Suffering Church Sunday sermon
John 15:18-16:4 – Be On Your Guard
3.47-6.20 of Haddy's story
Last year, you might remember that St Ives Community Church devoted a Sunday to remembering the suffering church. We heard testimonies of those who had suffered for Christ, we looked at the different kinds of persecution that Christians suffer around the world, and we prayed for and learned about the plight of our brothers and sisters in Christ who face discrimination, rejection, beatings, separation and even death because they call Jesus Christ and Lord, and we sought to stand by them because we are their fellow believers.
This year, the focus of Suffering Church Sunday is a little different. This year, we look at the spread of persecution of Christians that is becoming more and more pervasive across the world, and how we as Christians, here in Australia, may face similar forms of discrimination to those we saw last year effecting our brothers and sisters in Christ overseas.
It might be surprising to think that this is possible. When we think about Christians suffering persecution, we think about Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world, or we think about China and the Communist world, or we think about India and the Hindu world. But what these Christians, who have been suffering for decades, some for centuries, want to tell us is, “Australian Christians, be on your guard. British Christians, be on your guard. American Christians, be on your guard. European Christians, be on your guard. Because they will not stop at us. You are next.”
I've told this story many times, but it bears telling again. Seven years ago now, I was in a hotel in Cyprus meeting with Christian leaders from across the Middle East and across the world. There were Christians from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Pakistan, Central Asia, Russia, Guyana and other places, as well as me from Australia, a couple from New Zealand, and a couple from the USA. And these Christian leaders from across the persecuted church would approach me and ask, “Ben, tell us about Christianity in Australia. We have heard that bad things are happening there, and we are worried.” You see, at the time, two Christian pastors were in court in Victoria because they had been giving seminars about the nature of Islam and its negative attitude towards Christianity. They were found guilty of discrimination for telling the truth, and were ordered to pay damages to the Islamic Council of Victoria and to make a public apology.
Has the situation got better here in Australia? You tell me. The ethics class trial in our schools has been a great success, according to the government, and many parents are keen to take their kids out of Scripture classes and put them into non-religious ethics classes, at the same time raising questions about whether Scripture is needed in schools at all. In Victoria recently, a Christian Brethren campsite on Philip Island – that perhaps some of you have been to – was charged with discriminating against a pro-homosexual group that wanted to use their facilities to propagate their beliefs about homosexuality and forced to pay damages. In New South Wales, the anti-discrimination law uniquely fails to protect Christians because of its wording. Similar things are happening across the western world, with some converts from Islam to Christianity not able to escape death threats even in places like England, as Haddy's story shows.
(S)Should this really be surprising to us? After all, Jesus made it clear to his disciples before he was arrested, as we read in the book of John, (S)“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.” (S)Discrimination, harassment and persecution are effecting Christians all over the world, and that includes places like Australia. (S)The poster on the side of that bus reads, “There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” (S)In places like Australia, the culture is turning against existing Christian institutions and beliefs, and Christians are finding themselves under increasing pressure for what they believe. (S)There is an increasing pressure for us to change what we do and think so that it is in line with what non-Christian society thinks – the world of political correctness, scepticism of spiritual things, and antagonism towards established religious institutions such as church. (S)When we are faced with some of these things, it can cause us to ask some pretty serious questions. (S)Why does this persecution happen to us? (S)How should we respond to it? (S)And does it call our faith into question?
Jesus foresaw these questions coming, just like he foresaw persecution coming to his followers, and he didn't shy away from telling them about it. (S)No, Jesus wanted them, and us, to be ready, to be on our guard when discrimination and persecution comes to us. (S)In this passage in John, Jesus seeks to explain (S)why the world will hate his disciples, he seeks to show them (S)how to respond to suffering for his name, and he seeks to (S)protect them from falling away from their faith when persecution comes.
So why, according to Jesus, does the world hate Christians? (S)Quite simply, it hates us because it (S)hated Jesus first. Jesus says that he came with a confronting message. (S)If he did not come, then people would not be confronted with the guilt of their sin, their disobedience and rebellion against God. But he did come. (S)He came, and he preached that we need to repent, to turn away from our sinful lives and to live for God. The world just can't stand that message, because it's offensive to be told that you're wrong. And so the world hated him. And so the world killed him. (S)The world hates the followers of Jesus because we don't fall into lock-step with them. We accept Jesus' message. (S)We accept that we are sinful, and there is nothing that we can do to come before our perfect God. (S)We have been chosen by Jesus to be a part of his kingdom forever. We are therefore no longer part of the world.
(S)Moreover, Jesus tells us that the reason people hate us is because they also hate the father. (S)Jesus is God in bodily form, and comes to call for our obedience. But we don't want to be obedient, and so we rebel. (S)You can see why Australia is so hard a place for the gospel to penetrate. Australians don't like people who are different. Oh, we don't mind people coming from all cultures and nations and backgrounds. But we don't like it when people separate off into their own little groups, and don't mix with the culture and become Australian. We also don't like tall poppies who say that they're better than us. Well, God tells us that he is better, that he is perfect, and that we are sinners. He tells us to be different, not just to fit in, but to be different, to be holy, for him. Jesus, as God, claims not to be our equal, but to be our king, to be perfect. Humanity does not want to bow the knee, and so it rails against God, it fights and struggles to keep control. (S)Psalm 69 was written by David, but is messianic in referring to Christ. “Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me.” If our lives as Christians are to mirror the life of Christ, then we can only expect these words to be true of us too. People will hate us without reason, they will be our enemies without cause, they will seek to destroy us.
