Today we’ll be wrapping up our time spent in the Beatitudes. First read Matthew 5:10-12, and then read the following excerpt from Clarence Jordan’s book Sermon on the Mount, and do the exercises below:
It is difficult to be indifferent to a wide awake Christian, a real live child of God. It is even more difficult to be indifferent to a whole body of Christians. You can hate them, or you can love them, but one thing is certain – you can’t ignore them. There’s something about them that won’t let you. It isn’t so much what they say or what they do. The thing that seems to haunt you is what they are. You can’t put them out of your mind anymore than you can shake off your shadow.
They confront you with an entirely different way of life, a new way of thinking, a changed set of values, and a higher standard of righteousness. In short, they face you with the kingdom of God on earth, and you have to accept it or reject it. There’s no washing of hands. These people must be crowned or crucified, for they are either mighty right or mighty wrong.
To those whose loyalty is to the world, these citizens of the kingdom of heaven are subversive agents, dangerous enemies who must not be tolerated. Jesus, knowing what was in humanity, anticipated this and spoke to his disciples about it: “They who have endured much for what’s right are God’s people; they are citizens of his new order. You all are God’s people when others call you names, and harass you and tell all kinds of false tales on you just because you follow me. Be cheerful and good humored because your spiritual advantage is great. For that’s the way they treated men of conscience in the past.” (Matthew 5:10-11, Cotton Patch Version).
On the surface, it might appear that Jesus is saying to his followers, “Go out and get yourselves persecuted, because you won’t be real Christians until you do.” But this kind of thing leads to a martyr-complex, the basis of which is self-pity. Surely the Master wouldn’t say this paid any great spiritual dividends, for he knew that self-pity is a sign of spiritual decay. It will eventually lead people to persecute themselves if they can’t get anybody else to do it. They might sleep on a bed of spikes, or walk on hot coals, or in a more civilized country, they might wear a shirt of hurt feelings. It doesn’t matter much what hurts them, just so they’re hurt and therefore have a legitimate reason to feel sorry for themselves. A person’s got to suffer for a cause, even if it’s just because.
- How is it possible for a person to be treated with disdain, hatred, and even violence and yet still be considered “blessed?”
- We live in an age of rapidly increasing hostility toward Christianity. How can we know if the hostility we face is the result of a justifiable response against the mistakes of Christianity, rather than the kind of response Jesus is talking about here? How do we know when to admit our faults before the world and repent, and when to hold our ground as followers of Christ in the face of real persecution?
- Heavier lifting: If you’re inclined to push deeper, read the following passages: Genesis Ch 15, Isaiah 8:11-18, Matt 25:31-46, 1 Peter 2:8-22. What common theme do these passages share with Matt 5:10-12? How do they help us better understand Matt 5:10-12?
