John 15:18-16:11 - Now What? - May 31, 2020

It’s hard to believe, but only 5 months ago life was relatively normal. It was January and it was cold – but it was normal. Then the dominoes started falling. China reported its first death from the coronavirus and ordered the citizens of Wuhan (a city of over 11 million people) to stay home; the WHO declared a global health emergency, cruise ships were quarantined outside of ports around the world and national lockdowns spread like wildfire. And you know the rest of the story. And now that restrictions are beginning to loosen – the question the minds of many is: what is life going to look like now? Will things ever return to “normal”? Now what?

That’s not a new question. The disciples had been with Jesus day and night for almost three years. And now he was leaving them to continue to carry out his work of spreading the Gospel – the Gospel that he was going to the cross to bleed and die for. But they were clearly wondering what life was going to be like without Jesus, without his visible presence. And so, one last time, on the night he was betrayed, Jesus speaks words of truth and comfort to his disciples and to us; he teaches his disciples of all ages exactly what to expect.

We should expect to be hated. Six times in the first seven verses Jesus uses the word “hate.” Hate is not a nice word. It’s a word mothers tell their children not to use. When someone hates you, they don’t want anything good to happen to you. In fact, they want bad things to happen to you – and may even help them happen. Who does the hating and who is the target? The world is the one doing the hating and the targets are Jesus himself, his Father and his disciples. The world isn’t just annoyed at you; unhappy with you; cold toward you. It hates you. Jesus even warned that a time is coming when anyone who murders you will think he is offering a service to God. This is our situation now that our Lord has ascended into heaven. The world hates the fact that we exist.

Why? Because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, for that very reason the world hates you. The world hates us because it views us as traitors; we are no longer on their side, the side of the devil (John 14:30); but on the side of Jesus. The world hated Jesus because he preached Law and Gospel – and the world will hate us for same reason; because we testify about Jesus and proclaim the Law, which condemns all people (Romans 6:23); and the Gospel, which saves all people (John 3:16). The world doesn’t hate you because of who you are, but because of what the Holy Spirit has made you: a Christian.

Jesus shows us the hidden truth about the unbelieving world – and this truth calls for a dramatic change in worldview. Many Christians believe that if we can just do enough nice things for the world: feed it, give it money, provide daycare for their children and facilities for their yoga and art classes – then the world will grow to love us. (But Jesus says that the world only loves its own – therefore, if the world loves us, alarm bells should go off (John 15:19)). The world is never going to love Christians because the world will never stop hating Christ. That’s hard to hear. It’s no wonder that sorrow filled the hearts of the disciples, is it? (Or that sorrow often fills our hearts?) And yet, while we may grieve over the world’s hatred, we should not be surprised by it. Instead, we should expect it. We should expect that we’re not going to find many friends this world. We should expect that a world under the control of the devil will be openly hostile to Christians (John 14:30). We should expect to be discriminated against, mocked and ridiculed. This simmering hatred became especially clear in these last few months of the Covid-19 panic. While you could still freely go to the local Planned Parenthood to have your unborn baby murdered, and even after you were permitted to go golfing or take a hike in a state park, you were still specifically forbidden from attending church to worship your Savior. Nor should we be surprised if, as we resume worship services, some of our “worldly” neighbors look to inform the authorities about our gatherings. The world hated and murdered Jesus; the world hates us because we preach Jesus. That’s what we as New Testament Christians should expect.

“Well,” you might be thinking, “I really thought that our first in-person service would be more uplifting! What’s the good news?” The good news is that Jesus has not left us to face this hostile world alone. He sends the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, to come to us and help us. The Greek word he uses is paraclete – literally, “one who stands beside you.” How does the Holy Spirit help us to face the hatred of the world? In three ways: when he comes, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment. The question is: what does this mean and how does this help us?

Jesus explains: he will convict the world…about sin, because they do not believe in me. The world hates us because it thinks that we are the real sinners. Have you noticed how eager the media was to vilify and humiliate pastors and churches who dared to continue worshipping during this pandemic? While we in no way condone outright disobedience to the governing authorities (Romans 13:1-7), it was stunning to see them treated almost like terrorists. The world is very good at making Christians feel ashamed and guilty. The world wants to dictate the church’s role in the world. It loves to make us feel guilty for not doing enough to help the poor, to feed the hungry, to shelter the homeless. The world tries to make us feel guilty for not adopting their “progressive” views by flying a rainbow flag and embracing LGBTQ lifestyles. You see it and feel it, don’t you? The world makes you feel guilty and ashamed because you aren’t tolerant like they are; you aren’t generous like they are; you aren’t loving like they are.

How does the Holy Spirit help us out with this? He arrives on the scene and convicts the world, not you, of sin. What sin? Is it not practicing proper social distancing, not feeding enough poor people, not housing enough homeless, not condoning and supporting enough “alternative” lifestyles? No. The Holy Spirit comes to convict the world of the only sin that damns: unbelief. Because the world does not believe in Jesus, the only one who can remove and forgive sin, it remains guilty and worthy only of condemnation. In other words, the Holy Spirit’s message to the unbelieving world is whoever does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:16). But for you, the Holy Spirit has a very different message. To you who have been baptized, who are repentant, who cling to Christ in faith for forgiveness – the Holy Spirit’s message is simply: whoever believes and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16:16).

