OPEN: I remember when I was in 2nd grade. I was in class the day that it was announced to us that the President of the United States had been assassinated. A sniper had murdered John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, and the nation was in tumult. I remember many things about that day. The way the class looked, the desks all in their rows and the blackboard at the front. It is burned in my memory along with the feelings that I experienced that day and the questions that went through my mind.
(at this point, I gave the audience an opportunity to share how they felt when they 1st heard of the terrorist bombings in New York and Washington D.C.)
My feelings, when I first heard about the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were: "It’s not fair. It’s not right. Those people didn’t deserve to die" But they did die. They died because a group of people so hated the United States that they didn’t care who they hurt, or who they killed, as long as they were able to make their statement about the anger they felt towards our nation. That kind of hatred is hard to imagine. It’s difficult to explain.
It’s true, we’d been warned that terrorists had targeted our nation and were capable of great evil, but it still was still hard to understand
Centuries ago, Jesus predicted that His followers would also become objects of hatred. In John 15:18 & 19 Jesus said: "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."
Down thru history, Jesus has been proven right time and time again. Christians have died in the coliseum. They’ve been fed to the lions. Burnt at the stake. Sold into slavery. Or have had all their worldly possessions taken away.
The writer of Hebrews reminds the Christians of his day to: "Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions." Hebrews 10:32-34
Even today, Christians are still being persecuted. Just recently, in Afghanistan, 10 believers were arrested for sharing their faith and of this date they are still in prison and face the real possibility of death.
In the Sudan, Christians have been frequently harassed, family members have been kidnapped, and many have been sold into slavery or died under the butchery of those who disagreed with them.
In China, Bible based churches often are forced to worship to worship underground, behind closed doors. In some parts of this world, it is a dangerous thing to be a Christian.
To a lesser degree, Christians often face persecution even here in the US.
Michael Medved (a well known - and Jewish born - movie reviewer) tells of a conversation he had with a fellow movie reviewer over how they should rate "The Last Temptation of Christ." Not only was the movie a slanderous attack on Christianity, but apparently it was also a mediocre movie at best. The other reviewer, however, confided in Medved that it was important that they give this movie a high rating. "We need to stand together against the Christians," he said.
In 1998, David & Diane Reiter of Denver were ordered by that city to stop their weekly home prayer meetings because a city administrator determined he didn’t want any religious activities in their neighborhood
In 1999, in Seattle, Washington, a pregnant 25 year old woman was kicked off a public transit bus in the pouring rain. Why? Because the bus driver overheard her talking with a fellow passenger about the Lord.
Just recently, our youth minister, Brad was telling me of how exciting it was to have over 60 students in the High School meeting before class for a morning prayer meeting. But already some people have begun to complain to the school office for this supposed violation of the separation of church and state.
Now I know, Jesus told us this would happen. He told us this is what we could expect. The Apostle John wrote to the church of his day: "Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you." 1 John 3:13
(pause) BUT I AM SURPRISED
We shouldn’t be surprised, Jesus warned us ahead of time - but I am surprised. It’s just not fair. It’s not right. It shouldn’t be happening.
I. Of all people why would anybody hate Christians?
Now, I can appreciate the world hating the hypocrites. Those who pretend to be Christians. The bigots, the sexually immoral, the manipulators, the self-centered and the self-righteous. Even the world knows that these are pretenders.
That type of person is a Godless worldly individual masquerading as child of God. THAT’S THE TYPE OF PERSON THE WORLD SHOULD HATE!!
But Jesus told us that the world would be hating true Christians - not the pretenders. Not the hypocrites. "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.¡¨ John 15:18&19
Make no mistake, the world knows real Christians when they see them. Jesus said: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Christians at their finest help the poor, feed the hungry, visit the lonely, minister to the downtrodden. When we do it right - people will know us for Christians because of one overriding characteristic = love.
II. BUT, if we are people who are to be known for our love, why would anybody hate us?
It doesn’t seem to make any sense. And with all due respect to our savior, even Jesus’ explanation here in John 15:20 doesn’t seem to answer this question. "’No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." I understand the principle, I just don’t understand why. What is it about belonging to Jesus that makes the world so upset with us?
