Getting Personal

Introduction

How flexible are you physically. I’ve never been able to “touch my toes” …at lease without bending my knees, and pretty much everything else. I’d like to be flexible, but I’m pretty sure that ship has sailed.

How flexible are you, we’ll call it personally. Life seldom goes as planned, how well are you at reacting appropriately and constructively so that you roll with it and are not thrown by it?

Hopefully, even for those of us for whom the ship of physical flexibility has sailed, we are, and can become, personally flexible. We can learn to stretch. Why?

Revisiting the word blessed, there is another nuance of meaning that may be useful. The word does mean to be enlarged and pronounced happy. It also means to be lengthened—think, stretched—and thus improved. Several of the beatitudes stretch us a bit, but they improve us in the process.

Transition

And speaking of stretching, Jesus ends the preamble to His manifesto with a statement that is sure to stretch us.

Illumination

Matthew 5:11–12 NKJV

11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Bad Reaction

This blessing goes from “those” to “you”, it is more specific, more pointed, and even more directed at Jesus’ followers.

The reaction is more specific as well: “they” those who are not Jesus followers. There is a definite division emerging between citizens of two very different kingdoms.

The reactions Jesus mentions here are:

Revile - a word often translated “reproach” means to defame. Think Depp-vs-Heard, that word came up a lot as at least one of them knowingly made false statements about the other with the intent of making themselves look better and the other look worse.

Persecute - means to literally drive you away, push you out, or exclude you. This is the same word that figured prominently last week. For me, I think last week’s message may have been the most important message in this series because it explored the fact that we don’t fit in—and won’t fit in—with our broader culture.

Evil - they will say all kinds of evil against us. Evil here is a word that carries the ideas of active, intentional, malignant, and having a bad effect. The underlying word is not the only word translated evil, but it is stronger word.

Falsely - means what you think it does: lying. Whether originating a claim that is false, or just repeating a claim that is false, the verbal abuse they perpetrate is a reaction to something that is not true.

My sake - all of this negativity has a singular specific cause: Jesus. If we follow Jesus, we don’t follow the masses of this world’s kingdom and rule, and they will react against us.

Great Reward

Frankly, we need some good news about now.

Our Reaction

This is definitely not our instinctive reaction. We need to decide ahead of time how we will react and then follow through.

Rejoice - beyond simply choosing to have joy, this word carries the idea of welcoming or embracing. Having joy in the face of their reaction is tough, welcoming and embracing it is a whole other level.

Exceedingly Glad - speaking of next level, this carries the sense of exult and rejoice greatly.

Our Reward

Reward - the word carries the idea of wages or hire. This is not grace, this is payment for services rendered

Heaven - this was more foreign in Jesus’ day than it is in ours. In His day, many people were paid daily, immediately after work was done or services were rendered. We expect to get paid at some point in the future, not immediately, and that is what Jesus was promising: payment in the future.

The fact that there is a paycheck coming should enable us to press on with the difficulties of our “job”, namely embracing persecution. But there is more...

Good Company

You are not alone. And you are not insignificant.

When we look at, and look up to, the heroes in the Bible who carried God’s message into a hostile world and suffered for it, we need to realize that we, when we face persecution, step into their ranks. We may not think of it that way. And other well-meaning Christians may not see it that way, but Jesus does. And that is what really matters.

Conclusion

In some ways, this is part 2 of The Outsiders, but is more pointed. We need to realize that the citizens of this world hate our King and will react badly when we follow Him instead of them. More than being OK with their reaction, we need to embrace it as a part of embracing Him, remembering when it becomes difficult that He will embrace and reward us for the difficulties we endure for Him.

It is not easy news, but it is good news. Knowing it does not make it easier, it will, however, make it better.

Application

Recognize the persecution you do face, even if it seems limited. Prepare for the persecution you could face, even if it seems limitless. Jesus has promised the reward will be appropriate for the work we do to endure.

Oh, and stretch!