Today’s Scripture Reading (August 16,
2014): Matthew 12
I am
disturbed by the number of Christians who seem to believe that they are doing well
if they are hated by the world. Yes, I know that Jesus himself told his
disciples that they would be hated by the world because they were his
followers, but too often the disdain the world holds for the Christian Church
has absolutely nothing to do with who we follow and everything to do with the
fact that we tend to act foolishly; often with selfish pride and hate for those
who are not like us.
The bottom
line is that if we bear the name of Jesus (found in the word we use to describe
ourselves - Christian) it should mean that we are becoming more like Christ –
reflecting more and more the personality of the one that we follow. I love the
way Matthew picks up on the prophecy of Isaiah to describe Jesus. The image of
Jesus according to Matthew is not that a boisterous gate crasher sticking his
nose into everyone else’s business (which is probably the predominate image
that people outside of the church have of the Christian Church.) It is of a
gentle man who is careful not further hurt whose who are injured; a man who
refuses extinguish the light in the eyes of the downtrodden. Matthew’s image of
Christ is one of a man who is willing to spend his life loving those who are
unlovable and caring for the very ones who refused to live according to the
message he proclaimed during his life. The image is of a man who is desperately
working toward the ideal of justice for everyone.
If we are to
pursue our calling as Christians, this is who we must be. We are the ones who
love those at the edges of society. We are to be the ones who love the other
regardless of the social distinctions that mark them as different from us. We
are the ones for whom the color of the skin means absolutely nothing. We love
people of other religions and belief systems because we know that they are worthy
of the love of God. Even differences in sexual orientation is not held to be a reason
for the refusing of love by those of us who carry the name of Christ – because Jesus
loved them all.
We love.
That is what it means to be a Christian. And if the world hates us because we
are daily becoming more like the one whose name we bear, then so be it. We know
that the world will hate those who willingly choose to follow Christ, who
actively choose to love instead of hate, and that’s okay. But we need to make
sure that we are hated for the right reasons; that we are hated because we are
committed to love everyone – even those who seek to harm us.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Mark 3
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