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6th Sunday - I have overcome the world

Introduction

The Church arranges for us the readings of the Holy 50 Days about our new life in the Lord Jesus Christ who is risen from the dead. The Lord Jesus in His incarnation, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and ascension, did all of this for our sake. In order to give us a new life - a life free from the slavery of sin, slavery to the world, and slavery to Satan. A life in the Lord Jesus Christ.

  • In the 1st week, the Lord confirms the faith of the disciples and reveals to them with Thomas, His Resurrection
  • In the 2nd week, the Lord tells us I am the Bread of Life
  • In the 3rd week, the Lord is the One who gives us the everlasting water - the Holy Spirit 
  • In the 4th week, I am the Light of the World
  • In the 5th week, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life
  • That was last Sunday. Then, this past week on Thursday, we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension (blessed Feast to you all).

Now it is the 6th Sunday and the gospel ended with the Lord telling His disciples: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33)

I Have Overcome the World

Actually these verses are the last things that the Lord tells His disciples. After the Lord washed the feet of the disciples, and they ate the Last Supper, the Lord starts to have with His disciples the final discourse:

  • He reveals to them the Father and tells them if you know Me, then you know My Father. And if you have seen Me, then you have seen the Father.
  • And He reveals to them the Holy Spirit, promises that He will send Him to be a Helper and Comforter.
  • And He gives them warnings about what was to come - "if the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you." - "They will put you out of the synagogues" - "whoever kills you will think that he offers God service."
  • And He tells them that He will leave them and He is going to prepare a place for them.
  • And in all of this, He gives them a message of hope - "You now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you."
  • And most of all, He emphasizes to them to abide in Him, abide in His love, keep His commandments, believe in Him

The conclusion of this whole message is the verse that we ended with today: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." It summarizes all of the chapters before it.

"In the world, you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Tribulations

We will have tribulations. That's guaranteed. And they will take different forms:

  • I might be rejected from a job or an internship or a specific school
  • I might have financial trouble
  • I might get in arguments with my spouse
  • I might have children that are straying away, or who don't listen
  • I might have parents who don't understand me
  • I might get sick
  • I might have a sick family member
  • I might struggle with a sin
  • I might struggle with an addiction - to drugs or alcohol, to social media, to my phone, to pornography, etc.
  • I might struggle to make friends
  • I might have friends that take me down a wrong path
  • I might be persecuted

    • Many of us think the time of persecution is over... that was something that happened in the old days a thousand or two thousand years ago. Or we think the place of persecution is far away - now we are in the USA with freedom of religion, and modern Western Society... When we think of tribulations, sometimes we think of the stories of the martyrs: the tortures, the rulers who tried to tempt them. Or we may think of more modern history of the tribulations faced in Islamic countries: not able to practice your faith freely, or having limitations in social life because of your faith.

    • But we have persecutions in this country and in this day and age. If I'm not conforming to the ideologies of the world - homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, marijuana, sports gambling... I may be discriminated against, or I may be called extremist or homophobe or transphobic or anti-women or any other such names. This is the modern day persecution, and it is one of the tribulations we WILL face.
  • I might have easy access to sin
    • It used to be difficult to cheat, not worth the effort - now I can just type my class prompt in ChatGPT and be done with the assignment, and I think no one will notice.
    • It used to be difficult to gamble, especially if you are underage - now I can just download an app on my phone.
    • It used to be difficult to look at explicit media - now it's in every Movie, TV Show, Advertisement and App.
    • It used to be difficult to get into drug use - now it's handed out in schools by peers.
    • This easy access to sin in our modern society is one of the tribulations that we face.

All of these tribulations and many more might come upon me. And the Lord told us "In the world you will have tribulation." These tribulations come to those who are Christians (believers) and also to those who are non-believers. But what is different is HOW we deal with those tribulations.

The Lord told us today: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world"

His Victory is My Victory

I have overcome the world - I have triumphed - I am victorious.

But what does that mean? In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

Imagine if a teacher went to his students and said "look, the exam is very very hard... but don't worry, be of good cheer, I passed the exam." What might the student say? Okay you passed the exam... so what? I'm the one who has to take it, how does that help me?

The answer comes to us in today's Pauline Epistle. The first verse in the Pauline Epistle today: "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57)

When the Lord says "I have overcome the world" - "I have victory over the world" - we can take that to be our victory, as St Paul told us. When the Lord Jesus Christ conquers, then WE conquer - because we are IN the Lord Jesus Christ. We are UNITED with the Lord Jesus Christ. We ABIDE in Him and He in us.

How do we abide in Him? How do we unite with Him?

