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 theseThese verses are actually the lastend thingsof thatthe final discourse the Lord tellshas with 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 revealsspeak to them and tell them about the FatherFather, 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 themabout the Holy Spirit, promises that He will send Him to be a Helper and Comforter.
• AndSpirit. He gives them warnings aboutof what wasis to come - "if the world hateswill you,hate you know thatbut it hated Me before it hated you."first" - "Theythey will put you out of the synagogues" - "whoever kills youthey will thinkkill thatyou" 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 -that "Youthey nowwill have sorrow;joy.
  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.

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.

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)

The Lord may reveal to us His will, our purpose through a tribulation.

The Lord Gives Us Faith

We remember the story of Abraham - Abraham suffered much tribulation in his life. For a long time, he and Sarah his wife were not able to bear children, but the Lord made a covenant with him that he would have descendants like the stars of heaven. And it was 30 years after that, that he had Isaac. So he endured this tribulation for 30 years. How? Faith. Faith and hope in the promises of God.

Then finally after Isaac is born, the Lord gives Abraham another tribulation - take your son Isaac, your only son whom you love, and offer him up to me as a burnt offering on the mountain of which I tell you. How did Abraham endure this tribulation? How did he take his son and go on a three day journey knowing where he was going and what he was going to do there? Again, with faith. St Paul tells us: "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead." (Hebrews 11:17-19)

Abraham had faith that God would raise Isaac from the dead. And this faith is what allowed him to endure the tribulation.

When there is a tribulation that is out of my hands completely - an illness, a natural disaster, etc. then I have no choice but to have faith in the Lord and in His wisdom and to pray that His will be done. The Lord gives us faith as a way to overcome tribulation.

The Lord Gives Us Repentance

Finally, the Lord gives us repentance. I can overcome tribulation by repentance. Throughout the Old Testament, we saw this happening with Israel - they reject God, they are taken under tribulation by another nation, they repent, God delivers them. It's a cycle in the Book of Judges and throughout the books of the Kings. The Lord said to Solomon: “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)

An example of this repentance is King Manasseh. King Manasseh was one of the very evil kings, he did not walk in the way of his father the righteous King Hezekiah. He undid all of the good things his father had done - he built idols and altars for Baal and every evil thing that could have been done.

So the Lord brought a tribulation on Manasseh - the Assyrians came and they took him with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters and carried him captive to Babylon.

“Now when Manasseh was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.”

One of the ways to overcome tribulation in the world is by living a life of repentance. 

Some tribulations are self-inflicted like is the case with some sins or habits. The simple way out is to repent.

On the other hand, there is no blessing in living a life of sin. For example, if I am involved in a relationship that my Father of Confession doesn't approve of... and at the same time, I'm having a hard time getting a job - don't think that these are not related. The Lord may use the tribulation of the job to guide me out of the sin of the relationship! Maybe He is waiting for me to respond with repentance, before delivering me from my tribulation.

Let me think about what I need repentance for, and to live a life of repentance, and the Lord will grant me to overcome tribulation.

Summary

The Lord said to us today "In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." When we live a Sacramental Life, a life of Prayer, and a life of reading the Scripture, then we will be united with the Lord, abiding in Him. And so His victory over the world becomes our victory.

Being united with Him will give us peace, purpose, faith, and repentance 

And through Him, we will overcome the world.

May the Lord grant us to have peace in Him and to "be of good cheer" in the joy of His Glorious Resurrection and His Ascension into the Heavens, and may we conquer the tribulations of this world with Him, in Him and through Him.

Glory be to God, forever. Amen.