Hi folks, I hope you are good! You will have noticed that we have not been to the club for a while, at the moment they are closing the upstairs bar at 4.00pm and the other rooms aren’t really conducive for us. We will try to add it into our thinking in the spring/summer. So this week we will meet at The Brewery in Whitley Bay, meeting at 7.30. I hope you can join us.
After starting our new themes of ‘A question of’, this week we are going to do something else! Basically my head isn’t in the zone to get stuck into a topic like that. Some of them are fairly big topics and they will need a bit of prep and so because of that we will intersperse these themes with other things.
Just before Christmas we were exploring the beatitudes and we had one left to cover, and so we are grateful to Sue who has put this together.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. NIV: Matthew 5:10
Persecution is not something any of us want to experience yet many human beings actions persecute others. The situation in Iran and Afghanistan and the treatment of women, the war in the Ukraine are daily reminders that persecution is just as active today as it was when Jesus was persecuted.
Persecution is not just the big international actions, humans persecute one another on so many levels, through thoughts, words and actions. Why?! Why do we persecute one another? One root of persecution is fear. Fear of not being respected, being taken over, not having control or traditions being wiped out. Fear of not understanding, lack of knowledge, fear of rejection and what others think may drive individuals not to take action, to sit on the fence or stay silent.
When looking up the word persecution in the dictionary it says: “hostility and ill-treatment, especially on the basis of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or political beliefs”. Similar words: oppression, victimisation, maltreatment, ill-treatment, mistreatment, abuse, ill-usage, discrimination, tyranny, tyrannisation, punishment, torment, torture and pogrom.
Other informal words: witch hunt, red-baiting, harassment, hounding, harrying, badgering, teasing, bullying and molestation.
As I read this definition and all the words associated with it my heart sank with overwhelming sadness of just how common it is in the world, our daily life and within the church.
Yet there is hope given to us regarding persecution in Matthew 5:10, the Amplified Bible reads as:
“Blessed [comforted by inner peace and God’s love] are those who are persecuted for doing that which is morally right, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].”
Jesus knows all too well what it was like to be persecuted for being different, living differently and speaking differently and being with others who were seen as being different, the outcast, the leper, women, children and those seen by the Pharisees and Scribes as the lowest in society. The Pharisees and Scribes tried to bait Jesus with their questions, and were relentless in hounding him, always looking for a way to gain control over him and those that followed him.
Jesus is not without understanding of the hurt, pain and rejection that fear and persecution can cause people. And it is in this understanding that the persecuted can find some comfort, inner peace and know God’s love. Although the external maybe like a war zone or the storm of life continues to rage, it’s a sense of the inner peace of the heart and spirit, the love of God who accepts us with all our differences, which to Him there are no differences as we are all created in his image, this is where strength can be gained, this is where God is our shelter and refuge.
Yet there is a challenge in this to us all too, how do we care for one another, especially those who are persecuted because of their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or political beliefs, as well as all the other ways persecution is played out in our day to day experiences.
I think the answer is found in Matthew 22:34-40 AMP where after the Sadducees had tried to trick Jesus with questions but Jesus had silenced them. Reading between the lines, it’s almost as if they are saying nice try, but this will get Jesus and so one of them who was an expert in the Mosaic law, tested Him [Jesus] with this question:
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in law?” Jesus replied to him “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others]. The whole law and the [writing of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Questions:
What persecution have you seen so far this year? Fictional, in your own life or in the news.
Do you think fear is a route to persecution?
What else may drive persecution?
What can stop us from supporting or standing up for those who are persecuted?
How can we unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others?
Peace, Rob
Rob Wylie is the founder of BeachcomberFX and guides its leadership team. He has worked in the North East for over 20 years and has vast experience from various roles he has held. He has a passion for Fresh Expressions of Church and Pioneer Ministry as well as beer, beaches and Miniature Schnauzers.
