Embrace the Hate

Intro:
Hi. Great to be back, hope you had an amazing, wonderful, magical, cozy Christmas. I'm excited to be back with you all. I do preach every week at Renovation Youth; however, this is my first time preaching on a Sunday here, and my first couple of times on stage have been interesting. One time I tripped coming up the stairs, and the other time I slipped in the baptism tank, so hopefully I can redeem myself this morning. But nonetheless, I'm eager to jump into what the Lord has for us this morning. Is anyone else excited to receive what the Lord has for them this morning? Can I get some head nods, amens?

Need:
Misconceptions about Jesus and misconceptions about following Him. This will be a challenging message. If you've been here for a long time, this is something to lean into and allow the Holy Spirit to refine you. If you just came for the first time a few days ago on Christmas, encountered God, came back for more, and you're going, "Okay, I really want to follow Him this time. What's it going to take?" You'd appreciate it if I didn't sell you short, right? I know culture emphasizes all the good fluffy stuff about Jesus, and He's always pictured as a shampoo model holding a lamb with a soft smile… But if He is real and is God, then EVERYTHING He says matters, and if I'm ever going to experience the fullness of God in my life, we need to know the real cost. So, are we okay if we do that today?

Let's read John 15:18-25. As you open up your Bible, we are finishing our series on John 15. I'm so thankful for the Word of God. Can I get an amen if anyone else is thankful for the Word?

Point 1: Christians are not promised a life of comfort or acceptance from the world.
For some of you in this room, reading this might be different. You've heard of the love, joy, peace, and life you receive in Jesus, but now here is laid what it takes to be His follower. I think for so long, where the collective American church has missed is telling you that Christianity is a cakewalk. But here, Jesus lets us know, "Hey, if you're going to follow me, just so you know, some people are going to hate you, like they hate me…"

Like it says in v20: "If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." And, if this is true, we know then that the call to follow Christ is far from something that is to be done with half effort and minimal care…

To follow Jesus is to be prepared for persecution in your life. If you tend to avoid this rather than prepare for it, you will not know Jesus in full. If this is something we don’t like that Jesus says, and we go, “This isn’t really for me, I just want the shampoo model version of Jesus,” then I’d ask yourself, which Jesus am I really following? My ideal version, or the one of the Bible? The true Jesus...

Nowhere does Jesus promise His followers a life of comfort or acceptance from the world… Following Jesus means that fear of man has to go, following Jesus means that self-centeredness has to go, following Jesus means that people-pleasing has to go…

If you really want to know if you’re following in the ways of Jesus, ask yourself this: "Is my faith being confronted by others?" Faith being confronted is a mark of an alive faith.

Give examples of an alive faith then being hated (MLK):
When I think of an alive faith being confronted by others, I think of people like MLK… MLK was a Baptist minister and social rights activist in the United States in the 1950s and '60s. MLK's strong convictions in the faith made him a target for many who felt threatened by the changes he wanted to bring to this country. His faith-based commitment to justice, equality, and nonviolence infuriated segregationists, political figures, but also many other religious establishments. These establishments preferred a more comfortable, less confrontational approach to evil…

It was MLK’s strong conviction in the teachings of the Lord that inspired the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. It was his relentless dedication to the Scriptures that would ignite an entire country to face its moral failures and act as the first step in bringing justice and freedom to all races… One person, sticking to the commands of Jesus. What do you think God wants to do with your life? What do you think God wants to do through you?...

But a lot of the time, instead of taking a stand in the faith, proclaiming truth, it’s much easier for us to go hide. Go hide in our Christian bubbles. Consume our schedule with 5 different church events a week… Instead of confronting the evil in this world, we just sit back and observe the hatred around us.

We’re not all MLK, but maybe in your context it’s confronting that family member who claims the title of Christian but lives a completely different lifestyle. Or maybe it’s just hearing and observing the gossip in our workplace that you know is ruining that coworker’s life, and we just sit back and let it happen…

We need to understand this when we choose to hide… The result of our hiding will result in someone’s eternal separation from God… Silence is the enemy’s favorite pathway for you to walk on. It’s his red carpet. Brokenness, sin, evil continues because of silence.

