In a recent article for the church newsletter I wrote that when I speak or write about suffering, I sometimes feel like Bill Gates speaking about the hardships of poverty, or Britney Spears discussing the joys of modesty. I just don’t know that I’ve experienced it all that profoundly. (Not that I’m complaining about that.)

Well, I’m not much more familiar with the harsher realities of persecution.  Aside from the neighbor who’s continually snubbed me ever since he discovered I’m a Christian (and far worse — a pastor!), I must say that I haven’t been greatly persecuted.

Perhaps that’s because (as we occasionally say in a prayer at Cornerstone) at times I have hardly make it known that I am His. 

But when the king spoke his beatitudes from the mountain, that’s where he goes next.  He moves from peace–making (see the June 17, 2008 post) to persecution.  He knew that in this world his followers would occasionally face hostility.  Some, having rejected Christ themselves, will not waste an opportunity to “revile,” “persecute,” and “utter all kinds of evil against [the followers of Christ] falsely” (Matthew 5.11).

And how did Jesus want us to meet those moments?  Matthew 5.12:  “Rejoice and be glad.”

Really? 

Yes.  As John Stott writes, “We are not to retaliate like an unbeliever, nor to sulk like a child, nor to lick our wounds in self–pity like a dog, nor just grin and bear it like a Stoic, still less to pretend we enjoy it like a masochist.”

We are to rejoice and be glad like Christians.  Jesus meant this!  (See how strongly he expresses it in Luke 6.22–23!)

In the Matthew passage (quoted below) Jesus seems to give three reasons for such a counterintuitive command.  Rejoice at persecution, first of all, because “your reward is great in heaven.” That is to say, though you may lose all things here, Jesus promises to restore all of it (and infinitely more!) when he makes all things new.

The second reason to rejoice at persecution that comes to us “for righteousness’ sake” (Mt.5.10) and “on [Christ’s] account” (Mt.5.11) is because it is a mark of the authenticity of your faith.  As Jesus says here, “for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” As uncomfortable as it is, persecution is often an indication of Christian faithfulness.  “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (Jesus in John 15.18).

Thirdly, we can rejoice when people slander, revile, snub or exclude us because we are suffering this, as Jesus says, “on my account” (v.11).  If you are slighted by men because of your loyalty to Christ and his truth, rejoice.  Be assured that God sees.  He knows.

Oh, to have the instincts of the apostles, who — after being beaten for the name of Christ — “left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts 5.41).

But still… this is a difficult word.  So we’ll pick it up again next time we return to our “life” category.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when others 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 so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Matthew 5.10–12

In our faith studies, we’ve been considering different aspects of the fall into sin.  One biblical way of thinking about sin is summed up in the word bondage. In the Bible (see Romans 8, for example) sin brings bondage. 

“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
—Romans 8.20,21

But what does this bondage mean?  To whom are we in bondage?

In the Bible, from Genesis 3 onward, to sin is to serve Satan.  And to serve Satan is to be enslaved to Satan.  Here’s the deal:  Outside of service to the Lord God, there is only bondage.  When we refuse to find our freedom in obeying God, we enter into bondage/slavery to Satan… with the rest of the world.

And that’s the primary way the word “world” is used in the Bible.  To be “worldly” is to be in the power of sin.  It is to be distorted and perverted along with the rest of the sin–infested creation. 

Whenever human sinfulness bends and distorts God’s good creation, it is there that we find “the world.” As we’ve said a few different ways in this series, “worldliness” is the spoiledness, the rottenness, the caricature, the distortion of God’s good creation. 

John 18:  My kingdom [Christ says] is not of this world.
Romans 12:  Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world.
James 1:  Religion is this: to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
2nd Peter:  people only escape the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
James 4:  Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?

To be in the “world” is to be in the power of the parasite of sin (see the June 23 blog post) that is distorting and perverting and spoiling God’s good creation.

But follow me on this — because this is where many of us need to sharpen our thinking so that we might think more Christianly and Biblically…

Christians have a dangerous tendency to think and speak of “worldliness” as a compartment for the “secular” things in life, over against the “sacred” things in life.

So… officework, newspapers, sports, business, yardwork, shopping, politics, playing cards, reading a novel, watching a movie, dancing, and so forth… these things are all “worldly.” While going to church, praying, doing theology, witnessing, and fellowshipping with other believers is NOT “worldly.”

But this is exactly wrong.

We can (and often do!) engage in all of those “Christian” things in a worldly manner.  And through Christ we can engage in all of those “secular” things in a holy manner.

The question that divides the two is this:  Are you in the power of the parasite (sin)?  Are in you in bondage to Satan?  Are you ensnared by these perversions and distortions of God’s good creation?

Or, through Jesus Christ, have you been freed to enjoy and serve God appropriately in all of his wide, good creation?

Once again, many of the church’s children (and adults!) came together to give us another great Children’s Bible Camp!  This year the children put on three original plays that were drawn from three of Jesus’ parables.  The overall title of the camp this year was “Riddles of the Kingdom.”

The parable was one of Jesus’ favorite teaching techniques (see Matthew 13.34), and — as with all other things — Jesus was the absolute master of the parable.  Parables are fascinating.  They are kind of like puzzles (or riddles) that you must really enter into before you can begin to truly figure them out. 

