Sunday Worship – 15th February 2026 – Sunday before Lent

(All our songs this morning are from Singing the Faith (StF) numbers will be given where available)

Welcome to this time of worship about Truth.  Let’s begin with three statements which I believe to be true:

1. Truth is dangerous,  the first rule of dictators is to suppress truth;  ban journalists, shoot protesters, close down the internet, shout lies until people accept them as the truth.
2. It is our responsibility, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to find out what truth is rather than asking authority to tell us
3. The Truth is always about to change.  If you read the Bible, you find that even the Truth people believe about God keeps changing.

I was trained and worked as a scientist.  Scientists find out what is true by testing  it.  If the facts don’t support your beliefs, your beliefs are wrong, no matter which church you go to.  The job of science is to see whether any change is needed to our thinking.  In 1854, for instance, Dr John Snow showed that cholera was spread by polluted water supplies and not by polluted air.  We are grateful.  Most people now believe that to be the truth.

But it appears that wanting to believe something will often be enough for people to believe it to be true, even if it is false.  One charlatan can spread a rumour that may be widely believed.  We know for instance, that there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism, but a quarter of adults seem to believe there is a link, purely as a result of one man making money out of pushing a falsehood.  Paracetamol is safe for women to take in pregnancy, whatever it says on Truth Social.  In church, we are not so concerned so much about physical truths, but by truths that affect how we live.  In 1983 in a film called “Return of the Jedi”, Obi-Wan Kenobi, explained to Luke Skywalker:  “What I told you was true, from a certain point of view.  You’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.”

Let us pray:

A collect for today:  Lord God, who guides our thoughts, who sets standards for us to aim at, guide our steps this morning as we examine what is truth, how we might determine it, and how we should respond to it.  Amen

All of today’s hymns have been written in the last few years, but to tunes that you know well.  Our first hymn is called:

Song – StF 399 – Within the Circle of your Friends

1. Within the circle of your friends, You found a place for me. Beside those whom I often meet, Near people whom I’ve yet to greet I’m privileged to be, I’m privileged to be.	2. Within your commonwealth of love, You found a place for me To listen, heal, disturb or care, Seek words to sing, find truth to share, Let life be full and free, Let life be full and free.
3. Around the table you prepare, You found a place for me Where, breaking bread and pouring wine, You tell us all, ‘This means you’re mine. And mine you’ll always be, And mine you’ll always be.’	4. Now brother, servant, saviour, Lord, I make a place for you. Called to your feast, among your friends, And keen to live as God intends, I come to be made new, I come to be made new.

The Bible as a source of truth

Reading 1

Exodus 20

God’s commands from about 3,300 years ago.

Reflection 1

The Ten Commandments must have been written because they represented a hoped-for change in behaviour, a change in ethical standards, a change from the accepted laws of the wandering desert people.  Otherwise, what was the point of writing them down?  Like scientists saying:  “What we believed up to now no longer describes the world as we know it;  we need to change our thinking”.  The writer of the ten commandments was saying:  “This is now how you should behave to achieve the sort of society we need to live in”.

It seems to me that everything written is written because it represents change or longed for change.  Of course, the Bible is full of stories about the Israelites not obeying the commandments.  They killed anyone who stood in their way and took what they wanted, some even disrespected their parents and worked on the sabbath.

Truth is always about to change

By the time of some later prophets, about 2700 years ago, there were more pleas for changes to ethical standards, different from what Moses and Joshua believed to be true about God’s will;  that is why their work is recorded. 

Reading 2 

Micah 6: 6-8

Reflection 2

Why did Michah feel the need to tell people this?  Because it was a new idea. 

Maybe you can think of some piece of writing that does not ask for, or describe change, but I can’t.  Even history books are written because the historian believes that s/he has a new, unique, interpretation of what went on back then.  Things are only written down because they are News.  People who write them believe that they are revealing new, updated, truths.  Even the football results are new scores from new football matches.

The Truth is always about to change

Reading

Matthew 12

Reflection 3

Matthew was mainly writing for a Jewish audience.  He tells how Jesus castigated the pharisees because they would not depart from the many instructions found in the Pentateuch.  Jesus represented change, as do all prophets.  These new instructions for Jews superseded Moses’ laws. 

