“This World is not our Home” John 17:1-19
1. Jesus said the following about the Disciples He shares they are not citizens here
14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world
2. If this world is not our home land then we are Foreigners so how do we live in a world we are not of?
WE Must embrace our foreignness
• Jesus teaches us that we should embrace our status as a foreigner. Live with it. We are different come out form amongst the world and be separate
• Live with Attentiveness to a Certain Voice the Voice of the Lord
• Live with blamelessness and harmlessness (Php 2:15), boldness (Pr 28:1), devout (Ac 8:2; 22:13), faithful (Rev 17:14), holy (Dt 7:6; 14:2; Col 3:12), hungering for righteousness (Mt 5:6), new creatures (2Co 5:17; Eph 2:10), watchful (Lk 12:37) Let this descriptions inform how we think and act among those who are citizens of this world.
3. We survive as Foreigners by seeking Gods protection Jesus asks the "Holy Father" to "protect them" (v. 11). He says that he himself has "protected" and "guarded" the disciples..
• 11I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one.
• Again in verse 15, he says in this prayer to the Father, "I ask you to protect them.". 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
• From what do you suppose Jesus felt the disciples needed protection? It's possible he feared for their physical safety.
• Perhaps he feared the attraction of the world itself with all its temptations. The apostle John writes to young Christians saying, "Do not love the world or anything in the world" (1 John 2:15, NIV).
• He goes on to identify things we might love: "the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches" and says that these things do not come "from the Father but from the world" (1 John 2:16).
4. We survive by hanging out with other Foreigners vs 11 --so that they may be one as we are one.
5. We survive as foreigners by keeping a Positive Attitude when we go on the mission trip pack a Good Attitude Jesus prayed that his disciples would experience joy: "so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves" (v. 13, NIV).
6. Finally, we can survive as foreigners by remembering that God has put us here for a reason, and it's possible that we're not going anywhere anytime soon. Jesus said, "I am not asking you to take them out of the world" (v. 15). It's like, "I am not asking you to recall them." "I am not asking you to pull them out."
• We're here. We have a mission and that is to Proclaim the Name that calls us home
7. In conclusion until we are called home,
• We must embrace our Foreignness,
• We must seek God's protection,
• We must align ourselves with a community of fellow citizens,
• We must have a good attitude, and
• We must remember that God has put us here for a reason.
