JESUS CHOSE US OUT OF THE WORLD
John 15:18-27
By Lay Pastor Setio Dharma Kusuma
Lemah Putro, Sunday, September 20, 2020
Greetings of peace,
In these few coming months we will face regional leader election (known as Pilkada) and we experienced president and vice president election in 2019. What are the requirements of someone to be elected as president or vice president? Our country had arranged it in the 1945 Constitution chapter 6 and became the absolute requirement to be fulfilled by a future president and vice president, that is: they must be the citizens of Indonesia from birth, never accepting other citizenship by their own will, never betray the country, able to do the task and obligation of the country physically and spiritually. When they are chosen as the president and vice president, they are bearing a heavy duty, being responsible and holding an important role in managing the country according to their authority. This applies to all countries.
Are we confident that Jesus has chosen us out of the world? If we are certain that we are saved, does it mean that we don’t have any role, initiative or responsibility to do anything and we just leave everything to Him? Absolutely not! Someone who has been chosen by Jesus out of the world must have a significant sign followed with roles and responsibilities.
What are the signs that we are chosen by Jesus out of the world based on the Gospel of John?
· The world is our enemy
"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.“ (vv. 18-19)
The world becomes our enemy because there is hatred in it. On the contrary, if we are not chosen by Jesus, the world will love us as its own.
Who/what is meant by the world (= kosmos) here? A wicked system, worldly pleasure and evil/worldly people who inhabit it.
Why does the world hate Jesus first before it hates us? Isn’t it true that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16)? This hatred reason was first revealed by Jesus at the multiplication of bread and fish to feed the 5.000 men (John 6), and before the Feast of the Tabernacle (John 7). The coming of Jesus to the world was actually to testify that its works were evil (John 7:6-7).
How could it be that the work and system of this world is evil? Because sins have spoilt the world way back before the Torah (Romans 5:13). Jesus really knew about this; the proof was He entered the Temple to cast out those who sold oxen, sheep and doves, and the money changers for making His Father’s house a house of merchandise (John 2:13-16). He was also hated because He was considered breaking the Sabbath and making Himself equal to God (John 5:18). The Jewish, Pharisees and the chief priests hated Jesus so much when He testified about Himself and they tried to seize and even kill Him (John 7:14-32).
Introspection: Do we have the signs showing us having enmity with the system and work of this wicked world, and not loving worldly pleasure? Missing those signs proves that we belong to the world.
The author of the epistle of James confirmed that the friendship with the world is the enmity with God (James 4:4). The Apostle John didn’t write the Gospel of John only, he further described about the world and what is in it in the epistle of John; they are: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. And this world is passing away and the lust of it (I John 2:15-17). Notice that the lust of the flesh is manifested in the deeds of the flesh (Galatians 5:17-21).One of the examples of fleshly lust deed is revelry. Don’t think lightly of revelry. It is already common for a couple to make pre-wedding pictures, but lately it is a trend to make pre-sweet-seventeen birthday pictures. There was a teenage girl coming from a wealthy family who celebrated her pre-sweet- seventeen birthday by paying for some of her friends to go to Paris, and then continued to Bali and another celebration in Surabaya. The pictures were uploaded in the social media and seen by a teenage girl coming from a modest family. This girl demanded her parents to hold a pre-sweet-seventeen birthday celebration too. Her father dan mother were really sad to hear the request of their only daughter. The mother who was also active in the social media poured what was in her heart to her friends in the group who provoked her to make it happen. Do you know what happened to the teenage girl? She was so obsessed with her pre-sweet-seventeen birthday that she became deeply stressed thinking about it. Don’t blame the social media while it’s true that it has the potential to facilitate the pride of life – desiring to be acknowledged by others, the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh. The Word of God is firmly reminding us not to be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2). In other words, the world containing the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life must be our enemies. Have we lived differently from (people of) the world? If we don’t want to change, we place God as our enemy.
Be watchful, if there is any disappointment in following Jesus (John 16:1-2), this will indicate the symptom that we are starting to make friendship with the world and will finally reject Him. May it be far for us to have this kind of thought or behavior.
