“Following in Jesus’ Footsteps”
John 15: 18 – 25; 16: 1 – 4a; Acts 5: 41, 42
Introduction
Nov. 26, 2005: Canadians Jim Loney, 41, and Harmeet Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74, and American Tom Fox, 54, all Christian peacekeepers, are kidnapped in Baghdad by a group calling itself Swords of Righteousness Brigades. This past week three of the four men were rescued in Baghdad. The fourth man, unfortunately, Tom Fox, had already been killed.
Being Jesus’ Disciples
1. What does it mean to become disciples?
a. John’s Gospel tells us that becoming disciples means believing that Jesus is the Son of God.
b. Jesus has chosen us – John 15: 16a – “You did not choose me, but I chose you . . .” – John 15: 19b – “I have chosen you out of the world.”
2. What does it mean to be disciples?
a. Eugene Peterson says that “discipleship is anything that causes what is believed in the heart to have demonstrable consequences in our daily life.”
b. Luke 9: 23 – “Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
3. What does it cost to be disciples?
a. Luke 9: 24 – “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.”
b. John 13: 16 – “Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are the messengers greater than the one who sent them.”
“If the world hates you . . .”
1. The world’s response to Jesus
a. Jesus’ teaching and authority questioned
b. Jesus opposed, persecuted, and put to death
2. The world’s response to Jesus’ disciples
a. Jesus’ disciples’ teaching and authority questioned
i. Acts 4: 1 – 2, 7, 18
“While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead.”
“When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’”
“But to keep it from spreading further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.”
b. Jesus’ disciples’ opposed, persecuted and put to death
i. Acts 5: 17 – 18, 40; 7: 54 – 60
“Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.”
“And when they had called in the apostles, they had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus.”
The death of Stephen – stoned for proclaiming Jesus.
3. The unbelieving world – then and today
a. The Jewish leaders of the time – Did not believe Jesus and persecuted both he and later his disciples.
b. The unbelieving world today – Ephesians 6: 12 – “principalities and powers,” not flesh and blood.
“An hour is coming . . .”
1. Examples of ‘Persecution’ in North America
a. Issues of abortion and homosexual unions/ redefinition of marriage
b. We still have freedom, but for how long?
c. We have freedom now, but we shouldn’t be complacent and simply take it for granted.
2. Examples of Persecution Overseas
a. An avalanche of media coverage of an Afghan man facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity has apparently sparked the arrest and deepening harassment of other Afghan Christians in the ultra-conservative Muslim country of Istanbul. Mr. Abdul Rahman (41), an Afghan citizen and a Christian, has been charged with “rejecting Islam” and may face the death penalty. Mr. Rahman converted from Islam to Christianity nearly 16 years ago while working for an international Christian group in Pakistan. He recently returned to Afghanistan to seek custody of his two daughters. Police arrested him last month after discovering him in possession of a Bible during a custody dispute. The presiding judge is due to pass sentence in two weeks.
b. A Local council in West Java (Jakarta) has warned serveal congregations in the Rancaekek Kencana housing complex in Bandung to abandon their cell group system which allows limited numbers of Christians to meet together in private homes. In letters to the churches over the past three months the council also warned Christians to stop meeting in buildings that were converted some years ago in permanent – though unregistered – worship facilities.
c. The Rev. Tongkhojang Lunkim was released at 1pm on Saturday, March 18 after being held captive for two months by the Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) in Manipur state, Northeast India.
d. This year, North Korea topped Open Doors World Watch List as the worlds worst persecutor of Christians. For security purposes, we cannot offer any more information about North Korea, other than share reports about the status of the church in the region. Many Christians in North Korea are executed for their faith, and as many as 3 million people have died of starvation in the country since 1994. The Christian Church in North Korea suffers greatly and is in dire need of our prayers.
e. Father Eusebio Ferrao, 61, parish priest of St. Francis Xavier Church in Macazana, a village in the western coastal Indian state of Goa, was murdered on Saturday, March 18. Police said assailants evidently stabbed and hit the elderly priest repeatedly before strangling and smothering him.
f. Three Christian peace workers just rescued this past week in Baghdad – one was killed.
g. More followers of Jesus Christ died during the 20th century than in other time in history. Around 150,000 are martyred every year. About 200,000 are actively persecuted. And millions more are living with their religious freedoms severely restricted.
“The blood of the martyrs . . .”
As Christians, we can expect others to hate us and persecute us. Jesus promised that we would experience persecution in following him. As one writer put it, “Suffering is the inevitable experience of both [the] preachers and the Christian community.
Saint Jerome, who lived in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, said, “The Church of Christ has been founded by shedding its own blood, not that of others; by enduring outrage, not by inflicting it. Persecutions have made it grow; martyrdoms have crowned it.”
Charles Spurgeon, a preacher from the 19th century, wrote, “Christ’s church never sails so well as when she is rocked from side to side by the winds of persecution . . . Nothing has helped God’s church so much as persecution.”
And probably the most famous comment on persecution comes from Tertullian, a third-century theologian: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”
In Africa there are nearly 1200 new churches monthly. In India there is a new church formed every seven minutes. In Latin America 20,000 people come to Christ each and every day.
The Church in Nepal is growing by leaps and bounds. In 1970 there were 15,000 believers, in 1990 there were 70,000, and in 2,000 there were 400,000.
The Chinese Church has grown from 5 million believers in 1970 to around 80 million believers in 2,000.
These numbers confirm the words of Jerome, Spurgeon and Tertullian, that where the Church of Jesus Christ faces its harsh persecution, there it will grow. We also see this principle confirmed in scripture.
“We must always give thanks to god for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and afflictions that you are enduring.”
Paul praises the believers in Thessalonica (2 Thessalonians 1: 3, 4; 3: 1 – 3)for bearing up under difficult circumstances. Despite the opposition the Thessalonians face from enemies of the gospel, they are being patient, steadfast in faith, and are showing remarkable endurance. This endurance, furthermore, “arose out of their refusal to renounce their faith in spite of opposition.”
In other words, in facing persecution the Thessalonian believers found their faith growing – as Paul says in 1:3, “your faith is growing abundantly.” And this is happening during a time of persecution, when you would think it would be more difficult, perhaps even impossible, to remain a Christian! Their love for one another was also increasing. The trials and tribulations they were experiencing actually brought them closer together and helped them to be more faithful still to the Lord.
And in praising the believers of Thessalonica, Paul also recognizes believers there are a witness to other churches. In drawing attention to the steadfastness of believers there, Paul “sought to provide other communities with a model of Christian commitment under adverse circumstances.” The persecution Thessalonian disciples of Jesus are facing, Paul believes, provides a model for other churches that might face such hostility in the future. That includes us – when the time comes!
And as Christians, we should rejoice when persecution comes our way. Jesus says in Matthew 5: 10, 11: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Jeremiah, who prophesied against the people of Israel and Judah, warning of the Babylonian exile, was persecuted just as Jesus says here. Jeremiah 20: 1, 2 says that “the priest Pashhur, son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Then Pashhur struck the prophet Jeremiah, and put him in the stocks.” You can read more of Jeremiah’s experience of persecution in chapter 26, for example.
Following in Jesus’ Footsteps
So we should never be surprised when find ourselves persecuted, if indeed we find it happening to us directly. Peter told his readers (1 Peter 4: 12, 13): “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed . . . [For] if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.” Indeed the early church did this! In Acts 5: 41, 42 we read that Peter and the apostles, after having been tortured and threatened, “rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonour for the sake of the name. And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.”
