Highlighted New Testament Bible

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Friday, December 10, 2010

St Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 10, The Beatitude: Blessed are they who suffer Perscution.

Today's Beatitude is:  10Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  


Blessed are they who suffer persecution.  This is a strange thing to say, especially in today's time.  We do not suffer persecution today because we have laws and rules that protect us from such.  On the job, at home, in the public, at church, wherever we are, in this society we live in, we have rules and regulations that protect us from persecution.  This does not mean that people do not suffer from wrongs committed by others, whether the wrongs are true wrongs or wrongs that are imagined based on our sense of justice.  People are wronged everywhere but those wrongs do not rise to the level of justification to activate the systems in place.  I feel wronged in my car when someone cuts in front of me or I feel wronged when someone takes a parking space that I intended to take.  I may feel wronged in the grocery store when someone jumps in front of my line so that they can get service before me.  I may feel wronged in the mall when someone runs past me and almost knocks me down without apologizing for the wrong.  These situations in most cases do not rise to the level of activating the rules in place, unless the parties involved physically take action in their own hands and seek to justify the wrong.  The legal process steps in when physical action is taken, to stop the hostilities and to correct the situation by the rules in place or through legal means.

Wrongs that we feel do not, however, equate to persecution, unless those wrongs are continuous over time and repeated.  Persecution grows out of a lack of justice.  The Jew's were persecuted, the American Indians were persecuted, the Afro-Americans were persecuted, the founders and fore-fathers of America suffered religious persecution when they came to America.  All suffered persecution without the restitution brought by justice.  Yet we find that even in our society today and in many societies throughout the world persecution exists.  Christians suffer their religious beliefs in many countries where Islam is practiced.  Christians suffer persecution and injustice in many countries where the government holds a tight reign on the population and does not allow religious and political freedoms.  Persecution is a demon with a whip that torments man wherever he lives, and justice is it's keeper. 

Christ says in this Beatitude that blessed are they who suffer.  He does not say blessed are those who are persecuted and seek and demand justice.  For there is a difference.  In our society today we are taught to fight back when we are persecuted.  Men who suffer wrongs will take up arms to right the wrong of injustice.  We are fed, through our media, constant examples of the hero who fights injustice and wins.  We cheer and love to see battles of right and wrong where the hero wins.  The right of might triumphs over injustice in our media, in our schools, in our governments, in our homes, and more than anything our beliefs.  These are the lessons that we receive and pass down to our children. But Christ says blessed are they who suffer.    Theirs is the kingdom of heaven, if they suffer for the sake of justice.  If they feel the sting of the whip of persecution and suffer the wrong for the sake of justice, they have the kingdom of heaven. 

So we ask ourselves, today, suffer now and own the kingdom of heaven or take up arms and right the wrong that we feel.  Do we allow ourselves to feel the anger associated with persecution?  Do we open ourselves up to the cloak of injustice that would have us consumed with the belief that we must ourselves become the balance scale of justice so that the wrong that is committed is corrected?  Do we permit the seed of injustice to grow within us till we believe that we are now the judge and jury?  For this is the goal of the cloak of injustice, to deceive us into believing that we are right in our injustice.  But Christ says that blessed are they who suffer.  Blessed are they who do not put on the cloak of injustice but suffer the pain and harm for the sake of justice.  They are already rewarded by doing so.  They who suffer are justified by their actions, by their thoughts, by their hearts.  Theirs is the kingdom.  Theirs is the glory that has been given by God.  Theirs is the robe of righteousness that they will receive having been washed in the blood of the lamb.  

Today we do not weigh the value of our beliefs.  We simply act based upon what we believe.  Even for those who have religious beliefs, it is difficult to act upon those beliefs if they do not trust them.  Trust requires action.  Trust demands that beliefs are real and can be relied upon as a platform for action.  Yet it is awkward, today, to act upon our beliefs.  In our protected environments, i.e., the church, the home, with spiritual friends and partners, we can put beliefs to action.  But this is our clothing that we wear in those situations and environments.  When we are away, we wear different clothing befitting the world that we live, play, and socialize.  Weigh the value of what you believe.  Weigh the value of suffering vs injustice. Weigh the value of the kingdom of heaven against taking action today, right now, to fight persecution.  Weigh the value of Christ's words of truth against your beliefs.  Which way does your balance scale sway???