Haters Going to Hate

John 15:18-25; 16:1-4; 16:29-33

Pepes

I love Mexican food… but I hated PePe’s on Foothill Blvd. in La Canada, California. And again and again my parents wanted to go there.

See, I heard (word on the street was) that someone find their dumpster full of dog food. Which of course means that they use dogfood in their burritos and everyone at Palm Crest Elementary school knew it. My parents thought that was ridiculous.

So we went. I think maybe they bribed me to go and try it. And the salsa was awesome. The chips were great. And I ordered an enchilada. It looked horrible, but it was tasty and I ate all of it.

Then (and I apologize because this is gross), I kid you not, I threw it all back up right onto my plate.

(and it looked exactly the same).

I hate PePe’s on Foothill Blvd. Before I hated them for a stupid reason, now I hate them for a great reason.

I checked… they are still there. And I wonder if they are sad that I hate them.

Being Hated

Have you ever been hated by someone? Not like you just weren’t their favorite person… but hated?

It isn’t a good feeling. There’s two ways to go with that. Either you want to prove yourself in their eyes, they must hate you for all the wrong reasons.

Or you kind of write them off, maybe even where it as a badge of pride. “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”

Context

Thread of Holy Spirit

Thread of Abiding Loving Obedience

Does this mean life can be full of God within and love and perfect joy? Yes.

Does this mean life is going to be easy? Or things are always going to go well? No.

In fact sometimes people are going to hate you!

Book

John 15:18-25

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 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. 20 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. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

Major Misunderstanding

I took this to mean the world should hate me. And that when anyone hated me, or dislike me, or I encountered challenge of any kind, that must mean I was exactly where God called me to be.

Furthermore, I took this to mean that I should really focus on living “out of the world.” Which I took to mean be super righteous… but righteous in such a way that people notice. Loudly righteous. Loudly self-righteous.

How obviously can I not curse. People will notice how not “of the world” I am.

How obviously can I listen to K-Love. People will notice how not “of the world” I am.

In me, this was a smug self-righteousness… and that leaks out. And people don’t like it. But here is the truly insidious part. When people didn’t like that, or criticized that in me, or didn’t want to be near me... what did I think?

The world hated Jesus… and this guy hates me… I must be a lot like Jesus!

Who is the World?

You can see I have translated their the “world” to really be “individual sinners who won’t like me much.”

Is this what Jesus means by the world?

So what exactly does Jesus mean by the world? Anyone and everything in the cosmos that is opposed to the Kingdom of God. The “other” Kingdom. But just like an actual Kingdom, this is defined more by those in power than those under the power. That is, the “world” primarily refers to those in spiritual, religious and political power than those under dominion.

This is in sharp detail considering where Jesus is headed. Spiritually, into the hands of the “Prince of this world”, aka, Satan. Religiously, into the hands of the hypocritical and misguided religious powers, the high priest and the Sanhedrin. Politically, into the hands of the Roman government who would ultimately carry out the crucifixion. To a far lesser extent, into the power of the voice of the mob as stirred up by the prior three.

Who hated Jesus? Those with power and status to protect, especially religious power.

Indeed, as the passage continues in Chapter 16, we see that Jesus warning is immediately concerned with social and religious powers:

John 16:1-4

1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.

The particular threat? Being put out of synagogue. Isolation from established religious authorities… and community. The hate is in the name of God (not in the name of sin). The hate comes from the established social and religious powers.

So back to my misconception:

The world is going to hate me because of how holy I am. It will reveal their sin by comparison.

Translation: don’t sin, and make it noticeable how much you don’t sin.

Caricature: be loudly self-righteous.

Is that the way in which the world hated Jesus?

But why did the world really hate Jesus

The world hated Jesus because he loved radically, spending time with sinners. We see this especially in the gospel of Luke.

The world hated Jesus because he challenged their religious and social norms, like healing on the Sabbath.

The world hated Jesus because he claimed to be the Son of God, equal to God the Father.

The world hates Jesus because he “testifies about it that its works are evil…” And this sounds closest to our idea of “be loudly self-righteous”… but Jesus’ primary target when calling out sin was towards hypocrisy of “religious leaders”, the wealthy.

The world hated Jesus.

The world will hate us, not because we are loudly self-righteous… but because we come in the name of and on the mission of Jesus.

The World = Destination

I think there is a powerful correction that reshapes this whole landscape. We get into the “loudly self-righteous” thing because we take this idea of not being “of the world” as a thing to accomplish. A goal, a direction. Be in the world, but don’t be of the world! But we get the whole thing backwards.

Destination: John 17

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.

Not the vector, the direction of movement. Jesus says we are not of the world, because Jesus has already rescued us, pulled us out in that sense.

Our starting point is “not of the world”. That’s where we are. We aren’t of the world. Not as an outcome of our actions but because we are his and he is not of the world. We are already not of the world and it has nothing to do with our behavior!

But Jesus has sent us into the world. Into the world is our direction.

So we aren’t playing defense, striving to be “not of the world.” We are the Navy Seal team on an rescue mission. We are going behind enemy lines and rescuing those who need it. Perhaps punching up when absolutely necessary at the powerful, the hypocritical… but always reaching down to those who are still lost in sin.

And it is in that context that Jesus gives his message.

While you are on mission into the world, you will face opposition. In the spiritual dimension from the adversary. In the political dimension as your message challenges those in power and authority. In the religious dimension as your message challenges those in power and authority.

Not because you are loudly self-righteous. Because you are on the mission of God, to love and rescue sinners.

The “world hating you” is a warning of what will occur as you pursue your mission. It is not the goal or the mission. It is neither proof that you are or are not on the right mission.

Our mission is into the world… and that is a world that rejects Jesus as Son of God, as Savior, as Lord.

Our mission is into the world… and to offer saving love and eternal life to sinners trapped and enslaved by that world.

Now you may find the “hatred of the world” expressed in the eyes, in the words, in the hearts of individuals. But we must ask ourselves this question. Am I on mission?

Do they hate me because I am just being a jerk? Because I am being loudly self-righteous? Have I been faithful to show the love of Jesus? Am I on mission? Have I been faithful to walk in the righteousness of Jesus? Am I on mission? Am I acting in abiding loving obedience, informed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and remember those two things form the rest of the context for this whole teaching.

If I am on mission, than we just say “haters going to hate, man.” Only then can we say, they hate the Jesus in me.

Our mission is into the world. Warning: it isn’t going to be easy.

But guess what:

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.”