Eastertide

May 13, 2021

Scripture Reading:
1 John 5:9-13
If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

When did truth become only that which is advantageous to me personally or to my chosen people? When did truth become clay to be strategically molded to selfish desires? Why would we ever have the audacity to make God a liar? Yet, we do it all the time when we do not live in God’s ways that were specifically designed to protect our wellbeing as God’s children.

Truth is on trial in the USA. Someone forwarded me a social media post recently that was headed The Fact. I read through the paragraph, which contained very few comments that met the definition of being a fact. It was a listing of the author’s opinions on various issues, which she certainly had the right to express. She ended the piece by saying something to the effect that if the reader cannot accept The Fact that she professed they needed to move to another country. We live in a world that if lies are repeated enough, people start to think they are true. In his book The Emperor’s New Clothing, Hans Christian Andersen taught me that when I was a child. I hope his work is still being read. It would be a good book for parents to share with their children. Here is the plot as summarized by Wikipedia:

Two swindlers arrive at the capital city of an emperor who spends lavishly on clothing at the expense of state matters. Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are stupid or incompetent. The emperor hires them, and they set up looms and go to work. A succession of officials, and then the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but pretends otherwise to avoid being thought a fool. Finally, the weavers report that the emperor’s suit is finished. They mime-dressing him and he sets off in a procession before the whole city. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear inept or stupid, until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all. The people then realize that everyone has been fooled. Although startled, the emperor continues the procession, walking more proudly than ever*.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we identify lesser gods to follow that are not in our best interest or the best interest of all those we are called to love. Amen.

* Wikipedia’s plot summary of the The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen see at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_New_Clothes

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.