Sometimes I get the wrong idea about persecution.
If someone disagrees with me, if things don’t go my way, it’s easy to feel like I’m being picked on. I’m not sure that’s what Jesus had in mind.
“Blessed are the peacemakers” referred to those willing to take the risk of actively making peace by interrupting injustice. Frequently, interrupting injustice comes with a certain amount of risk. Perhaps that’s why, in the very next verse, he says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness…”
Perhaps it’s not an accident that those two ideas are linked together. Peacemaking and seeking righteousness may not be the path to social popularity. It is, however, the path to the kingdom.
Back to my opening thought – this DOESN’T mean I’m being persecuted whenever someone disagrees with me.
Am I truly being a peacemaker? Am I interrupting injustice when I encounter it? Am I speaking up for the vulnerable folks I know?
Just between you and me, here’s something I wonder about – Am I hiding behind our support of the kids at the Home of Hope?
Am I pretending that since we are supporting these kids, we’re doing enough? Do I think this work somehow lets me off the hook for interrupting injustice when I encounter it in another places?
I don’t think Jesus would talk to me about “doing enough.” I think he would ask me if I’m doing what I can with what I have – and trusting him for the outcome.
And I think he’d remind me “… my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
I don’t think Jesus wants you and me to feel guilty for not doing enough. I also think he wants us to take him seriously: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”
Both can be true… lots of conversation with Jesus required.