Persecution has been a frequent experience for God’s people throughout history. We see many examples of it in Scripture: Joseph being falsely accused by his master’s wife, the people of Israel being oppressed by the Egyptians, Daniel being accused and thrown into the lion’s den, Stephen being stoned to death. The letter to the Hebrews describes, at the end of chapter 11, what God’s people have often experienced in this world: “Some were mocked, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in dungeons. Some died by stoning, and some were sawed in half; others were killed with the sword. Some went about in skins of sheep and goats, hungry and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world. They wandered over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground” (vv. 36-38, NLT).
This sort of thing should come as no surprise. Jesus clearly predicted that His people would experience persecution, that some would even think they were serving God by killing them. He said: “When the world hates you, remember that it hated me before it hated you. The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don’t. I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you! The people of the world will hate you because you belong to me, for they don’t know God who sent me” (John 15:18-21, NLT).
Those who belong to Jesus Christ are not part of this world. We still live here, but we live here as strangers and pilgrims, with an awareness that our true home is elsewhere. There’s a real sense in which we are at odds with this present world, not with the people in the world, but with the spiritual powers behind all the godlessness and wickedness that we see. John, the apostle, said: “We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the power and control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19, NLT). We’re aware of the conflict, we’re aware that we don’t belong here, that this world and we are headed in different directions. And the world also knows this, which is why true Christianity is so often mocked and misrepresented in our culture. Why does our society seem so bent on destruction? How do you explain the rapid state of spiritual decline in America over the past generation? What is behind the current “culture of death,” with its commitment to abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia? It’s possible, and worthwhile, to look at the evidence and trace some of the things that have brought us to our current situation. Many of these things have been at work for centuries, eroding our confidence in the very existence of a supernatural world. But ultimately, the answer to the question, “how did we get here?” is this: “We know that... the world around us is under the power and control of the evil one.”
In a world like this, God’s people will often be subjected to persecution. Persecution is not something that happened in the past. Many of God’s people throughout the world today are subjected to horrible suffering at the hands of those who hate them because they belong to Jesus Christ. They can say, as the psalmist says, “They have greatly oppressed me from my youth.” But the reality of persecution is not the whole story, so it’s important not to stop there. The psalmist goes on, “They have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory over me.” Here it is in the New Living Translation: “From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never been able to finish me off.” Persecution has been a frequent experience for God’s people, but the persecutors have always found that they are up against more than they expected. They set out to destroy a religious system, or decided to suppress a group of unpopular people, but then they found themselves fighting against the Living God Himself.
Notice, first of all, that this persecution hasn’t been a half-hearted effort. It has been severe and prolonged: “They have greatly oppressed me from my youth.” The psalmist is not speaking about his own experience. He’s speaking on behalf of Israel. “They have greatly oppressed me from my youth–let Israel say.” He himself may not have experienced the worst of it, but he’s part of God’s kingdom and he shares in the suffering of God’s people. He’s not saying that persecution is always going on everywhere. Satan resorts to different tactics in his assault on the Church. Sometimes he tries to draw us into the world by seducing us. But at other times he prompts his followers to resort to violence. Persecution, at least in its more violent forms, is not always his method. But it’s been such a frequent thing that he can say, on Israel’s behalf, that it’s been happening since her youth, or all her life. And this has also been true for the Church.
This persecution has not only been prolonged over many centuries, it has also been severe. “Plowmen have plowed my back and made their furrows long.” They’re being flogged, but the flogging is being done in a very systematic, cruel way, like a farmer carefully plowing a field, digging up long, straight rows. It’s not a half-hearted effort. The persecutors are intent on destruction. They’re like Saul the Persecutor, before he met the Lord on the Damascus road: “Saul was uttering threats with every breath. He was eager to destroy the Lord’s followers” (Acts 9:1, NLT). Christians in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, had planned an Easter crusade several years ago with an evangelist from Germany, but at the last minute the Sudanese government overruled their plans. So they gathered in All Saints Cathedral to pray and to prepare a letter of protest to the government. While they were there the police, using tear gas, stormed the church and arrested 100 people. But they weren’t satisfied with that. They went on to flog fifty-three of the believers, including several women and children, and then sent the men to prison for 20 days. They weren’t satisfied with breaking up the meeting. They wanted to destroy them. “Plowmen have plowed my back, and made their furrows long.”
But then, notice that despite their strenuous efforts, the persecutors haven’t been able to achieve their aim: “they have not gained the victory over me.” Their persecution hasn’t accomplished what they were after. “But the Lord is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.” God has intervened on behalf of His people. The persecutors have found that they were fighting against more than they anticipated. Saul is a classic case. He had been breathing out slaughter, determined to destroy the church, thinking that in doing so he was serving God, but then as he drew near to Damascus: “a brilliant light from heaven suddenly beamed down upon him! He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:3-4). Saul’s teacher, the Pharisee Gamaliel, had warned the Jewish leaders that they might find themselves fighting against God. And Saul discovered that this is exactly what he had been doing. All his destructive energy had been directed against God, his creator, the one on whom he was dependent for his next breath.
