Proper
17A 2014
Father Adam Trambley
Aug 31, 2014 St.John’s Sharon
This summer has seen significant persecution of Christians
in Iraq. In Mosul, Iraq’s second largest
city, Christians have been given the option of converting, fleeing, paying a
tax, or being killed.[1] Most have fled. This past June 15 was the first Sunday in at
least 1600 years that mass was not celebrated in Mosul. [2] Mar Louis Raphael Sako, the Chaldean Catholic
Archbishop of Baghdad said that this is “perhaps the darkest and most difficult
period in (the Church’s) recent history.”
Comparing the life of Iraqi Christians to that of the disciples in the
midst of the raging storm while Jesus slept in the boat, he said, “Despite
everything, we do not despair. We are
invited and pressed to awaken Christ, to take advantage of our faith and to
continue in a calm sea.”[3]
Jesus said, “If any want to be my followers, let them deny
themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Persecution of Christians is not limited to Syria and
Iraq. In many parts of the world,
Christians, and especially Christian pastors, face persecution and death. Sometimes, like in China, pastors are
imprisoned on trumped up charges.
Sometimes, like in parts of Africa, military organizations, often with
government ties, use all manner of terror against Christians and Christian
villages. Sometimes, as was the case with
a Yemeni woman recently burned to death, family members or friends kill
converts to Christianity out of a warped sense of honor and shame[4]. Sometimes, as is it the case in much of
Palestine where Arab Christians are a double minority, the persecution includes
strong economic elements, where non-Christians refuse to do business with
Christians, forcing them to leave.
In many places, persecuted Christians have made the
difficult decision to flee their homes, go to jail, or even face death. They have decided to take up their cross and
follow Jesus, certain that if they lose their life for Jesus’ sake they will
find it. If they die with Christ, they
will be raised with Christ.
Now I want to make clear a couple of things that aren’t
helpful as we talk about following our crucified Messiah. The first is lying and exaggeration about
persecution, usually to make a political point.
Some of you may have seen or heard about images flying around the
internet and social media of beheaded children or children with guns to their
heads. These photos are at least a few
years old, and are not from the current crisis in Iraq[5]. Obviously what is happening in Iraq is evil,
and Christians and non-Christians are being terrorized and killed. But false exaggerations do nothing to help
those targeted, and are mostly used to manipulate those who seeing them.
Also not helpful are those who claim that Christians in the
United States are facing religious persecution.
Certainly we live in an increasingly pluralistic society whose first
amendment both guarantees religious liberty and protects us from any particular
group of religious taking too many liberties with those who disagree with
them. We may or may not agree with any
particular restrictions about where and how prayer happens in public or various
implications of government health care or fiscal policy. But we are free to gather with whoever we
want, whenever we want to pray, to read our Bibles, and to engage all the
disciplines and practices of our Christian faith. Not having every political decision go our
way is not the same as being persecuted, and we demean the witness of our
martyrs past and present when we cry wolf.
So if God has blessed us with life in a place where our
lives are not in danger for being a Christian, what does it mean for us to deny
ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus?
How do we lose our lives for Jesus’ sake to find them?
To begin with, we might think about those folks who catalog
the unfortunate results of own choices, or the annoying traits of their family
members, and, sighing audibly, put their hand to their forehead and gasp, “I
guess that’s just my cross to bear.”
What Jesus is saying has nothing to do with that. Having a martyr complex does not make someone
a martyr.
Part of taking up our cross means standing with our
persecuted brothers and sisters by praying for them, learning about their
situation, and providing whatever support we can. Groups like Voice of the Martyrs at persecution.com
is a good source of reliable information.
At the same time, losing our lives for Jesus’ sake means to
live in such a way that we care more about advancing Jesus’ cause than our own
agendas. It means making the difficult
little decisions day in and day out that choose love over callousness and
apathy, that choose generosity over fear and greed, and that choose helping
others over keeping score or demanding what is mine. Losing our lives for Jesus’ sake means that
we form habits that erode away the selfish parts of our own egos to let the
mind of Christ shine through our lives.
It means that if we were accused of being a Christian, our everyday
lives would show enough evidence to provide a clear conviction.
We could look to any number of places in scripture or the
great spiritual writings for help on the details of this life, but the portion
of Paul’s letter to the Romans we heard today is as good a place as any to
start. I’ll just hit a few highlights
and suggest that you take your bulletin home and re-read this passage during
the week. Look back on your day and see
how you lived into Paul’s teaching. Then
intentionally decide on one or two things you can do the next day that would be
better. These are the little steps that
lead us into the fullness of life in Christ.
Let love be genuine
and a little later Paul writes love one
another with mutual affection. We’re
supposed to have real relationships with people that start at the core of our
heart and move out. Sometimes that’s
very hard, but I’ve actually seen examples in this church of people struggling
with those in neighboring pews, who decided they wanted to love them instead of
resenting them. They prayed for them, and
worked at intentionally being nice and talking to them, and now they are
important, loving and supporting brothers and sisters in Christ. Do the work
and don’t write anybody off.
Hate what is evil,
hold fast to what is good. We all
have choices, and we should pay enough attention to figure out what is really
good and go for it. Just because
something is in front of us doesn’t mean we have to pick it up, literally or
figuratively.
Outdo one another in
showing honor. Can you imagine what
our families or our churches or our communities would be like if we tried to
outdo one another in showing honor? Instead of angling to get the honor or the
stuff we want or think we are entitled to, we could look for ways to lift up
those around us, and not just a little bit, but in an outdoing kind of way. It might be like living in some sort of
over-the-top British comedy about ultra-chivalrous knights, but who wouldn’t
want to live in that kind of world. Of
course, if we act that way, we will be living in that world, and eventually
those around us will be influenced, as well.
Hard to imagine a better antidote to divorce and family problems or to
church conflicts than outdoing one another in showing honor.
Do not lag in zeal, be
ardent in spirit…rejoice in hope, be
patient in suffering. These instructions
all have to do with our inner attitudes and the tapes playing in our
heads. Keep focused on what is
important, and tell ourselves about the power and life and the goodness of
God. Remember that Jesus suffered and he
is with us in our suffering. Work to
encourage others.
Serve the
Lord…persevere in prayer…contribute to the needs of the saints; extend
hospitality to strangers. These
instructions aren’t complicated, even if they can be difficult at times. As Nike once said, “Just do it.”
Bless those who
persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Then later he continues Do not repay anyone evil for evil and Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if
they are thirsty; give them something to drink…” Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good. Jesus
said the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount.
When people are mean to us, we don’t get to be mean back. Just because we are hurt doesn’t mean we get
to hurt others. Just because we could
take advantage of people who by some measures may deserve it, we are instead
supposed to go out of our way to help them when they are weak or hungry or
thirsty. They may feel like we are
heaping hot coals on their heads, but that is the only vengeance we get to
have. Another way of thinking about this
is that all our strength comes from love alone.
We are powerful because we are self-disciplined in loving others, and
not because of force, violence, money, status or prestige. If we are relating to people in any way except
love, we have put down Jesus’ cross and picked up a spear to walk with the
Roman soldiers.
Rejoice with those who
rejoice; weep with those who weep.
Part of loving people is listening to them and being with them where
they are.
I’ll close with these instructions from Paul about how to be
people who can live together in community.
Live in harmony with one another;
do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than
you are….take thought of what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, as far as it depends on
you, live peaceably with all.
