August 21 - Blessed are you when persecuted

Part 9 - Blessed are those who are persecuted because of Righteousness

Why is it so hard for people to like what is good?

I remember when I was a kid, my friends all knew that I went to church. For some reason, this equated to me not being invited to a lot of things, because they believed I would be no fun. I’ve heard people called “goodie two shoes” and “church kid” or “Good little Christian”, and instead of celebrating someone’s desire to live a righteous life, it seems despised. 

There was a season that I worked at Stateville prison in Joliet Illinois, and during that time I was not living for the LORD. But near the end, I was turning life around. One Saturday night the guys asked me to go out with them after work, and I said that I planned to get up early and go to church the next day. They all laughed at me. And then at the end of the night, when the entire shift was in the holding area to get out of the prison, troy yelled to me across the entire shift of employees. “Hey Grove, have fun being a little church boy tomorrow!” Everyone stared at me and started laughing. 

There is something despised by others when someone is trying to do things right. 

Why is that? 

Well, to the chaos of the world, light is scary. It calls things into order. So goodness isn’t recognized by them world, and it feels out of place. 

Jesus said to his disciples, John 15:18, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

See, the world doesn’t understand righteousness, because it is foreign to the chaos that the darkness brings to the world. So it makes more sense to ridicule people than love them. It’s easier to cheat and steal than it is to do thing the right way. Tearing someone down in order to get ahead is the acceptable corporate way, so to elevate someone over you is countercultural. 

When you act in a right way, the world is confused. In essence, they hate what they fear, and they fear your behavior - primarily because it exposes their behavior. 

So Jesus gave this checklist of ways to act, and they are all counter to the rest of the world. 

Blessed are thePoor in Spirit. The world proves that you get ahead by building a platform for yourself. Especially in this social media “influencer” day and age, it doesn’t make sense to realize the depravity of your condition. And if I admit that I’m broken and in need of a savior, then that means you must be broken too. That’s not ok with the world. 

Blessed are those who mourn the results of their sinful nature. The world doesn’t like that, because it implies someone should be sorry for their actions, when it seems that everything should be ok as long as it doesn’t hurt someone else. There is nothing wrong with an action that doesn’t cause harm to others. 

The world doesn’t like it if I am meek. When I show constraint in how I treat others, I must think that I am better than everyone else. 

See, the entire list that Jesus gave, is so countercultural, that when we do just one of those things, people get confused and almost annoyed. Now if we did all of the list, imagine how people would feel? The light of our actions is exposing the darkness around us. Which I don’t want to give anything away, but the next part we will talk about in two days, is Jesus calling us the light of the world. He goes from saying to BE this type of person, to showing us that we are the light of the world. 

If we truly live the way Jesus instructed here in the Beatitudes, we are the light that exposes the darkness around us. And this, the darkness hates! Because it is foreign to the natural chaos of the world. 

But, it’s what Jesus expects of us. Listen to what he said, 

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

Ok, just so you know, this is my goal! I want to be persecuted because of righteousness. Not because of me, or the stupid things I do. I want to be persecuted because my actions expose so much of the darkness, the the darkness actually hates me. 

I’ve heard it said that the devil isn’t concerned with most Christians. They don’t live in a way that threatens the darkness. But when someone lives in a way that glorifies God, this terrifies the enemy. 

Jesus is the example of how threatened the enemy is by righteousness. He was beaten, and put on a cross. Yes, he planned to do this. But understand, he didn’t just come and do it as part of his plan. The plan God had was to let mankind hand him over, torture him, put him on a cross, and punish him for things he never did. This wasn’t the work of God. This was the work of the darkness hating the light. See, God didn’t cause Judas to betray Jesus. God didn’t make Herod try to kill the babies under the age of two, or force the jews to want to kill Jesus and want a murderer named Barabas to be set free in his place. That was the natural chaos of darkness - hating what is light. Just by being pure light, Jesus was naturally hated by man, and put to death. Jesus knew this would happen. 

That’s why John says in 2:24 that peel saw Jesus and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.”

It’s a humbling thing, isn't it. To know that Jesus knew that just by being righteous and pursuing light, people would hate him and put him to death. We will discuss tomorrow, it was even the pattern seen in the O.T. with the prophets. Those who live righteously, are hated. . . 

Look, I want people to like me. It feels good when others are drawn to you. But the truth is, I would rather evil and darkness hate me, than for me to be accepted by others.  I want to live in a way that promotes the light of Christ. I want others to see God’s goodness through me. And if that means they hate me because of it, so be it! Because the reward, the kingdom of heaven! 

Now here is the fun thing. When I live in the light, an when people hate me because of the righteousness I pursue, they hate me - not because of me, but because I bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. Jesus’s prayer, they kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven - starts becoming reality, when we live righteously. So darkness hates the fact that it’s kingdom is being overthrown. So the defense is to fight back. And this fight comes through hatred. 

See, I want to live so righteously, that the kingdom of heave is brought to this earth, and the kingdom of darkness is threatened. And how do I do that? By BECOMING who God designed me to be. That’s not a pastor, a husband, a father, an artist, or anything else I might seek identity inside of. I become who God designed me to be, when I learn to be poor in spirit, mournful, meek, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, and a peacemaker. 

That’s who God designed me to be fist and foremost! So I choose to pursue those things. 

How? 

I will wake up tomorrow and humble myself, I will recognize that without God’s grace, I am nothing and can do nothing. I will see others through the understanding that they too are human just like me, and they fight the same battles as I do. I will long for righteous living, making sure I put things in place to help protect me from my wandering heart. I will have mercy on those around me, and try to make peace with everyone I can. And as I do, I will see the kingdom of heaven come to this earth, as God pours his Spirit out!

You know what would be the best way for you to practice this? 

IN community. 

Find someone you can share this with. Ask them to work together with you to pursue God’s best. 

Over the next few weeks, I will be going through the Sermon on the Mount. I plan to take it slow, give us things to think about, and highlight practices we can chase after as we become this type of person. Throughout the next couple chapters of Matthew, I will refer back to these beatitudes. I want you to see how Jesus gave us a framework, and then exampled it over and over in the text. But find people who will learn this with you, and hold one another accountable. And as you do, I pray that you learn more about what you believe, and why you believe it to be true! 

Until tomorrow, I love you, and as you pursue righteous living, may God bless you!