The children treated the parable of the prodigal son, the parable of the wedding feast, and the parable of the good Samaritan.  Well done, children!  Not only have you gained a deeper understanding of these three riddles of the Kingdom, but you’ve encouraged us in the truth of the Kingdom as well.  May the Lord keep us all walking steadfastly in his truth until life everlasting! 

In our last entry in this category — “The Story” — we looked at some of Martin Luther’s colorful sayings.  That was June 3, if you wanted to revisit that post.  Today we’ll enjoy some more Luther…

On Human Nature
“Nothing is easier than sinning.”

“Human nature is like a drunk peasant.  LIft him into the saddle on one side, over he topples on the other side.”

“God uses lust to impel man to marriage, ambition to office, avarice to earning, and fear to faith.”

“Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no reason that we should let them nest in our hair.”

“A lie is like a snowball.  The longer it is rolled on the ground the larger it becomes.”

On Preaching
“When I preach I regard neither the doctors nor magistrates, of whom I have above forty in my congregation; I have all my eyes on the servant maids and on the children.  And if the learned men are not well pleased with what they hear, well, the door is open.”

“It is not necessary for a preacher to express all his thoughts in one sermon.  A preacher should have three principles:  first, to make a good beginning, and not spend time with many words before coming to the point; secondly, to say that which belongs to the subject in chief, and avoid strange and foreign thoughts; thirdly, to stop at the proper time.”

On Church Practices
“A simple layman armed with Scripture is to be believed above a pope or a cardinal without it.”

“What lies there are about relics!  One claims to have a feather from the wing of the angel Gabriel, and the Bishop of Mainz has a flame from Moses’ burning bush.  And how does it happen that eighteen apostles are buried in Germany when Christ only had twelve?”

“Farewell to those who want an entirely pure and purified church.  This is plainly no church at all.”

On Music
“The devil should not be allowed to keep all the best tunes for himself.”

“I have no use for cranks who despise music, because it is a gift of God.  Next after theology, I give to music the highest place and the greatest honor.”

You‘re probably somewhat familiar with the idea behind the yin and the yang symbol.  Part of the idea is that good and evil necessarily coexist.  They always have coexisted, still do coexist, and always will coexist. 

The Bible teaches something radically different.

Ponder these words from a Christian theologian:  “Nothing about sin is its own; all its power, persistence, and plausibility are stolen goods.  Sin is not really an entity but a spoiler of entities, not an organism but a leech on organisms.”

That‘s right.  The message of the Bible is that sin is not necessarily inherent in this world.  Nor is sin necessarily inherent in the human condition.  Prior to the rebellion we read about in Genesis 3 there was no corruption, no stain, and no sin in all of creation. 

The goodness of creation preceded (and is therefore distinct from) the fall into sin and all of its effects.  Evil can in no way be blamed on creation.  Evil can only be blamed on the fall.

Think about what this mean… No matter how closely sin and “the stuff of creation” may be intertwined in human experience, sin is never to be identified with the stuff of creation.  Sin always remains distinct from the stuff of creation.

Let’s consider some examples:  Prostitution (and other sexual aberrations) do not eliminate the goodness of sexuality.  Political abusiveness cannot wipe out the God–ordained character of government and the state.  Blasphemous art cannot obliterate the creational legitimacy of beauty and art itself.

Do you see what sin is doing in each of those examples?  Sin is something like a parasite.  Sin cannot exist by itself; it has to feed off of something good in God’s creation.  Sin is an uninvited guest that has to keep tapping its host for sustenance. 

In C.S. Lewis’ wonderful book The Screwtape Letters, the demon Screwtape admits that “Pleasure is God’s invention, not ours.  He made the pleasures — all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one.  All we can do is encourage the humans to take the pleasures which God has produced at times, in ways or in degrees which he has forbidden.”

In another place Lewis wrote this:  “Goodness is, so to speak, itself.” What he means by this is that goodness is original, independent, and constructive while sin is derivative, dependent, and destructive.  “Goodness is, so to speak, itself:  badness is only spoiled goodness.  And there must be something good first before it can be spoiled.”

That’s the scenario… sin is a parasite on the goodness of creation.  It is not itself a part of creation.  Evil is a completely other entity that introduces itself to creation and feeds off of it.  It doesn’t naturally fit or belong there!

This is an incredibly important point if you want to properly understand the Bible and Christian thought.  Every other religion / philosophy / worldview will in some way fall into the trap of identifying some aspect of creation as THE VILLAIN.  (And sometimes even as THE SAVIOR.)

The Bible is utterly unique in rejecting that view.  Only the Bible keeps creation and sin distinct.

Only the Bible shows us that sin is really just the ugly distortion and perversion of something God created to be good.  Sin is a caricature of the good.

Human beings after the fall — though they are now travesties of humanity, as God originally created humanity — are still human beings, which God originally pronounced as “Very Good!” Now we are just spoiled human beings.

A humanistic school that utterly rejects God is still a school.  Knowledge and education are still good.  But it’s a “spoiled good” now.

A hurtful relationship (say, with your mother or father) is still a relationship, and relationships are good.  But this one, sadly, is a spoiled good.

A crooked business is still a business.  Atheistic culture is still culture.  Ungodly thinking is still thinking.

In every case, what something “still is” points to the remaining goodness of creation.  But it’s now been spoiled by the fall.  It’s been twisted and warped by the parasite of sin.

We need Someone to attach the parasite to Himself and take it all away from us.