Psalm 19:1-14 Romans 15:4-13 Luke 21:25-33
Advent Assurance
King Lear is probably one of the darkest of Shakespeare’s tragedies and the king’s youngest daughter, Cordelia, the most tragic of heroines. Yet, the play holds a rich store of lessons for us concerning the nature of truth as opposed to falsehood.
In Act One, the aging King Lear decides to divide his kingdom amongst his three daughters, an idea that no doubt would have shocked the original Elizabethan audience. Lear’s plan was to ensure his own future by granting the largest portion of his realm to the daughter who professed the greatest love for him. His reasoning was that the one who loved him most would take care of him best as he aged.
Goneril, Duchess of Albany, and Regan, Duchess of Cornwall, both speak enthusiastically, falsely flattering their father and so earning his praise. In stark contrast, when pressed to speak, Cordelia, the youngest daughter, honestly and truthfully declares that while she does love and honour her father, to make him the sole recipient of her love would be false as once she was married, she would promise to love and honour her husband as well. Misunderstanding his daughter, Lear disowns and banishes her from the kingdom. He also banishes the Earl of Kent, who had taken Cordelia's side against the King.
As the disgraced Cordelia prepares to leave, she says to her false sisters: “Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides; who covers faults, at last with shame derides. Well may you prosper!” Cordelia understood what her sisters did not, namely that in time all falsehood will be exposed for what it is. Truth, on the other hand, will always stand up to the test of time and will triumph in the end.
In Shakespeare’s tragedy, the triumph of the truth comes at a cost. When his false daughters drive him away from their homes, Lear goes mad and wanders around in the wilderness. Goneril poisons her rival sister Ragan and then, overcome by guilt for what she has done, takes her own life. Cordelia returns with an army to save her father but is captured and hanged. Her death devastates an already frail Lear who dies of grief soon afterwards. By the end of the play the consequences of greed, ambition, and betrayal are clear, and the audience is left with no doubt as to who was right and who was wrong.
Similarly, the Scriptures and those who believe in them have often been dragged before the courts of humanity, villainously accused of various falsehoods, and yet they have emerged unscathed time after time. Many Old Testament Prophets were killed for speaking the truth. The same is true during the New Testament era…many have been martyred for their faith. Their fault in the eyes of the world is that their message conflicts with worldly wisdom, but despite the many attempts to discredit them, their words remain true.
In our Gospel lesson for this 2nd Sunday in Advent, Jesus, having predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, added the words: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” This statement served as a solemn and grave foundation for all that he had said before.
If you remember, one of the false accusations brought against Jesus at his trial was about this prophecy concerning the destruction of the Temple, but his execution did not prevent the inevitable. Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed 40 years later, just as he predicted. Reading the eyewitness accounts of the siege in the writings of First Century historian Flavius Josephus is like reading Jesus’ words in the Gospels. Nevertheless, my point is that the words of Jesus proved true and reliable. Banishing, murdering, silencing, mocking, or misrepresenting the witnesses to the truth, whether these witnesses be the Lord himself, his followers, or the written Word of God, will never succeed in burying, changing, or obliterating that which cannot be denied.
Now, this should serve as a great encouragement for those who trust in the reliability of Scripture. The Old Testament predictions concerning the coming of Jesus were confirmed by his incarnation. Jesus’ predictions concerning the judgement on apostate Israel and the birth of the Church were confirmed by the destruction of the remaining vestiges of the old covenant. It follows then that our Lord’s promise concerning his return to consummate his kingdom will also be confirmed in due time.
Heaven and earth may pass away but his Word in its entirety remains for ever.
In Romans 15, Paul developed this theme of the trustworthiness of Scripture by outlining its purpose. Firstly, the Scriptures were written for our learning. As Psalm 19:7 says, “The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” However, note that it is not only the Scriptures that teach us about the Lord. The Psalmist informs us that the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. But also, the lives of God’s people in the Scriptures as well as in the rest of history…their faults, their failures, their triumphs, and their tragedies…all serve as examples from which we can learn.
Indeed, the life of Jesus also provides us with a model by which we can measure ourselves. And so, Paul could encourage others to imitate him as he imitated Jesus. John tells us that “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6). In other words, if we say we are followers of Jesus we must show that by how we behave – what we say and what we do.
Be that as it may, all 66 canonical books of the Bible provide us many examples of how to live godly lives. As Article 6 of the 39 Articles states: “Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scripture, we do understand those Canonical books of the Old and New Testament of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.”
However, it is important to note that the world often has no other Bible than the Church. It is what they read from the pages of our lives that inform their opinion of the one whom we profess to follow. That is why it is so important that we…the only pages the world may ever read…it is important that we read, study, memorise, and apply the Scriptures to our lives. We are to learn and to change accordingly. The words of Scripture are to shape our lives and to mould our characters and to govern our speech and our behaviour until we reflect most clearly the one who is the Word. The lives of the Old and New Testament characters provide us with sufficient evidence of the futility of resistance and the wisdom in surrender. It is in our own best interest to learn our lessons quickly.
The second purpose Paul gives us is that the Scriptures provide us with hope, both in the present as well as in the future. The Israelites of old always looked back to the event of the Exodus for comfort in times of trouble. They reasoned that if God delivered them from bondage in the past, he would most certainly deliver them from whatever their present predicament might have been.
God has proved himself true time after time. His character and his behaviour have been consistent…he has and never will change…if God changes, well then he cannot be reliable or trustworthy…but Scripture presents him as a God who is always constant…and therefore his promises can never fail. In this light, what then, in all of creation, could ever provide us with sufficient evidence for doubt? Nothing…absolutely nothing. Indeed, let God be true though everyone were a liar (Romans 3:4).
