God gave them over to their useless and depraved ways of thinking, with the result that they gave up God’s truth for a lie and ended up worshipping things from God’s creation rather than God Himself.
And doesn’t that sound a lot like today’s world, that idea of worshipping God’s creation instead of God? Think of how many people today are focused almost entirely on themselves and their own bodies and pleasures, each, of course, are part of that creation. Or think of how many others are fixated, absorbed, with the environment, creation, to the exclusion of all else. How the environment has become their new ‘god.’
Here I’m not saying that the environment is unimportant, or that looking after ourselves does not have merit. It’s just to say that God, and the truth
of God, must take centre place. And more to the point, I’m saying that faith in God, trusting God and trusting His word, His truth, is crucial, is life-giving, both now and forever. None of the rest of this ‘stuff’ will save us: only God can, and will. Thanks be to God.
Forward notes: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (verse 16).
“I was pitching when the second baseman committed two errors in a row. I glared at him and yelled unkind words. Coach O’Donnell stormed the mound: ‘You never, ever disrespect one of your teammates. You’re benched!’ Post-game, Coach made me apologize to the player and my teammates. Years later, I called Coach to thank him for caring enough to speak his truth. His truth made an immediate and lasting impact on me to treat all people with dignity and respect.
“Paul loved God and humanity, speaking God’s truth. He was unashamed to proclaim that through Jesus, God’s mercy is for all humankind. In Romans, Paul speaks his truth that people have exchanged God’s glory for their idols of choice: wealth, power, and impurity. They were serving the creature rather than the creator.
“Do I err by serving my idols? Admittedly, yes. That’s when I hear Paul’s truth that God’s mercy is for all, including me, the one who commits errors.”
Moving Forward: “How can you speak—and hear—truth?”