So, here’s a question:  Why should we think that change stopped at Jesus? 

We know that He told us that He would leave us with a Holy Spirit to help us deal with modern life.  Jesus indicated that we should be making judgements for ourselves rather than leaning heavily on the interpretation of authorities.

Truth is always about to change

Ideas about God, about what God does in the world, about what God can do in the world, have clearly changed.  Please do not expect your children to believe the truth that you believe about God.  It is not the same for them, they live in a different world.

Song – StF 222 – Who would think that what was needed

Reflection 4

Managing without priests.  For many centuries, people seeking the truth had to ask a priest.  The protestant churches diverged from the Roman church in the 16^th Century Reformation, mainly because they did no longer believe that a priest was necessary to interpret God’s word for each of us:  so the priesthood of all believers describes the situation in which each of us has a direct line to God; you and me.  We don’t have priests;  other people cannot tell us what is true, only what they believe to be true.

Other people can’t tell you what is the truth.  We are tempted to follow charismatic figures, whether in politics or in the church, and to believe the truth that they tell.  This is a betrayal of our status as children of God.  It’s a betrayal of the Holy Spirit.  Methodism, in common with other protestant religions, believes in the priesthood of all believers. 

You will hear preachers, like me, telling you what to believe, what God wants of us, usually immediately after telling you that God is far beyond human understanding.  This is called irony.  Pilate asked Jesus “What is truth?”  it may seem to be a simple question, but it is not.  Pilate was puzzled and so he should have been.  He wanted someone to tell him.

Anecdotes are not the same as truth even if lots of people are saying the same thing.  Sheer numbers on their own prove nothing.  One of the biggest lies that have been believed by the most number of people is that smoking does you good.  Another might be Bernie Madhoff’s Ponzi scheme or the South Sea Bubble.  People believed these things because they abdicated their decisions to what are now called influencers;  charismatic politicians, Bishops, TV personalities, and the like.  This is a coward’s way out, someone else making your mind up.

Even eyewitness testimony should be regarded with suspicion.  Jesus rising from the dead is based entirely on the eyewitness reports of no more than 20 people: the disciples in the Upper Room and on the lakeshore, two men walking a road, and a group of women at the tomb.  That’s all.  Far more people claimed to have witnessed Elvis Presley alive after his death.  More people have apparently been abducted by aliens.  Sheer numbers prove nothing.  That Jesus ascended into heaven was only witnessed by three disciples.

External authority is not truth.  Despite the huge numbers of compassionate Christians who have followed the ways of Jesus, for centuries powerful church leaders explained that God approved of the slavery of black Africans.  Some have believed that the earth was flat.  Some will tell you that it is still OK to burn petrol in cars and gas in home heating and to eat factory farmed meat.  Some Churches still preach that the climate emergency is not created by humans.  We cite evidence when it supports us; and authority when there is no evidence.

So, The Truth is always about to change;  whether about vaccinating our children, wearing modest clothing;  supporting businesses that use modern slavery;  or the shape of the Earth.

The Methodist Quadrilateral describes the way in which John Wesley made decisions about truth.  There are, of course, four elements.

Scripture Have you read the Gospels recently?  Have you read the letters of St Paul?  Have you checked out what scholars say about who wrote what and under what circumstances?  We have to begin somewhere in our search for truth.  We may respect Elijah, for his courageous stand against a pagan king, so long as we also condemn his slaughter of people who just disagreed with him.  We read the Bible with care and wisdom.  Opening the Bible at a random verse is simply abandoning responsibility for our decisions.  Bear in mind that, just as we no longer believe that slitting the throats of young lambs might persuade God to give us victory in battle, so the right action now may be different from the ideas of prevalent in Bible times.

Tradition  There is much inspirational material available to us like hymns, songs, prayers, poetry, Christian art and devotional books.  There are memories, and histories of the church and of its involvement in noble and ignoble causes.  We need to devote some effort into understanding what our ancestors believed and why. 