However, Paul tells us that hope comes through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures. Even when our experiences in life appear to challenge what the Bible reveals to be true, we must endeavour to choose to believe that in which we have placed our trust. Modern godless society is no different from that of the 1st Century. How many times didn’t Jesus warn his disciples not to follow false teachings? Paul warned Timothy, among others, not to be led astray by worldly philosophies. And yet, many believers down through the ages have buckled under the pressure of conforming to what appears to be wise.
I think that one of the greatest trials we face as believers today is a lack of trust in the authority of God’s Word. If the world can undermine this one foundational principle, then all else is a downhill slide. The collapse of many mainline denominations today in the face of modern theology, social trends, woke philosophy, and the like can be traced to this one sad fact. A failure to believe God’s Word.
Indeed, was that not how sin entered our once perfect world? “Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?” In fact, I believe that every temptation can be prefaced with the question: “Has God really said…?” A single doubt brings in many friends.
And the accuracy or reliability of the doubt does not matter…very few will do the hard work of discovering the truth for themselves. Much easier to believe the lie as long as it sounds intelligent and researched. But the problem is that once you open the door to falsehood your faith collapses. Doubt the virgin birth and you end up with a sinful, human Jesus and no salvation…a nice moral story to be appended to a copy of Aesop’s Fables.
Make no mistake, our faith will be challenged, from outside the Church as well as from within. And yes, we do not yet see all things as they will be when all is fulfilled…but the Scriptures have been tried and tested for millennia and not once have they been found wanting. The Word of God has always held true despite the many onslaughts from many different angles.
But be of good cheer. Those who contend against the Scriptures are like chaff in the wind. “Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides; who covers faults, at last with shame derides.” Or from another of Shakespeare's plays, the Merchant of Venice: "Truth will come to light…in the end truth will out."
Hope is established through patient trust and by taking comfort that he who spoke all things into existence and who upholds all things by the word of his power is also well able to bring all things to completion according to his eternal decree. And as a guarantee to this trust, God has given us his Spirit who guides us in truth and whose power enables us to stand when our faith is tested. The same one who once inspired the Scriptures now illuminates them and applies them to our hearts and minds and so gives us hope…hope in a Word that has never failed and that will never fail.
The third purpose Paul gives us is that the Scriptures were given so that we might be united in truth. If you remember this is what Jesus made crystal clear in his prayer as recorded in John 17. If we are to be one in the same way the Trinity is one, then our unity must be based on the truth as contained in God’s Word because it is God’s Word that sanctifies us and makes us like him. (John 17:17)
The Collect for this 2nd Sunday in Advent was written by Archbishop Cranmer at a time when the reading of Scripture was greatly encouraged by the Church. Taking his cue from the Romans 15 passage he wrote: “Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
The main thrust of Cranmer’s prayer is a call to conformity to the teachings of the Scriptures. It seeks the Lord’s grace to not only grant us the ability to hear, read, mark, and learn from the Bible, but also to inwardly digest it…to make it part of the warp and woof of our very existence. Again, unity in the Christian Church can only be founded upon our diligent submission to the teachings of God’s holy Word, all of which has been inspired by the same God who spoke all of creation into existence. Add anything or subtract anything and the result is error and misconduct. Truth cannot and must not be diluted if it is to be truth.
Tradition as well as the writings and deliberations of godly people and church councils are all subject to the Word of God and, in as far as they reflect the teaching of Scripture, they are to be accepted and used as the need dictates. We are not anti-reason, anti-intellectual, nor are we anti-tradition, anti-ritual, or anti-symbols…no, rather we are pro-Scripture and pro-everything that is in accord with it. We may retain all that which promotes or enhances our understanding of Scripture just as we also discard all that detracts from it or obscures the plain meaning of Scripture.
If the Christian Church pursues this worthy goal, we will be united with each other. The like-mindedness Paul called for in the Romans passage and in other passages such as Philippians 2 refers to the humble and single mind of Jesus. Unity is founded and maintained on the revelation of that mind, and we can only be like-minded in as far as we strive to pattern our lives in accordance with his Word. Biblical like-mindedness transcends all our differences, whether they be of race, or language, culture, or practice.
Paul encouraged both Jew and Gentile towards a mutual reception of each other especially in matters of cultural ceremonies and dietary practices, but this could only be maintained as long as both parties were committed to living according to the essentials of the Gospel. Steadfast commitment to the truth unites and builds up, while individualism leads to falsehood, schism, and ultimately to destruction.
The kingdom of King Lear was divided by pride, vanity, falsehood, ungodly gain, and selfish individualism and the result was devastatingly tragic. Self-centredness is never satisfied with one prize only…it has an insatiable lusting for more. By the end of the play, the two false sisters had not only turned against their father, whom they had professed to love so much, but they had also turned against their husbands, and eventually each other. Sadly, their treachery led to the deaths of many including Cordelia, the one who had been faithful and truthful all along. And yet, truth did triumph as all falsehood was uncovered and exposed. Lear himself died with the knowledge that he had erred and judged unwisely.
God’s Word is truth. Although many have challenged it, rejected it, attempted to disprove it, change it, or even destroy it, they have all failed and will continue to fail. The defence of Truth has also had its fair share of casualties…from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Jesus, the Apostles, and believers down through to the present. But time has proved that our assurance is not founded on sinking sand, but upon a Word that cannot be shaken or doubted. To doubt God’s Word is to foolishly challenge centuries of evidence that demands a positive verdict. Our lives are built on that which, through patience, comfort, and the power of the Holy Spirit, provides us with hope.
Shall we pray?
© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2024
