6/8/25 “Haters Gonna Hate”
“Haters Gonna Hate”
John 15:18-27
If you do an internet search for “Things people hate”….
You will see many, many responses:
The #1 overall answer….any guesses? …….doing taxes (Apparently people hate taxes more than they hate dying…..?)
Other things topping the list were: paperwork…dealing with government…commuting to work…chores…cleaning…brussels sprouts…anchovies…cilantro…talking during movies…group texts…being told to ‘calm down’ (I know exactly what half of the population hates that one…😊)
Other things a bit further down the list include: waiting in line…liquorice…olives…mushrooms (Woo hoo!)…loud chewing…loud belching…close-talkers…soft-talkers…loud-talkers…talkers in general…drivers who don’t use turn signals…hallmark movies (I know exactly what half of the population hates that one!... 😊)
…slow walkers…fast walkers…condescension…self-centeredness…teasing…sarcasm (uh-oh)….skunks…raccoons…blue cheese…pastors who tell stupid dad jokes…heavy traffic...snow…cold weather…doing the laundry…doing the dishes…Politicians…Taylor Swift…slow internet…junk mail…pot holes…loud noises…artificial intelligence…
…and the list goes on…and on…and on.
We humans tend to use that word ‘hate’ a lot…don’t we?
It’s almost as if the true meaning of the word ‘hate’ has been diminished…. ….we use it to describe our feelings of disgust toward the most trivial of things.
I mean, everyone dislikes potholes, but is it possible to actually hate a pothole…?
If you look up the definition of hate, here’s what the robots at Google say it means: “Intense or passionate dislike…to despise, detest, loathe, or disrelish….usually someone.”
(I’ve never even heard the word disrelish before, have any of you?....the Google bots must be british…’I simply disrelish artificial intelligence’)
Good old Webster’s dictionary defines hate as: “To dislike greatly or have a great aversion to”
You get the idea…to hate is to dislike with a great deal of passion and emotion.
The Greek word for hate that Jesus uses here in our passage for today is miseo, and – not surprisingly - it meant exactly the same thing 2,000 years ago as it does today…to detest someone…or something.
It refers to going beyond one’s typical day-to-day distaste for someone or something…it’s a deeper, visceral mindset of extreme despisement…or disrelishment, if you will.
Jesus begins our passage for today by using the word hate to describe how the world will always react to his teachings…
…teachings about sin, submission, humility, holiness, love, surrender.
In fact, Jesus mentions the word ‘hate’ 6 times in today’s passage of 10 verses.
The world – and its systemic Satanic agenda – has…and always will…hate the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus…The only hope for mankind….will – in many places – be hopelessly maligned and despised…
….along with those individuals who proclaim his message of self-denial, submission, and the need for a savior.
The good news of the gospel is so often treated with contempt because it demands that men give up their own selfish desires…
…in exchange for a life of service and selflessness…to the one who gave his life for all mankind.
…humanity has never found this to be appealing….humanity never wants to admit that it needs a savior.
To be a Christ-follower means that (many times) we must sacrifice our own goals…our own agenda…our own plans…our own desires…our own money…our own possessions…our own will….
We submit our entire lives to Jesus…because He not only demands it – but he deserves it.
In Matthew 16:24-25, Jesus says “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
In other words, giving your life to the cause of Christ will result in you receiving eternal blessings and rewards…
….not the least of which is citizenship in God’s kingdom for all of eternity.
The late missionary – and martyr - Jim Elliott once famously said “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
It seems to me, this should be a no-brainer of a deal…a spiritual bargain like no other.
Think about it…Jesus is your only way to secure peace with a Holy and Righteous God…and to gain rewards in heaven for things done here on earth.
…Should that not be a good enough reason to devote your entire life to him?
When we look at church history, we see that Jesus was spot on when he made this proclamation here in verse 18 (John 15:18)
…that the world would always hate those who proclaim the truth of the gospel.
We see persecution of Christians happening all the way back to the church’s beginning at Pentecost.
In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John heal a crippled man…
…they then proceed to tell this man about ultimate, spiritual healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ.
Soon after that, the Pharisees and Sadducees were hot on the disciple’s trail, having many of them flogged and jailed for preaching the gospel message.
In Acts chapter 6, we meet Stephen, a bold evangelist who was falsely accused, arrested, put on trial before the Sanhedrin…and ultimately stoned to death...
…all because people hated his exclusive message of redemption through Jesus Christ….the man they had just recently hung on a cross.
After Stephen was martyred, a general persecution of the church broke out, led by a man named Saul of Tarsus…who would, of course, later accept Jesus as Lord of his life…
…He would have his name changed to Paul…and become the greatest evangelist the world has ever known….
