Blessed are the Persecuted
November 23, 2008
Matthew 5:1-12
As we look back on the past weeks that we have been talking about the Beatitudes,
Why does Jesus say the poor in spirit will be blessed?
How can you be considered fortunate in the midst of mourning or being meek, especially in a world that believes only the strong survive?
Why would anyone be blessed for hungering and thirsting for righteousness in a world of different appetites?
Mercy? If valued at all, it is more as an ideal than a practice, and the merciful are thought to be mushy and a pushover.
Making Peace? Real peace? Making peace can be hard, frustrating work. Try being a peacemaker; and you will soon understand what persecution is all about.
Now we come to the final Beatitude ~ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. How laughable is that? Just like all the other Beatitudes it’s upside-down and inside-out. It would be far more plausible if Jesus said, “Congratulations to those who are living pleasing and gentle lifestyle, that does not result in persecution.”
After all, the Beatitude just before this one says, “Blessed are the peacemakers...” and what kind of peacemaker are you when somehow you’re encouraging people to be less than peaceful toward YOU? It’s not natural. But as we’ve been seeing through all the Beatitudes, none of them are natural. And because they aren’t, we seem to reject these very difficult statements from Jesus.
Nobody wants to be persecuted. It doesn’t matter what the reason is, we don’t want to be persecuted, we don’t want our loved ones, our spouses, children, parents, siblings, friends, we don’t want people we care about and love to be persecuted, period, end of statement. Nobody volunteers for persecution. It’s not like a bunch of kids raising their hands to be picked for a special prize, yelling, “PICK ME! PICK ME!” If we were to ask who wants a brownie, lots of hands would shoot up, but how many of us would raise our hands when asked, “who wants to be persecuted?”
I really like the way The Living Bible translates this passage, Matthew 5:10-12 (TLB)
Happy are those who are persecuted because they are good, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. When you are reviled and persecuted and lied about because you are my followers — wonderful! Be happy about it! Be very glad for a tremendous reward awaits you up in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted too.
• Be happy because you’re persecuted.
• Be happy because you’re reviled and scorned and abused?
• Be happy because people are telling lies about you?
That’s a bit much. Finding happiness in persecution sounds like a form of masochism, the sort of attitude that leads people to stay away from you. Yet, Jesus calls this behavior . . . wonderful!
Now, before I go farther I must offer a personal caveat. I have very little firsthand experience with persecution. Most of us do not. The only time I remember receiving any persecution, because of my faith in Jesus, was when my father would not talk to me after I became a Christian; and my best friend from growing up did not want to be my friend after I had become a Christian. That’s my experience.
My father’s family suffered persecution for being Jewish. Because they were poor and living in Chicago, they had to move into a new apartment on a number of occasions, and well meaning landlords had signs in their apartment buildings stating ~ NO DOGS OR JEWS ALLOWED! These were supposed Christians. That’s persecution.
When I was growing up in Skokie, I had a neighbor who had a tattoo on his arm. We generally tend to ignore nondescript tattoos, and this one was simply a bunch of numbers; and those numbers represented his former identity . . . in a concentration camp, because he was Jewish. As a Jew and as a Christian, I have never endured that.
Persecution of this magnitude, and other forms of persecution are a disgrace. Let me just say, we should never persecute or discriminate against anyone because of color, sex, finances, religion or for any reason. Yet, this is not what Jesus was talking about. This is an underlying theme of the Bible. . . .the call to love our neighbor, who is everyone and everywhere.
So, what is Jesus getting at with this statement?
The New Testament phrase that is usually translated in the NIV in verse 12, is rejoice and be glad for great is your reward in heaven. I need to tell you this does not really do justice to what Jesus is talking about. This makes being persecuted sound just okay. But Jesus wants us to realize there is a great, great joy in being persecuted because of Him. A very literal translation of this statement by Jesus about rejoicing and being glad would be to say we rejoice exceedingly and leap exceedingly. Simply put, Jesus is talking about the kind of joy that gets a person to a point of jumping up and down, super excited about something. So, when you’re persecuted for His sake, you should jump up and down and shout WOO - WHO!!! It’s reason to leap and jump. That’s the mood of the words Jesus is using.
This ecstatic joy isn’t simply because you’re being persecuted; it’s about being persecuted for the right reason. It’s persecution that comes because we’re truly committed to Jesus Christ.
