AN ATMOSPHERE OF HOMELESSNESS
Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted because
of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when
people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you
because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for
in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
I ask you quite simply, does anybody know of a single
example in history or has anybody ever heard of anything in the present, that
is even remotely like what Jesus says here to his disciples? Have you ever
heard of anybody daring to say, “Humanly speaking, I have nothing to offer you
but the enmity of the world and the shrieking of demons. I do not give you a
seat in the cabinet, but rather deliver you to public scorn. I send you out
[just think how ridiculous, how utterly mad this is!] as sheep in the midst of
wolves.” Have you ever heard of anyone saying this and then not going on to
say, “But when you have fought your way through you will reap the fruit of your
labors; the world will finally acclaim you and sing your praises, shouting
‘You’ve won, you’ve won, despite it all!’”
No, instead Jesus says, “you will
never get away from persecution and tribulation; the servant will never be
greater than his master, and this will go on until I come again. There may be
times of prosperity – and why shouldn’t Christianity too become the fashion,
all kinds of things have become the latest craze? – and men may shout ‘Hosanna’
to you. But just wait, just wait a little while, and the cries ‘Crucify him’
and ‘Barabbas’ will follow. The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head and of
you too it will be true: here we have no lasting city. This need not
necessarily mean you will always be cast out; but believe me, whether it be merely
the slightly contemptuous tolerance with which people observe you saying your
table prayer in a restaurant, or going to church on a Sunday morning, or
whether it be some great political system that challenges your faith, believe
me, in every age to the end of time there will be those who will see to it that
you are surrounded with an atmosphere of homelessness.”
Life Can Begin Again by Helmut Thielicke, pg. 12.
