Hilton Head Island, SC – August 5, 2018
The Chapel Without Walls
John 16:16-24; 25-33
A Sermon by John M. Miller
Text – “I have said this to you that you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 (RSV)
The Gospel of John, the Fourth Gospel, is unlike the three Synoptic Gospels in almost every respect. The Synoptics are chronological and sequential; John is theological and not historical. The Synoptics follow the same synopsis, or time sequence. John does not do that. The writer of the Fourth Gospel was not nearly as interested in what Jesus did, and when or where he did it; he was interested in what he believed the life of Jesus meant. Therefore many of the sayings in John are not to be found in Matthew, Mark, or Luke. Jesus almost certainly never said hundreds of the words John put into the mouth of Jesus. The Fourth Gospel is thus a theological summation of what its writer believed about Jesus more than it is a record of the life and teachings of Jesus.
In the Synoptics, Jesus says more or less the same things at the Last Supper, and he says them in more or less one chapter. In John, Jesus is speaking almost in an uninterrupted manner for five full chapters, and practically nothing that he says in John is included in Matthew, Mark, or Luke.
One thing about the Last Supper is evident in all four Gospels, however. It is that Jesus was convinced he was about to be crucified. He knew he had upset too many powerful people who wanted him dead. Therefore John gives his theological interpretation of that painful awareness, by having Jesus say this: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice, you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20).
Historically, there is no way Jesus could ever have said that. The disciples could not possibly have understood what it meant. If Jesus was crucified, how could the world rejoice? And how could their sorrow turn into joy? And how could Jesus know he would die by being crucified?
But of course the writer of the Fourth Gospel had the advantage of believing all these things many decades following the crucifixion and the resurrection. After Easter, the disciples could indeed rejoice. When Jesus had said some more cryptic things at the Last Supper, according to John, the disciples said to him, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly, not in any in figure! Now we know that you know all things, and need none to question you; by this we believe that you came from God” (16:29-30).
Whoever wrote what we call the Gospel of John wrote it seventy years after the Last Supper. What he claimed Jesus said was essentially true, but by no means was it historically factual. The writer believed that Jesus had been raised from the dead; he believed that Jesus was God Incarnate and therefore God, he believed that the words he inserted into the mouth of Jesus on the last night of his earthly life were true and that therefore it was incumbent upon him, the writer, to have Jesus say what John said he said.
Thus John had Jesus say this: “Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave me alone.” (This apparently was a cryptic allusion to the fact that all the disciples would forsake Jesus within an hour or two in the Garden of Gethsemane.) “Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said this to you, that you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (16:31-33).
Jesus and many of his followers believed that the apocalypse was just around the corner. God was going to end the world, and all the righteous would go to heaven to be with God, and all the unrighteous would be destroyed on the earth. That didn’t happen. Nonetheless there was much tribulation ahead for those who were the first followers of Jesus. Within forty years of Jesus’ death, the Romans, not God, destroyed the kingdom of Judea and scattered most of the Jews to the four winds. At the same time some of the Roman emperors began to persecute the Christians in Judea, Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome. When the fourth Gospel was written, tribulation was widely experienced everywhere in the world where there were Christians and Jews. Jesus could not have spoken about that at the Last Supper, because the disciples could not understand what Jesus would have been saying. But tribulation came nonetheless, and the writer, who believed that Jesus was God, believed that God, by means of Jesus, would overcome the tribulation.
I am preaching this sermon now, today, because increasingly everyone can see evidence that countless people have a painful awareness of great tribulation in the world. I want briefly to address two kinds of tribulation, personal and economic, and then I shall concentrate on a third kind, political tribulation. That is what I believe is causing by far the greatest sense of tribulation among many Americans and many other peoples around the world. We may now be experiencing tribulation as deeply as did the Christians of the first century, although for quite different reasons.
Everyone encounters personal tribulation from time to time. A spouse or other family members die, serious financial reverses occur, marriages disintegrate, other relationships fall apart, illness strikes, debilitation results from accidents or injuries, pain become chronic, long-term depression sets in. In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer; God, through Jesus, has overcome the world. But how?
It is obvious that God does not prevent loved ones from dying, nor does He directly step in miraculously to keep marriages together, nor does He cause all illness, debilitations, pain, or sadness to be averted. In fact, God does not directly overcome any kinds of tribulation. Instead, His indwelling spirit works within us so that we learn to overcome our own tribulations. We realize that everyone we love shall die, but when that happens, God will inspire us to get beyond the heavy burden of death to trust that those we loved who died are with God. God goes with us through our illnesses and break-ups and sorrows. If we do not allow Him to accompany us through our tribulations, however, the tribulations are far less likely to dissipate. To believe in God is to rely on Him and to trust in His healing power. However, we are the ones who must avail ourselves of that power; it cannot be effective otherwise.
Because of the actions and reactions of one particularly powerful man on the current world scene, there is much economic tribulation currently being felt. Many Americans think the world economy has improved exponentially since he came into office, but a higher number of Americans, and especially many other people in other nations all over the world, are feeling a certain kind of economic tribulation as never before. If you are wondering why I say that, I am referring to the unpredictable actions of someone in this sermon I shall be calling The First Person, because that is how he sees himself. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear!
If in fact we are being confronted by major economic tribulation, God will not directly solve the problems. Only humans can do that. But humans must be open to the leading of God’s spirit in our working with or against The First Person. Should we support or resist that person? God always wants economic justice in all things, but what brings the greatest amount of economic justice to the greatest number of Americans and all other peoples? Should we accept the huge economic changes The First Person is making, or should we constantly question them? Some of the things he is doing may be very beneficial - - - or not. Some of what he does may make great permanent improvements - - - or not. Therefore, what should we do? There is no point in asking what God will do; He will not directly intervene. But what will we do? In the world we have tribulation, but be of good cheer; God will overcome the world. The question is this: how?