Several years ago I saw a movie with Steve Martin in which he played a faith healer. I think the title was “Leap of Faith.” The character he plays is not a real faith healer. He’s a con artist, who is taking advantage of people. He doesn’t believe the things he’s preaching. The whole thing is a scam, and he’s making a good living at it. But near the end of the movie something happens. Someone is genuinely healed, and he suddenly discovers that he’s in over his head. He discovers that he’s been trifling with things he doesn’t understand. This has often been the experience of those who’ve persecuted God’s people. They discover that they are trifling with things they don’t understand, that they are in over their heads. They’ve discovered that they are fighting against the Living God (and many persecutors, like Saul, have been converted in this way). “But the Lord is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.” Eugene Peterson says: “The people of God are tough. For long centuries those who belong to the world have waged war against the way of faith, and they have yet to win. They have tried everything, but none of it has worked. They have tried persecution and ridicule, torture and exile, but the way of faith has continued healthy and robust” (A Long Obedience, p. 122).
The persecution doesn’t always involve physical suffering. In 1977 I was traveling with a group of OM’ers from Minneapolis to Philadelphia. We stopped along the way to spend the night with some Christian university students, and while we were walking from the car to their apartment, several other students started yelling obscenities at us, just because we were with them. But often it’s more subtle than this. God’s people are often excluded from job advancement, or merely treated as second-class citizens because of their faith. These are all just less violent manifestations of the same problem: “The people of the world will hate you because you belong to me, for they don’t know God who sent me”. J.I. Packer tells of a friend of his who had been denied academic advancement because he had clashed with church dignitaries over the gospel. He had stood firm for the truth, and as a result was unable to experience the degree of outward success he might have had otherwise. Here’s how he responded: “But it doesn’t matter... for I’ve known God and they haven’t” (Knowing God, p. 20). Their oppression hadn’t achieved what they were after: “they have not gained the victory over me.”
The last thing to notice here is in verses 5-8. Not only have the persecutors failed to achieve their goals; they themselves are headed for ruin: “May all who hate Zion be turned back in shame. May they be like grass on the roof, which withers before it can grow.” The psalmist doesn’t say: “may all those who hate me be turned back in shame.” He’s not speaking about personal enemies here, but about those who are the declared enemies of God’s people. It’s not just that they hate God’s people. In fact, that’s not the main problem at all. The problem is that they hate God. And since they can’t do anything against Him, they persecute His people: “The people of the world will hate you because you belong to me, for they don’t know God who sent me.... they saw all that I did and yet hated both of us–me and my Father” (John 15:21, 24, NLT).
These verses emphasize that persecution is temporary. Those who hate God and who seek to destroy His people will not be allowed to persist forever in their hatred. They are being thwarted from achieving their aims now, and in the future they will be brought to a complete stop. “Why do the nations rage? Why do the people waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they cry, ‘and free ourselves from this slavery.’ But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury” (Psalm 2:1-5, NLT). They won’t be allowed to persist forever in their destructive course.
The psalmist prays: “May they be like grass on the roof, which withers before it can grow.” The houses in Palestine had flat roofs covered with a protective layer of clay, and often grass would sprout, especially after a rain. But the grass wasn’t worth anything. There wasn’t enough soil there to produce a crop, and the grass would wither very quickly after it sprouted. During harvest time, workers would greet one another with a blessing. Here’s an example, from the book of Ruth “While [Ruth] was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. ‘The Lord be with you!’ he said. ‘The Lord bless you!’ the harvesters replied” (Ruth 2:4, NLT). So the psalmist is just reinforcing the fact that this grass is not good for anything. People won’t be blessing one another because of a bountiful harvest of roof grass. Here’s Eugene Peterson again: “The life of the world that is opposed or indifferent to God is barren and futile. It is like plowing a field, thinking you are tramping all over God’s people and cutting his purposes to ribbons, but unaware that long ago your plow was disengaged. It is naively thinking you might get harvest of grain from that shallow patch of dirt on your rooftop. The way of the world is peppered with brief enthusiasms, like that grass upon the roof, springing up so wonderfully and without effort, but as quickly withering. The way of the world is cataloged with the proud, God-defying purposes, unharnessed from eternity, and therefore worthless and futile” (A Long Obedience, p. 125). Those who hate God and who have set out to destroy His people are both doomed for failure and headed for destruction. “The life of the world that is opposed or indifferent to God is barren and futile.”
The letter to the Hebrews was written to Christians who were suffering persecution and were on the verge of throwing in the towel. The author encourages them with these words: “And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven. Think about all he endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him, so that you don’t become weary and give up” (Hebrews 12:1b-3, NLT). As we cry out to God, telling Him how we really feel when we see His people suffering unjustly in this evil world, we do so in the light of Jesus’ example, who endured because of the hope that was ahead of Him. And He gives us grace to go beyond our desire for vengeance and to follow Him in saying, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” If they hate us, it’s only because they hate Him. And because they are blinded by the god of this world, they don’t understand what they’re doing when they fulfill his plans.
In communion, we’re reminded of our oneness, in Christ, with all believers throughout the world. We are all part of the same body. Each time we celebrate, let’s do so with an awareness that Christians in many parts of the world are following Jesus in suffering for the sake of the gospel. They are, in Paul’s words, “completing what remains of Christ’s sufferings for his body, the church” (Colossians 1:24). They’re suffering as members of the body of Christ. Persecution continues to be a reality, but it will not continue forever. And even as it continues, it will fail miserably to achieve its aims. “They have greatly oppressed me from my youth–let Israel say–they have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory over me.” God’s people continue to suffer for their faith, but “our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NLT)
No comments:
Post a Comment