Weekly Devotional

When, in 1973, the Gallup organization gathered statistics on the religious preferences of Americans, they discovered that of those who provided a response, 87% described themselves as Christian, 6% as belonging to other faiths, and 5% had no preferred faith.  Fifty years later, in 2023 (the last year for which we have an annual average) the Christian percentage was down to 68%, non-Christian was at 7%, and ‘no preference’ was up to 22%.   Similarly, in 1965 (the first year the following question was asked), 70% said that faith was very important to them (in 2023 it was down to 45%), 22% said it was fairly important to them (2023, 26%) and only 7% said it was not important to them (that number shot up to 28% in 2023).  How are people of faith to respond?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus (in his Farewell Discourse) says to his disciples: “… because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts” (John 16:6).  What Jesus had just told them (15:18-16:4a) was that he would soon leave them, after undergoing suffering, death, and resurrection.  To which he added words of warning: his disciples would also face rejection and persecution.  No wonder they were sorrowful!

Here is a catalog of rejection and persecution:

1. Families were, and would continue to be, divided over faith in Jesus. One member of the family may accept the revelation of God in Jesus, while other would not.  Such a division might (just might) lead to an agree to disagree sort of live and let live  More likely, it would lead to expulsion from the immediate family and from the wider network of relationships (community and kin).  This is what Jesus spoke of in Matthew 10:34-36: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.   For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.”
2. In that same chapter in Matthew, Jesus describes the rejection that his followers would likewise experience in the synagogues and towns of the region: “I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves… for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues,  and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the gentiles…. Sibling will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all because of my name” (10:16-22a)
3. The horrors of the persecution of the Church by the Romans would be worse than believers could ever imagine. It is of these horrors that Revelation 7:9f speaks:

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands…. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!”  … Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.   For this reason they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.  They will hunger no more and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat, for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Compared to all that our forebears went through (and continue to go through elsewhere in the world even today!) being a Christian in a land such as ours is no great hardship.  True, being a majority and having the blessing of the entire apparatus of the state was really quiet nice, for a time.  However, Jesus did not call us to power or privilege in national affairs or world politics.  People of faith were to be ‘strangers in a strange land’ (to borrow a phrase from Exodus 2:22).  That is what is lies behind the concept that the World is not our true home.  Or, as Hebrews 13:14 puts it: “For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.”

In the face of all that the world can throw at us, we believers could fool ourselves into thinking that we are at war with the world.  In fact, a disciple tried that very approach, quite literally, and was scolded by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane: “… Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs…  At once he [Judas] came up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him… Suddenly one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear.  Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:47f).

What model, then, does Scripture give to us as Jesus’ followers, in the face of loss, fear, persecution, and sorrow?  Well, here are a few examples:

1. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth…  Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy… Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God… Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:3f).
2. You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you… if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also, and if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, give your coat as well, and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you (Matthew 5:38f).
3. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven… For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (Matthew 5:43f).
4. Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us (Romans 5:1f).
5. … they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.  [The magistrates] had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…  (Acts 16:19f).
6. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:24).
7. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  As for the things that you have learned and received and heard and noticed in me, do them, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:4f).

You may notice a pattern developing here.  In these very familiar passages, the Christian model of love, grace, peace, kindness, gentleness, humility and above all love, is presented to us.  Notice what is conspicuously missing: anger, power, retribution, ‘giving as good as you get’ are nowhere to be seen.  There is no sense here of aligning oneself with the powers of the world.  There is nothing which suggests that there is a divine focus on arithmetic – God seems not to give Gallup a second thought.

And in the Gospel text assigned for the Day of Pentecost (John 15:27; 16:4b-15) we discover the ‘why’ and the ‘why not’ of the aforementioned model of the godly life.  The Holy Sprit (the Paraclete, our legal defender, the one who stands alongside us) will come from God the Father.  Jesus is the first Paraclete.  After his ascension, Jesus will not leave his people without the divine presence.  The Holy Spirit will be sent to teach the believers, and to remain them of all that Jesus told them.  The Spirit will expose the world to the truth (in fact, to the very heart of truth – “all truth”) concerning their sin (here meaning the refusal to accept God’s revelation in Jesus); righteousness (God’s vindication in and through Jesus), and judgement (that death has been destroyed).  Notice, that the world has not been destroyed, but instead the “ruler of this world has been condemned.”  Jesus’ suffering will become his disciples’ suffering, but they are to endure in faith; they must not stumble, nor should they be sorrowful – for in such sorrow they focus too much on themselves, and on their loss, and not on what God in Christ Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is accomplishing! It is at Pentecost that the Church discovers a life-giving truth:  God is in control; we are not alone; it is not all down to us; continue to be faithful in love.  In other words, God’s got this!