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John 3:16-17
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My wife and I were getting to know another couple at an event, and the early discussions were full of laughter. After the entrees arrived, they asked me what I did for work. I said, "Well, I'm kind of a pastor. I write and give away Bible studies." The husband recoiled and said, "If you're a pastor, I don't want to be talking to you." I try to talk about what I do in the nicest way. But sometimes it gets awkward fast.
John 15:18-25
"If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. "Remember the word I spoke to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they don't know the one who sent me. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin. The one who hates me also hates my Father. If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. "But this happened so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled: They hated me for no reason."
Jesus washed the feet of Judas who would betray him and fed the crowd that would curse him as a blasphemer. He loved people who hated him. But why did they reject him? Because he loved them. Sin cannot be explained. Pride, hatred, and violence are incomprehensible rejections of God. Instead of humbly receiving God's love and imitating his example, we would rather do as we please. I've gone to therapy to try and understand why some people didn't want to be my friends. I received valuable insights, and their wisdom has helped me become a better friend. But no one ever said, "It's not your fault. They hate you because they hate God." If Jesus had never come, we could have kept pretending that we were good with God because we checked the religious boxes. But after his arrival, there's a divide. Either we wholeheartedly love Jesus and our neighbor, or we're confronted by our stingy selfishness. It's unbearable to be held accountable. So we push God - and anyone who reminds us of him - away. Jesus is preparing his friends to be insulted, rejected, beaten, and even martyred. He's telling us: this isn't about you. It's because you look like me. I deal with this at dinner parties. Globally, hundreds of millions of Christians are discriminated against, attacked, or even killed for their faith. In college, a guy with a megaphone showed up outside the Frazier Jelke Science Center so he could berate everyone with hateful, judgmental messages about God's wrath. Nearly everyone walked by. A few people actually stopped and tried to help him. But when I respectfully raised arguments about God's existence in my philosophy seminars, I'd see other students snicker. Yet Jesus promises that anyone who would have listened to him will listen to us, too. So we keep washing feet, and trusting God will take care of the rest.
What stands out to you about Jesus warning his friends that they will be hated as much as he was?
When has talking about your love for God changed how someone treated you? How did you interpret their rejection?
If the rejection really isn't about you but about Jesus, what do you do with the sting of it?
Write down the names of anyone who has pulled away from you or rejected you because of your faith. Talk to God about them, and if you can, pray a prayer of blessing for each one of them. Then, text a friend and ask if they'll pray for these people, too.
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