March 7, 2021
John 15:18-20, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”
It’s important to discern what Jesus means by ‘world’ here. Sometimes this word means the physical globe on which we stand, the Earth - but in other times Jesus uses this word to mean, those who are outside of the kingdom of God. This is his use of the word here - a direct warning to the disciples that says, there will be people who hate you because of your faith in Christ. They would kill Jesus, and they would kill many of the followers of Jesus in the centuries after his death and resurrection. We are at low risk of losing our physical lives because of our faith in Jesus, but here’s the application for us: faith in Jesus is a big, big deal, and it puts us at odds with much of the world around us. We’ll be different in our ethical beliefs, in our commitments, and in our devotion to the one true God. The warning is important for us too. Think of it this way: Is Jesus saying to his disciples, ‘this is going to be very hard. Hard even to the point of death for you. Therefore, when conflict arises, please change course and abandon what I have taught you, in order that you might protect yourself?’ Of course he is not guiding them in that way.
When the world goes one way - and they will go in opposite directions in lots of different areas - where do we go? We stay firmly rooted, despite being at odds with outsiders. And when we recognize that we are different - we live as winsome exiles just as God’s people did during the exile in Babylon - we seek the peace of the city, plant gardens, get married, enjoy our lives, and worship the Lord (Jer. 29). We don’t do one of these three things - they are B.A.D. We don’t BUNKER DOWN - stay away from me, world, we’re not like you, we don’t love you. We don’t ASSIMILATE - in order for you to respect us, we’ll just adopt your way of thinking. And we don't DOMINATE - we’ll show you what’s right by steamrolling you into submission to Christian values. All three of these ways are mistakes the church has made over the centuries. We should be okay being outsiders - we’ve always been outsiders. Jesus is calling you to be an outsider, but an outsider who is within the kingdom of God.
Prayer: Help me, Jesus, to understand what it means to be an outsider from the world and yet a resident within your kingdom. Help me to find comfort in the uncomfortable place of being rejected by the world. Help me to hold fast to your truth despite what pressures might come my way. Show me ways in which I can encourage my church to find unity and peace despite what is going on in the world around us. Amen.
40 Days of Joy: Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World.” I love this song - so much hope in this song. I love the line about babies who will grow to learn more “than I’ll ever know.”