…but he would also experience some of the most intense persecution that any Christian has ever had to endure as well…
…he was incarcerated on numerous occasions…he endured floggings, whippings, beatings…he was stoned to the point of death….
…and then, finally, Paul was martyred for his faith under the reign of Emperor Nero sometime around 65 AD.
The very first disciple of Jesus to be martyred was James, the brother of John, who was killed by the wicked king Herod…
As many of you know, all of the other disciples – except for John – were martyred for their faith…what a convincing testimony right there for the legitimacy of Christianity..
…after all, people don’t give their lives for something they know to be untrue.
Many Jews who saw Christianity as a threat to Judaism actually thought they were doing God a favor by persecuting – and even killing – Christ followers.
Over the years…As Christianity gained momentum, Rome began to see it’s influence on society as a threat…
…Christians refused to acknowledge Caeser as divine – and the pantheon of Roman gods as anything more than superstition…
…so, in response, Roman officials were often given the green light to torture and kill Christians who would not follow the revered cultural and spiritual norms of the day.
Economic factors also played into why the Roman government persecuted Christians.
Pliny – a Roman governor – lamented that the spread of Christianity had caused the pagan temples to be deserted and sales of sacrificial animals to plummet.
In short – Christianity just wasn’t good for business.
As time went on…Christian persecution would continue at various levels of intensity throughout the centuries…all the way up to today.
We sometimes forget that in many regions of the world, Christian persecution is just as severe – or worse – than what we read about in antiquity.
To put it into perspective – since 1990 – 100,000 Christians have been killed because of their faith each year…
…that’s the population of Green Bay….every single year.
In all of church history, roughly 70 million Christians have been killed because of their faith, with 2/3 of those martyrdoms occurring after the start of the twentieth century…
Think about that….that’s 23 million people over the span of just 125 years!
(Show Persecution Map)
Here’s a current map from the ‘Voice of the Martyrs’ showing what countries are most hostile toward Christians…
Places like North Korea, China, India, much of the Islamic-dominated Middle East, many parts of Africa…portions of South America…even segments of Mexico and central America have regions where Christians are under attack.
Jesus’ words here in verse 18 have certainly rung true for 2,000 years…and will undoubtedly continue to be the case until he returns…
So…why?
Why do SO MANY people hate a message that is rooted in the teachings of a humble Rabbi from Nazareth who perfectly embodied love, peace, truth, holiness, and goodness….?
Jesus answers this question in verse 19 (John 15:19) of today’s passage when he says, “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.”
As believers, we physically look like everyone else in this world – but inwardly – we are different creatures…
Spiritually…you were once a caterpillar confined to the ground…but after giving your life to Christ...you are now a beautiful butterfly…able to soar above the muck and mire of your old existence…
Those old sins, habits, and addictions at the ground level…they no longer have a hold on you as you float upon the gentle, sustaining airstream of the savior…
You still share the same DNA as your caterpillar counterparts on the ground…but you have gone through a metamorphosis that has changed you forever…
…you no longer look like you once did…you no longer act like you once did…you no longer think like you once did…you have different priorities and aspirations…
2 Corinthians 5:17 puts it like this. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
In other words…you no longer belong to the rule and dominion of this world.
…and because you no longer are chained in obedience to the dungeon of sin that is this world…
….because you have escaped through the secret passageway of faith in Jesus Christ…
…because you are no longer confined in your jail cell…you will be hated.
The warden of the prison (Satan) will hate you…
The prison guards (Demons) will hate you…
…and the incarcerated inmates (unsaved people) will hate you…
They hate the fact that you’ve found freedom!
They hate the fact that you have found joy in submission…to the savior.
They hate the fact that you are basking in the sunlight of God’s truth…while they are still confined to the dungeon of cultural deception, empty philosophy, idolatrous distraction, and spiritual apathy.
…And – perhaps the reason they hate you the most - is that your life reminds them of what they are desperately searching for…but have not found!
…Your life of consistent obedience to Christ and avoidance of sin…is like a mirror reminding them of their consistent inability to resist sin…
The saddest part of this entire situation is that when someone is presented with the gospel message…
….it’s as if Jesus is offering them the key to their own cell door…but many refuse to take it.
Many people are comfortable in their environment of depravity – and when they find flickers of momentary happiness behind the prison walls…
…this leads them to believe that a life change of any kind may take those fleeting moments of pleasure away.
They feel as though there must be some other way than Jesus to experience powerful peace and joy …
This is why many people would come to hear the savior speak…then leave disheartened and sad…
…They simply did not want to give up their lifestyle of sin – in exchange for a life of service and obedience to Christ….