(S)If this is why the world hates Jesus and his disciples, what should our response be? Well, Jesus tells us that too, and it might not be the response we would think of. You see, when someone has a problem with us, we would usually seek to change what we're doing, talk about it with them, try and come to some sort of resolution or compromise. We would probably want to stop doing what it is that makes them angry. But not in this case. The world hates us because it hates Jesus. (S)The response he calls us to is to bear witness to him all the more. The opportunity is there, constantly, for those who are persecuted for Christ's name. The number of times they are told, “Just convert to Islam, and we will stop beating you,” or, “Just renounce your faith, and we will release you from prison,” or even what was on that bus, “Stop worrying, and enjoy your life, and forget about God,” all they need to do, all we need to do, is renounce our faith, and things will go better for us. A Christian couple in the UK, living in Derby, have recently been barred from fostering children by their local council, because of their Biblical views on marriage and the family. They have had to take their case to the High Court, where a decision will be made essentially about whether Christians are 'fit and proper' persons to foster or adopt children. Do they want to adopt a child? Just renounce their beliefs, and they won't have a problem. Does Kedron want more school camps? I remember Greg saying that if they just remove the religious element, they will get more.
But this is not the path that Jesus tells his disciples to take. He tells them that he is going to send the Holy Spirit, which will go out into the world and testify to about Jesus. (S)In the same way, Jesus tells his disciples that they must testify to him, because they have been with him since the beginning. In the same way, we are to continue testifying to him, bringing the gospel of hope and freedom to people, people like Haddy, people like us, sinners who need to hear it. Yes, some will hate us for it, because it is an offensive message to be told that you are sinful and that you're not perfect and you're not the way God wants you. But Jesus tells us also in verse 20 that if they obey Christ's teaching, they will listen to us too. There are those out there who need to hear the message, who God has chosen to hear it. And no matter whether it will cost us our comfort, our money, our friends, our job, our family, or even our lives, Jesus calls his disciples to testify to him in the face of persecution.
Think about that. How offensive is your life? Does the life you live, do the words you say, send that message that no-one is good enough for God, and that the only way to find true meaning in life is through submission and obedience to God through Jesus Christ? How often do you cop flack about it? I asked some of the young people if they would be prepared to give their lives up for Christ, and most of them were honest and said that they really hope that they would do it if it came to it. So then, I asked them if they're prepared to die for Christ, why do we all – them, me, you – not totally live our lives for Christ? And their answer was profound: because it is harder to live the life every day and suffer the little things - the rejection of friends, the not fitting in with society, the giving up of things that you know you shouldn't do – than it is to think of giving your life for God in one shot, and going to heaven. Is that how you feel? That it's easier to come to church on Sunday, then just go to work on Monday, and not do anything to stand out or make a fuss or show what you believe? Of course it's easier, but it's not what Christ demands.
(S)And Christ knew that persecution would come on his disciples, both back then and today. In fact, he gets them ready for it. (S)He gives them advanced warning, so that when it comes they remember that he warned them. And he tells them so that they do not lose faith and fall away, because he knows how hard it will be for Haddy, he knows how hard it will be for us. (S)So let me ask you another question. When you became a Christian, was it a hard choice? Were you aware of what you were giving up? Were you aware of what people would think of you? Or for you, was it an easy choice, because you went to a Christian school, or your family were all Christians, or you were at a Christian camp surrounded by Christians, and everyone you knew and loved were ecstatic that you had made the right decision? Were you told that it was going to be hard, that you were going to suffer, that persecution is the lot of the follower of Jesus, and did you count the cost before you made the decision? (S)Maybe you weren't, but Jesus told his disciples that they should. In Luke 14 Jesus tells his disciples they have to be prepared to hate their family, their children, even their own life, or they cannot be his disciple. They have to count the cost, like you count the cost before building a house, or going to war – he told them that if they aren't prepared to give up everything, then they should forget about being his disciple. Maybe you were never told that when you first became a Christian. Now you know. Are you prepared to make the change in your life?
(S)Jesus told his disciples what was coming. (S)He wanted to make sense of the suffering that they would undergo in his name, (S)he wanted to call them to bear witness to him regardless of the cost, and (S)he wanted them to know what to expect by following him. People like Haddy, who take their lives in their hands when they accept Christ, know how valuable he is to them. The time may be coming when being a Christian in Australia will actually mean that you are looked down on as intolerant, irrelevant and ignorant – if that time is not already here. So ask yourself, how valuable is Jesus to you?(S)
Lord, be with us all as we seek to live our lives entirely for you. Help us to recognise the persecution that Christians face, both in the Muslim world, the Communist world, the Hindu world, the Buddhist world, the Tribal world, and the western secular world. Thank you for the concern our suffering brothers and sisters have for us as we face discrimination. We pray that you give us the same heart of loving concern for them as they suffer relationally, financially and physically for you. We thank you that you are worth the cost. Amen
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