Opposition and the work of the Spirit
After the happiness of Steph and Nic's wedding yesterday, its hard to hear about suffering for our faith. But if you think about it, hardship is mentioned even in the wedding service, 'for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health...'.
In today's passage, it is Jesus' final evening with his disciples, there are empty dishes on the table, their feet have been freshly washed, and one of them has gone into the night. But two things have kept recurring in Jesus' conversation.
Firstly, he's leaving them and returning to the Father, but the Holy Spirit is coming to replace him. There's rich Trinitarian material here, but the main point is that by believing in Jesus, the disciples are brought into the life of God! They're threaded into the very love and life of the Godhead...like the grape-grower's vine, with its branches and fruit.
The second things that has kept recurring is, they must stay connected to the life of God. How will they do this? They must obey his commandment to love each other. They must serve each other in humility, during their physical separation from Jesus.
But in our passage today, Jesus prepares the disciples for '? rejection by the world. Now remember the 'world' in John doesn't mean the world God created for us to enjoy, but the moral world, a way of thinking that stands in opposition to God.
A few years ago Ben Wong, Ivy's husband, was preaching at a baptism service for new believers from mainland China. I was surprised that he made point after point about the hardships they might encounter. Their business might not be as successful; splits might occur in the family; they might not get promotions; they might not be as welcome in certain social circles; their status in the Chinese community might well go down, not up. Ben wanted these new believers to be prepared when they encountered opposition from the world.
In verse 18 Jesus tells the disciples the world will hate them. Why? Quite simply because they hated Jesus first. He had chosen them out of the world, so the world reacts in anger towards them, v 19. Like the White Witch in Narnia, the world is not happy when Aslan is on the move bringing warmth and life and spring in his wake.
But Jesus reminds the disciples that a servant isn't greater than their master, v 20, so if Jesus was persecuted, they may endure hardship too. If people kept Jesus' words, so some would also keep the disciples' words.
But notice that Jesus is the immoveable One, like a lighthouse. He is the stationary object around which the waters swirl. His light can be heeded... or ignored. But why would you ignore a lighthouse? Only if you don't know what the flashes mean. And if you don't know what the flashes mean, its because you don't know there's a lighthouse keeper...the one who sends the message for your survival. People who ignore Jesus, don't know the light-house keeper, the Father, the one from whom the light emanates, who sends the Light, verse 21 tells us.
Verse 21 also says hardship will come 'on account of my name'. If we have become connected into the life of God through Jesus, we are his family, we bear his name! We are Christians. We get both the glory and suffering of Christ.
But what are some examples of hardship we may be encountering? If you're a CRE teacher, you may have felt quite vulnerable lately. One CRE chaplain I spoke to recently said she had been called to a meeting last year with parents who were very opposed to government funding of school chaplains. Although she was not attacked personally, heated words were said in her presence about religious groups. For weeks she felt quite fearful, and struggled to go to school. CRE teachers are experiencing some frontline opposition, and need our support and prayer.
If you believe in objective truth, rather than everyone's truth being equally valid, you may have felt marginalised in some conversations. Australian society no longer accepts the historic definition of marriage, which may cause you to feel out of sync with mainstream Australia. If from Romans 1 you believe that living out a gay lifestyle (as opposed to having same-gender attraction) is against God's moral order, you may have felt quite uncomfortable in some company. If you are unmarried, you're not expected by society to live a celebate life. So if you are, you may be made to feel like you're missing out. Someone I spoke with recently was feeling alone in their own family as they're the only one who now goes to church.
The persecution Jesus is warning about is incurred simply because we belong to Jesus.
But those who remain in the world, are in even greater danger Jesus now says.
They literally have sin, verse 22.
This doesn't mean that before Jesus came people weren't sinful before a holy God, but rather that now he's come and taught them (e.g. that he is the way, the truth, and the life, the door, the gate and the bread of life).. now that he has taught them, they literally have sin...they've had the benefit of clear teaching, but they've chosen the world '? just like Judas did. And the result in v 23 is they come to hate Jesus and the Father, 'Whoever hates me hates my Father'.
But verse 24 says they have not only ignored Jesus' teaching, they have also ignored Jesus' signs '? the signs of the kingdom '? which prove who he was. Remember God's mighty works in the Old Testament? He parted the Red Sea, made the walls of Jericho fall '? he performed mighty works. He also spoke... through Moses and the prophets. God's words and works have always been his way of revealing himself, so we have ample evidence '? words and works, speech and signs. But when people hear and see and then turn away, they have sin '? God gives them what they want.
Sadly, this was not new, it was how Israel treated God too. See v 25. Jesus quotes from two psalms. Just as Israel turned and followed other gods and 'hated' Yahweh for no reason, so the world will hate God without cause. And people who hate God, will hate the disciples without cause too.
This is hard to hear, so to encourage the disciples Jesus tells them again in verses 26-27 that he will send the Advocate, who is the very Spirit of truth. He will come from the Father and do the speaking or witnessing on Jesus' behalf. The disciples, as Jesus' first friends will also bear witness. The coming of the Spirit, as we know, would launch the church, but the disciples would also launch the church. Here is that incredible inclusion into the life of God!
