Sermon - Exaudi 2023 - John 15:26-16:4

Persecution of Christians, J. Wierix, 1532-1603

To keep us from falling away

1. Persecution for being faithful may tempt us to apostatize

2. Jesus warns us so that we can prepare

3. Jesus strengthens us by sending the Holy Spirit

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Last Sunday we heard in the sermon that theology has consequences, and many of these consequences are fantastic! Chiefly, the consequence of theology is our redemption, our salvation from sin and death to life eternal through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. Consequently we are no longer dead in our tresspasses, but we are alive in Christ; we are free to live good lives. We aren’t doomed to dwell in our past errors and sins, instead each day is a new day and we are given a fresh start to make this a good day. God’s word shapes us and forms us in the likeness of Jesus, so that our every thought and action is taken captive to obey Christ, and thus our lives are made good when we live in Christ’s light.

The vast majority of the consequences of theology are beautiful and delightful. However, one of the unfortunate circumstances of our theology is that the world often responds negatively to Christ, and thus takes it out on God’s people. “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.” Jesus tells us these things to keep us from falling away. Confirmands, this is an especially important lesson for you to understand. It’s easy to be faithful to Christ when no one challenges us. But once we face challenges it becomes significantly more difficult, and falling away from the faith is the path of least resistance, so it becomes easy to fall away from Christ. 

Jesus understood this because He knew what His apostles were about to face after His crucifixion. Quite literally they were thrown out of synagogues, arrested, beaten, and all but one martyred for the faith. In the following centuries many Christians were arrested and martyred for their faith. The world hated those Christians, slandering and insulting them, spreading lies and rumors about them. Christians didn’t just face persecution a thousand years ago, but even today. The 20th century saw some of the worst persecution of Christians with communism.

While most Christian persecution that we think of is primarily physical, this isn’t the only type of persecution. In some ways it’s actually unhelpful to think of persecution as exclusively the violent shedding of blood, since the majority of persecution doesn’t manifest itself in physical acts of violence, but in hostility and animosity. Jesus doesn’t say they will only kill you, but that first they will put you out of the synagogues. Or St. Peter says they will insult you. In other words, they will silence and ridicule you into submission. This is indeed persecution, and it’s perhaps more successful at getting Christians to fall away than killing them.

You see, one of the consequences of theology is that we will all evangelize to others in words and in actions. While the apostles are witnesses of Jesus and bear witness because they were with Him from the beginning of His ministry, and they did have a particular calling which we don’t all have, nevertheless, we are all called upon to confess our faith in Jesus in whichever vocations God has placed us. This certainly does and must happen in conversations, but it happens much more regularly in how we live.

For example, Christians go to church and prioritize it above other things and other people. Married Christians don’t intentionally put themselves in compromising or tempting situations. All christians live chaste and decent lives, dressing modestly and guarding our eyes and ears from perversity. Men are masculine and women are feminine. We guard our lips from speaking improperly. We refuse to tolerate sin. We live wise and prudent lives as directed by the scriptures. Often all of these things are done without even speaking, but they’re very observable to the world. This makes us prone to persecution by the world. We are mocked and insulted for sticking to our guns and refusing to budge. 

Jesus warns us about this so that we can be prepared for it. St. Peter wrote: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” When something catches you by surprise, it’s hard to react unless you’ve trained for it. For instance, if I throw a ball at you, but you’ve not practiced catching, then the ball will likely hit you. But if you’ve practiced catching before, then when I suddenly throw a ball at you you’re able to catch it. 

Likewise, when you’re prepared for persecution and for people to not always agree with you or like you, then you know how to handle it faithfully. But if you’re not prepared for persecution, then you may very well just give in and lose the faith. This unfortunately happens to a lot of young college students. They’re not prepared to have their faith challenged so dramatically, that many of them sadly fall away from the faith. Sure, no one is threatening to kill them, but the mockery and insults are more than enough to coerce them away from Christ. This doesn’t just happen in college, it happens around friends and coworkers and even relatives.

So recognizing the threat and the potential to fall away, what can be done? How can we be prepared for persecution? First and foremost, Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit to strengthen us. “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” Thursday we celebrated the Ascension; that Jesus ascended to heaven and sent us the Holy Spirit. Next Sunday we will celebrate Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles as tongues of fire. God gives you His Holy Spirit in order to establish you in the faith and strengthen you for the fight.

Hear what was prophesied by the prophet Ezekiel concerning the Holy Spirit: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” The Holy Spirit cleanses us, gives us a new heart of flesh, causes us to walk in His statutes and obey His rules, and promises us that we shall dwell in God’s kingdom and be His people and He our God.

God has given you the Holy Spirit so that you live by the power of His Spirit. God has not given us a spirit of timidity or weakness, but of boldness and strength. We go forward in the name of the Lord, with His holy name as our strength and shield. Just as Christ rose victoriously over the grave, so shall we rise victoriously over the grave. Let us not be cynical and defeatist about this world, since Christ has already triumphed over the grave and we shall be victorious with Him.

Don’t give way to fear and despair when things appear to be going poorly. That’s what Satan wants to happen to you. He wants persecution to snuff out your smoldering wick of faith. But instead, God wants to fill you with His Holy Spirit, that undying flame, so that you may not fall away, but endure to the end. Remember that the end of all things is at hand. Don’t give up now. Don’t be afraid. God shall supply the strength that you need by the Spirit.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!