Sunday, October 25, 2026 - The Way, The Truth, and the Life
October 25, 2026
Deborah Laforet
“The Way, The Truth, and the Life”
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by your Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen. In Ontario, when you are called to the witness stand, you give an oath: "Do you swear [or solemnly affirm] that the evidence that you are about to give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?” We might know the oath from the states better: “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” What does it mean to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Is truth always clear and the same for everyone, or does it change, depending on the person and the circumstances? Is truth a binary, like good or bad, wrong or right, truth or lie? Eric Law, who is the author of Holy Currencies, a book we are exploring this season, had some interesting thoughts to share around truth and it’s meaning. First, he says he always wondered why Jesus put the word ‘truth’ between ‘way’ and ‘life.’ As Grace read for us from the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples, “I myself am the Way - I am the Truth, and I am Life.” Jesus could have just said, “I am the Truth,” but Jesus first mentions the “Way,” which usually refers to a journey that takes time. It’s more than just a step, but usually has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Jesus also refers to himself as “Life,” and life is also not an either-or word. Life has a past, a present, and a future, and like the Way, has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Law explores this word, “truth,” through two different languages: Hebrew, the language used in our bibles, and Chinese or Mandarin, from his own cultural heritage. The Hebrew word for truth is emet, which is composed of three Hebrew letters, aleph ֱא, mem ֶמ, and tav ת, which happen to be the first, the middle, and the last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. “The 2 of 5 composition of the word,” Law writes, “may signify that in order to discern the truth, one must know the beginning, the middle, and the end of the event.” (Pg 44) The Mandarin word for truthful or genuine is zhēn (真). This word includes two ideograms 十 (shí) and 目 (mù). The bottom part is a symbol for a table. 十 (Shí) is the number ten, which can symbolize completeness and wholeness, while 目 (mù) represents the eye. Law surmises, “Discerning the truth requires that we look at an issue or event in a wholistic way, perhaps through ten different eyes, or ten different perspectives on the table.” (Pg 44) We’re going to try an exercise. It’s a game that I learned through leading youth groups, and some of you may be familiar with it. It’s called “Two Truths and a Lie.” Basically, you find a partner, and you share with each other three statements. Two of the statements will be true and one will be a lie. Your partner has to determine which of the three statements is a lie. I’ll give you thirty seconds to think of three statements. When that time is up, I’lll invite you to find a partner. Now, through this exercise and from what you’re already heard about truth, do you have any insights to share? Some noticing or wonderings? When we play this game with youth groups, it’s usually a way of breaking the ice. They’re usually getting to know each other. Because they don’t know each other yet, discovering the lie can be difficult. When you’re playing the game with someone you know or who knows you, it becomes a lot more difficult to come up with statements that won’t obviously be a truth or a lie. The more we know and understand one another, the harder it is to lie, and the easier it is for us to approach one another with trust and with empathy. Law writes, “As a Christian, I struggle with Jesus’ call to love my enemy - a radical demand of the spirit of truth. I don’t know truth unless I am willing to see the conflict from my enemy’s viewpoint.” (Pg 45) 3 of 5 How do we open up conversations so that we hear everyone’s perspective? In our world today, possibly encouraged by behaviour on social media, people seem to point fingers and make accusations before invitations to conversations. People are accused of being racist, of being liars, of being anti-this or pro-that, of being ignorant, of being closed-minded, of being hurtful, and the list goes on. These accusations happen between people who have never met and who haven’t even bothered to get to know each other. How does one find truth in those circumstances? Law talks about creating processes in our ministry that helps us to discern truth and create spaces where truth can be explored. He offers a great chart that shows examples of incomplete and partial processes as compared to Holistic Truth-Seeking Processes. When we have opportunities to bring people together, this chart can help guide us as we create processes that seek truth, especially truth that has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and one that is explored through ten eyes or ten different perspectives. (Go over chart with congregation.) This book by Eric Law has a lot to share and I can only do so much on a Sunday morning. In fact, Law has created the “Kaleidoscope Institute” to help train people in the work of Holy Currencies Incomplete and Partial Process Holistic Truth-Seeking Process Debate Dialogue Convincing Mutual Understanding My truth vs your truth Our truth Either-or Both-and Premature judgment Clarification before judgment Acquiescence to the powerful Listen to the powerless first Mono-perspectives Multi-perspectives Put down differences Be curious about differences Divisive solution Community-owned resolution 4 of 5 and to help faith communities be missional and sustainable. So, what I have shared with you this morning on the Currency of Truth is only a fraction of what can be learned so I encourage you to purchase a book or look up the Kaleidoscope Institute and find out more. Maybe you’ll have more to share with us in our work towards being missional and sustainable. My last thought on the currency of truth: Jesus tells his disciples that a Paraclete, which is an advocate, counsellor, helper, or comforter, will be sent to them and will be with them always, and that this Spirit of Truth won’t be accepted by the World because she can’t be seen or recognized, but Jesus to his disciples says that “you” can recognize the Spirit because she remains with you and will be within you. May this Spirit of Truth flow through this community and be recognized. May we discover this Spirit of Truth within us. May we struggle to find the whole truth, the beginning, the middle, and the end, and through ten eyes. May we be willing to see our enemy’s viewpoint, and may we always seek the Spirit of Truth, whole and complete, shared and mutual, always listening to the powerless first, and always seeking more information. And may Creator, Christ, and Spirit guide us in this work, as we create spaces where truth can be explored and found. May it be so. Amen.