1. As a child and a teenager, I wanted to be accepted. To belong to the circle of friends that lived on my street. I wanted them to like me and to let me be part of the things they did. To be asked to play with them. To be part of the baseball games. To be invited to the birthday parties. To be liked by them. It hurt when they made fun of me or acted like I did not exist. That I did not belong. And so I tried hard to be accepted, to belong. I tried to act and dress in the same ways. And I laughed at their jokes even when they were not funny.
2. But sometimes I found myself doing things that I should not be doing. Ringing a doorbell at an older couplesí home and running away. Going along in making fun of someone else. Even stealing something out of the variety store because the others were doing it as well. I knew these things were wrong but I found it so easy to do them. Because I wanted to belong.
3. Do any of you children know what I am talking about? Have you ever done something you should not have because you wanted to belong to the group or you did not want them to think you were a sissy or a goodie-goodie or a geek or whatever name is used today?
4. What about those of us a little older? Do we still have a desire to belong, to be accepted by others? At work? In the neighbourhood? In your extended family?
5. Does it not feel good to tell a joke and everyone laughs and think we are funny? To not be treated as an insider is important to us.
6. It is a basic need that we need to belong. To be loved as one of the group. To be loved by the world as its own. It hurts to made fun of or rejected - at any age. Even if you are retired. If you thought you were part of a group of friends and they do something without you, you feel left out and hurt.
7. Jesus says to us that if you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. We want to belong, we want to be loved. We want to be popular. To say what will be accepted.
8. It is said that President Lyndon Johnson used to carry with him the latest opinion polls so that he knew what stand to take on a particular day.
9. But as Christians we have a dilemma. For as Jesus says to us "You do not belong to the world." To each one of you who are a true believer, Jesus says to you that you do not belong to the world. In John 17:14, Jesus says that we are not of this world any more than He is of this world. This means that we look at things different than the world sees things.
10. The world we are referring to is the human system that is opposed to God. The world which thinks that we are ok and we do not need God. That we are able to look after ourselves and do not need God. That we are to look out for ourselves first. That success and popularity are important.
11. Jesus says that we do not belong to this world and their way of thinking and living. That we are not to feel at home in this world. That we do not get our security, our comfort and hope from this world. That we are, as Peter, says, 1 Pet 2:11 "aliens and strangers in the world." That we are not to even think as the world thinks. That we are not to conform to the patter of this world.
12. And yet this happens so easily. Even in the church. The church is to go out into the world but I believe that in the last few decades the world has gotten more into the church than the church has gotten into the world. And into the lives of each believer.
13. Even in discussing how God wants us to live, we so easily use human logic rather than the word of God. God says to turn the cheek when we are slapped, but even as believers, we say that may sound good but it doesnít work. We donít need to be doormats. Listen to yourselves as you discuss issues or how we are to act in various situations. I wish we carried take recorders around. We might be surprised how often our words reflect worldly wisdom rather than the word and will of God.
14. Remember, we do not belong to the world.
Col 2:20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
Or to its ways of thinking
2 Cor 10:3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
And friends, we are exposed more than any other generation to the worldís way of thinking. Bombarded by printed, by music, by movies, by tv shows.
15. We need to remember that we do not belong to the world. Rather we belong to Jesus Christ. Jesus says to us "You do not belong to the world"
16. Why? "As it is, I have chosen you out of the world."
Rom 1:6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
I have chosen you and you now belong to me. Body and soul, in life and in death. All of you belongs to me. I have purchased you with my blood.
17. And that means that we also are at home in Christ. That our security and hope is in Him. And that we live by His word rather than by the way of the world.
18. But because we belong to Him, Jesus says the world will hate us. That means that they will let us know that we do not belong. That we are not accepted because we are different.