In the Sacraments

  • In Baptism, we "take off the old man and put on the new and superior one" (ⲁⲣⲓⲯⲁⲗⲓⲛ) - St Paul says (Ephesians 4) And we are putting on Christ (Romans 13)
  • In Confirmation, we receive His Spirit to dwell in us
  • In Repentance & Confession, we are transformed and renewed and our sins are forgiven
  • In the Eucharist, we eat His Body and His Blood and we "abide in Him and He in us."

In a Personal Relationship with Him

  • In Prayer
    • "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." (James 4:8)
    • Prayer is the relationship with God
  • In Scripture
    • "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." (John 17:17)
    • "Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you."

So when we live the sacramental life, and strive in our spiritual life - prayer, scripture, fasting, prostrations, spiritual books, spiritual canon; we are united with the Lord, we abide in Him and He in us, and in this way, we share in His victory, and we can overcome the world.

What does it mean to overcome the world? How does the Lord equip us to overcome tribulation?

We'll discuss 4 points

The Lord Gives Us His Peace

One of the ways that the Lord equips us to overcome tribulation is by giving us His peace.

"These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace." (John 16:33)

We remember when St Paul and Silas were imprisoned in Philippi and not just imprisoned, but they were beaten with rods and laid with stripes and then their feet were put in stocks (see image). What do we read in the Book of Acts?

  • 25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

Despite their tortures and beatings, Paul and Silas had peace. And they overcame their tribulation by praying and singing hymns. They had peace. They were not complaining, they were not afraid - and when their chains were loosened and the door opened, they didn't run out and try to escape. No, they had peace. Actually, the one who didn't have peace was the jailer - and he was going to kill himself. But they comforted him and he asked what must I do to be saved, and he was saved.

So because of the peace of Christ, they overcame the tribulation. They were not weighed down by being in prison, or dismayed, or afraid. But they were in peace.

Maybe, for example, I am struggling with a family member who is ill. Let me put it my struggle in the hands of the Lord, and as I live the sacramental life and continue in my spiritual life, the Lord will give me peace to endure the tribulation. Maybe the tribulation won't end - but at least the Lord will give me His peace, and in this way I have overcome it.

The Lord Gives Us Purpose

One of the ways that the Lord equips us to overcome tribulation is by giving us Purpose. God is the One who created us, so He is the only One who can give us Purpose.

We remember the story of the righteous Joseph in the Book of Genesis. Joseph is thrown in a pit and then sold to slavery by his brothers. Then he is falsely accused in Potiphar's house and sent to jail for several years. Finally he comes out of jail and interprets Pharaoh's dreams, and we know the rest of the story. He becomes second in command over all of Egypt. His brothers, feeling guilty, were afraid that he would retaliate against them - and this is a tribulation. But Joseph understood his purpose. He said to them: "You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." (Genesis 50:20)

He understood how God had used his tribulation for the safety of his family, and all the land of Egypt and the surrounding lands. He understood how God was using him.

We read in Proverbs: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Have you heard about Nick Vujicic? He was born without arms and legs. But we don't see him in despair, we don't see him complaining about his arms or legs. But the tribulation gave him a sense of purpose - he can walk, swim, answer the phone, type and do many things and he goes around preaching Christianity to people. He goes around speaking out against the ideologies of the world like abortion. And he has overcome the tribulation. Did his arms and legs grow back? No, but he overcomes the tribulation with his sense of purpose.

The Lord Gives Us Hope
The Lord Gives Us Repentance

“When I shut up the heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:13)

King Manasseh

Prodigal Son

 

Conclude?

But I Am Not Overcoming...

Someone might say: "I am doing all the right things... I come to Church. I take communion. But I am still suffering. I'm not overcoming anything." - "I'm still struggling with my sin" - "I'm still not getting the job I want" - "I am still not doing well in school" - "I'm still not financially advancing" - "I'm still having issues in my family"

And here I have to ask myself - am I united to Christ? Or just Visiting Him?

Am I living a life of repentance, or am I living the same Mon-Sat and showing up on Sunday?

Is Sunday God's day and the other days are my days? Or am I uniting with Christ in daily prayers, scripture readings, Vespers and Praises, Life of repentance?

There is no blessing in a life of sin... If I am in a sinful relationship, or watching or listening to things that are not befitting to me as a Christian, or cheating in my school or in my work, or going to places I shouldn't be going to, then I am not going to overcome the world. I am clinging to the world. I am rejecting His Victory. He has overcome the world, and I am clinging to it. So of course, I will not overcome, but I will be overcome.

Instead, let me cling to the Lord and unite with Him. Let me put behind the life of sin and the things that take me further from him. Let me seek virtue. Let me seek a personal relationship with the Lord and unite with Him, so that I, through the Lord Jesus Christ, can have victory in my struggles, and with Him, overcome the world.

Glory be to God, forever. Amen.

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