Take heart, I have overcome the world

Introduction

Before we get into today’s sermon, I want to share a little about our Cambodia trip!

But before I do that, does anyone know the history of Cambodia?

Cambodia may be a third world country today, but actually it used to be a very successful country. It used to be a huge empire that had a lot of influence on the surrounding countries, and it was a very advanced society. Does anyone know Angkor Wat? It is a huge Buddhist temple that was built almost 1000 years ago, and just like the pyramids of Egypt, no one knows how it was built, because the architecture is so complex!

But then a few hundred years later, Cambodia became a French colony. And then after that, it was invaded by Japan in WW2. And then there was a huge civil war within the country, which ended in 1975. And just when everyone thought all the conflict was over, the worst was yet to come. After the civil war, Pol Pot, came into power, he had a very radical communist view for his country. He viewed anyone with power or education as the enemy, so he murdered millions of people: all doctors, lawyers, anyone with a good job, anyone who wore glasses, anyone with smooth hands, anyone who spoke a foreign language, any religious leaders, businessmen. And he didn’t just kill these people, he killed their entire families as well including their children, because he was afraid their children would take revenge.

And then afterwards, he rounded up all the people from the city and sent them to the countryside to farm crops. But the problem with that was, because he killed off all the educated people, no one knew how to farm properly. So they weren’t getting enough crops to feed everyone, and yet he still tried to force people to meet the quota for their farming. So not only were people murdered, not only did they starve to death, but they were also overworked to death. And as a result, it is estimated about 1 in 4 people in the entire country, 25% of the population, died in the space of 4 years. And you can see all the skeletons they collected from mass graves in the memorials they set up there.

And this is really recent! It’s only around 1980 that this all finished, which is around 40 years ago, when all our parents 10-20 years old. And because of all this hardship, Cambodia is still a country with a lot of issues even today. Poverty, disease, lack of access to safe drinking water, poor education, corruption in the government - these are all issues going on today. When we went, there were many people who still didn’t know how to use a bank, they still use cash. And to top it all off, there are very few Christians in Cambodia. I think there’s less than 0.5% of the population who are Christian - this is even less than the number of Muslims.

So these are the reasons many missionaries go to Cambodia.

So here are some of the things we did over there:

-share photos.

So overall, we got to have a really wonderful and blessed time, and I want to thank everyone for their prayers and support.

But why is it that we go to mission in the first place? Well it’s because God commands us to. God commands us to go to the ends of the earth to spread the gospel. God could spread the gospel himself, but He chooses to use us to spread his good news.

And I’m not sure if you remember, but in the book of John, we’ve been looking at the upper room discourse: when Jesus when goes to a private upper room with his disciples, and has his final chat with them. It is also called the ‘Farewell Discourse’. And we talked about how the term ‘farewell discourse’ is not that accurate, because this speech that Jesus gives is not so much Jesus saying farewell, but Jesus sending his disciples out into the world to spread the gospel, and about how Jesus will help and support them in that mission. So just like the disciples, we are all called by Jesus to go out into the world to spread the good news, and Jesus promises to be with us and help us.

And today’s passage is the very last part of this ‘farewell discourse’, and in it, Jesus talks about all the resources, all the help he gives us, to go out into the world for mission.

So let’s read the passage together. Read John 16:16-33.

1. Jesus Gives Us Himself

So the first resource Jesus gives us, is himself. Read John 16:16 “16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”” The first ‘little while’ is Jesus talking about his imminent death on the cross, and the second ‘little while’ is talking about his resurrection. Jesus is saying, not even death can separate me from you. Because of his resurrection, we can now enjoy the personal presence of Jesus forever. So when we go out into mission, it is not so much us going out into mission for him, but rather we are going out to mission with him.

And even though Jesus is not here with us physically because he has now ascended into heaven, He sends us his Holy Spirit, and remember from an earlier passage in John, through the Spirit, the Son and the Father make their home inside of us. So God, the whole Trinity, is now with us, inside of us, which is so much greater than Jesus just being physically next to us. And because the presence of Christ in us is rooted in the eternal resurrection, nothing can separate us from Christ ever again, not even death.

And what does this bring? Joy, eternal joy. Read John 16:20 “20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” & Read John 16:22 “22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” Although there was sorrow for the disciples because Jesus had to die on the cross, there was a wonderful joy to follow, because Christ would be resurrected and now be in eternal relationship with his disciples as He dwells inside them, and it is a joy that no one can take away, it is an eternal joy.

So although mission is a challenging, and difficult, and at times a really sad and sorrowful experience, Jesus promises this wonderful eternal joy. And that joy comes from the personal gift of Himself to us. A joy that the world cannot offer; a joy that doesn’t make sense to the world; a joy that the world cannot take away. And it helps us overcome and endure through any trial that we may face in this life that we live for the mission of God. We met many missionaries over there, and they told us so many stories about how there hardships and difficulties on the mission field. And yet, when you spoke to them, there was a glow and joy about them, that you could never see in your average Melbournian who by any standard live a much better life than these missionaries. Despite not having all the comforts and material blessings of living in Melbourne, despite all the trials and difficulties they face, these missionaries had a joy, despite their challenges and trials, that no one could take away. And that is because they have the gift of Christ’s himself, his very presence, inside them, which they savoured enjoyed, richly and deeply, much greater than any treasure this world could offer.