19. But does it not seem like a strong over-reaction for the world to hate us? Bruce Goettsche explained their reaction by saying that they are reacting to our light in their darkness
a. Our ethics expose the duplicity of the worldís methods.
b. Our values imply that the behaviours of the world are condemned by God.
c. Our compassion exposes the heartless self-absorption.
d. Our peace and joy angers those who want what we have.
20. Jesus says that their hatred to us is part of their hatred toward Him. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. Even though they saw Jesus perform miracles and could see that He was from God, they hated Him. In fact they hated the Father as well. Paul says that men are basically God-haters. Our sinful nature leads man to hate God.
21. Jesus tells us why they hated Him. Because He spoke to them and revealed to them that they were sinners. He says that if He had not taught them and done what He did, they would not have been guilty of sin.
22. Now, we know that all people are condemned by sin and under judgment. But now they were aware of this guilt. And they have no excuse for their sin. They now know better.
23. But as Jesus said they hated them for no reason. He exposed their sin. But not to condemn them but to save them.
John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
He told them they were sinners so that they might repent and be saved. But their failure to repent meant that they were really condemning themselves.
24. As we said people do not want to be told they sin. We do not like our mistakes pointed out to us. We want to think that we are alright. It is easier to not go to church, to not listen to what Jesus says, than to hear what He says. Because to do so means that we must hate certain things about ourselves.
25. Some time ago, a person, not a member of this church, came up to me. He was very angry. He was angry because I had said that what he was doing was sin and against the word of God. Another church had told him that he was not sinning. It was a case of living with another woman while still married to his wife. That church was good church, he said. Of course, for it told him what he wanted to hear. I explained what Godís word said. I also told him that I also sinned. He told me that he was not perfect, but had some faults. And that he was trying to live a good life. The sad part was that he did not get it. I told Him that I did not see myself as good a person as he saw himself, but that I saw deep sins within me that I hated. That I can not understand why God choose me. He saw Himself as being a good person who sometimes does bad things. I see myself as being a bad person who doers good things, only by the grace of God. Bad in my old nature.
26. Now I do not believe that we need to go around and point out everyoneís sins to them. Jesus did not do that, especially to the poor and those seen as sinners. He did however, especially point out the sins of those who thought they were righteous.
27. But we will be placed in situations were we must testify to the truth. Just as the Holy Spirit has testified in our hearts about Jesus, so in vs. 27, we are told that we must testify about Jesus. That means that when we are asked whether something is right or wrong, we must answer truthfully. That if someone thinks they are good enough to go to heaven without trusting in Jesus, we must tell them the error of their thinking. And it means that there will be times when we cannot go with the crowd and we must tell them why.
28. The result is that we will be hated. That is what Jesus tells us. If we are not hated, could that mean that we live as if we belong to the world. That we are so careful to not be rejected that we fail to testify or that we live the same as those who belong to the world.
29. Remember what Paul said:
Col 2:20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
30. We do not want to be hated or rejected but it comes with the territory of being a Christian. But we can have comfort even in this. For the hatred may show that we do belong to Jesus. As an assurance of our faith. And we remember that our Lord and Saviour was hated and we share in His suffering and rejection. And hopefully we are able to see even more our need for fellowship. That in the church we can be accepted by fellow believers. We need acceptance, but let us find that acceptance in God and in one another. That is why Paul tells us to accept one another.
31. And we remember that we are not of this world but of God. And so we have something great to look forward to.
32. To those who have chosen to walk with Christ, Max Lucado writes,
You’ll be home soon. You may not have noticed it, but you are closer to home than ever before. Each moment is a step taken. Each breath is a page turned. Each day is a mile marked, a mountain climbed. You are closer to home than you’ve ever been,
Before you know it, your appointed arrival time will come; you’ll descend the ramp and enter the City. You’ll see faces that are waiting for you. You’ll hear your name spoken by those who love you. And, maybe, just maybe - in the back, behind the crowds - the One who would rather die than live without you will remove his pierced hands from his heavenly robe . . . and applaud. [THE APPLAUSE OF HEAVEN p.190]