There’s a quote by a theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

Instead of silence or hiding, what if it’s your willingness to live to the call of Scripture in v19, that you were not chosen to belong to this world, not to belong to fear of man, you don’t belong slandering others, you don’t belong to passivity, but chosen out of this world… Meaning, that you’d be willing to share truth, in hopes that they would be brought back into experiencing the fullness of God in their life…

So, my question for you is, will you stay silent in the midst of fear and disagreement? Or will you remember what Jesus said in v20, that they will persecute you as they persecuted me…

Subpoint 2: Practically, how do I do this?
My hope for us this morning is to take a moment for us to sit back and ask ourselves, if I don’t find my faith being confronted, how alive is my faith outside of these walls?…

And for some of you, you might be sitting here going, “Okay, I know I should be more bold, but my whole life is surrounded by Christians. What am I supposed to do?…” It’s simple: go be around non-believers… Make a direct effort to be around non-believers…

I want to add, this is not a call to be a social media superhero and start posting and commenting on everyone’s stuff that they’re living wrong and need to accept Jesus. But it is a call to get out of our bubbles, put on your shoes, walk out these doors, and go, “God, I’m willingly, where are You calling me?”

Practically, it can be as simple as this: What place can you immerse yourself consistently outside of your home? A gym, library, coffee shop, get involved in volunteering for your kids' school?… The key is, go somewhere consistent and consistently engage with people in that place.

As someone who is in full-time ministry, you might ask yourself, "Well, Will, how do you do this?" Great question. Because I teach my volunteer team, "Don’t expect your students to come back with a testimony of God working through them, if you yourself don’t come back with one…" Personally, how I’ve made sure that I’m consistently placing myself around non-believers is I will go to the gym at least 4-5 times a week. And I tell myself I can’t leave without minimally talking to someone… We actually have a student who regularly comes to our youth group now, who I met at the gym, Crunch Fitness.

I was on my way out, tired, wanting to go home, but I saw one of my students with his friend and knew I should go say hi and meet his friend. So I go up, start talking, our student says to his friend, “This is Will, we go to the same church, he’s my youth pastor.” Now, I’m talking to his friend, and I ask him, “Have you had any experience with church? What do you think about God? You can be honest…” And through the conversation, in faith and boldness, I say, “Hey, you might struggle to believe this, but I just want to let you know this is how God really sees you, this is what He did for you, and if you believe this, you can now live a life like XYZ.” Just the most simple gospel. And his reaction is, he just starts hugging me, crying on me, and this is like a big dude in the middle of the gym, and I just met him. And he basically ended up saying he was asking God to reveal Himself the night before as he was going through some hard things. And now he’s plugged into this church and following the Lord.

I share this to highlight that I have no idea what his response was going to be. In fact, there have been a handful of times where it doesn’t go that way. Where I step out in obedience to where I feel the tug of the Holy Spirit leading me, and the person’s response is to shut me down, or indifference, or honestly just awkward as I stumble over my words… But all I say in my head when I leave this church building is, “The harvest is ripe, the harvest is ripe, the harvest is ripe.” Even in thoseIntro: Hi. It's great to be back, I hope you had an amazing wonderful magical cozy Christmas.   I'm excited to be back with you all. I do preach every week at Renovation Youth however           This is my first time preaching on a Sunday here and my first couple times on stage have been interesting. One time, I tripped coming up the stairs and the other time, I slipped in the baptism tank so hopefully I can redeem myself this morning. Nonetheless, I'm eager to jump into what the Lord has for us this morning, is anyone else excited to receive what the Lord has for them this morning? Can I get some head nods, amens?

Image:

Need: Misconceptions about Jesus and misconceptions about following Him. This will be a challenging message. If you've been here for a long time, this is something to lean in on and allow the Holy Spirit to refine you. If you just came for the first time a few days ago on Christmas, encountered God, came back for more, and you’re going okay I want to follow Him this time what's it going to take? You would appreciate it if I didn't sell you short right? I know culture emphasizes all the good fluffy stuff about Jesus and he is always pictured as a shampoo model holding a lamb with a soft smile…. But if He is real and is God, then EVERYTHING he says matters, and if I'm ever going to experience the fullness of God in my life, we need to know the real cost. So are we okay if we do that today?

Let's read John 15:18-25. As you open up your bible we are finishing our series on John 15. I'm so thankful for the word of God, can I get an amen if anyone else is thankful for the word?

Point 1: Christians are not promised a life of comfort or acceptance from the world.