2. Jesus Gives the gift of answered prayer

The second resource is the gift of answered prayer. By Jesus ‘going away’ and dying on the cross, Jesus died for our sins, which means now we can approach the Father directly without any fear or judgement. Jesus establishes for us a new relationship with the Father, and now we can approach the throne of God with confidence and address the Father directly through Christ. This is so different to the Old Testament, because remember God’s presence had to be hidden from the Israelites so that they would not be destroyed for their sins, and they also needed someone like Moses to speak to God for them as they could not speak to God directly. But now because of Jesus’ work on the cross, we can not only approach God directly and be directly in God’s presence, but we can actually speak to the Father directly, all on the basis of Jesus name. Read John 16:23 “23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” How amazing is it that we have direct access to the One who is the source of everything good in the universe? And again, this is a source of great joy! Read John 16:24 “24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Jesus specifically says that we must ask ‘in his name’. What does it mean to pray in Jesus name? Well firstly, it means that we are trusting and completely relying on Jesus and what he did on the cross, as his sacrifice covers our sins, our unworthiness. But praying in Jesus name, also means praying with the same character of Jesus. We will look at how Jesus prays in the next chapter in John next week, but when Jesus prays, He prays with complete humility, meekness, complete dependence and trust in the Father, in a completely unself-centred, completely other-person centred way. This is so different to our prayers, because so much of our prayers are ‘me-centred’ - but when we pray like Jesus, in his name, in complete trust and dependence on Christ and what He has done for us, Christ promises that the Father will answer our prayers, and that our joy may be full. And what a blessing and security this is when we go out into the unknown, as we go out on God’s mission.

3. Jesus gives the gift of victory!

Finally, Jesus gives us the gift of victory and triumph! Read John 16:33 “33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”” Jesus says ‘but take heart, I have overcome the world.’ Jesus defeated the ultimate enemy, death and sin. He is is completely victorious and conquered the enemy. And Jesus shares this victory with us, so we may also rejoice in his victory, knowing that the ultimate enemy of death and sin will never overtake and defeat us, because they have already been defeated by Christ.

And we can share in Christ’s victory even despite our weakness and sins - Read John 16:32 “32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.” This verse is talking about the betrayal of the disciples, including Peter denying Jesus 3 times. Despite their complete betrayal and completely cowardly behaviour, Jesus still promises to share his victory with them.

And we can share in Christ’s vicotry even despite all the trials and difficulties in our lives. In verse 33, it talks about the ‘tribulation’ we will have in this world. No matter what we face in life, we know the final outcome, which is the complete victory of Jesus. No matter what is happening in our lives, no matter how difficult they may be, we know the true reality under it all: that Christ has overcome everything. So that means whatever we may be facing in life, we can have peace, because we know that Christ is victorious and has overcome.

Most of Jesus’ disciples ended up dying for their faith, they did indeed face tribulation; but I’m confident that despite all the persecution and suffering they faced, deep inside they had peace and joy in their lives. And that’s because they witnessed the resurrection of Christ, they knew that death and sin were defeated, they knew that God was with them, they knew that God will answer their prayers, and they knew that Christ is victorious. So they were able to go out and complete the mission God gave to them, despite all of this.

And this is similar to the missionaries that we met in Cambodia. I was particularly inspired by a missionary named 정연 선교사님. She started this wonderful ministry in Cambodia over 30 years ago, and now it is a huge ministry with over 7 missionaries working for her, and millions of dollars in funding. And although it is really successful, she’s still had a really tough life, and she still has a really hard life even today with many challenges.

One of the things we did over there was cleaning the school that she ran. And there was a moment when I was cleaning one of the windows in the stairwell by myself, and just in that moment I had no one around me. And in that moment, I felt a really deep sadness, fear, loneliness, which was almost overwhelming, because I imagined myself in the shoes of 정연 선교사님 and how she would have felt many times in the 30 years she spent in Cambodia. All out in a foreign dangerous country by herself, away from all the comforts of home in Korea, away from all family, living in a really run down house, with so many challenges and obstacles in your ministry which feel impossible to overcome, and you feel powerless and helpless. Even your fellow missionaries and all the mission teams that come from Australia and Korea are just people that come and go, they don’t stay with you for the whole time, so at the end of the day, it’s just you and you’re all alone. And in that moment, I was amazed how she was able to endure this for more than 30 years. And I think the only reason she was able to endure it is because she had a gift of unshakeable faith: she believed and trusted that Christ was with her, and that the Father would answer her prayers, and that no matter how hard things got, she knew Christ was victorious and can overcome any situation she may face.

All our lives are meant to be missional. And mission doesn’t necessarily mean going overseas. We can be missional in our daily lives. And just like 정연 선교사님, we need to remember that we don’t do mission alone. Mission isn’t even about doing it with other people. Mission is done with Christ. Christ is with us, he answers us prayers, and he has overcome. He has given us everything we need to do mission, no matter what barrier we may face. So as you go out into life this week, our lives our missional, we are meant to share the gospel, and maybe even consider going to the mission trip next year. And in all this, remember it is not us, but Christ in us, doing mission.