Dancing into the Pain

 

APOSTLES

Like children

playing in the rain

they didn’t notice the storm, until

it hit them.

I used to wonder why

they kept on playing  ?

But not anymore.

(Copyright @ 2014, Sam Howard)

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

                                                                                           Matt 5:10

This is the last of the beatitudes.  It is, in a sense, a culmination.  The final truth is that if we pursue this path we will be persecuted. Jesus let everyone know this right up front. It is one of the many amazing things about him.  Jesus tells even the difficult truths. 

The first few beatitudes are beautiful, even oddly compelling.  They resonate with our inclination to know God. We are invited into God’s realm, the place where he rules.  We are promised that we will get to see God and that our lives will even start to look like his.  These words are hopeful and inspiring. They bring us a sense of lightness and encouragement. 

But, there are more words and a further truth which is, if we find God we will be changed.  And, as we are changed into His image, we will find ourselves less at home in our current realm.  It is one thing to recognize that our world is evil and inadequate; it is quite another to move away from it, and then, even further, to move against it.  The more we embrace God’s realm, the more we find ourselves at odds with the world. 

The world does not passively tolerate opposition.  It shames, hurts or kills those who do not conform to its dictates. 

So we start walking on this path of goodness, mostly unaware of the choices we are making. God starts working in our hearts and our world begins to look different. Matthew 6:21 lets us know that, “… where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  And so in practical ways, we start making daily decisions about which kingdom we are going to live in. As our hearts change we discover that so do the items that appear on our banking statements. All of sudden this “God stuff” starts showing up. Our calendars start changing too. We are all of a sudden being forced to choose between amusing ourselves or doing stuff with and for others. Messy stories are in our lives that aren't our mess.  We discover that we are increasingly giving our time, talent and treasure to those who are hurting, both physically and spiritually.  And, now that we are in it, this kingdom work, we find ourselves speaking and acting against the darkness that is destroying the lives of those that we have come to love.  This love that God has placed within us is beginning to spill out into our world.  The world takes notice and the opposition begins.

It must be understood that we cannot move passively towards persecution.  Passion is required.  All we have to do to avoid the pain is to stop opposing the world.  By the time the persecution begins we have made our choice. We have aligned our hearts with God.  We now burn with a passion that says love is stronger than selfishness or violence.  Justice is better than silence.  Hope is stronger than despair.  Our mourning has been comforted.  Our hunger has been filled.  We have become the ones who show mercy.  Our hearts have been purified by Jesus and we now catches glimpse of God’s glory. We are aligned with the peace of Christ, the one we follow. 

The world rewards these choices with persecution.  God’s reward is much different. He says he has something “great” in mind, namely, “the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus taught the beatitudes early in his story and then he lived them out.  He described the path of faith and then he walked it.  The early part of the journey appeared to be relatively easy, almost fun.  The crowds grew.  Everyone wanted to see him.  Miracles were everywhere.  People began to understand who God really was and they were amazed at his grace and goodness, but this new perspective created a conflict with the old ways.  Some embraced this new revelation with joy; others struggled to hold on to what they had always known. The conflict grew into a fresh start for those who believed and anger and opposition from those who did not.  Eventually those who rejected Jesus decided that he needed to be dead.  And so, Jesus was “persecuted for righteousness.”  It all culminated in the last week of his life. 

This week has become known as “The Passion of the Christ” because it took passion to walk it to the end.  At any moment, Jesus could have stopped resisting and saved himself. Of course, if he would have saved himself the rest of us would have been lost.  Jesus’ passionate love would not allow him to abandon the world of people he came to rescue, and so “for the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame.” “He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross,” the NLT version of Philippians tells us. “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus brought us the kingdom of heaven, and “great was his reward.”

He told us. He showed us. Now he invites us to join him.

His love compels. 

Will you allow yourself to follow?

(Copyright 2014, Sam Howard)