I don’t know very much about being persecuted or reviled because of following Jesus.
The last of the nine beatitudes in Matthew’s Gospel is about that.
This is the last sermon of a Lenten sermon series on the Beatitudes.
Here is the final Beatitude.
“Blessed are you when people 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 in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
I have witnessed many people rejoicing and being glad over being persecuted for Jesus, usually over something like where the Ten Commandments can be located, or when and where to pray in school or public meetings, or whether Jesus could be mentioned in a graduation address by the valedictorian.
Somehow the idea of a valedictorian being a martyr has always struck me as false.
Kind of like the one who wins all the prizes wanting to win the martyr prize as well.
The persecuted are not the ones who have it all, they don’t have the microphone, it doesn’t come with celebrity status, media attention, or legal representation.
I’ve watched Christians all my life rejoicing and being glad at being persecuted for Jesus’ sake, usually by other Christians who thought they were being persecuted as well, when all they were really doing were being willful, belligerent and ignorant.
Usually they are the entitled who cry Jesus name when their place of privilege is challenged.
Sometimes it feels like a competition to see whose Jesus can upset the most people. Who ever gets smacked down the most wins. They have the real Jesus.
Needless to say the whole thing has left me with a queasy stomach.
I don’t know much about real persecution for Jesus sake.
But scripture does bring some light to this.
The real Jesus is seen in the blessings of the beatitudes, being persecuted has something to do with being in mourning, with meekness, with hungering and thirsting for the right thing to be done, for being merciful, for being a peacemaker, and for being persecuted like the prophets of old.
The prophets of old were persecuted largely for two things, for confronting the rich and the powerful for not honoring a day of rest, who were always trying to find another day to make more money and press their advantage, and for confronting the same people for taking advantage of the weak, the marginal and the vulnerable and for not sharing with the poor from their super over abundance.
Being persecuted for Jesus sake is about being left out, not being invited or included because your values are out of sync with the in crowd.
Being persecuted for Jesus sake is about being threatened and crushed by the peons, drones and minions who belong to the powerful when they are called out on their abuse of power and wealth.
True religion has always been about holding bad politics and bad business accountable. Those who say religion shouldn’t be political or about money have been duped by a poisonous lie. They have become part of the devil’s protection racket.
That is why the prophets of old were persecuted, that is why Jesus was crucified, they threatened the entitlements of the corrupt and indifferent rich and powerful.
To have power, to have wealth is to be called by God to service for those without power, without wealth. It is a blessing to be shared, not an advantage to press and hoard. God’s judgment is harsh on such abuse. Not just on individuals, but on whole nations. Scripture is clear on this.
So being persecuted for Jesus sake doesn’t have anything to do with where the Ten Commandments are placed, or with public prayer, or with being the valedictorian.
To truly be persecuted for Jesus sake is to be one of those people who disappears, who has been erased, who has nothing left but the shared experience with Jesus of having their humanity stripped away, rejoice and be glad, to know Jesus this closely is to have a great reward in heaven.
Ultimately the last beatitude is like all the other beatitudes, it is about living in hope, knowing that ultimately God will set all things straight, that God’s Judgment is exacting, that creation will be renewed and healed.
Because of the hope that we have been given in the resurrection of Christ, we are free to live a life that is blessed, that can mourn for the sickness of the world, that can be meek, not forcing our way, to hunger and thirst for always doing the right thing, to do acts of mercy, to have a heart that is pure and single in devotion, without all those mixed and competing loyalties, to work for peace, to accept persecution for holding the wealthy and powerful accountable for how they get what they have and for how they use it.
Live in reckless hope, and share it, be a beatitude. God can be trusted, the reign of God will not be opposed.