VAN BUREN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Acts 1:6-14
SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER 1 Peter 4:12-14;5:6-11
MAY 4, 2008 John 17:1-11
"CHRISTIANS IN THE WORLD"
Lord of all times and places: Your thoughts are not our thoughts, Your ways are not
our ways, and You are lifted high above our little lives. Rule our minds, and renew
our ways, so that, in mercy, we may be drawn near You; through Jesus Christ our Lord
and Master. Amen.
The growth of Christianity in the early centuries was phenomenal. By the mid 2nd century, an
apologist said, "We are everywhere. We are in your towns and in your cities; we are in your army and
navy; we are in your places; we are in the senate; we are more numerous than anyone."
By A.D. 300, the church was spreading so fast that it appeared the entire civilized world could be
evangelized by A.D. 500.
Following the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman
Empire. The Roman Emperor Constantine decreed that everyone in the empire was already Christian.
With this the growth of Christianity was slowed.
Can we say today that we are everywhere? Are there Christians spread through out businesses,
government, and schools? Yes, I believe that we would find Christians everywhere. Perhaps the real
question is: would we recognize our fellow Christians? Would they recognize us?
In one church I served we had a man named Joe as a member. Joe was a retired contractor and
he had also been a minister. Joe was a man who loved to study the Bible. In his late seventies, he
taught himself to read Greek and he was working on Hebrew. One time I was visiting Joe in the hospital
and he shared with me this story.
There was one nurse who was working with Joe. Joe and his nurse began talking about their faith
and discovered that they were sister and brother in the Lord. The nurse shared her story of how she
had come to the church she was attending because of her feeling for the Lord's Supper. For her, that
Sacrament was not just a memorial, Christ was truly present. Joe was in the hospital for heart problems
but he felt the Holy Spirit lift him up as he shared this time with a fellow Christian. As he told me this
story Joe remarked that we need to open our mouths more. We need to be ready to let others see our
faith, how else will Christians find each other.
We become Christians when we confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. As Christians we live
and function in the world. The world is which we live and work is a non-Christian or post-Christian
world. Most business, schools, and government offices are not established for the purpose of honoring
God or to proclaim the saving grace of Christ Jesus. They are established for secular purposes. They
may or may not be antagonistic to Christianity. There may be Christians working in those places but
that does not make them Christian business, schools, or government offices. Most of you work as
Christians in a non-Christian or post-Christian world.
Sometimes that non-Christian world is antagonistic to Christianity, and it seems to be on the rise.
You may find it difficult to live out your Christian principles in that environment. You may find it difficult
to let your faith show in that world.
In the seventeenth chapter of John, Jesus says that Christians are in the world but they are not of
the world. We are not the representatives of this world but the representatives of Christ to this world.
Paul says that we are ambassadors for Christ. How do we face the challenge of being Christians in a
non-Christian world?
Our three lessons this morning give us some approaches to being Christians in the world. As
Christians in the world we need to remember that Christ has prayed for us, we are to pray for the Holy
Spirit, and we are to stand firm in the faith.
A. PRAYED FOR BY CHRIST. -John
Our gospel lesson this morning is a portion of the prayer that Jesus prays in the upper room
shortly before His arrest. Jesus has spent a great deal of time instructing His disciples on what will be
coming. He has told them of His impending death. He has told them that He will be going to the Father
and prepare a place for them. He has promised that He will send His Holy Spirit to be their counselor
and guide. Jesus knows that in a few hours the faith of these men will be greatly shaken. He spends
His last hours preparing them to face the world.
Jesus has instructed His disciples, now He prays for them. In our lesson we hear Jesus' prayer in
which He states that it was God who gave the disciples to Jesus. They were taken from the world and
given to Jesus. In verse 11 Jesus prays, "I 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."
Jesus is leaving the world but the disciples will remain. They remain because they still have a task
ahead of them. The earthly ministry of Jesus is drawing to a close. The crowning act of His ministry is
the crucifixion and the resurrection. Those two events will complete the earthly work of Jesus. With His
death and resurrection He has purchased our salvation. Now comes the work of the disciples. Their
task is to tell the world what Jesus has done.
Jesus also prays for their protection because they will be going out into a world that will be hostile
to them. In verse 14 and 15 Jesus says, "I 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. My prayer is not that You take them out of
the world but that You protect them from the evil one."
Jesus prayed for the Disciples and He also prayed for you and me. In verse 20 we read, "My
prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message...." We
are prayed for by Christ Himself. We do not have to bear this world relying on our own prayers or even
on the prayers of others. Christ the Lord has also prayed for you and me.
As Christians in the world we need to face that world knowing that we have Christ's prayer lifted up
to God on our behalf. We know that Jesus is faithful and we know that the protection of God is upon us
as followers of Christ. That doesn't mean that we will not suffer or face persecution, the Scriptures
almost promise that we will, but we are protected. Our salvation in Christ is secure and no one, not
even the devil himself, can take that away from us. As a Christian in the world remember that Christ
has prayed for you.
B. PRAY FOR THE SPIRIT Acts
As we turn to our lesson from Acts we find another approach to the challenge of being a Christian
in the world.
