Again Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” Then the Jews said, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.” They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Why do I speak to you at all? I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me. And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:21-32
There are days when the politics and games playing exhaust me. And when it happens within church structures, when power and privilege are more important than love and support, I feel broken and lose hope. I am reminded how secrets destroy families. Trying to hide truth, even to protect the power and the way we know, damages everyone. We have seen, over the past months, how when one brave woman has spoken the truth, the order can tumble, but one truth makes others brave. We often don't want to know, yet the truth is freedom. Everything else is bondage.
Jesus understand that the religious leaders do not want anyone to upset their structures, their control and their safety. They like to keep things hidden so others can be dependent. The silence and the shaming kept the power in place. Jesus made friends with outcasts, broken people, and those who were crushed by the leaders' selfish control. He came to bring truth, to bring love beyond measure and freedom for us all. God invites us today to embrace the humility it requires to tell the truth at all times, so that we all may be free.
Today, I ask God to help me be humble and truthful in all things. May we let ourselves embrace the truth, no matter how painful and disruptive it might be, knowing God is seeking freedom for each and everyone, knowing love with break forth when we open the gate of freedom with our truth.
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