As we consider our Gospel text in which Jesus says a lot about the Truth and the lies and the liars:
44 [The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sins? If I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me?
And as we hear some of the most comforting truths we know
51Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my Word, he will never see death.
58…Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.
And we prayed in the Introit for God to send out His light and His truth and to deliver us from the deceitful and unjust man
Begin to consider the immense amount of lies that you have been told.
And the immense amount of lies that still surround you.
And the immense amount that you have within yourself.
You are in a great place to do that. You are surrounded by God’s truth here –send out your light and truth – and He does and so the lies can become all the more obvious as you believe Jesus and His truth.
The darkness is all the more apparent when the light shines on it.
In Luther’s hymn, A Mighty Fortress, he has us sing that one little word can subdue the devil. He wrote elsewhere that this little word is liar. Call the devil a liar.
Jesus does that in our Gospel reading. He is a liar and the father of lies.
When the devil tries to convince you that God doesn’t love you
or that you’re all alone
or that you should be afraid
or that you should anxious
or that you should stay angry and bitter
or that you’re not forgiven
or that you should think, say, and do, whatever you want to think, say, and do,
or that this life and world is all there is or
that you should despair and give up hope
or, or, or…
When that happens
say what Jesus says and what Luther has us sing:
The devil is a liar –
These aren’t true.
Jesus is true and speaks the truth.
It’s a funny thing about this Jesus and His truth, though. We can reject it. We can hear it, but not hear it, really, not believe it or not want to hear it.
Jesus says two different times something like if I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me?
Jesus says, Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.
One time, as Jesus is about to be crucified, Jesus says to Pontius Pilate that He came for this specific reason: to bear witness to the truth, everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice? Pilate responds, What is truth?
That was as a convenient of a saying then as it is now.
What is truth? If there is no truth, I can believe what I want to believe and do what I want to do.
If there is no truth, then I am judge.
But we are not, What is truth? people.
But we are of the truth people, we are of God, listen and hear God and His truth people.
And the devil is a liar.
And so is the world is the world around us.
And our sinful flesh lies to us as well.
You have placed yourself here today in faith and confidence in the midst of all of that and all of this,
you also want to surround yourself with truth,
and hear truth, and believe truth.
Because you believe there is power and freedom in the truth
Jesus says you will know the truth and the truth will set you free:
Because you believe that truth ultimately points you to the true God who is your Savior.
After Jesus dies and is pierced in the side and blood and water come pouring out, St. John who saw it says: He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.
These two things go hand in hand, Jesus Word of truth and believing that truth.
Scripture tells the story of Abraham and Sarah and Isaac.
It’s a story in which Abraham could have easily heard God and not believed God. He could have called God and His promises a lie.
Like when God told Abram to leave his home and his family all his security, because He would be his God and his shield and provide for him.
Or when God told Abram he would have children as numerous as the sand on the shore and stars in the sky though and he and his wife were childless and were old, as good as dead.
And then Abram had to wait and wait and wait some more.
Or when God told Abraham to take his son God had finally given to he and Sarah and take him up a mountain to sacrifice him.
Abraham could have easily said to God, “You’re a liar then. If I sacrifice my son whom I love, whom you promised to me, then all your promises to me would have been a lie.”
But the Scriptures say, “Abram believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
But Abraham keeps saving, “God is true. God is true. God will provide. God will provide”
The author of Hebrews notes that Abraham took Isaac up the mountain trusting that even if he did sacrifice his son, God would able to raise his son back from the dead. (Hebrews 11:17-19)
Consider the immense amount of lies that surround and that are inside of you and as you continue to hear God’s Word of Truth, begin again to see the lies as they are:
God is true. God will provide.
Pray that what God promises, you believe.
Pray that you always see the liars and the lies for what they are as you hear again and again the truth.
God doesn’t hear your cries: lie.
God doesn’t know your afflictions: lie.
God won’t provide for you: lie.
His Church will fail: lie.
God doesn’t know suffering: lie.
The great I AM became flesh and dwelt among full of grace and truth, but was rejected, called a liar and a devil, was put to death for crimes He did not commit, and was experienced suffering of body and soul we can only begin to understand.
He knows suffering.
God is mad at you because of your sin and the lies you tell and the lies you believe: lie
The truth is that He knows suffering because He wanted to be at peace with you.
He who knew no sin was made to be our sin, so that in Christ we might become the righteousness of God.
God is not mad. God is at peace with you. Jesus forgives you. The blood and the water that come from His side bears witness to this truth and is constantly bearing witness to this truth in the Word and the water of baptism and the blood of the Supper that you too may believe.
The ones you love but have died in the Christian faith are in fact dead and gone for good: lie.
Jesus says, Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, He will never see death.
Death is a sleep and you will them again after you, too, wake up from the sleep of death and the voice of Creator and Redeemer calls you forth.
It’s all up to you, and everything depends upon you, and they’re all counting on you: lie.
Jesus says, before Abraham was, I AM.
He’s the actor.
He’s the defender.
He’s the deliver.
He’s the way, and the truth, and the life.
So call the devil a liar.
And call your sinful flesh a liar.
And call the liars around you in the world a liar
And hear God’s Word and believe that He is true.
And say Amen to His Word, because that’s what we say when we know the lies that surround us, but also know the True God who is for us.