Happily Hated?

"Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets." -Luke 6:22-23

I've been reading through the Gospels over the past week or two and am struck by the radical nature of Jesus' teachings; they are often so counter-cultural that I read over them without fully grasping what has been said. With this text I do not claim full understanding, but it is quite evident that Jesus is not teaching his followers to be "good Christians." The contemporary Christian ideology that we must be "people pleasers" and "seeker sensitive" is blown out of the water here by Jesus' teaching; we are not to be ashamed, saddened, or depressed when people hate us or reject us on account of Jesus. Jesus says we are blessed, a word with the underlying theme of happiness; he is telling us to be happy when we are persecuted for his name. We are told to "rejoice" and "leap for joy" when people hate us. This is not something that the contemporary Church acknowledges very well; we seem so eager to make Jesus and the Church "likable" that if we are ever despised, it is seen as failure...but Jesus is quick to point us to the prophets of old and remember that they too were rejected by men. Jesus himself becomes the most hated man of his day, leading to his own death.

However, why are we to be hated, excluded, and reviled? We are to be rejected on account of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. If we follow the lifestyle he exemplified and commanded us to follow in the previous two verses, our lives will be lived on his account, for his purposes and glory.

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh." -Luke 6:20b-21

Followers of Jesus are happy in poverty, in hunger, and in sorrow; the time for affluence, being satisfied, and laughing is not far off, but it is not yet time. Christ wandered this earth for three years in poverty, with nothing to his name. Often he hungered and went on without being filled. We read of his sorrow over Jerusalem and the pain of death and other examples of the grief he endured. Yet he did it as one blessed, happy to do his will for the Lord. Paul writes that he too rejoices in his sufferings for Christ.

But what about those who are now rich, satisfied, laughing, and spoken well of?

"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets." -Luke 6:24-26

Woe to you or "what a miserable state for you," what affliction for you; for who? Those who are rich, are full now, who now laugh, and those who are spoken well of. Why, because you are already receiving your reward. The Christian life is not about the Christian person, it is about Jesus. We are to live our lives in a way that Christ is seen, both in our actions and in our motives. If we accept the praise of this world, that is our reward; while those who give the praise to Jesus, they have a place in the kingdom of God. My challenge in reading this passage can be summed up in this: live your life in such a way that people hate you because you reflect Jesus. The Son of God came and was slain, it should be my desire to follow him unto death.

Father, allow me to reject the treasures of this world and count you as my only need. Let me go hungry often and see to it that others receive their food before I do. Give me the strength to endure weeping and sorrow through this life, receiving the pains and struggles of this life willingly. Allow me to be happy when hated and accept the rejection of men. Grant me these things I pray, but if I fall into the trap of "pleasing people" for accepting their praise, grasp my attention and shake my hands loose of the things of this world. Lord, allow me to let go of my perceived needs and hold tight to Jesus. It is by his name I ask these things. Amen.

What Wondrous Love is This?

"What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!"

This wonderful hymn was brought to my attention once again this morning and it has been in my head all day. What wondrous love is this, o my soul, that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul? What caused the Creator of all things, God Almighty, the most powerful being in existence, the Righteous One, to bear the curse of mankind and sin for my soul? This question is foolish to many, for they ask, "what curse?" Thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions live each day with no acknowledgment of a curse, no understanding of sin. It lies right before them in the news if not before their own eyes in their own life; another scandal of infidelity, another murder, another family haunted by abuse, another story of corporate greed, etc. There is no denial that things are not as people think they should be; injustice exists, pain exists, death taunts us.

Why then, do we deny that perhaps we are the problem? Why are criminals only such because of "mental incapacity?" We have all violated the Law of God, therefore, we are all criminals; each one stands guilty before the Righteous Judge. There is no "not guilty" plea successfully defended; each man or woman has their own sin before themselves and before God. What then is the verdict? We are guilty, we are to be sentenced according to a guilty verdict. But wait, there is someone else who takes upon himself our crimes. Who is this one who comes before the judge and pleads to take our punishment upon himself? It is the judge himself. The very one who stands before us, able to rightly judge and sentence us, has taken it upon himself to come and die that our punishment may be taken upon himself. What love is this? That the Righteous One should bear our curse?

Romans 5:6-8
"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-but God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

What wondrous love is this? That I, guilty of sin and deserving of death, receive the blessings of life through the death of Christ. Oh God, forgive us of our arrogance and our ability to forget what price has been paid for our own law breaking. We are so eager to condemn our fellow men when they transgress human law, but in our own criminal behavior that violates ultimate, righteous law we are quick to declare innocence and cry for mercy. Thank you Lord for taking our punishment, something you had no business experiencing, yet did so willingly. We are blind to your love, even as it sits before us. You Lord are clearly for us, what shall stand before us? "Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?" "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Lord, may we know that we have been bought with the blood of Christ Jesus, and in this, take strength to endure and conquer whatever we may face in this short life. Be gracious to us Lord, as you have faithfully done for so long; we bless your name for who you are and for what you have done in Jesus Christ, our Ambassador, and in who's name we live and find our identity. Amen.