"Understanding Religious Hatred"
“Understanding Religious Hatred”
10/13/02
John 15:8-16:4
Intro. Some 80 years ago, as Notre Dame was preparing to play USC in college football, Fighting Irish coach Knute Rockne was aware that his opponent had a far better team, so he devised a plan to intimidate the Trojan players.
Rockne scoured the city of South Bend and hand-picked 100 of the largest men he could find – each at least six-foot five and three hundred pounds. He put them in Fighting Irish uniforms and at game time marched them onto the field ahead of the real team. (Obviously, this was before the days of limited rosters and eligibility restrictions.)
As USC watched these giants line up on the sidelines, they forgot about their talent and their undefeated record, and they began mentally preparing themselves for a beating. Though none of the specially recruited men played during the game, their presence on the sidelines was enough to knock Southern Cal’s game off balance. Knute Rockne’s trick had worked; he had intimidated the Trojan players into giving up before the game even started, and Notre Dame won.
Knowing the ways of our opponent, there were some things that Jesus did not completely spell out until these intimate moments in the upper room lest the disciples hearts be overcome with fear. Jesus looked at the disciples and said, "You have no idea what’s coming so let me get you ready. The clouds are going to gather and I want you to realize that things are going to happen (there will be storms in life)so that when they come you will not scandalize, stumble.”
Read: (John 15: 18-16:4) stand to read.
Scott Peck in his book, The Road Less Traveled, opens it up with these three words: "Life is difficult."
If someone had told me 25 years ago how difficult pastoral ministry would be, I would not have believed them. And if I had believed them, I wouldn’t have gone into it.
God knew that there were things I didn’t need to know at that time; things that I would not have understood. Things that I was not ready to face well.
Jesus had waited until these moments in the upper room to talk more thoroughly about the world’s hatred toward Him and toward those who would follow Him.
Commentaries are rather thin on this paragraph of Scripture. Those that are topical do not treat it at all. That is tempting. This won’t be anybody’s favorite message. You might be strongly inclined to disagree with what Jesus says.
Alexander Solzenitsyn, Soviet dissident and Christian, said he feared for the West (in general) and Western Christians (in particular) because we have an inadequate view of human suffering. If called upon to suffer for our faith, would we?
It is important that we understand foundationally Jesus’ teaching concerning religious hatred.
Jesus gives three reasons for the world’s hatred:
I. A difference in nature between the world and the disciples (v. 19)
·Love vs. hatred - the harsh disconnect between v.17 and v.18 is intentional - v.18 - “If…” is a statement of certainty “If the world hates you, and it does!!”
(Ty’s great challenge last week: “Love one Another”)
-Lay down your life in service to others.
-Open up your life in leadership to others.
-Get on your knees in prayer for others.
Pagan parents can and do love their pagan infants. Pagan men and women fall in love with each other.
But by definition, the world (cosmos) is made up of people who have never acknowledged the supremacy of Christ nor known the love of God. They are people who are absorbed with themselves or with their self-created gods. It is not possible for them to love God or to love his people until they come to terms with truth.
·Church vs. the world
Human nature, like the animal kingdom, is to distrust anyone different from the average. It is the herd instinct of wild animals, it is the treatment of black sheep within a herd of white ones, birds of a feather flocking together & driving out those whose plumage differs substantially.
“A Christian, by definition, stands under the lordship of Jesus Christ; the world, by definition, does not stand under that lordship.” (Carson, 117)
The world we are referring to is the human system that is opposed to God. It is the world that thinks that we humans are ok and we do not need God. It is the world that thinks that we are to look out for ourselves first. That success and popularity are most important.
Jesus says that we do not belong to this world and their way of thinking and living. That we are not to feel at home in this world. That we do not get our security, our comfort and hope from this world. That we are, as Peter, says, 1 Pet 2:11 "aliens and strangers in the world." That we are not to even think as the world thinks. That we are not to conform to the pattern of this world.
v. 19 - If you belong to the world, the world will love you as its own.
I John 4: 4-6 “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
We do not belong to the world. That means that our:
- goals
- aspirations
- most important values
- use of time
- application of financial resources
- the way we view human events
- our priorities; the things we accept and the things we decline
- our children
- all of the things most important
are different from the world. We do not belong to this world. This should make us substantially different and for that reason alone, the world system will move from fear to suspicion to distrust to hatred.
(second reason for religious hatred)
II. The disciples’ close association with the rejected Christ (20b, 21)
There is suffering inflicted that is aimed at Christ. Since they can’t get to him they reach us. It is our high privilege to suffer for Him who suffered so much for us.
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.” I Peter 4:12-13
Ill. A gathering of pastors, priests and rabbis in Florida recently where a liberal Jewish rabbi said, “I will never bow my knee to your Jesus!” A Christian pastor responded by saying, “Oh yes you will. A day comes when you will either bend your knees or they will be broken.”
Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.
(a third reason for religious hatred)
III. The conviction of sin which Jesus’ message brought upon the world.(22-24)
Before Christ, the world was not completely innocent. That is not what Jesus is saying. After Christ they had light like never before. Jesus was the perfect revelation of the father. They must either embrace Christ or hate Him. Jesus’ perfect life had forced the issue.
Andrew Bolt, a journalist and a believer, listed some of the de facto religions of our day. He spoke of environmentalists and animal rights advocates who place the welfare of animals and even plants on an equal footing with that of human beings, of those who make aboriginal rights into a religion, of those who advocate sexual liberation, he spoke of new age religions, witchcraft and crystals and mother-earth religion.
But the religion that perhaps shows up this difference of accepting Christ or rejecting Him the most is the new religion of tolerance, what he called the new fundamentalism. This perhaps more than anything else is the place where Christians will find themselves opposed by those of the world. Some states are designing new legislation under the umbrella of "Racial and Religious Tolerance". It tends to be based on the idea that tolerance should be elevated above everything else. It could mean that a Christian could be tried for making a statement about the uniqueness of Christ if it could be construed by a disaffected person as "intolerance" and offensive to their rights and beliefs. But even without a bill like that, we’ll find ourselves looked down upon if we talk about Jesus being "the way, the truth and the life, no-one comes to the Father except through him." The world doesn’t want to be told that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. Nor does it want to be subject to the moral standards that God wants for his world. It wants everyone to be able to decide on their own moral standards.
Brennan Manning speaks of an acquaintance who will not allow any representation of the cross in his home. The man says, "I can't stand the cross. It is a denial of all that I value in life. I am a proud man, sensual; I seek pleasure. The cross reproaches me. It says, 'You're wrong. Your life must take this shape. This is the only true interpretation of life, and life is true only when it takes this form.'" We should at least give the man credit for being honest. This is a man who understands that the Jesus of the scriptures says he needs a savior, and he wants nothing to do with a savior.
“To come to Jesus and confess him as Savior and Lord requires contrition, a bended knee. One cannot come to Christ sensing no need, no unworthiness, no sin; one cannot come with head held high as a partner in the enterprise of salvation. It is impossible; for the light of the gospel in the person of Jesus simultaneously illumines our grimy and corrupt hearts and points to him who alone makes all things clean and new. In that moment of self-revelation, either the grace of God takes hold and the sinner cries for mercy, for cleansing, for life; or else he loathes the light that has exposed the dirt. The latter is the reaction of the “world”; and it is a principal ground of the world’s hatred.” (Carson 122)
You should analyze your life at this point. Are you accepting with full embrace, Jesus as your savior or are you picking and choosing the less offensive aspects of Christianity, and sin is a tough concept.
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.” (Eph. 2: 1,4)
Two antidotes to the attitude of religious hatred of the world:
I. The witness of the Spirit (next week)
The early church absolutely depended upon this.
Acts 5:32 “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him”
Acts 6:10 – the opponents of Stephen discovered “they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by which he spoke.”
Matt. 10:19,20 “But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. AT that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
II. The witness of believers
Witnesses are to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. When we do…
Three points are made:
1.Terrible persecution is inevitable (16:2)
Do not think that in some periods of history all Christians faced intense persecution. No. Rarely has this been the case. But, don’t think that the age of martyrs is over either.
Don’t forget Martin (and Gracia) Burnham & Cassey Bernall
Belarussian students- “You may very well be training the next group of Belarussian martyrs.”
Most Oppressive Religion Law in Europe Passes (Belarus If signed, the new law would outlaw any unregistered religious activity. It would require prior censorship on all religious literature and ban any foreign citizens from leading a religious organization. Any publishing and education would be restricted to faiths that had at least one registered community in 1982 and now have at least ten registered communities. There would also be a ban on most religious meetings in private homes. This law is the most restrictive religion law in Europe. Some observers believe that the results of this law will likely be persecution to Belarussian Christians.
Jennifer Sills and Jonathan Schnose serving along side Jeff and Carol Laughlin’s family in Belarus. They may be forced out of the country.
Ben and Jamie Chase - hauled in by the police recently for questioning
Dick Corley & Brad Foreman - Turkey
Boris and Natasha
2. Some of the worst persecution will be done in the name of God. (16:2b-3)
Islamic extremists
Richard Latimer and Hugh Ridley:
They then brought a torch and laid it at Dr. Ridley's feet, upon which Mr. Latimer said, "Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust never shall be put out."
3. These things are not to frighten but to enable them to stand. (16:1)
commitment – no matter what
Acts 20:22 “ And now, behold, bound in spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” Will you be a witness no matter what.