For some of you in this room, reading this might be different. You’ve heard of the love, joy, peace, and life you receive in Jesus, but now here is what it takes to be His follower. I think for so long what the collective American church has missed is telling you that Christianity is a cake walk. But Here, Jesus lets us know, hey if you’re going to follow me, just so you know some people are going to hate you, like they hate me…

Like it says in v20 “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” And, if this is true, we know that the call to follow Christ is far from something that is to be done with half effort and with minimal care…

To follow Jesus is to be prepared for persecution in your life. If you tend to avoid this rather than prepare for it, you will not know Jesus in full. If this is something we don't like that Jesus says, and we go, this isn't really for me, I just want the shampoo module version of Jesus, then I'd ask myself, which Jesus am I really following? My ideal version, or the one of the bible? The true Jesus...  Nowhere does Jesus promise his followers a life of comfort or acceptance from the world…. Following Jesus means that fear of man has to go, following Jesus means that self-centeredness has to go, following Jesus means that people pleasing has to go…

If you really want to know if you’re following in the ways of Jesus, ask yourself this “Is my faith being confronted by others?”.... Faith being confronted, is a mark of an alive faith.

Give examples of a alive faith then being hated (MLK)

When I think of a alive faith being confronted by others, I think of people like MLK….  MLK was a Baptist minister and social rights activist in the United States in the 1950s and '60s. MLKs strong convictions in the faith made him a target for many who felt threatened by the changes he wanted to bring to this country. His faith-based commitment to justice, equality, and nonviolence infuriated segregationists, political figures, but also many other religious establishments. These establishments preferred a more comfortable, less confrontational approach to evil…. It was MLK's strong conviction in the teachings of the Lord that inspired the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. It was his relentless dedication to the scriptures that would ignite an entire country to face its moral failures and act as the first step in bringing justice and freedom to all races… One person, sticking to the commands of Jesus. What do you think God wants to do with your life? What do you think God wants to do through you?...

But a lot of the time instead of taking a stand in the faith, and proclaiming the truth, it's much easier for us to go hide. Go hide in our Christian bubbles. Consume our schedule with 5 different church events a week… Instead of confronting the evil in this world, we just sit back and observe the hatred around us.

We’re not all MLK, but maybe in your context, it's confronting that family member who claims the title of Christian but lives a completely different lifestyle. Or maybe it is just hearing and observing the gossip in our workplace that you know is ruining that coworker's life, we just sit back and let it happen…

We need to understand this when we choose to hide…. The result of our hiding will result in someone's eternal separation from God…. Silence is the enemy's favorite pathway for you to walk on. It's his red carpet. Brokeness, sin, and evil continue because of silence.

There’s a quote by a theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer.”

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

Instead of silence or hiding, what if it is your willingness to live to the call of scripture of v19, that you were not chosen to belong to this world, not to belong to fear of man, you don't belong slandering others, you don't belong to passivity, but chosen out of this world….. Meaning, that you’d be willing to share truth, in hopes that they would be brought back into experiencing the fullness of God in their life….

So my question for you is, will you stay silent in the midst of fear and disagreement? Or will you remember what Jesus said in v20, that they will persecute you as they persecuted me….

Subpoint 2. Practically, how do I do this?

My hope for us this morning is to take a moment for us to sit back and ask ourselves if I don't find my faith being confronted, how alive in my faith outside of these walls?...

Some of you might be sitting here going okay I know I should be bolder but my whole life is surrounded by Christians what am I supposed to do?.... It's simple, go be around non-believers….. Make a direct effort to be around non-believers…. I want an add, this is not a call to a social media superhero and start posting and commenting on everyone's stuff that they’re living wrong and need to accept Jesus. But it is a call to get out of our bubbles, put on your shoes, walk out these doors, and go God, I'm willing, where are you calling me?

Practically it can be as simple as this, What place can you immerse yourself consistently outside of your home? A gym, library, coffee shop, get involved in volunteering for your kid's school?.... The key is to go somewhere consistent and consistently engage with people in that place.

As someone who is in full-time ministry, you might ask yourself, well, Will, how do you do this? Great question. Because I teach my volunteer team, don't expect your students to come back with a testimony of God working through them, if you yourself don't come back with one… Personally, I've made sure that I'm consistently placing myself around nonbelievers is I will going to the gym at least 4-5 times a week. And I tell myself I can't leave without minimally talking to someone…. We actually have a student who regularly comes to our youth group now who I met at the gym Crunch Fitness.

I was on my way out, tired, wanting to go home, but I saw one of my students with his friend and knew I should go so hi and meet his friend. So I go up and start talking, our student says to his friend, “This is Will, we go to the same church, he is my youth pastor”. Now I'm talking to his friend and I ask him, have you had any experience with church, what do you think about God you can be honest… And through the conversation in faith and boldness, I say hey you might struggle to believe this, but I just want to let you know this is how God really sees you, this is is what he did for you, and if you believe this, you can now live a life like XYZ. Just the most simple gospel. And his reaction is he just starts hugging me crying on me, and this is like a big dude in the middle of the gym and I just met him. And he basically ended up saying he was asking God to reveal himself the night before as he was going through some hard things. And now he's plugged into this church and following the Lord.

