Scripture: John 16:1-4a (ESV)
“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”
One of my flaws is that I get bored of a project about 85% of the way through. I lose interest as soon as I have progressed to the point of having almost finished a project, or when I have mastered a skill to the point of being slightly better than the average person on the street. What that means is that I am not really good at any one thing, but slightly better than average with a whole bunch of unrelated things. The problem with this is of course that I often don’t finish projects, much to the dismay of my longsuffering wife. I have a shed full of tools and equipment for hobbies that I have lost interest in. The sad reality is that it is precisely when it becomes hard work to grow in a skill, that I have a tendency to give up on that skill. Over the years I have worked on this, and I hope that I am better at persevering today than I was when I was a child, but it is still a flaw in my character that I need to work on.
Now how does this intersect with faith? What if my faith suffered from that same flaw? What if I was an 85% Christian, who would follow Jesus only as long as it wasn’t hard or difficult? What if I gave up on being a believer when things just got tough?
Jesus speaks to this very issue in this passage. He explains to the disciples that they will face severe persecution. They will be thrown out of the synagogues, which means they will effectively be cut off from their communities. They will face hardships and difficulties. In fact, they will even be put to death. And the people who do all these horrible things believe that they have the divine right to do them and that their actions will be approved by God.
That's a pretty hard teaching. But that was going to be their reality if they would follow Jesus. In our time, I think the most obvious place this happens to Christians today is when we speak out against the LGBTQ agenda. Christians are silenced, persecuted, lose their jobs and livelihoods, and are harassed and even attacked. And the people who perpetrate the persecution believe that they are doing it all with the divine mandate of enforcing tolerance and love for all.
So what solution does Jesus provide? He gives two tools.
First, he gives his disciples, and us, a prediction. He teaches us not to be surprised when these things happen. He is preparing us for this eventuality. And he gives us a framework for understanding the situation. He reminds us that if we remain faithful to him, and the world rejects us, it’s actually because the world rejects God. In some ways, “It's not personal, it's [spiritual] business.”
Second, we have his presence through the Holy Spirit, as we saw yesterday. The Spirit will be there with us, as it was in the days when Stephen was stoned to death. He will comfort us, strengthen us, and ensure that we keep the faith, even in the hardest of times.
So take heart, the elect can never fall away from the faith. No matter how hard it gets, the world, the devil, and hardship can never snatch Jesus or his Holy Spirit away. And that is pretty comforting.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for preparing us for the challenges of faith. When things get hard, help me to remember your words and hold fast to your promises. Strengthen me through your Spirit, and help me to persevere in following you, no matter what.
Amen.
Spiritual Challenge:
Think about a trial or challenge you’re facing right now. Take a moment to reflect on Jesus’ words and invite the Holy Spirit to give you strength to endure and remain faithful. Trust that he will carry you through.
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