I had to look deeper into Scripture to find an explanation of this mystery. But the explanation I found simply helped to illustrate the simple power of Jesus’ comments in the Gospel of John.
In 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 Paul wrote: "...thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.
What Paul is saying is that when we do it right - when we live out our Christianity the way we should - we smell like Jesus. There is an aroma of Christ about us that others will notice even when we aren’t consciously "being Christians." To those who are saved, we have a good aroma because we encourage them and remind them of God’s faithfulness. But to those who are not saved, we are an aroma of death. A reminder that they are under condemnation and a sentence of death.
ILLUS: I’ve been involved in many funerals during my ministry. And I’ve noticed an odor about funeral homes. They all share the same smell, and I’ve always associated that smell with funerals. Where does the odor come from? It comes from the flowers.
I used to live across the street from a funeral home and the director there liked our family quite a lot. A couple of times he offered to send left over flowers home with me.
There were a couple of reasons I didn’t like accepting his offer. The first was that it just didn’t seem real romantic to take funeral flowers home to my wife. The second reason was - they smelled like death to me. Even to this day, there are certain flowers I won’t have in my home, or my garden. Their aroma reminds me of death. And I don’t want that smell in my home. Many people like the smell of those flowers - but I do not.
In a similar way, true Christians bear the smell of death for everyone outside of Christ.
ILLUS: Years ago, when my sister was in High School she had been a Christian. Every Sunday she was in Church, and she knew what she believed and why. BUT after she left for college, she back slid. The party life intrigued her and she did what many do in this world: she slept around, went to parties, got drunk. God was always "there," but always in the back ground. It wasn’t until she over 50 that she began to realize what this lifestyle was doing to her - both physically and spiritually. One day she came back to Christ, went back to church, changed her life. BUT still, she liked the party scene. She had friends there and she still wanted to be around them (although now she never drank alcohol). She spoke of how much she enjoyed singing by the piano and laughing at everyone’s jokes. Then towards evening, she’d still be having a great time while the rest of the party goers lay drunk on the floor.
One evening she was at one of these parties, carrying a cup of Coke in her hand. One of the party goers approached her and said: "What’s the matter, are you too good to drink with us?"
Why would he respond to her like this? She hadn’t brought attention to what she was drinking and she hadn’t condemned anyone else for what they drank. Why would he be upset? Because, she smelled of death to him. She reminded him that his behavior wasn’t acceptable - just by being around.
Likewise, we remind others their behavior is unacceptable, just by our presence.
III. Still, the world would be quite comfortable with us if all we did was love others.
Our love for others is not what causes the world to smell death when we’re around. It’s WHY we love others that gets them so upset. It’s why we are Christians that smells of death to them.
When you joined this church (perhaps by transferring your membership from another congregation, or perhaps at your baptism) you were asked to repeat the good confession: "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God." (At this point I had the congregation repeat the good confession with me).
* In that simple statement, you declared that all other world religions & philosophies were wrong.
* In that simple statement, you agreed with Peter when he said: Salvation is found in no one else (but Jesus), for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
* In that simple statement you proclaimed to all Jesus’ challenge when He said: "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes unto the Father except by me."
ILLUS: In commenting on the good confession, one man put it this way:
When you said "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God" you were saying something very dramatic.
WHEN YOU SAID: Jesus was the Son of GOD you declared
I am not an atheist, who says God doesn’t exist.
I am not an agnostic, who says, "I don’t know if God exists."
WHEN YOU SAID you believed that Jesus was the Son of the LIVING God you were declaring
I am not an idolater, that worships images made of wood, stone or gold.
I don’t worship my dead ancestors (as those who Buddhists, Confucionists, Taoists, and Shintoists do).
I am not a nature worshipper (like the Hindus).
I am not a fire worshipper (like the Zorastrians).
WHEN YOU SAID you believed that Jesus was the Son of THE living God, you declared
I am no polytheist, who says there are many gods.
WHEN YOU SAID you believed Jesus to be the SON of God, you were saying you were
Not a pantheist, that says, "all is God"
Not a deist, that thinks God created the world and never involved Himself in its problems.
Not a uniformist, who believes that all things continue as they were in the beginning.
Not a modernist, who denies the virgin birth.
WHEN YOU SAID you believed Jesus was the CHRIST, you declared
I am not an unbelieving Jew, who denies Jesus as the Messiah.
