In the World But Not Of the World

John 17 (ESV)

The High Priestly Prayer

17 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Question: What makes you a Mennonite?

I’ve been asked this question

The other weekend at the international student outreach

As we talked about, one of the main issues which started the Anabaptist movement was baptism—baptism should only be for believers

But now most evangelical churches practice believer’s baptism, just like we do. So what is it that makes us anapbaptist or Mennonite?

I’m wondering, what is it that makes us unique from other Christian groups?

One of the most important things that has been taught in our Anabaptist (Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite, etc) groups from the very beginning, is to be separate from the world. We call it non-conformity

We have taught, or at least we used to have been taught, that there are two Kingdoms:

The Kingdom of this world

The Kingdom of God

And we have been taught that, as Believers, we have been called out of the kingdom of the world, and into the Kingdom of God.

And that in the kingdom of God, there is

a new way of living

Maybe a new way of dressing

New values

for sure, a new allegiance

for sure, a new identity

And without a doubt, this is the Gospel that we profess. That God calls His people out of, into

This picture is all through the Bible, from

God calling Abram out of UR, into Canaan

God calling His people out of Egypt, into the promised land

God calling His Believers out of darkness, into His Kingdom

I think we would all agree, or at least I hope we would, that we have been called out of the world into God’s kingdom

We call it “non-conformity”.

Conform means “to shape or mold”

Non-conformity, then, is the idea of NOT being shaped or molded by the world, because we have been called out of the world

Romans 12 tells us to not be conformed to this world

And in Our passage today, Jesus prays that we would be in the world, but not of it.

We know that there is, or should be some sort of a separation between the followers of Jesus, and “the world”.

The problem is, I think, that we struggle to define what the world really is

In the tradition that many of us grew up, we had lists of things, or ideas of things, that were either spiritual or worldly.

Some of these things centered around what we were allowed to do for leisure activities

couldn’t go bowling

Some of them had to do with what you were allowed to own

TV was wordly

But if you go back into history and read what Anabaptists have written about non-conformity over the years, and how we have chosen to live, there are two big areas that stand out.

Dress

From the very beginning, Anabaptists pointed to dress as an area that we needed to be careful about.

They did not want their people to wear bright colors and “ruffled collars” and jewelry, powered wigs and such like.

They were to be sober and plain because of the concern about becoming too proud about how they looked

We are very familiar with standards and rules about dress and the dangers of being too “worldly” in our dress

But we are also well aware that our ideas of what is worldly and unacceptable has changed pretty significantly over the years.

We have gone from this (picture of old mennonites)

To this (picture of modern mennonites)

We are well aware that we here at Fairview have changed too, haven’t we?

I was looking at some pictures of 40 years ago or so when Heidi was a little girl and it’s pretty apparent that we have changed significantly in our appearance

So that brings a lot of questions to my mind. What really is worldly when it comes to dress?

Is it worldly to wear a necktie, as I used to think it was

Is it worldly for me to wear shorts in public

Is it worldly for a lady to wear a doily instead of the traditional cap style covering or long hanging one?

What is it about the way I dress that says I’m Mennonite? is it important?

Politics and our attitude toward the state (government)

From the very beginning, Anabaptists were distinct in that peace has been very important to us.

The value and sacredness of human life is very important to us

Love and forgiveness has been very much a part of how we live

Along with that, We believe very much in the love and sovereignty of God and we have declared that we are in His hands and will abide by His will

whether it comes to our personal lives

Or what happens in our government

For that reason, historically we have not involved ourselves in the political system

We did not vote

We did not go to war

We did not go to political rally’s

We did however, pray faithfully for our leaders as the Bible commands, and we served our country in the best way that we could without picking up a weapon.

Because we saw the values of our governments being in direct opposition to the values of the Kingdom of God

In the early days when the church and the state were pretty much the same thing, this got us persecuted and killed.

We were seen as heretics, not only for our teachings on Scripture, but for our attitudes toward the state (picture of martyr)

And even more recently in history

My great-great uncle Nevin Bender being taken to Leavanworth Prison in Kansas during WW1 and enduring horrible treatment

my grandfathers being separated from their young wives for long periods of time

But we are seeing a big shift in our attitudes and beliefs about our governments

A vivid illustration of our change in beliefs is this picture (picture of Amish rally)

It’s clear that something significant is changing in our conservative anabaptist world.

So again, this brings so many questions to my mind.

What is the world? What is worldly?

What defines us as a people? Is that important to us?

If I may speak my heart here a little bit. And I realize that this may get me in some hot water. But I hope that you can hear my heart.

I think how we dress is important. How we present ourselves says something about our heart and our desire to represent Jesus well.

But it’s the second issue that I mentioned, our change in attitude toward politics and government, which I believe is a bigger threat not only to the conservative Mennonite way of life, but to the church of Jesus Christ in this country.

our government talks about “existential threats”.

simply put, that is something that threatens our very existence

There are existential threats to our nation

But there are existential threats to our church as well

I believe that our change in attitudes and beliefs about the government is an existential threat not only to us as Anabaptists, but to the church of Jesus Christ

And I say this and believe this from the bottom of my heart

I am deeply troubled by how political the Christian church has gotten.

I’m troubled by how much talk of politics I hear, and the pressure to make our voices heard at the ballot box.

And I’m not alone in this. I’ve talked to other pastors who are amazed and saddened by how politics is taking over and dividing our churches and communities.

And I do admit that perhaps I’m a little out of touch, having grown up in an isolated setting and lived overseas. I’m sure that there are certain things which I simply just don’t get.

But even so, I am still troubled.

