Blessed: The Persecuted - Matthew 5:1-2, 10-12

We have been talking for two months now about Jesus turning our world upside down.  Remember, as kids we enjoyed looking at the world upside down, but as grown-ups—not so much because when our world is turned upside down, we want to do everything in our power to get it righted again.  Our world gets turned upside down not because we’ve decided to hang off the couch, a chair, a pull-up bar, or even a trapeze, but usually because something drastic has happened that causes us to shift our world view.  Either a joyous or tragic event comes into our lives, such as the birth of a child or the death of a loved one, a promotion or a lay-off at work, moving into a new home or having a home destroyed in a storm, or someone reveals to us that what we have thought to be true, just really is not true.  It is this final revelation, this final world-flipping scenario that we have been hearing from Jesus—and the truth of the matter is, society has not changed that much.  The world flipping way Jesus changed things for those in the first century are the same world flipping ways he connects to us and calls for us to change the way we look at the world.

Jesus has reminded us that those who are blessed to find themselves as residents of the Kingdom of Heaven are those who find their identity in God and God alone…they don’t depend on their jobs or careers, their bank accounts, cars, or houses, or anything else to provide them with an identity…they look to God.

Jesus has reminded us that those who are blessed because they will find themselves comforted are those who mourn the way the world looks and operates today…because they look at the world and see the hurt and pain…and their comfort will come as they see God and his people at work revealing the Kingdom of God in this world.

Jesus has reminded us that those who are blessed to be promised a place in New Jerusalem when the New Heaven and the New Earth come as one and God’s people are in God’s very presence are not those who rely on their physical or intellectual strength or even military might, but those who have the God-given spiritual fortitude to live meekly, reflecting the very life of Christ.

Jesus has reminded us that it is not those who are satisfied with how the world is working who are to be considered blessed, but those who are well-off, those who are privileged, are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.  They, Jesus reminds us, are the one who will be satisfied because their efforts to bring God’s righteousness into view will be successful as they use their gifts to reveal God to those around them as they feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, and work to touch the lives of all who are oppressed.

Jesus has reminded us that those who are blessed are not the ones who are able to carry out vengeance and get-even, or even celebrate someone “getting what they deserve.”  Jesus says the blessed are those who know they will receive mercy from his Father because they have offered mercy, undeserved forgiveness, to those who have wronged them.

Jesus has reminded us that those who are blessed with the assurance that they will see God are those who, with a pure heart, have put God first above all else—above their jobs, above their recreation life, above their families, and most especially above themselves.

Last week Jesus reminded us that it the peacemakers, and by peacemakers we don’t mean those who try to get everyone to compromise until they have nothing to say they believe in, but those who, like He did with his very life, offer themselves as instruments to bring people into a relationship with Christ, that they may no longer stand estranged from God with the danger of his wrath being poured out upon them, but have been brought near to God and coved in His grace.  These are the ones who will hear, like Jesus heard, “You are my beloved son, you are my beloved daughter, with you I am well pleased.

I have shared with you before, but I’ll tell with you again, as we have traveled this journey since September 2^nd, I have found myself, rather than feeling blessed, feeling challenged.  What Jesus has offered in these Beatitudes are a description of what it looks like to live as a disciple of Christ…and I realize that often, I fall far short.

Today we come to the final Beatitude, and as we encounter its extended form, if we have felt challenged before, this one truly leaves us humbled.  How many of you like to have folks mad with you or upset with you?  How many of us want to be so unpopular that compared to us, the most disliked kid in school would be the most popular?  How many of us would be glad to say that a bully picked on us today?  How many of you like having your livelihood or even lives threatened?

Jesus comes into our world.  We live in a world where most of us would generally say we want to be liked, a world in which many of us would say that we want to get along with everyone and He says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake…blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”  Hearing these words of Jesus, if we like being popular, if we like being liked, then we might want to be wary.