Here we have Jesus' final meeting with the disciples. It is forty days after the resurrection and
Jesus is ready to ascend into heaven. The disciples ask Jesus if this is the time when He will restore
the kingdom to Israel. Jesus replies: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by
His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Here Jesus gives the disciples the promise of the Holy Spirit. They are told that when the Spirit
comes upon them they will be filled with power. And with that power they will be a witness to Jesus in
every corner of the world.
After Jesus said this he rose into the sky until He was out of their sight. The disciples watched with
intense looks until two angels appeared and told them that He was taken up to heaven and will return in
the same manner.
After this they all returned to Jerusalem and went into the upper room. We are told that back in
that room they joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of
Jesus, and with His brothers.
For forty days following the resurrection the disciples have been listening to the teaching of Jesus.
They have been listening to Him with the assurance of who He is. He again promises them the Holy
Spirit and with the Spirit, power to be His witnesses all over the world. Now they return to the upper
room and join together in prayer. We are not told exactly what they are praying for but I think we can
safely guess that they are praying for the Holy Spirit and the power that the Spirit will bring. Ten days
later, on the day of the Jewish festival of Pentecost, the Spirit does come upon them and they are filled
with power.
As Christians in the world we need to be praying for the Holy Spirit and the power of the Spirit. We
need to be in constant prayer for the guidance of the Spirit so that we may be witnesses for Jesus
Christ in all that we do. In work, in study, in family life, as Christians everything we do will be a witness
to who Jesus is. Others will judge Jesus by what they see in His disciples. We need the power of the
Holy Spirit if we are going to be good effective witnesses of Him. Our approach to the challenge to
being a Christian in the world is to pray for the Spirit.
C. STAND FIRM -1 Peter
In his epistle, Peter is writing to people who have been living the Christian life. In the very first
verse of this epistle we read that this is a letter from "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. To God's elect,
strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." These
were followers of Jesus Christ who have been out in the world.
Peter tells them not to be surprised at the suffering they experience as Christians. They are to
rejoice to participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that they may be overjoyed when His glory is
revealed.
He writes, "If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of
glory and of God rests on you." When we are filled with the Holy Spirit then those of the world will think
us strange. They will ridicule us because they see Christ in our lives. They will not understand and will
insult us. If no one takes notice of us then we had better be looking to see if we are letting the Spirit
work in us.
In verses 6-9 we read: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift
you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be self-controlled and
alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. resist him,
standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the
same kind of suffering."
As Christians in the world we need to stand firm in the faith. Peter tells us that the devil is like a
lion looking to devour us. He is prowling around watching for our defenses to be down and then he will
pounce. If we are not rooted firmly in the faith then we will be open to attack by the devil. We need to
humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, we need to learn self-control and we must be alert.
How can we stand firm in the faith unless we know the faith? Attending worship is not enough. If
you attend worship for one hour each week of the year that comes out to one hour out of 168 hours
every week. For the year that is 52 hours out of 8,760 hours in the year. That comes out to .6% of
your time spent in worship. That is about 1/2 of one percent. That is very little time spent in learning
about the faith.
It takes more than just worship to be able to stand firm in the faith. It takes an investment of
yourself in prayer and study.
One of the first things you need to do to be rooted firmly in the faith is to spend much time in
prayer. Prayer is more than just sitting down and talking to God. It also includes listening to God.
Don't just go down your list of thanksgivings and requests and then say "Amen" and think your praying
is finished. Talk to God and then listen for His response. When you learn to talk and listen then you
will hear God speak to you. You probably will not hear a voice but you will learn to hear God speaking
to you. To stand firm in the faith you need to talk to God and listen to God.
With that comes the study of God's word, the Bible. In Psalm 119:97 we read, "Oh, how I love Your
law! I meditate on it all day long." We need to do more than just read a passage and then set it aside.
We need to read the Word and then meditate upon it. We need to read and seek the meaning. We
need to read what others have said about the Scripture. We need to study it together, discussing what
we find and learn together.
To face the challenge of being Christians in the world we need to be ready to stand firm in the
faith. To stand firm we need to know the faith. To know the faith we need to pray and study.
CONCLUSION
The first time I watched the movie The Untouchables on television, I was struck by the fact that
Treasury Agent Elliot Ness began with a great allegiance to uphold the law. In his work to bring down
Chicago ganglord Al Capone he found that he had come to the point of breaking the laws he had
sworn to uphold. In fighting the gangsters he had come to the point of using their tactics.
As Christians in the world we need to be careful that we do not become of the world. We are to be
in the world but not of the world. When we attempt to do the work of Jesus Christ using the tools and
tactics of the world, then we have lost our effectiveness.
In Matthew 10:16 Jesus says, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as
shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." We are to have an understanding of how the world
works, but we are not to use its tactics. We are to be in the world, not of the world. Our lives are to be
witnesses to Jesus Christ.
It is a great challenge to be Christians in this world. We can face that challenge by knowing Jesus
has prayed for us, by praying for the Holy Spirit, and by standing firm in the faith.
Let us go out into the world and be a witness for Jesus Christ. If we do not speak, if we do not act,
how will the world know about Jesus Christ?