Loss, Fear, and Confusion Fixed by Resurrection

Easter 4  T John 16:16-22

INI

To confess Jesus as Lord, and to believe in His resurrection is the first step in the Christian life. The next? Living the Christian life. Daily putting to death the old sinful flesh and rising to live the resurrected life, especially in the face of a hostility. Especially when it’s uncomfortable. But what does that look like when the world pushes back? When faith leads to loss, fear, and confusion?

We take hope in this: Suffering is temporary. But joy is eternal. Jesus prophesied this same thing to His disciples in the Upper Room just before His own crucifixion. And surely, the disciples felt a mixed bag of emotions on Good Friday. They were sorrowful, for they just lost their Messiah. They were fearful, because they didn’t want to die on account of His name. They were confused, because they seemed so sure that Jesus was the Messiah. Yet, He died. All these mixed emotions caused them to weep and mourn their loss.

         And if that weren’t bad enough, Jesus prophesied that the unbelieving world would be rejoicing at their sorrow. Jesus said “You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful.” The chief priests, the Scribes, the elders, and the unbelieving Jews all celebrate the fact that the Son of God – their perceived threat and blasphemer – died. While everyone around those poor disciples celebrated their triumph over God, the disciples were left in mourning.

         Isn’t that all too often the story of the Christian life? While the world mocks God’s creation and distorts the beauty of God’s Word, Christians are often left wrestling with loss, fear, and confusion. We lose friends or give up activities we once shared because of our Christian convictions. We fear what it might cost to live out the resurrected life – like giving up Sunday mornings to join your brothers and sisters in hearing God’s Word and receiving His gifts instead of going to the lake to ride Jet ski’s or whatever.  We worry about offending others when we speak the truth about human dignity – that God alone is in control over life and death – in a culture obsessed with personal autonomy, even at the expense of the unborn, the elderly, and the voiceless. We can even feel confused about the Christian faith. What does it mean to live as a Christian? Unbelievers are telling me that to be a Christian means to love them, meaning, turn a blind eye to societal wrongs. This can lead us to ask ourselves, how do we hold fast to God’s truth while loving our neighbor in a world that doesn’t recognize God’s truth or God’s love?

         Often when people come to church for the first time, I tell them: this will be a difficult road. And it’s true. Jesus never promises an easy life for His followers. In fact, in a lot of ways – it’s harder. Why? Because the way of love is harder. The way of self-sacrifice is unnatural to our sinful flesh. It makes you swallow your pride and become a slave to God and His ways. That’s the tough road Jesus promises. He mentions it in our Gospel text, but He also said so at the Sermon on the Mount – “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute 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 so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

         So when trials come – and they will – we shouldn’t be surprised. Sometimes they arise simply from living in a broken world where sicknesses, diseases, and hardships abound. Again, this is a result of the curse of original sin that God placed upon Adam – that He will live by the sweat of His brow. Other times, our trials come in the form of persecution, injustice, and tyranny, often from those who promised to uphold justice. But when we suffer these things, we must not despair or assume that God has abandoned us, or is angry with us. The Lutheran Confessions put it well in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession: “Troubles are not always punishments for certain past deeds, but they are God’s works, intended for our benefit, and that God’s power might be made more apparent in our weakness.” For where we are weak, God is strong.

         Thus, we take comfort that God hasn’t abandoned us to suffer alone. Rather, HE was abandoned for you. On the cross, Jesus bore the full weight of sin, death, and even divine abandonment. He suffered evil and took on the punishment which we deserved, so that we might be given what HE deserves – namely, innocence, blessedness, and life with His Father. In Christ, your suffering is never a sign of God’s rejection – it’s a sharing in Christ’s cross that leads to the resurrection on the Last Day.

And since you belong to the risen Christ, everything changes – even suffering! That’s the power and the joy of being Christ’s resurrected people. These sufferings are temporary. The loss we experience is temporary. The fear we experience is temporary. The confusion we experience is temporary. For by the grace of God, we become like the disciples, who, having seen and experienced the resurrected wounds of the living Lord, found their weaknesses turned into strengths. Likewise, our losses are turned into gains as we forsake setting our minds on earthly things and set our minds on heavenly things. Our fears are turned into courage to be able to boldly confess and proclaim Christ, even in the face of the threat of death. Our confusions are turned into clarity as we learn how to act in the face of the world’s hostility towards the resurrected Lord.

         Evil is real – and it’s all around us. Evil people put Christ to death, and despise the work of God as the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier of the world. And how are we as Christians to respond to such evil and hostility?

         St. Peter teaches us in our epistle reading: be Christ-like. Be like the resurrected Savior, for we are a resurrected people. Abstain from the passions of the flesh – that’s a loss worth losing. Keep your conduct among the unbelievers honorable, so that they can’t say that you’re an evil doer – that way you clearly confess Christ in word and conduct. Be subject to human institutions which are placed in that position to reward good and punish evil. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God.

So in summary – how do you respond to evil? Be Christ-like. And what was Jesus’ response to evil? He rebuked it – clearly, courageously, and truthfully. He even flipped tables when God’s house was profaned. He spent his whole Tuesday before His crucifixion condemning the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees. So, where evil shows itself, we rebuke it too. We call it out as unholy, and against God and His ways, just as Paul says for Timothy to do – “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching (2 Timothy 4:2).”

Yet, we do it respectfully. Honorably. Patiently. Lovingly. But truthfully. Even if the world responds with hatred or persecution, we don’t fear. In Christ, we are free to endure suffering – not bitterly, but joyfully – because we share in His cross and will also share in His resurrection.

Let it be of comfort to you that your suffering is not in vain. The power of God is made perfect in your weakness. And that shines most gloriously on the Last Day when Christ returns, and raises our corrupted bodies to be like His glorious body. Then, the whole world will see the power of God to vindicate His people. It will be like the little brother who’s been mocked and bullied, who’s too helpless and small to do much about it, until the big brother arrives to defend him. So too, Christ your brother will appear in glory, silencing every accuser and exalting those who are persecuted for HIS name’s sake. On that day, your faith will be sight, your suffering will be gone, and your joy will be eternal.

         Be joyful. For Your Lord is risen. So, suffer boldly, speak truthfully, and live joyfully, for your vindication is coming.

INI