The practice of truth

In the NT reading today, Luke 11:28, I read,

"But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice."

Jesus says this in response to a woman who shouted out a blessing on Jesus' mother, who nursed Him and cared for Him. Jesus' response was emblematic of a seminal truth of His ministry. Someone gave birth to Jesus. Someone nursed Him, and cared for Him as a child. Those are facts, but they are dead, past facts. It is good to know that those are facts. Knowledge of the truth is important, but even more important is the daily practice of truth. It is one thing to study, and learn, and build a basis of knowledge, but without daily practice of what that knowledge teaches, and application to one's life and the lives of those with whom we come into contact, that truth is a sterile, useless idea. It is the practice that blesses others, and in so doing, blesses ourselves.

But what is the truth? The reading from the NT struck me today. I saw similarities in it when compared to the earlier readings of Matthew and Mark. And I know there are similarities to John, although John's accounts are, for me, more difficult to understand. So, we see a "Truth" reflected in four different ways. Does that mean that there are just as many versions of the truth as there are observers of it? Is my "truth" any more or less valid than yours? Can I point to my bible quote and say, "See, right here, I am doing it right, and you are doing it wrong!"?

The process of Luke, to me, is a fundamental struggle in the Bible. Here is a wonderful communicator, summing up accounts of Jesus ministry for his Greek audience, even though he was not present. How alike are we to him. We can only know through the accounts of others. These are not our own eyewitness accounts, but we can know the story through others; in our culture, that "other-ness" is the Bible.

But we come back to the knowledge of truth. Sure, Jesus lived and had an amazing ministry. But, so what? What is the value of the knowledge of that truth without its practice? And if there are just as many versions of the truth as there are observers, creating a deconstructionism paradise, fueling the final argument that there is no such thing as a final "Truth," so why bother, then how do we practice the truth.

As Jesus has said, the result is similar to knowing what type of tree you are viewing by seeing its fruit. In today's section, He describes what it is like when you are practicing the truth. "...your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight is shining on you." (Luke 11:36)

Put a fig tree in Tennessee, it will grow figs. Put a fig tree in France, it will grow figs. Maybe the figs will taste a little different, due to climate, soil, air, water, but at the end of the day, the fruits will share elements of that essential "fig-ness" which is the truth of the fig tree.

While we all may have our own versions of the truth, the truth still, underneath it all, tastes the same. It is a representation of the fundamental moral order in the universe which binds all things and was brought to us in Christ. When we practice that truth, for ourselves and others, we become radiant, and blessings flow into us, just as they flow out of us to others. God gave us the key to His love in the body of Jesus. What a gift of truth!