Reason  We are blessed with amazing minds.  We are blessed with powers of reasoning.  We are called to love God with our minds as well as with our hearts.  To the best of our ability, we need to think things through in the light of reason.  This means becoming aware of different points of view and using our own critical thinking to make sense of God’s world.  Someone who changes their mind having considered all available evidence is more to be trusted than one who holds blindly to belief.  But reasoning without spiritual guidance can so often lead us into error.

Experience  Methodism particularly stresses the importance of our own experience of God’s grace working in our lives.  We gain wisdom and maturity from life experience, especially when we pray and reflect about our story with other Christians.  How much do we discuss our beliefs, how much do we interrogate the truth?

In John 14:26, John the evangelist quoted Jesus as saying that he was leaving us with the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us all things. 

Where our reading of the Bible seems to be at odds with Church Tradition and our own Reason and experience, we must depend on the Holy Spirit within us to guide us.  Maybe we can align with the Holy Spirit through talking with trusted friends, maybe through asking “What would Jesus be doing?”.

Other people cannot tell you what is true, only what they believe to be true.  We must, as far as possible, follow the ways of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Song – StF 673 – Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name

Reflection 5  For more than 35 years, I believed that I was incapable of learning a foreign language, because of what my French teacher said to me at school.  I never questioned this, although I constantly regretted it.  It took a life crisis, after many false starts, for me to determine to study and learn.  I learned that the facts of my life are not the same as what people tell me. 

What do you believe about your limitations only because of what people have said to you? 

Here is the news, version 1  There is a dreadful war in Sudan, and another in Yemen, and in the Central African Republic, and in Ukraine, and in Venezuela.  Altogether there are 59 countries currently engaged in armed conflict.  People in England are mugged on the street;  men kill women they live with;  children carry knives at school.  Violence is on the increase.

Version 2  Since I was born, child mortality has dropped worldwide from a quarter to less than 1%.  The number of illiterate people in the world has dropped from half of all people to less than 15%.  The number of children immunised against polio and smallpox has risen from less than 1% to  nearly 80%.  According to the Office for National Statistics, violent crime has decreased every year in the UK for the last ten years.  What is the truth? 

We need prayerful time with the Holy Spirit to help us find the truths that will shape our lives

Song – StF 237 – The Truth That Sets us Free – Ebenezer Tune

1. When the wheel of fate is turning And the mills of God grind slow, When the past seems more attractive Than the future we don’t know, When our confidence is waning And we lack security, Comes the timeless word of Jesus That the truth will set us free.	2. Is it war or economics, Is it danger or deceit, Is it unforeseen depression, Fear of failure to compete? Have the times which once were changing Led where no one wants to be? Shall we live by lies on offer Or the truth that sets us free?
3. With real faith there will be doubting, And with loss there will be grief. No one knows the contradictions Which will exercise belief. Against conflicts life might bring us, God provides no guarantee, Just this word of hope and healing: Know that truth will set you free.	4. So, dear Jesus, make us willing To unmask convenient lies, To protest wherever power Closes conscience, ears and eyes; And release our expectations Of your kingdom yet to be, Born in courage, joy and justice And the truth that sets us free.

There is one truth that I have found does not change:  Love is generally the answer 

All the rest is always about to change

Prayer 2

Holy Spirit, God

We thank you for all the Joys of this life, for all the generosity which surrounds us and which we can emulate.  We ask forgiveness for the times when we have been involved in untruth:  white lies and thoughtless assertions for which we have no evidence.

We ask forgiveness for passing on information that we have been told without verifying it.

We thank you for the forgiveness that we have received, that we may copy in our forgiveness of others.  We ask your help to base our lives on truth and to spread our understanding of the truth about how people may live with Joy, with Forgiveness in their hearts, and in following the ways of Jesus.

Help us to live lives of questioning, always believing that our understanding may change.
Help us to help others, by helping them to find the truth for themselves.
We ask your blessing on all who are imprisoned and tortured for telling the truth.
We ask your blessing on all who are involved in wars where truth is the first casualty.
We ask your blessing on ourselves as we seek to base our lives on the Truth as revealed to us through the Holy Spirit.
We ask that we will always live our lives with the overflowing love of God

The Lord’s Prayer

Song – Tell the Truth No Matter What it Takes

The Grace

The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ  /  The Love of God  /  And the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit
Remain with us always