jn 15 // the hate
February 5th, 2010This otherwise beautiful meditation from Jesus turns dark and foreboding in the final six verses.
ABIDING. In the first eleven verses Jesus compares the relationship with the church to a vine and its branches. Therefore, as branches, we must abide in the vine. The Word of God via the Vine feeds life to the branches producing lasting fruit, which glorifies God. As is the case in every garden, there’s pruning to be done for the purpose of bearing lasting fruit.The Gardner will see to this.
LOVE. With the restoration of our relationship with God through Christ, we are called to love one another. This is the reversal of all that went wrong in Eden. The division between God and man resulted in animosity in the community of man. But now, in Christ, there’s a call for love. Jesus has loved us all the way to death and he calls us to sacrificially love one another. This establishes the church, the community of the beloved! Abiding in the Word of God, loving one another, the church is sent out into the world with this good news, the Gospel.
HATE. I was listening to Pastor Tim Keller yesterday. He was preaching from Matthew 11. He said that the good news of Jesus Christ isn’t about what we are to do. It is about what has been done by God! He gave the example of the good news (gospel) of Ceasar Augustus’ reign in Rome. This message signaled a new order, a new regime, and a new way of life for the people. It wasn’t suggestions; it was a declaration of fact. Within that context, it’s not hard to imagine hatred for the new regime, justified or not.
As the church goes out into the world (this age), with the good news of of a new order, a new regime, and a new way to a fruitful life, the message, the Gospel, may be rejected and the messengers hated. Consider what Jesus says in John 15:22.
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
The Lord of the New Regime, Jesus, comes to forgive the sin of the world. The world thinks it needs education, civil rights, money, entertainment, retirement security, national security, parenting skills, and a plan to help the poor. What it rejects is the idea that it needs forgiveness for its sin and rebellious heart. When the church carries this message (even with humility and grace) it will most likely be met with hatred and disdain by those in power or seeking power. They hated Jesus for saying it. Do we think we are greater than He?
One option is for the church to stop talking about sin and rebellion tied up in the human heart. We can talk about angst, depression, hurt, and being a victim and, thereby, avoid being hated. We can save that conversation about sin to later… much later… or, never. In the meantime the church can grow by leaps and bounds with rich-young-ruler-types who are trying to go from good to great in their life, people who are striving to realize their fullest human potential, or people who want to be hymn-singing humanitarians.
Back to that Gardner and the pruning and removing…