I had a professor once tell our class, “if everybody likes you, then you’re not doing your job.”  What he was saying was that as pastors in a church eventually we would surely upset someone in the church at some point, even as we sought to live, teach, and serve faithfully.  Even making one group happy, often makes another group unhappy.  If you don’t think so, take on something as simple (or complex) in the church as regulating the heat or air conditioning in the Sanctuary or a Sunday School classroom or a Fellowship Hall.  However, I think this professor’s words go far beyond the scope of a pastor in the church, but they apply to every Christ-follower in the world.  If everyone is happy with us, then most surely we are not doing our job because at some point, as we seek to live our lives like Jesus lived His…if we simply seek to live our lives in accordance with the Beatitudes, then we are going to rock the boat and make those around us a little uncomfortable, or even angry to the point that they turn on us.

Knowing that we would be called a chicken or a coward, would we be willing to walk away from a verbal or physical assault without responding?  What if we knew we could take the person down, either figuratively or literally and by walking away knowing that we would have to face the same ridicule every day?

Knowing that we have a family to feed at home, would we be willing to put our job on the line to confront an employer who is overcharging his customers; or as a business owner would we refused to violate our beliefs in order to make a profit or even compete with other businesses?

Knowing that it might end the relationship and make us look “old fashion”, would we refuse to give into a boyfriend or girlfriend who pressured us to do things contrary to our faith?  Knowing that it would make it harder to find a relationship would we refuse to date, much less marry, anyone who did not share our faith?

Knowing that we would have to give up vacation, personal, or family time, would we commit ourselves to repairing homes damaged by hurricanes or simply working with children in our local schools?

Knowing that our family would disown us, would we reveal secrets of abuse that have been kept hidden, especially with others at risk of the same abuse; or be willing to confront hidden addictions that everyone else ignores?

Knowing that we would probably be kicked out, would we take the hungry, homeless person we just drove past, who hasn’t bathed in a week, with us to the country club for a meal because we were told we could bring a guest?

Knowing that we would might have to walk away from all we have ever known, would we remain true to what we believe when others choose to conform for the sake of holding on?

Would we publicly declare Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior in a room full of atheists?  Would we publicly declare Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life if that statement were declared to be a hate crime because it diminished other faiths?  Would we publicly speak the name of Jesus if we knew we would be arrested?  Would we proclaim the Gospel if a gun were placed against our head and we were told to recant our faith?  What if that gun were held against our spouse’s head?  Our child’s head?  Our grandchild’s head?  These last few make all the other “persecution” look inconsequential don’t they?

The irony is, my brothers and sisters, that we live in a country where the threat of death for our faith is not common. We live in a place, where, thanks to the veterans that we remembered earlier, and more importantly, thanks to Christ’s willingness to endure persecution, we have the freedom to worship God freely. And yet, the church is dying because we are afraid to lose our jobs, upset our family members, get picked on or shunned by the popular crowd, give up some vacation time, or even be late to lunch…while in the parts of the world where the threat of death at the mere mention of the name of Jesus is real, the church is thriving and growing.  Jesus says those who are persecuted are the ones who are blessed, which in turn implies that the rest of us, who strive to have everyone like us, are the ones to be pitied.

How do we prepare ourselves to find blessing in the persecution?  How can we be ready to be bullied, unemployed, laughed at, or killed?  It is in the blessing!  Those who are persecuted have a great reward…for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven…not that theirs will be the kingdom of heaven, theirs is the kingdom of heaven…it is not a coming thing, but a present reality.  We’ve heard that before…we have come full circle…for the poor in spirit…those who find their true identity in God—who for them God is their all in all, nothing else matters, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.  We find ourselves able to endure what persecution we are to face when we have given up letting anything or anyone define us but God…when we realize that no other relationship matters if it compromises our relationship with God…when we realize that nothing in this world, nor the loss of anything in this world,  can separate us from the love found in the One who declared these beatitudes…we are simply called to give our life over to God, walk as Jesus walked, that one day we may walk where Jesus is…

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.