The Truth Shall Set You Free

"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." — John 8:31-32

When you read through the book of John, or really any of the Gospels, you will see times where Jesus is telling people who He is, what He is doing, and what people need to do, yet they can't understand. I have had the chance to participate in Oasis the past two weeks, once as a worship leader and this week as the speaker, and it's been fascinating to see how people react to Jesus.

In chapter six, after Jesus tells the people who He is, it says many turned away and no longer followed Jesus. It seems incredible to us that people could hear the truth from Jesus' mouth and turn away. But that's because getting to the truth requires faith.

My favorite movie is "A Time to Kill." I like a lot of things about the movie, but there is a quote about the truth that has always stood out to me. The young lawyer in the film, played Matthew McConaughy, asks “What is it in us that seeks the truth? Is it our minds or our hearts?” Another way to think about this is, are we willing to take a leap of faith to get to the truth. What Jesus told the crowds was radical. It was a lot to take in.

In John chapter 8, Jesus tells the crowds who He is, why He is here, and where He is going. And the people are confused. Some ask if he is planning to kill Himself. Others ask who He is. And it said “They did not understand that He was telling them about His father.” They were presented the truth, but they couldn’t accept it. They were looking with their minds and were unable to take that leap of faith with the hearts. But not all of them. And it is to those who could take that leap that Jesus says, “If you hold to my teachings you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” When we can step out in faith, we know the truth and knowing the truth sets us free. So we know how we can find the truth, and we know that finding the truth sets us free, but why is that important?

First, knowing the truth sets us free to tell the world about Jesus; to use our gifts to spread the Gospel. “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” I would imagine everyone here could recognize that as the first part of “Amazing Grace.” I would be that almost everyone we meet can recognize that as “Amazing Grace.” According to Jonathan Aitken, a biographer of John Newton, who wrote the song, “Amazing Grace” is performed 10 million times annually. It is, perhaps, the most recognizable song in the world — to Christians and non-Christians alike. It has been called John Newton’s “Spiritual biography,” and has been an anthem to the oppressed for centuries. It was embraced by Native Americans during the Trail of Tears, by abolitionists in England and the United States, and by those that first forged a new path in America by trying to settle the untamed West.

We know about the song, but what do we know about the man? Some know that Newton was a slave trader before becoming a minister and penning “Amazing Grace,” but few probably realize how far from the truth he was. Newton lived a hard life. His mother had wanted him to be a minister, but she died when he was six years old. He was raised by an emotionally absent step mother and was pressed into service in the Navy at age 11. As a result, he became hostile to God and to the idea of faith. He openly mocked those who had faith, mocked his superiors, and created obscene poems and songs about his captain. That landed him in prison, then in forced servitude in Sierra Leone before his father was able to get him assigned to a new ship, The Greyhound. On that ship, Newton gained notoriety as the most profane man the captain had ever met. It said, “In a culture where sailors commonly used oaths and swore, Newton was admonished several times for not only using the worst words the captain had ever heard, but creating new ones to exceed the limits of verbal debauchery.” He was, in short, the most profane sailor in the Navy. I have never been in the Navy, but I assume the phrase “cuss like a sailor” didn’t become popular because of the courteous manners aboard a ship. So think about that, Newton was the most profane member of a profession known for its salty speech.

But it was there that the truth of God found Newton. During the midst of a storm, he cried out to God. The truth, from that point, began to seep in. Newton, who was delivered from the storm, came to believe that God had sent him a profound message and had begun to work through him. He accepted the truth of Jesus Christ, and that truth set him free. He finished seminary, became a minister to a poor village called Olney, and began to share his heart. During a time when most ministers were noted for presented the Gospel from a standpoint of being above those they ministered to, Newton gained popularity by sharing his own sins with the congregation and sharing how the truth of the Gospel had set him free. And it was during that time, as he reflected on the shame of his former life, that he penned “Amazing Grace.” He said, “I know two things — I am a great sinner and Christ is a great savior.” When we know the truth, it frees us to share that truth with others.

Second, when we know the truth, it sets us free to model the love of Christ to the world. The Academy Awards take place in less than a month. Most of the time the films nominated for Best Picture aren’t renowned for their examples of faith, and that’s true this year. Among the Best Picture nominees is a film about men mis-representing Scripture to justify slavery, a story about con men in the 1970s and corrupt stock brokers in the 1990s. There’s also a story about a man so disconnected from faith and the world that he finds love with a computer program.

But there is one beautiful story of faith in that group this year. It’s the story of Philomena Lee, an Irish woman who suffered a terrible wrong. As a teen she made a mistake and got pregnant. She lived during a time when her Catholic father couldn’t abide her shame, and sent her to a convent. The nuns forced her to work hard for no pay to atone, then sold her child to a couple from America. Philomena spent most of her life racked with guilt over what she’d done and wondering what had become of her son. Was he safe? Was he healthy? Finally, as an older woman, she admitted the truth to her daughter, born during the life she built following her time at the convent, and set out to find her son with the help of an agnostic journalist.

What they discovered in that search was a web of lies and pain, most of it perpetrated by the nuns who claimed to represent Jesus Christ. The reporter, who had lost faith in God, was angry and began to attack the nuns. Philomena, who never waivered in her faith in God and in the truth of His love, forgave the nuns. The reporter, incredulous, asked her why it was so easy to forgive. She responded it wasn’t easy, it was hard, but it was the right thing to do. She said, “I forgive you because I don't want to remain angry.”

Philomena knew the truth. She knew the truth about what happened to her son, so she didn’t need to cling to that guilt and grief. She knew the truth about what had happened to her, so she didn’t need to hold on to her anger. She knew the truth of God’s love for her, and it set her free to model that love to others.

Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” It will free you to share with others. It will free you to model Christ’s love to the world. So the question is how will the truth set you free this week?