I am not a futurist, who yet looks for a Messiah.
I am not a Theosophist or a follower of the Baha’i or Mohammedan cults that think Jesus is only one of God’s many witnesses.
WHEN YOU SAID you believed in JESUS, you were saying your faith was in Him,
Not Buddha
Nor Confucius
Nor Mohammed
Nor Reverend Moon
WHEN YOU SAID "I BELIEVE" you said "I accept the Scriptures," because faith in Jesus is the direct result of the testimony of Scripture.
WHEN YOU SAID "I" believe, you were declaring yours was a personal faith, it wasn’t inherited, it wasn¡¦t forced upon you, but fully confessed.
When you spoke the "Good Confession" you drew a line in the sand. You declared that every one outside of Jesus was wrong. And you declared to the world that unless they turn to from their sins, accept Jesus as their Savior, make Him the Master of their lives, and are buried in the waters of Christian baptism, THEY WILL BE CONDEMNED.
That usually doesn’t go down real well.
IV. And so, by your very existence as Christian, you have become an enemy of the world.
And the World will hate you.
And if you take your faith in Jesus seriously, sooner or later, the world is going to ask you to back off. The world is going to ask you to compromise your faith. The world is going to ask you to "shut up" and go sit down.
The temptation, when faced with rejection like this is to shut up - not speak up. To deny (by our silence) our "Good Confession" because we don’t want to offend anyone. We face the similar dilemma that those in Jesus day faced. We’re told in John 12:42 & 43 that there were "many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God."
I would hate to have that be God’s statement about me.
I’m convinced, that this is the type of behavior (being silent to avoid offending the world) was what James had in mind when he said: "...don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." (James 4:4)
ILLUS: One evangelist met a man he knew on the sidewalk and began to talk to him about Jesus. The man became irritated and told the preacher to "mind his own business."
The preacher smiled a little as he replied, "I’m sorry to have offended you - but, frankly, this is my business."
CLOSE: I’m not saying this is easy - speaking up for Jesus when it would be easier not to. Often those who have to make that choice in the face of the anger and indignation of the world struggle with doubt. But the ones who love Jesus eventually make the hard choice and stand up for Jesus
Back in the 1500’s a Catholic Priest was troubled by his past. He remembered all the things he’d said, done and thought in the past and he was continually plagued shame and guilt. In fact, some speculate that part of the reason he became a priest was to help deal with that burden. As a priest he struggled to find peace. He did penance, even going so far as kissing the steps that ascended to the Pope’s throne in Rome.
But no matter what he did, he failed to find relief. Finally he turned to the one resource it seemed few sought in that day - the scriptures. It was there that he discovered forgiveness and hope. And it was also there that he found himself beginning to question some of the Catholic Church’s activities of his day- indulgences, the selling of church offices and even, eventually the authority of the Pope.
These discoveries led him to challenge the church to a debate. There were 95 different points of doctrine that he challenged the Catholic church on and he wrote these on a piece of paper and nailed to the church door in Wittenburg, Germany. The following debates and pamphlets that passed out as a result, swiftly brought the German peasants to his side of the debate. Rome responded by Papal bulls denouncing his teachings and excommunicating this priest - Martin Luther from the church. Luther burned the Bulls (you’ve got to admire a man like that).
But Rome was not to be trifled with. Luther was summoned to a counsel held at Worms, Germany. And it was not a friendly meeting. Luther stood alone - faced by priests and bishops, knights and court officials, and especially by the hostile young emperor Charles V. Confronted by his teachings, piled on a desk in the meeting area, Luther was asked if he would recant (or disavow) his teachings. No debate would be allowed.
Men had died for less. Heretics were burned at stakes or tortured for hours in punishment, and Luther knew that his very life hung in the balance.
Luther was shaken - he asked for time to consider his answer and to pray to God for guidance. He was granted 24 hours.
The next day, he began by attempting to make a defense of his works but was brusquely told all they would allow was a simple answer. Would he recant?
Pausing, Luther looked at his accusers and replied that he would only recant if convinced of his error by either Scripture or evident reason. Otherwise he could not go against his conscience which was bound by the Word of God. He raised himself to his full height and declared "Here I stand, I can do no other."