Chapter 16:1-4 shows us Jesus' concern for what the disciples would soon face. He didn't want them to stumble when the Jews, their own brethren, rejected them and even killed them in mistaken worship of God. They would do this because they never actually knew God and rejected the Son he sent. Jesus wanted the disciples to remember this discussion when things became awfuly difficult later on.
And they did remember, and taught it! Peter puts it into writing in 1 Peter 2:20-22 - 'But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God's approval. For to this you have been called, for Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps'. Amazing, Peter normalises suffering1
But back in the upper room, v 5-11, Jesus sees the disciples faces filled with sorrow. They can't ask even ask 'Where are you going?' So he explains that it will actually a be a good thing that he goes, and the Holy Spirit comes...
v 8 tells us the Holy Spirit will prove wrong, or convict the people of the world on three counts: sin, righteousness and judgement. These cryptic verses capture the essence of how the world will argue against God, but be proved wrong. So here are clues about how to show people the disaster they are in, so they can turn and believe in Jesus.
Remember John is writing so people may believe that Jesus is the Son of God and may have life in his name.
These three points will help you with mission, or in CU, or with school friends, or just when speaking to your friends or family members who don't believe in Jesus.
So firstly the Spirit will convict the world of their sin, v 9, because they do yet not believe in Jesus. That is at the core of all sin, (Not believing in Jesus is at the core of all sin) now that Jesus has come into the world and taught us in words and shown us by his works. If people turn away from him, they have sin, as we've seen. So the first step will be to tell people about God and about his Son Jesus. This takes time, but as they come face to face with God's words and works in both old and new testaments, the Holy Spirit will convict them of their need to believe in Jesus. That's what we are doing at Tom's Crew. That's what we do in CRE. That's what you can do with anyone who is willing to read the bible with you...and the Holy Spirit will convict them.
The second thing the Spirit will convict people of is, see in v10 righteousness, because Jesus is going to the Father and the disciples will no longer see him. This means that when Jesus is no longer among them, and yet the disciples continue to live righteous, ethical lives, by trusting in him, their lives will provide a witness to convict the world. As they love one another as he has commanded them too, it will not go unnoticed. How will they do this? How do we do this today? Through the Holy Spirit working in us! Of the early christians it was said, 'See how they love each other!'
Again 1 Peter explains this, ch 2v12, 'Conduct yourselves honourably amongst the gentiles, so that although they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge'. Ethics is the outworking of faith in Jesus. It is really important how we live our lives before our friends and family. We are being watched. We will either draw people to faith, or convict them in the end. But it is the Spirit who works through us.
Thirdly, v11, the Spirit convicts the world of judgement because the ruler of this world has been condemned. When John wrote his gospel, the cross and resurrection were already in the past. Jesus had been triumphant over evil. The proof of his victory was that God had raised him from the dead. If Jesus has defeated the prince or ruler of the world at the cross, how can people who follow this defeated leader expect to survive. They too are damned and in desperate need of rescue. The cross and resurrection is at the core of mission. It is something we must be unashamed to speak of. It will convict people.
So the Holy Spirit's coming will be a double edged sword. He will convict some into finding faith, which was God's purpose in sending Jesus. But for those who choose the world, they will stand convicted under God's judgement on the last day.
In verses 12-15 Jesus sees the glazed eyes of his disciples. They can't bear anymore. He comforts them that the Holy Spirit '? the Spirit of truth will guide them into all truth. Jesus makes it very clear that the Spirit, the Son and the Father are completely unified, so the disciples can feel perfectly secure. The Spirit speaks what he hears. He glorifies the Son by taking what belongs to Jesus i.e. the truth about his identity and mission, and helps them understand the depth of its implications. He declares or announces what is to come. This is not about predicting the future, but explaining, unpacking the meaning that flows from Jesus life. All this '? the plan of God to save the world through his beloved Son - belongs to the Father and also to the Son, and will be declared to the disciples by the Spirit.
Remember the first time this happened? Peter on the day of Pentecost was filled by the Holy Spirit for the first time. He powerfully preached who Jesus was and people heard and believed. The apostles, through the Spirit, handed on this truth to many others as they travelled and spread the gospel. It was written down in the NT. And we are here today because people have lived and died to pass it on to us.
Are you like me, sometimes cautious to speak of your faith? When I left my previous parish I was asked how they might pray for me. I asked them to pray that I would not be ashamed of the gospel when I arrived here, for it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. I need more courage, even if it means hardship.
In the 2008 Olympics there was an African athlete whose leg was badly injured in a long distance race. The stadium erupted as he entered it and energised him as he painfully hobbled around the final circuit. When interviewed later, he said simply, 'My country did not send me to start the race. My country sent me to finish the race'. If you experience hardship for your faith, remember so did Jesus, but you have been given the Spirit to help you, to bring you home.