…If they could only understand that true freedom…true liberation comes only through a relationship with Jesus.
…Remember how the rich young ruler walked away sad and dejected because he just couldn’t part with his material wealth that had so dominated his life…
Jesus says in verse 22 (John 15:22) that because he came to earth and performed miracles…and taught truth with authority…(and will soon defeat death itself)….man has no excuse to reject the truth of his message…
…man has no excuse to choose to remain in a life of defiant sin.
You may have heard, the Bible speaks of an unforgivable sin.
Matthew 12:31 warns, “And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.”
The Scribes and Pharisees were trying to attribute Jesus’ miracles to the work of Satan…thus willfully rejecting Jesus’ truthful message…a message that was proven by his miraculous deeds…
This happens today when people live their entire life willfully rejecting the invitation to believe upon the name of Jesus Christ…
When someone has breathed their last breath without ever accepting the truth of the gospel….this is when the unpardonable sin has occurred.
But praise God that if you still have breath in your lungs…if you’re heart is still beating – even if it is assisted by a pacemaker – If the synapses in your brain are still firing…you still have time to give your life to Jesus Christ and inherit eternal life!
2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “…I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
…don’t let the sun set on your opportunity to make the most important decision you could ever possibly make!
A popular catch phrase from one of my favorite tv shows back in the 90’s was “The truth is out there”
Well…that was a sci-fi show about aliens.
Jesus…He is the real truth….the only truth.
…and he reiterates this in verse 24 (John 15:24) when He says, “If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.”
…then - Jesus ends this section by saying in verse 25 (John 15:25) “They hated me without reason”
The persecution that Christians suffer around the world today…this is also hatred without reason.
If someone is a genuine believer, they will be a meek, peace-loving, merciful, forgiving, loving individual…
…yet they will be hated by a world system that exemplifies the exact opposite of these qualities.
…Jesus reminds us in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
Remember the prophet, Jeremiah?
Jeremiah faced wave upon wave of hardship and persecution.
He was imprisoned, cast into a cistern, faced opposition from the king’s officials…not to mention the people of Israel.
…Jeremiah was hated by nearly all of his Jewish brethren.
Why?...because he was warning the Israelites about God’s impending judgement – the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem.
No one took him seriously…no one seemed to even care.
As a Christian – you may feel like this today.
You may feel as if no one takes you seriously when you tell them how Jesus changed your life..
…no one takes you seriously when you tell them how you have been set free from the bondage of sin through submission to the savior…
…No one takes you seriously when you tell them they need to accept Jesus into their heart before it’s too late.
If this is you this morning…take heart.
Jesus tells us in today’s passage that apathy, defiance, and – yes, hatred – will be commonplace in this world when people are presented with the gospel message.
Take heart…because Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:12 that your reward in heaven for enduring persecution here on earth will indeed be great…
Take heart…because if you are enduring persecution for your faith, it alone demonstrates the genuineness of your relationship with Jesus.
On the other hand:
If you claim to be a follower of Christ…but you’ve never experienced push-back from the culture…
…You’ve never experienced someone treat you with disdain or contempt on account of your faith
…You’ve never had old friends abandon you because of your new moral compass in Christ…
If the world gladly accepts you as one of its own…If your life looks no different than that of your lost neighbors…
…then – my friend - it’s time to reassess your relationship with Jesus.
The Bible tells us that all believers will endure persecution to some degree.
2 Timothy 3:12 says, “…Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
It’s not a matter of if….It’s always a matter of when…especially when we are being obediently vocal about our faith.
In Matthew chapter 28, verse 19, Jesus tells us to go and make disciples of all nations…
This inherently involves telling others about the savior…and what He can do in their lives.
So…In conclusion:
Don’t be surprised when that family member doesn’t want to hear about your faith….
Don’t be surprised when that acquaintance ‘unfriends’ you on Facebook because they’re tired of all the “Jesus Stuff” you keep posting…
Don’t be surprised to learn you weren’t invited to that work party because you choose not to abuse alcohol…
Don’t be surprised when your child’s club basketball coach gets upset because his starting point guard is not available for games on Sunday morning (Been there!)
Don’t be surprised when others make fun of you for your re-oriented priorities of self-lessness and service…rather than those of self-indulgence and consumerism.
Faith in Christ changes us…it will be noticeable…it will be powerful…people will take note….and many will not like the decision you have made…
…because it will remind them of what they are missing in their life.
…and that one thing is Jesus Christ.
If that’s you this morning…if you are missing Jesus in your life…I invite you to come talk to me after the service today..
…come meet with me right here up front…and – together – let’s invite the savior to set you free from the pull of this lost and dying world…
Let’s Pray.