Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? (4:12-17)
It is quite important to make sure we are dealing with the right reason for the suffering that may come. It is because we follow the way of Jesus. It is because the vision of the Reign of God become flesh among us. It is because we risk loving beyond any barrier - no matter where we find a basis for the barrier. Today in our country, it doesn't take long to hear Christians talking about the suffering they must undergo. Unfortunately, it is what I would call middle-class comfort suffering. It takes place when someone at a department store doesn't say 'Merry Christmas' but rather substitutes 'Happy Holidays.' It is when a song is pulled off of a choral program list at a public school. It is when no time is offered for teacher led prayers or there can be no posting of the ten commandments in public buildings. None of this is the suffer referred to in this letter. In fact, if we think it is suffering, that thinking may be one of the greatest threats to the faith - trivialization! Today's text considers what might happen if the Christians followed the way of Jesus. It might not fly. It may be rejected. Those who would be persecuting would do so because of an intolerance for the way we demonstrate the life within God's Reign - already.
Connection: Some people try not to get caught up in the holiday rush of things. It would be just as good to not get caught up in the 'poor us' mentality that too often is heard from Christians today.
Lord, remind us of your loving ways and how we are each invited to take that love as the foundation upon which we can live and then to live from that love as though we are the ones who demonstrate this love in the world today. As you have promised, be with us when this love is not a welcome guest in the places we seek to stay. Amen.
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