Second, the Holy Spirit helps us by convicting the world…about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me. The world thinks righteousness is doing something for a good cause. The world thinks they are righteous if they spend a few hours on a weekend walking or running to defeat cancer, if they post a virtuous hashtag on social media, or if they play a round of golf to fight Covid-19 (as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickelson did last weekend [1]). And you might be shouting inside “what’s wrong with those things?” Nothing. There is nothing wrong with battling cancer and virtuous hashtags and golfing against Covid-19 (although I’m not sure that golf has been proven as an effective treatment for the virus). The problem is that the world believes that doing these things makes them righteous before God and that anyone who doesn’t join them is unrighteous.  

How does the Holy Spirit help us here? He responds like Jesus did to the rich young ruler and says: no one is good, except one – God (Luke 18:19). The only one righteous before God is God in human flesh: Jesus. The only good works virtuous enough to pass God’s judgment are Jesus’ works. The reason we no longer see Jesus is that he was good enough to go to heaven because he was perfectly righteous in God’s sight. Jesus is righteous…and – this is the heart of the Gospel – through faith, he is our righteousness before God (Romans 3:21-22). Any work done apart from faith in Jesus, no matter how good and virtuous it may appear, is nothing more than a filthy rag in God’s eyes (Isaiah 64:6). Paul goes so far as to say that everything that does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). In stark contrast, everything a believer does – everything you do out of gratitude for what Christ has done for you and according to his will – no matter how ordinary, how mundane, how unnoticed by the world, is righteous in God’s eyes (Matthew 25:40; Hebrews 13:16). Christians who simply live their lives: raising their children, earning a paycheck, worshiping their Lord and loving their neighbor have more righteousness before God than the entire unbelieving world – not because we are better than anyone else (we confess each week that we are not) but because our righteousness comes from Christ. Keep that truth in mind the next time the world tries to make you feel guilty for not being as “righteous” as they are.

The final way the Holy Spirit helps us is by convicting the world…about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. The world believes that we Christians are the ones who are judged by God. That’s why it thinks it is doing God a service if it murders us (John 16:2). And, admittedly, it sometimes feels like we are under God’s judgment. Often we suffer hardship, sickness and death while those in the world go about living happy, healthy, carefree lives (see Psalm 73). But the Holy Spirit comes and says that they are the ones who have been judged because their prince, the devil, has been condemned once and for all. Oh sure, he may growl and prowl around looking very frightening and victorious (1 Peter 5:8), but the Holy Spirit testifies to the world that he stands defeated (Revelation 12:9).

How can that be true? It certainly seems like the devil is having his way, doesn’t it? Well, what power did Satan have over us? Could he take away our faith? No. Could he rob us of our salvation? No (John 10:28-29). The only power he had over us was to accuse us of our sins before God – like he did with Joshua, the high priest (Zechariah 3:1). But he’s lost that power because Jesus has already paid for my sins and your sins and the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). Without any sins to accuse us of, Satan is powerless. He and the world he rules have been overcome, judged and condemned by Jesus’ death and resurrection (John 16:33).

Jesus has left us in a world that hates us, but he has not left us alone. On Pentecost he sent us a Counselor, the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus says it is good for you that I go away. What? Wouldn’t it be much more comforting, much more helpful to have Jesus here with us? We might think so. However, if Jesus were still on earth he could not be with you in the hospital, on vacation, or under lockdown at home. When Jesus walked this earth his ministry was limited by time and space. He could only be in one place at one time. (He could not be in Galilee healing the lepers (Luke 17:11-19), in Jerusalem giving Bartimaeus his sight (Mark 10:46-52), on the Sea calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41) and at Nain raising the widow’s son (Luke 7:11-17) at the same time.)

Now we have Jesus with us, serving us, wherever we are, through the work of the Holy Spirit. That’s really the most important way the Holy Spirit helps us today: he delivers Jesus to us. It’s not about feelings or visions or dreams or the sound of a violent wind or tongues of fire. Jesus says the Holy Spirit will testify about me. Wherever the Word and Sacraments are, there you have the Holy Spirit testifying about Jesus and bringing to you the gifts Jesus won for you. This is happening right here right now, and in the homes of those who will watch this service later, and in hospitals and around the dinner table and driveway bonfires – wherever Christians share the Gospel with others. What Jesus did for only a few people during his time on earth the Holy Spirit now does throughout the world through Word and Sacrament. So yes, it is good for us that Jesus has gone away – because now he is with us always to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

Now what? It’s a question on the minds of many. In regard to the re-opening of society, I don’t have any answers. I can’t even guarantee that we will be permitted to gather together again next week. Here’s what I do know: the world hates us – and always will hate us – because it hates Jesus and we belong to Jesus. But we are not alone. He sends help; he sends the Holy Spirit. So that now, even though we can’t see Jesus, we know he is with us through the power of the Holy Spirit working through Word and Sacraments. Now what? Now, go in peace, because you know exactly what to expect: worldly hate and heavenly help. Amen.

[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/25/golf/tiger-woods-paton-manning-phil-mickelson-tom-bardy-golf-spt-intl/index.html