Sermon Tone Analysis

Endure

In order to understand what we are going to talk about this morning, we have to really have an idea planted in our brains and in our hearts.

Jesus is preparing his followers to be a new community.

A community that is set apart.

A community that looks different.

A community that is teaching and preaching things that are radically opposed to the culture at the time.

This new community is based on what Jesus has been teaching his disciples from Jn 13-16.

This new community is counter-cultural

B/c this new community is going to be so different from the world.

B/c this new community is going to be bringing the message of Jesus.

B/c this new community is going to be following in Jesus’ footsteps, Jesus wants to prepare them for what is going to lie ahead of them.

They are going to face opposition.

They are going to face death.

They are going to face immeasurable persecution.

And Jesus wants them to be aware of that fact.

He doesn’t want them to be surprised by the terrors that they will face.

So he prepares them.

That’s the goal and the purpose behind this section of scripture to prepare them for the trials that come with following him.

This opposition was no surprise to Jesus, he predicted all of this.

And the text we are going to look at this morning is Jesus telling the disciples as much.

He is warning them and preparing them for the reality that they are going to be hated.

They are going to be outcasts.

They are even going to be murdered b/c of their faith in him.

I’m not sure if you’re aware but for most of church history being a Christian has bee a bloody business.

Just think about those readings we just had.

Christians suffered and were persecuted.

The reading out of Acts was about the first Christian Martyr, Stephen.

Who was killed for his faith in Jesus.

And this isn’t just something that happened in the past.

This is happening today to brothers and sisters around the world.

The Western church has gotten off pretty easy when it comes to persecution.

That doesn’t mean that it isn’t coming, but for our history we’ve had it pretty easy.

Over 360 million Christians living in places where they experience high levels of persecution and discrimination

5,898 Christians killed for their faith

5,110 churches and other Christian buildings attacked

4,765 believers detained without trial, arrested, sentenced or imprisoned

These are the ones we know about.

So this is not a romanticized past event.

Persecution is happening around the world.

Right now.

This is a reality.

But Jesus knew that this would happen.

He knew that following him would cost us something.

And for some it would cost them all.

So this morning, as we look at Jesus’ words I want you to remember, realize, or recognize that if we are truly following Jesus.

It is going to cost us something.

Discipleship is not cheap.

Discipleship is not easy.

Discipleship is costly.

The World Hates Jesus

The first thing we need to see is that the world will hate us.

But it’s not going to be because of us, It’s going to be because of Jesus.

The source of the World’s hatred for Followers of Jesus is Jesus himself.

Now, we’ve talked about this before, but it bears repeating.

We need to understand what John means by the world, when he talks about the World.

What John and Jesus don’t mean is just everyone.

The World does not mean every non-believer.

Not every non-believer you come across hates you.

When John talks about the world he is speaking about those that openly oppose Jesus and his mission.

They are the ones that are openly defiant of God’s and boast about it.

One commentator put it this way “The world…refers to the created moral order in active rebellion against God.”

Why do we need to make this distinction?

Why does it matter how we classify the world.

B/c if we aren’t careful about how we view the World we will over react and become like hermits.

We don’t need to view every unbeliever as a threat.

We don’t need to see every unbeliever as an enemy.

They aren’t our enemies to be conquered but image bearers to be loved.

The calling of the follower of Jesus isn’t to hunker down and wait for Jesus’ return it is to engage the world and proclaim his salvation.

Our calling is to preach the gospel in the face of hatred and opposition.

We aren’t to avoid the world we are to engage the world.

Rather than withdrawing from the culture we should be engaging in the culture.

We are called to be kingdom builders.

We are called to be disciple makers.

And we can’t do that if we avoid the culture.

Now we have to be careful.

As followers of Jesus we can’t become a part of the culture to engage in it.

We are called to be distinct from the world.

Listen to what Jesus says.

Chosen out of the World

We are supposed to be different from the World.

We are not supposed to be like the ones that hate God.

Why?

B/c Jesus has chosen us.

He has removed us from the enemies of God to a new community of God.

Listen to what Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:9 “9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

We used to be rebels.

We used to be enemies of God.

But Jesus has saved us from that.

He has called us to be different.

If we are more comfortable with the World.

The enemies of God than we are with our new family, maybe we don’t belong to the new family.

Maybe we are still a part of the World.

Maybe we are still in rebellion.

If the enemies of God don’t hate the people of God then the people who claim to be of God don’t belong to him.

We have to know our status before God.

If we are a part of this new community he is building then we are former Rebels.

Listen to what this commentator said, We are “former rebels who have by the grace of the king been won back to loving allegiance to [our] rightful monarch...” therefore, we “are not likely to prove popular with those who persist in rebellion.”

One of the dangers and temptations that stems from our new position and our new community is to think that we are intrinsically superior b/c of our salvation.

I would caution against this.

We are not superior to anyone else.