I share this to highlight that I have no idea what his response was going to be. In fact, there have been a handful of times where it doesn't go that way. Where I step out in obedience to where I feel the tug of the holy spirit leading me. And the person's response is to shut me down, or indifferent, or honestly just awkward as I stumble over my words… But all I say in my head when I leave this church building is the harvest is ripe, the harvest ripe, the harvest ripe. Even in those moments of doubt, of feeling fear, fearing rejection, fear of looking dumb, not knowing what to say. But I take on the call of Christ, to be courageous and as it says in v19, separated from this world.

When Jesus says in v19 that you are separated from this world, Jesus is reminding us that our actions, thoughts, and desires, are to be separated…. What he is not saying is to be physically separated or hiding from society, but about being set apart spiritually. What he's saying is to according to a higher standard. Where we pursue righteousness, holiness, the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That we would have hearts and minds that are continually transformed by the Holy Spirit. That is the Christian calling of being separated from this world. To live distinctly, as citizens of Heaven, while still simultaneously engaging with the world in ways that would bring glory to God and further His purposes.

Point 3: You endure hate because he endured hate.

Some of you may be hearing all this and still going, I just don't know how I could get through this. But I want us to leave here encouraged with the scripture of v18 ingrained in our mind, marked on our hearts, when “it says If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first”.... We need to take confidence that, we endure hate because he endured hate. Our strength comes from remembering who he is, what he's done, and knowing because of those things, we are now empowered through him…

In fact, our endurance in the face of hate is not because of our own strength, but because we are following in the footsteps of the man who endured the cross for our sake. "For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame..."(Hebrews 12:2). Jesus knew exactly what He was facing, and yet He pressed forward. Not because He was immune to pain, but because He understood that His suffering was part of something greater. If you want to do great things for God, you are going to have to suffer for your faith at some point. Suffering brings a greater purpose that transcends the temporary discomfort.

So, when you’re tired of being ridiculed for your faith at work, remember how the soldiers mocked Jesus by putting a purple robe on Him, a crown of thorns on His head, and kneeling before Him in mock homage, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" Then beating Him, spitting on Him, and striking Him on the head with a reed.

When you’re tired of being the only one in your family who takes a stand for Jesus, remember that when Jesus returned to Nazareth, His hometown, He preached in the synagogue, but the people were offended by His message and his hometown rejected him.

When you’re feeling inadequate to continue to the call of God on your life, when you feel like giving up your life, remember that Jesus does not just empathize with our suffering from a distance, but He enters into it and transforms it. Jesus is both comfort in the present and comfort in the future hope that transcends the pain you feel from this world.

Gospel

Some of you are hearing this message and I hope you’re feeling encouraged but I know for others you’re in this room thinking to yourself, he keeps talking about sharing Jesus with others, continuing to endure in your faith, but you’re sitting here thinking I don't even know if I have faith. I just came here on  Christmas, I'm trying to know more about Jesus, but if I were to be honest I still really love this world and I don't know how I can find the strength to step out of it…. Well, I have an encouraging message for you. And that's the Gospel.

And the Gospel is that Jesus stepped out of HIS world of perfection, and stepped into your broken world. Coming in humility and relating to the people who have nothing, sinners, the oppressed.

But what was the purpose of his mission? That you would be restored back into a relationship with God. We were designed to personally know God, and walk with him daily. That was our original design.

And all of humankind's history we see all these attempts to try and fix our issues. We put our hope into laws, systems, and good morals. But everyone has a different opinion and what all 3 of those should be and it gets us absolutely no wear. There is no human solution for us to be restored back to the way were designed. There is no solution to remove sin through our life, “sin” just means actions separated from God's character.

But because God loves us so much he offers himself as the solution. And his solution is that He is going to conquer evil by suffering. That the worst things imaginable would happen to the perfect person. And Jesus Himself enters this world, fully God, fully man, lives a perfect life, a sinless life, goes around healing people, proclaiming that if you would believe in him you could be restored back to God and have eternity with him.

But people hated him for this. He was falsely accused, beaten, and whipped in the back 39 times with the skin tearing off his back. He walks up a hill on Calavary, nails through his body, hanging there on a cross, barely breathing, and says out loud, “Lord forgive them for they do not know what they do”.... 3 days after his death, he rises from the grave, appears to 500 documented witnesses, and ascends into heaven as he conquers death, conquering evil, and now reigns forever and ever and the enemy is finished, and his people are His….