In the 3rd century, the theologian Tertullian wrote of the Romans who were killing the Christians - “The more ye mow us down, the more we grow. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”
As we think about persecution, we need to realize that most people, including Christians think religion is fine as long as we keep it in its place. This means religion, and especially Christianity is only for Sundays, Easter and Christmas. And speaking about Christmas, many hope it will just merge into that great spectrum of celebrations we generically define as ‘the holiday season.’ If you indicate your Christian faith is the dominant factor in your life, and if you take Jesus seriously, then you are likely, even in our anything goes society, to suffer the pain of subtle and sometimes not so subtle persecution. Your faith may cost you money, social contacts, friends, promotions and jobs. The way our country is moving, this very well may get worse.
In spite of the call of Jesus, what really gets me, and I really don’t understand it, is what G.K. Chesterton said about the faith of so many Christians. You see, there has always been a tame, bland version of Christianity, a sufficiently watered down version which has allowed Christians to feel good about themselves. Do you know what I mean? So many of us just do enough to get by, we don’t really live the Christian life. We are Christians by name, but most of the world would not know we are Christians according to the way we live.
Chesterton wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” {Chesterton. What’s Wrong with the World (Fort Collins, Co.: Ignatius Press, 1994), 38.
When real Christianity has been tried, it has proven to be difficult. It bumps up against the ways of the world. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s great book, The Cost of Discipleship, has an underlying theme, an emphasis on the Beatitudes. In one of my favorite passages, he wrote,
Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the treasure hidden in a field; for the sake of it, a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives man the only true life. Above all it is costly because it cost God the life of His Son. {Bonhoeffer. The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Macmillan Co., 1959), 45-47.}
So, what does all of this mean? What makes this suffering different?
When we follow Jesus we will lose some friends, because when they want to drink or smoke or do something we know shouldn’t happen; we say no and walk away.
When we are asked to do something on the job that is unethical, we know what our answer should be, and we may get fired for it.
The list of possible reasons could be endless. Maybe it is talking to someone about Jesus that needs to experience the transforming power of His love, but you know they will not like it.
We could list people, including missionaries who have been tortured, killed, shunned and have lost loved ones, income, homes and more; yet they were always filled with the fire and excitement and passion to serve God.
What is the blessing in suffering for the name of our Lord?
To begin with, look at the company you keep. At the end of verse 12, Jesus said, “In the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” When you’re persecuted for doing what Christ calls you to do, for being an upright, committed Christ follower, you become part of the aristocracy of divine history. Hebrews 11 is a great picture of the company of saints whom you join when you firmly stand in faith in Christ. Hebrews 11 lists many of the persons of faith, then adds there are others who should be mentioned, persons of “whom the world was not worthy.” Our world is full of these great souls. Maybe you are one of them.
If you and I merit a spot with these saints, we have reason to rejoice.
But this is only an incidental reason for happiness. The fantastic reason Jesus gives is this ~ GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN!
This is the only Beatitude that promises a reward in heaven. Another Beatitude promises we will possess the kingdom of heaven, another says we will see God; but these blessings occur in this world, not the next world. This Beatitude guarantees a reward in heaven.
And maybe this actually helps set us straight. Too often we think we should get all of our rewards on earth. We complain and tell others, “I’ve done my best, I tried hard; and where has it gotten me? People who don’t give a rip about God have it far better than I do.”
And you know what, if we were to be really honest, we could be shaking our heads in agreement. But we need to understand in our heart, spirit and brain that while some accounts will be settled here on earth . . . Jesus said there will be rewards in heaven.
And here is the ultimate declaration of justice. Not all accounts are settled on this earth. We should hardly expect them to be; you and I are eternal creatures, so it’s logical that some of our business will be settled in heaven. We all know wonderfully good people who don’t seem to get a proper return on their life’s investments on this planet, but this is not the end of the story.
Christians must be a people with a different view of life and the future, because of the faith we have in Christ. We do what we believe is right, not because we will get an increase in salary or because we will win the next ball game, but because we believe it is what God is calling us to do and it will advance His kingdom on earth.
We’re willing to wait for the reward, even if it means waiting until the world to come. We believe God will reward our faithfulness and goodness, and we’re confident, that God is generous. So generous in fact, that we can leap with joy at the prospect of persecution for the Lord’s sake.
Well, we are at the end of our journey through the Sermon on the Mount. In many respects I look at it like a ladder which we must climb rung by rung.
3Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
FINAL WORDS
God calls us to grow in our relationship with Him. Very simply, is that occurring in your life? Are you walking up the steps to victory, to a changed heart, to a transformed life, in which Jesus is at the top of the ladder?
Now is the time to make the changes, even if you are just starting out, take the first step, come to know Jesus, know His love, His grace, His peace, His power.
Let us pray.
