Blessed are the persecuted
/The Wednesday Recap
By Pastor Jason Crabbe
Welcome to the Wednesday Recap!
What is the Wednesday Recap, you ask? Each Wednesday, I recap the discussion from the previous week’s Local table gathering. Each week, The Local meets in various homes around a table to eat, worship, read and discuss the Bible, and pray for each other and our community. Living on mission is our response to the grace and love Jesus has shown us. We share the Gospel and show love to those we encounter where we live, learn, work, and play. While this recap gives people a chance to review, it also gives folks who were unable to gather with us a chance to catch up on what we are learning and working on together. I hope you find it a blessing. Be well, and I will see at our Local table!
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
I remember going fishing with a german friend of mine when my family was stationed in West Germany in the ‘80s. One morning, he and I hopped on our bikes with our fishing poles and lite tackle strapped on our backs and pedaled to a place he knew about in the countryside. It was about 8 kilometers from where we lived. The day was overcast and slightly cooler than ideal, but it was perfect weather for fishing. When we arrived at the spot, we sat in the damp grass by the river, not catching a thing, except probably a cold, and loving every second of it like only two young, carefree teens could do. When we got tired of chewing on blades of grass and watching our bobbers sneer at us due to our lack of luck, we packed it up and started home.
Unfortunately for us, it started to rain. It wasn’t a hard rain. It was one of those drizzles that is just steady enough to be an unrelenting reminder that roofs were invented for an extremely good reason. We pedaled and pedaled, but quickly realized that jeans are not that bendable when soaked with rainwater. We were cold, tired, and wet, and still far from home. Just when we started to question our life’s choices, we arrived at a little market that I didn’t remember passing on the way to the river. We parked our bikes and went in. It was bright, warm, and the proprietor was nice and friendly. We had just enough money to buy a hot tea and a confectionary delight to enjoy at a small table before we had to set out again. Even though we were wet and slightly miserable, I just remember being so thankful for that little market. Just that little piece of civilization seemed to color the inhospitable aspects of nature a little more friendly in our eyes. When we started out again, it seemed like we were two intrepid explorers on an adventure through the European countryside rather than two half-drowned rats that had just escaped a sinking ship. When we finally arrived home, we were thankful, but at the same time, a little sorry the adventure was over. Even though we were cold and wet, we both had foolish grins on our faces and promised each other to do it again soon.
I feel like this is a perfect picture of how Jesus would like our response to be when faced with adversity on His account. Sure, it isn’t the most enjoyable place to be, but perhaps there are some reasons to rejoice and be glad for adversity or persecution when they come calling.
Last week at The Local, we learned that when we do the work of the peacemaker (Matthew 5:9), we have the opportunity to continue Christ’s work on the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 says, “...Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” To make peace is to reconcile two parties. Paul uses the Greek word katallassō (exchange) in the 2 Corinthians passage above, which we translate into the English verb “to reconcile.” This word originally belonged to the marketplace. It meant to exchange coins of equal value. Over time, it came to mean exchanging enmity for friendship.
By using katallassō, Paul highlights a transaction: Christ took our debt, allowing our legal and relational status with God to be completely overturned. As ambassadors of reconciliation, we can lead people through conflict to Christ, so they can be reconciled with God. However, not all reconciliation efforts work. Some will actively oppose us. The Bible says that before we accept Christ as Savior and declare Him Lord, we are His enemy (Romans 5:10). Romans 8:7 says that the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God. According to 2 Corinthians 2:15, we are the aroma of death to those who are perishing without Christ. Jesus reminds us in this Beatitude that we will be persecuted because of Him. In fact, people will revile us and even falsely slander us and say evil things about us on His account. It is going to happen.
So how should we respond to persecution and adversity? Jesus says that we are to “rejoice and be glad” (Matthew 5:12). Now this is not to say we are to be masochistic about it and derive some perverse pleasure out of suffering for Christ. However, we are not to mope around like Pooh’s friend Eeyore or stoically grin and bear it either. If we examine Scripture, we can discover a few reasons for rejoicing in or after persecution and adversity.
“Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”
Reasons to rejoice in the faced of adversity or suffering:
Great is our reward in heaven (Matthew 5:12). We have this blessing to look forward to.
We suffer in good company–”so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:12). We are part of a noble succession. How does it feel to be counted in the same company as Jeremiah, Elijah, and Samuel? Pretty cool, huh?
Because we are acting like children of God (Matthew 5:9). Doesn’t it feel good to know you are part of a globe-spanning family with an amazing Father?
Because we are accounted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41).
Jesus says that the blessing we receive because of persecution is to receive the kingdom of heaven. This is a full-circle moment. This is the same blessing we started with in Matthew 5:3 when we realize our spiritual poverty. Jesus is bookending the Beatitudes to show us that those who embrace these eight characteristics are part of His kingdom, act to extend His kingdom on Earth, and will receive the blessing of spending eternity with Him. That is a reason to rejoice!
To be clear, there are Christians in the world who are facing life-threatening persecution because of their faith. People lose their source of income, are imprisoned, or are even murdered. Perhaps some of us here in the U.S. don’t face that type of persecution. However, persecution is relative. It does no good to say, “Well, I may not have gotten that job because I am a Christian, but at least they didn’t imprison me!” We shouldn’t diminish our suffering, or anyone else’s, by comparing it to other people’s suffering. We should instead, keep our eyes on Jesus, and consider our response to whatever form of adversity or suffering we are going through.
This week, let us consider the spaces we inhabit and the people who share those spaces. How might we boldly and lovingly enter those spaces? Our priorities are different, so living for Christ can be perceived differently by people who are not Christian. The Christian cannot expect to be thanked for being merciful, pure, meek, or a peacemaker; instead we are slandered, opposed, insulted, and persecuted on account of righteousness and how we stand for Jesus. Within this persecution, we are blessed, for we are part of an amazing family (the Church) and are members of a kingdom not of this world. Talk to Jesus about this. Ask Him how you might live out your faith more strongly, even if you experience the blessing of persecution, and that He would give you the courage to rejoice in the midst of such persecution.
Thank you for reading! If you are new to The Local, welcome! I hope you decide to stay. If you have stumbled onto this blog somehow, and you have gotten something out of these words, please share it with me. You are welcome at our table.