I’m troubled on two different fronts:

It reflects a deep and fundamental change in our belief system

I believe that we are changing in our belief about the sovereignty of God and the way that directs the affairs of men

I believe that we are changing in high importance that we used to place on the commands of Jesus

I believe, it is these beliefs that have done more to shape and direct our way of life then any rules about how we should dress or act

We said, “We ought to obey God rather than men”.

This meant that Jesus commands to love, forgive, to be disciples, to follow Him have taken very high priority in our lives.

It’s these beliefs that have made us unique as a people.

directed our beliefs in non-resistence

Made love and forgiveness such a high priority

have given us such strong communities

have made us salt of the earth

Christianity Today article talking about the Haiti kidnappings: talking about the tremendous testimony that the leaders of CAM and the families of the hostages are leaving in their response.

Their calls to forgive

Their calls to pray for the salvation of the gang members

Their persistence to stay and serve the Haitian people

It is puzzling and a challenge, not only to a secular world, but to many in the evangelical world who are wanting revenge and the punishment of the kidnappers

The problem is, that our secular governments do not have the teachings of Jesus as their priority and guide.

Government is about justice, punishment, righting the wrong, power.

And the more that we focus on what a particular party or candidate can do for us, the more the more that we are going to change in our fundamental beliefs and in living out the commands of Jesus

I believe the church is losing its focus and losing its effectiveness. Its saltiness, as Jesus put it

I’m troubled about the walls that politics puts up between us

I’m troubled when I hear statements like, “Well, he’s a democrat/liberal, so we can’t believe anything he says.”

that makes me sad because I have a very close friend who loves Jesus with all of his heart, goes to a BMA church, and who is a bit left of center politically, and who just might vote for a democrat.

I’m sad that we can’t do anything or say anything that reflects a “liberal agenda”, because we will get written off

I’ll be honest with you, there are some opinions and beliefs that I have which I’m very cautious about sharing, because I don’t know the reaction that it will cause.

I’m sad that we can’t see an issue differently and talk openly and civily and lovingly about those differences

Despite all the talk of “going across the isle” or “coming together”, I see very little of that happening in the political realm.

And I wonder sometimes if our increased involvement in the political realm is affecting the way that we relate with each other, not only here in church but in our community.

Does it have anything to do with why we have all these churches in the community and we rarely cross over between each other?

Church, again, I hope you hear my heart in this.

I am not pointing fingers. Not trying to anyway.

I’m not saying that we never go to the ballot box.

But I am very concerned about this and i’m sad at what is happening to us.

So, back to our questions?

What makes you a Mennonite? Is that important to us?

More importantly, Is there a world that we are supposed to separate ourselves from? If so, what does this world look like.

I think that John asked this same question. Because after hearing Jesus pray this prayer, he wrote this:

1 John 2:15-17 “15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

We’ve heard this passage many times, and I’ve referred to it before.

But as I think about what it means to be separate from the world, I think of LOVE.

John says, “Don’t LOVE the world”.

You know how we talk about these 3 Greek words for love

Eros—physical love or affection

Phileo—The brotherly love and affection

Agape—Deep and abiding love. What God has for us. It’s at the heart level. That which really motivates us

Do you know which of these John uses here?

AGAPE. Do not agape the world. For if anyone agape’s the world, the agape of the Father is not in him.

What is it that we really truly love? What is it that has our affection?

Is it the desires of the flesh? All the things that our body wants? The things that give us pleasure and make us feel good, at least for a time? Is that what we love and what we live for?

If so, then these things are the world.

We live among these things, but we are not OF these things

Jesus followers are not the kind of people who love their fleshly desires

What has our affection? Is it the desires of the eyes?

Are we like crows and magpies who are attracted by glitter and gold?

All those things that we can put on ourselves and do to ourselves to make ourselves more presentable

All the things that we do to look better to others?

If so, then these things are of the world

We live among these things, and people who spend their lives fulfilling the desires of their eyes

But Jesus followers are not the kind of people who are driven by what looks good.

What has our affection? Is it the pride of life?

Are we driven by the desire to have our voice be heard? our point of view to win the day?

Do we want to be the winners? In control of our country, our church?

Do we want our our church to be the most popular

Do we want our farm to be the most prosperous? Our business to make the most money

Do we feel lost if we don’t have any trophies to hold up and say, look what I did, look what we have done?

If so, then this is the world.

We live among people who for them the pride of life is what their affections long for

Jesus followers are those who come apart from these things.

If we look at worldliness or non-conformity from the standpoint of love, what does this do for our

Mission? our why

If our love for The Father took center stage in our life, would we be as quick to make politics and rules so imporant in our lives

If dress is important to us, could we ask ourselves how can I show that I love The Father and pursue His heart of love for people by how I dress?

Hudson Taylor founder of China Inland Mission adopted the Chinese manner of dress and even sported a pigtail, both scandelous things to his fellow missionaries, because His love for His Father and for the Chinese people was greater than holding to a certain standard of dress

If politics is important to us, what would a greater love for the Father do to that?

Would a greater love for The Father start to pull our eyes away from the political realm

The anger, the fear, the revenge, the suspicion

If tradition is important to us, how would a greater love for The Father change how we think about it?

Relationships?

If we find it hard to forgive

If we build walls between ourselves and those who don’t come out on the same side of the coin as we do

politically

Church issues

Personal issues

What would a greater love for The Father do for us?

could walls be torn down?

could I worship with you

Could I break bread with you even though there are things that we disagree on?

Could we even talk about those things without anger, or fear. Could we ask each other what is on our hearts?

Let’s live for the glory of God in this world, but let’s not be a part of it.

Let’s always let the Holy Spirit be examining our hearts and showing us where our affections lie and what it is that we love.

Is it the world?

Or is it him?