John 16:12-15 One Glass of Truth

John 16:12-15  One Glass of Truth  

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Jesus said to his disciples:  “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” 

Jesus said to his disciples.  In the past few days (maybe even weeks) I have started every single one of my meditations with these words.  They are important.  They are included in our Lectionary.  They are a simple yet strong reminder that the Lord is not only speaking to disciples of two thousand years ago, He is also speaking to us.  “Jesus said to his disciples”.  Are you listening?

The Spirit of Truth.  I use a microscope to see the tiniest details in things.  I use a telescope to see the furthest things from me.  But in all that I see, I use my eye to capture it all.  I use my brain to process it all.   Well, the same holds true for the Truth.  I use my senses to capture it all.  I use my brain to process it all.  But I must also use the Holy Spirit to correctly interpret it all.  Are you doing that too?

How far can you see?  Oh, say can you see…  How far can you go?  Alone...not far at all; but with the gift of the Holy Spirit, I can reach the furthest heights and depths of things.  I can reach where no ear has heard or eye has seen.  Let’s do it.  Let’s get to the bottom of things.  Let’s get to the truth of things.

I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  Why Lord?  What stops us from becoming more like you?  Are you to blame?  Is there a defect within your design?  Did you make our hearts too small to love?  Did you make our Will too weak to follow?  Did you make our intellect too loose to grasp?  No.  I know the truth.  It’s not that at all.  Come now friends, we know it’s not that at all.  We know what it is.  Come; let us accept things for what they are.  Let us stop blaming the Lord for our mistakes.  Let us stop praying to the Lord that he “come to us” or that he "never abandon us” or that he “help us.”  Why do I speak this way?  Why do I speak as if he never came into the world?  We all know what he did.  We all know why he died.  Must the Lord speak to us directly?  Must he breathe for us as well?  Is that the problem?  I have a better idea.  Let us turn our prayers to the Lord for trust.  Trust in Him!  More trust in Him and less trust in our selves!  More trust in His Truth and less trust in our collective mindedness.  More trust in the teachings of His Church and less trust in our own theories.  For truth goes beyond our times; personal experiences; personal discoveries; our culture; even our life.  And we know it.  We just don’t like to admit it.  Our pride keeps getting in the way of things, like truth. 

Falling stars. We have caught a glimpse of them.  Read your old text books and catch a glimpse of the stars that fell from the sky.  Stars like Thomas Malthus and Margaret Sanger, Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins, Karl Marx and Joseph Stalin. We have seen what happens when we think we know it all.  We convince one another and end up at war with all. 

Come, let’s do it.  Let us admit our pride and how it turns our minds inward and all wiggly; and wow, how it can wiggle itself out of just about anything:  out of fault, out of guilt and out of our minds!  We know what we can do.  We can justify just about anything in our life, can’t we?  We can blame our family for all our ills; blame a spouse for all our woes; blame our children for growing old; blame a Church for all our guilt.  And best of all, blame ourselves for nothing at all. 

Come, let us go through the Litany of Litanies: 

“I am a sinner!” what did you expect? 

“I am only human!” what more did you want?

“I am what I am!” I was born this way.

Ah yes, all sin and no space for grace.    

Stop being so negative!  The “experts” tell us.  Close your eyes and count to ten and wish all your problems away. 

But they don’t go away.  They come back, and with a vengeance, because we simply refuse to fill our half-empty or half-full glass .  Do I put my hand over the glass and refuse a re-fill?

Yes, “I was born a sinner”, but I can die a Saint.  Yes, “I am limited by my humanity”, but I can evolve through Christianity!  Yes, “I am what I am” , but “who I am” is based entirely upon me, by the decisions I make in my life.

Why be content to keeping the glass half-full or half-empty when the Lord took what belonged to Him and gave it to us!  He said, “The Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth…He will take from what is mine and declare it to you.” 

“I came to serve, not to be served” (Mt 20:28).  The Lord waits on us.  When our glass was half-empty (or half-full) he came over to us and filled it up.  “Come to me all who are thirsty” (Mt 11:28).  He is the solution to our thirst.   He is the solution to our worries.  He is the solution to our woes.

“Give us solutions”, you say.  Lead us and we shall follow!  How will you follow if you continue to drive yourself insane?  How will you achieve anything if you continue to blame God for everything, including your own problems?  Judas questioned the Lord in everything, and it drove him insane.  Actually, his problem was not that he questioned everything.  His problem was that He refused to accept the Lord’s answers. 

I AM WHO I AM.  Get it?   There is no other Lord than I the LORD.  Get it?  I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Get it?  No one comes to the Father except through me.  Get it?

Go ahead. It’s time to make a decision. The devil’s web is getting larger and larger and evil’s grip is getting tighter and tighter. You can sit and mope, complain all you want about the rules and give up and die.  Or you can leave behind your pride, your vanity and your sensuality and follow the Lord. 

We can fight and tackle each other on worthless things or we can tackle the world’s problems and fight for Christ and heavenly things.

One free glass of Truth should help you decide.  Refills included.