I have already felt the power of your prayers in my ministry as moderator. At the Truth and Reconciliation gathering in Vancouver, which I’m scheduled to attend Sept. 16 to 22, I will have represented you. I will have heard stories of suffering.
It is my prayer that I will be able to exchange some of the pain and anger for peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control when I listen to the truth that hurts.
“[S]peaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). Speaking the truth in love is presented as a priority of spiritual maturity. Sometimes facing the truth can hurt even when it is surrounded by love.
I go to encounter the truth from another perspective. I know that many servants of Christ offered love and kindness and truth in our residential schools. I know there were many remarkable hours of self-giving by many who taught and served. I also know that there are stories of pain and suffering.
John tells us that Jesus described the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth, who abides both with us and in us (John 14:17). The Spirit would help us hear the truth about and from Jesus (John 15:26). The Spirit would guide us into all the truth (John 16:13). “All truth” includes the truth that liberates, the truth that enlightens and the truth that comforts. “All truth” also includes the truth that hurts. A quest for the truth involves opening ourselves to the Spirit. An encounter with the truth, any truth, is a visit with the Spirit.
Jesus said the Holy Spirit will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). By the fifth chapter of the fifth book of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit takes on a difficult role. Our Advocate, Friend and Guide into the presence of God here and now, becomes the one who also tests our integrity and convicts us in our lies. Sometimes the truth will hurt.
To be honest, the truth hasn’t always been easy for me. My imagination, my friends will tell you, is large and often exaggerates my memories. My busy mind causes me to hear what I want to hear. To speak the truth in love involves a decision to be accurate and to colour the truth not with our imaginations but with joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
To walk in the company of the Holy Spirit involves not only speaking the truth in love but also listening to the truth in love. I know that listening is more than an exercise of my mind just as hearing is more than the work of my ears and brain. Those same fruits of the spirit that should surround our telling should also season our listening.
As a Christian I have learned that listening to the truth is not designed as a solo journey. Our grasp of the truth is enhanced by perspectives of others. We experience this in the fellowship of Bible study groups. We celebrate scholarship and the wisdom that comes from the front lines of Christian witness.
I go, on your behalf, to hear the truth in the spirit of love. I pray that all will find new joy and liberty in Christ’s healing love. That same joy and liberty belong in any congregation where the followers of Christ are gathered.
About David Sutherland
Rev. Dr. David Sutherland is minister at St. Andrew’s, St. John’s.
