The Eighth Blessing - Matthew 5:10

Between my freshman and sophomore year of college, I transferred schools. By far, the hardest part of the transfer was leaving behind my friends and having to meet all new people. However, I quickly fell in with a group of TCKs and MKs. Now those aren’t abbreviations that we usually hear so let me explain. MKs are Missionary Kids. Many of their parents were still serving around the world in a variety of locations, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, while they traveled back to the United States for college. TCKs are Third Culture Kids. These are individuals who are raised in a culture different from their parents, or in a place different from their home country during key years in their development. So, if you were born in the United States, which is where your parents grew up, but for a good chunk of your childhood and youth you lived somewhere else, you are a TCK.

I loved being with this group of friends. I had friends who grew up in Russia, Indonesia, the UK, Brazil, Cote d’Ivoire, Bolivia, Nigeria, and so many other places. But here’s the thing about having such amazing friends whose parents were sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world - I have very little tolerance when I hear people say that they feel that they are being persecuted for their faith in this country. 

Now I realize that seems like quite a bold statement - but why do I feel that way? The dictionary defines being persecuted as to experience oppression or harassment for either who you are or what you believe. For sure, people may not always agree with us being Christian in the United States. But my friends and their parents often put their lives on the line in order to teach people about Jesus. There was a great risk in proclaiming the name of Jesus. Therefore, I get uncomfortable when we throw around the word persecuted when what we really mean is inconvenienced or perhaps even not liked. But there is a chasm between that and oppression. 

But for the people Jesus was speaking to, they would understand deep oppression for their beliefs. Fast forward past this moment when Jesus is speaking to the sixth chapter of the book of Acts. Acts tells the story of the early church, from starting hidden away out of fear of what could happen to them, to being filled with the Holy Spirit and thousands of people coming to believe in Jesus Christ. Only we often leave our summery of Acts there - forgetting all of the struggles that the early church went through. Including persecution. 

In Acts, chapter 6, we meet Stephen, someone who had been selected to oversee the really important ministry of looking after people’s basic needs, such as distributing food to the orphans and the widows and the hurting. Stephen was described as someone full of faith and the Holy Spirit. But he also did powerful wonders and signs amongst the people, to the point where the establishment felt threatened. So people started to argue with and against Stephen, sometimes making up lies against him. Lies that led to him being seized and brought before the council to be interrogated. In chapter 7 Stephen goes on to tell the glorious story of Jesus Christ and what happened? The people stoned him. And he died. 

All thought Acts we find folks being tortured, punished, thrown in jail, beaten, and chased out of town because of their belief in Jesus Christ. So why did they kept proclaiming the name of Jesus through all of this? Because Jesus had so changed their lives there was no going back. They were filled with passion for making Jesus Christ known. 

What about us church? Do we have the passion of the early church? Would we keep standing in the face of persecution? Because often when I hear people throw around the word persecution today it’s not about standing firm so much as having other people change things for you so that the faith is more convient. 

When Jesus spoke on that mountain so long ago and said “blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake”, he was acknowledging a truth that has come down through the ages - there is always, always, always, going to be tension between the things of earth and the things of God. In other words, your faith isn’t meant to be convient. And following Christ is not going to be an easy choice. 

We have tricked ourselves into believing that faith and our response is supposed to be comfortable. But that isn’t what scripture shows us. Hebrews Chapter 11, is often called the Hall of Fame of Faith. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable[c] sacrifice than Cain’s - and Cain killed Abel. By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark - and his neighbors mocked him. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance - one that he believed in but never was able to see himself, and was asked to almost sacrifice his son along the way. By faith Moses was hidden by his parents -and while he was able to see the promise land, he never entered it himself. 

Guess what friends, life wasn’t easy, even for those in this great list of the faithful. Faith didn’t come easy to them either -  it was something that they had to live into, trusting God each and every day. 

We are mistaken throughout this sermon series if we think the word blessed means makes easy or painless or without cost. Instead, Jesus used blessing as an adjective - describing the joy of those who are living into what Jesus is proclaiming. Even when it is hard. Even when it is costly. 

The question for us today, is what does it mean to choose Christ? Paul has a beautiful piece of writing in his letter to the Philippians in the second chapter which is often called the Christ Hymn - which talks about why Christ is God he choose to empty himself and be obedient to the point of death on the cross. Are we that obedient to Christ, my friends? Or do we only choose to follow Christ when we feel that it doesn’t come with a cost or will make us look good?

The truth is, we have enough folks throwing around the word persecution when what they really means they feel uncomfortable or challenged, but that isn’t the same as being persecuted. But I do think it is worthwhile to ask if we were persecuted for righteousness sake, what would our response be? What would our response be if we faced what Stephen faced? Whether we would be with and for Jesus in all circumstances or only when it is beneficial to us?

Friends, I would like to invite us into a time of prayer this morning to truly examine our faith. No one know where you are in your relationship with Jesus except you. May you take time this morning to be in prayer about where you stand with Jesus when things aren’t easy, when they are uncomfortable, when they are costly. Let us pray….