Hope When Encountering Hate

Kristal Toews – Pastor of Discipleship

John 15:18-19

I was the only Christian in my grade in elementary school, and I remember being very conscious of not drawing attention to my faith. We would often be asked to write about what we did on the weekend in our journals, and sometimes we had to read these reports to the class. I would faithfully record details about being in church on Sunday, but on several occasions I omitted this information when asked to read my notes to the class! I was afraid that my classmates would reject me if I admitted that I belonged to Jesus. I was ashamed of myself for being afraid but didn’t know how to get over this fear.

Jesus knew that this would be an issue, and so in John 15:18-19 He challenges His disciples with these words: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

Since elementary school, I’ve prayed about this often and have asked God to grow my courage and my capacity to stand with Him regardless of what other people think. He is slowly answering this prayer, but I know there is still room for me to grow, and I’m sure that I’m not alone!

As we reflect on this tension in light of this week’s Advent theme of “Hope”, let’s bring this issue to Him in prayer:

Jesus, we praise you that you chose disciples out of the world to follow you. You offered them hope beyond this world, and continue to extend this invitation to us today!

We confess that we tend to put our hope in this world, and we especially hold tightly to the opinions of people in this world! We don’t want to be hated and we want to feel like we belong.

So Lord, if we encounter hatred and if we are misunderstood for following you, help us to remember why this is happening to us … because the world hates you. We pray that those who oppose us will one day HOPE in you! Give us courage to stand with you, our Saviour and our King!