The most painful tribulation being felt now by millions of people is political in nature. A poll taken in the last few weeks indicates that 61% of American evangelical Christians think the most powerful person in the world is doing all the right things, and they are very happy. Sixty-four percent of all other Americans, whether non-evangelical Christians or most other kinds of people, are very concerned that he is doing things that are mostly wrong, and they are very unhappy. Some of that 64% are feeling not just unhappiness, but gnawing and persistent tribulation.
Prior to the presidential primaries in 2016, most Americans who watched one particular news channel were feeling tribulation because of people who were then in power in American government, and especially one particular black man, who is actually half-white. Since the presidential election, and because most of the president’s supporters watch only that news channel, they are content. Those who regularly watch any other televised news source, any, are convinced that the world is coming unglued. For many it is more than mere fear; it is genuine tribulation. For them, the current situation is extremely ominous, because from day to day they fear whatever The First Person may do next. In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer; God will overcome the world. But He will do it only through human action. That is as true now as it was when Jesus made that statement (which he didn’t, but could have).
The First Person won the election by resorting to fear, especially fear of all Muslims, but also fear of immigrants, particularly (but not exclusively) illegal immigrants. Invoking fear is a common political tactic to gain votes from people who are experiencing tribulation. This tactic has been utilized in the last couple of years in Greece, Germany, Austria, France, Hungary, Poland, Holland, Britain, and the USA, among other nations. But while fear on the right and left is a great vote-getter, it provides no wisdom for how to govern. And it is poor governance which is feeding the tribulation of millions of people across the political spectrum all over the world.
Martha Nussbaum is a political philosopher who just published a book called The Monarchy of Fear. In an interview about the book (Time, July 30, 2018, p.56), she said, “Fear is ubiquitous in human life. But it’s heightened when there’s a threat.” I would observe that anyone who now feels a great threat feels great tribulation.
By itself, an awareness of tribulation is nothing more than a negative reaction. In the world we have tribulation, but be of good cheer, God, working through human actions, will overcome the world. But remember: God never does this directly; He does it only by moving us to do it.
The gap between the extremely wealthy and the rest of us is widening, and it is causing tribulation among the rest of us. This has been a growing process at least for the past decade, but it has deepened because of the Tax Reform Act of 2017. By means of it, the gap has increased. Two thirds of Americans and Europeans are concerned about this trend. An analyst named Lee Drutman calculated that 30,000 Americans account for a quarter of all political contributions from individuals, and for 80% of all the money raised by political parties. Not surprisingly, the amount of those contributions translates into laws which benefit the extremely wealthy.
Here is a laundry list of possibilities. It is possible everything the First Person is doing will turn out well. It is possible there was no conspiracy by anybody, including the Russians, to alter the 2016 election. It is possible Paul Manafort or the several other indicted people, some of whom have already pled guilty, have no illegal ties to the First Person about anything. It is possible some of what he calls “fake news” is indeed fake. It is possible that our current climate change is not caused by humans. It’s possible the evangelicals are correct; or that the hand-picked fans at the First Person’s pep rallies, including the newly formed and very strange conspiracy theorist group called QAnon, are correct; or that the Deep State actually exists; or that the First Person has engaged in no high crimes or misdemeanors; or that the First Person’s behavior is all carefully, not chaotically, determined. But while any of these things is possible, individually and collectively they are highly improbable. Thus, in the world we have tribulation, but be of good cheer, God, through human beings, can always overcome the world.
The First Person and the other elected federal politicians of his political party, who feel electorally bound to follow him, are the primary reasons for most of the tribulation being experienced by two-thirds of Americans. The President has made some decisions which, for the time being, may be economically successful. But his unpredictability and inconsistency are literally shredding world stability day by day. Those who believe there is a method to his madness delude themselves. There is NO method! Furthermore, if many evangelical Christians and reasonable Republicans do not challenge their party standard bearer on many of his policies, he shall likely win again in 2020. The only two reliable constituencies of The First Person are Evangelical Christians plus other rock-solid Republicans who will not vote for any presidential candidate other than a Republican. And they shall turn out in very large numbers in 2020.
This may sound like more of a political harangue than most of my other homiletic political harangues. So, for those who insist on such things, let me make it sound biblical, if that will help the pill go down. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, …who are wise in their own eyes and shrewd in their own sight!” (Isa. 5:20-21) “O Lord, do not thy eyes look for truth? Thou hast smitten them, but they felt no anguish” (Jer. 5:2) “The Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land…. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish” Hosea 4:1,3). “Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, …but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!” (Amos 4,6) “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe what they tell you, but not what they do, for they preach, but they do not practice….Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves” (Mt. 23:2,3,15).
I have referred to The Prime Person in many other sermons. This time I have avoided mentioning his name altogether. I admit that is ridiculous, and it certainly is no subterfuge. Anyone who doesn’t know who I’m talking about here is living under a tent with no opening.
Voting is the single most important activity of citizens in a democracy. Furthermore, a well-informed electorate is the single most important factor in maintaining a democracy. Winston Churchill said, “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” That sardonic observation is sardonically far too true. So between now and November 6, pay very close attention to whatever whoever is saying about anything political, because your vote on November 6 is extremely important.
God gave all of us brains. How we use them is up to us. In the world we have tribulation, but be of good cheer; God will overcome the world - - - if we make it happen.