In our gospel reading for today, Jesus prays intensely for his disciples. Jesus knows that he will soon leave the world behind, as he is put to death, raised to new life, and as celebrated this past Thursday, ascends to be with his Father in heaven. But Jesus' followers are stuck HERE - living in the world for many more years to come. So Jesus prays to the Father for what disciples like us need most – for our sanctification, and for our protection. We may be stuck living in the world, but we are NOT abandoned – in fact, we are sent to be IN the world, while not belonging TO the world....
In three short weeks, we will be celebrating Sunday School Wrap-up and Confirmation Sunday. And our confirmands will get the chance to declare their faith in front of you. They will use the familiar words of the Apostles' Creed, but BEFORE they declare what they BELIEVE, they will RENOUNCE three things. They will renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God. They will renounce the ways of sin that draw us from God. And they will renounce the powers of the WORLD that rebel against God.
So when we say we renounce “the world”, what are we really talking about? Is this the same “world” that Jesus is talking about in our gospel reading today? No and yes. When Jesus says that we are IN the world, he means simply that we are living on planet Earth, and we have to deal with whatever and whoever that life brings to us. But when Jesus says that we are not to be OF the world, or to BELONG to the world, then yes, he is referring to the world we are to renounce. And that “world” is the systems, the ideologies, the attitudes, and the practices that rebel against God – everything that promises us fulfilment by breaking God's commandments, or strips away the meaning and the purpose from something God has graciously given to us. “The world” views the environment as an idol, worthy of worship and great sacrifice. “The world” encourages sex to be a casual, physical-only thing. “The world” keeps score of winners and losers, through the accumulation of bureaucratic influence and political power. And “the world” hates those who do not belong to it. We are not to be OF the world, but we ARE stuck IN the world.
Maybe you've felt that feeling of being stuck in the world. Maybe, during a time of grief, or pain, or loneliness, or frustration, or fatigue, you've asked the question, “Lord, what am I still doing here? Why can't you just bring me home?” And the answer is, as disciples, we are not just LEFT behind – we are SENT behind. Jesus says, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” We are sent to be witnesses to the truth. And as long as we are still here in the world, we can expect that God will give us opportunities to witness to the truth to other people – by our words, by our actions, by our presence – even by our suffering. So, not only are we stuck in the world, we have a mission that compels us to engage with “the world” we are to renounce. And that is dangerous business.
The world wants to OWN us the way God owns us. The world wants us to cherish, or at least approve of, the ideologies that have been set in place. And if we don't, we can expect the world to hate us. The world wants us to approve an economic system, where a small group of people can dictate how a whole industry will run, with the help of politicians and regulations. The world wants us to approve a political system, where the rich and powerful can ensure the election of people committed to keeping them rich and powerful. The world wants us to approve a system of belief, where truth is relative, and the only thing that is absolute is the expectation of tolerance for other people's “truth.” The world wants us to bless the status quo, for us to shrug our shoulders and say “that's just the way the world works.” And on an even DEEPER level, the world wants us to define OURSELVES with worldly things – we ARE our possessions, we ARE our job, we ARE our race, we ARE our sufferings. Because then, we are not only stuck IN the world, we are stuck BELONGING to the world.