· To bear fruit and remain fruitful
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain……” (John 15:16-17)
How to bear fruit and remain fruitful? By abiding (meno = stay alive, permanently) in Jesus because we cannot do anything without Him (John 15:5). Then what do we want to be proud of when we are fruitful in the ministry? Remember that without Jesus, we cannot be fruitful; we are like dry branches ready to be thrown into the fire and burnt.
What is our purpose to bear fruit? “…that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you” (John 15:16b). But the fact is the Father often doesn’t give us when we ask Him because our permanency in Jesus is not earnest enough. We feel that the fruit we bear is the result of our own strength, effort and service. “Without Jesus we cannot do anything” shouldn’t be merely a thinking concept, instead it should be carried out in real deeds à our faith will still be in Jesus whatever happens.
What kind of fruit is produced? The fruit becomes a command that is to love one another (v. 17). However, loving others must be done in Christ; otherwise we would show off the “love” by distributing the alms, then uploading it our social media, expecting to get the credit. The Bible teaches us, “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3). Our social deeds should be different because we love others by living in Jesus first. It needs to be known that love comes from God and everyone born of God loves and knows Him (1 John 4:7). So, we don’t have love coming from ourselves. When we live in Jesus, our faith and love will grow that we won’t give grudgingly.
Jesus gives His love unconditionally; it’s different from the world that is willing to give under certain conditions. Related to justification and repentance, the love of Jesus is applied unconditionally, proven by His sacrifice on the cross when we were still the enemies of God. But after we become His own and our spirituality grows, we should struggle and be responsible to fulfil the qualification and criteria that He wants. We must know the portion of the Lord and our own portion to do. We must not stay idle – no initiative and action – just waiting what’s coming from the Lord.
· Not a slave of money
If we notice carefully in John 6:70-71, there seemed to be an odd and illogical election that Jesus chose the 12 disciples and one of them was the devil (= diabolos). Didn’t Jesus know about it? Did He make the wrong choice, just like us who often choose wrongly, then later feel sorry for our choice? Proverbs 16:4 wrote, “The Lord has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.” It is clear now, there is nothing that the Lord made (including choosing Judas Iscariot) without a purpose. Jesus is never wrong and will never be wrong.
After feeding the 5,000 men, Jesus went away to the mountain by Himself (John 6:15) but many people were still seeking and found Him (John 6:25). What did Jesus say to them? They were seeking for Him, not because they saw the signs, but because they ate the bread and were filled (v. 26). In other words, they were seeking for Jesus to meet their physical needs. Did Jesus cast them away? No. He was exhorting them not to work for the food that perish (v. 27). Then they asked what to do, and Jesus answered that they had to believe in Him who was sent by God (v. 29) then He introduced Himself as the bread of life (v. 35). They were shaken to hear the preaching of the cross (to drink His blood and eat His flesh; vv. 53-56) and finally went back and walked with Him no more (v. 66).
Jesus knew from the start who didn’t believe and would surrender Him (v. 64). Judas Iscariot didn’t believe that Jesus is the living bread but he didn’t retreat. Why? Because his following Jesus was merely for physical needs. He misused the trust to serve as the treasurer by stealing the money kept in the money box he was entrusted with (John 12:5-6). His mind was on the money and his ministry was measured only by money when he sold Jesus to the chief priests (Matthew 26:15). Jesus had actually given a chance for Judas to repent, but he refused to take it (vv. 21-25); in short, he didn’t want to be transformed.
Don’t think that those who study theology and minister to the Lord cannot be slaves of money! For example: the Pharisees who knew the Bible and had the duty to explain it and give illumination to the Israelites, were actually slaves of money too (Luke 16:14).
What is the exhortation of Hebrews 13:5? “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
It’s true that the Lord will not forsake us moreover in this COVID-19 pandemic that is greatly impacting all aspects of our lives (health, economy, society). Nevertheless, this predicament shouldn’t prompt us to love ourselves and become a slave of money (1Timothy 3:1-2). May our following the Lord not be motivated by a desire of getting physical things! We do need money, but we must not be enslaved by money.
We truly deserve to be thankful for the Lord chose us to be His own, but this should be proven whether we have the signs as the enemy of the world (not following the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life); remain to be fruitful by loving others and not become the slaves of money. If others could witness those signs in our lives, we don’t need to be arrogant since everything happens because we were chosen by Jesus and live permanently in Jesus. Then the name of the Heavenly Father is glorified. Amen.
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