“‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,’ I love to start the day with that line. Because that is what we are talking about every day this week,” said the Rev. Jim Wallis at the 9:15 a.m. morning worship service Wednesday in the Amphitheater.
His sermon title was “Only the truth can set you free: Lies that demand our loyalty,” and the scripture reading was John 8: 25–32.
Wallis reflected on “the news then and now.” When he was growing up in Detroit, after dinner his family would watch half an hour of national news. “Imagine only one half hour, not 24/7. And of course, we listened to Walter Cronkite, the most trusted man in America,” he said.
He continued, “That was then and this is now. We have different universes of facts and information. Remember Walter used to end his show ‘… and that’s the way it is.’ Now we are watching and listening in different places.”
Now, we have fake news and alternative facts, he told the congregation. There are different notions of misinformation and disinformation. “The truth is harder to find now than in any time in my life,” Wallis said. “The problem of truth may be the central problem for democracy today.”
In John’s Gospel, chapter 8, verse 32, Jesus said, “… you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” Wallis said the opposite of truth is not just lies — the opposite is captivity. If we lose the truth, we lose our freedom, he said to the congregation.
Wallis cited New Testament scholar N.T. Wright’s perspective on verse 32. Wright said that in this verse Jesus freed people from sin, slavery, injustice and tyranny. The way to freedom is through the truth.
“We have to know the truth,” Wallis said. “Tyranny thrives on lies. Freedom and truth are indivisible.”
When Wallis is lecturing, particularly in red states, he often asks the local pastor what the people in that town think about a news event that just occurred. Pastors usually say that the television stations they watch will probably not mention the event, and that people really do not care what the New York Times says about it.
“How can we give people facts, even if they are clear, if the facts don’t change people’s minds?” Wallis asked. “This is called confirmation bias, and it goes way back, all the way to the apostle Paul in 65 A.D. in his teachings on sound doctrine.” Now, algorithms reflect our own point of view.
Wallis continued: “The big lie is always at the heart of fascism. The 2020 election is an example. There was no evidence that the election was rigged, but it is a litmus test of belief … for Republicans in Congress. And it is going both ways. There are left-leaning commentators who are saying the 2024 election was rigged and Harris did not lose.”
This is not the way to proceed, he said. “Lies lead to violence. The big lie led to Jan. 6.”
In an effort to catch up on the news, Wallis watched television and saw a gardener being arrested and beaten by men for being in the United States illegally. Three of the man’s sons are serving in the United States Marines. The man is now in a cage with 70 other men getting water once a day and occasional meals, Wallis asserted.
“The government said it was only going after criminals. That is a lie. Only about a third of the people arrested have a criminal record. They are arresting gardeners,” Wallis said.
The information about what actually happened in the bombing in Iran is also filled with lies, he claimed. The president says Iran is close to having a bomb, and his intelligence leaders say, no, they are not. The president says that the bombs devastated the nuclear enrichment facilities; the military says no. The truce the president declared is very unstable. When the president says that Iran and Israel don’t know what they are doing, it sounds like he is talking about himself.
“And the people who suffer from our wars are the young men and women who fight them,” Wallis said.
He continued, “The vocation of truth-telling applies to journalists and to us; it is our vocation. A lot of us here are elders, and we are the ones who tell the truth. My commission to you is to tell the truth to your children and grandchildren. When politicians lie, be ruthless. What if all the elders at Chautauqua took up truth-telling?”
In the Gospel of John there is more about truth and light, Wallis asserted. “The light triumphs over the darkness. Bear witness to the light. Be truthtellers — it is our job as elders. Can I get an amen?”
And the congregation responded, “Amen.”
Melissa Spas, vice president for religion at Chautauqua, presided. Rowland Bennett read the scripture. Laura Smith, organ scholar, played “Folk Tune,” by Percy Whitlock, for the prelude. Singing a cappella, the Chautauqua Choir, under the direction of Director of Sacred Music and the Jared Jacobsen Chair for the Organist Joshua Stafford, performed “Come My Way,” music by Harold Friedell and words by George Herbert from “The Temple.” Smith played Toccata in E Minor by Johann Pachelbel for the postlude. Support for this week’s services and chaplaincy is provided by the Gladys R. Brasted and Adair Brasted Gould Memorial Chaplaincy.
