Spurned and Despised7/9/2024 ![]() Luke 6:22-23 ~ “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” As we considered yesterday the pursuit of popularity, today we will look at the willingness of a Christian to pursue Christ no matter the cost. It is a difficult thing to be spurned and despised. Our basic nature is to find a place of acceptance, belonging with the desire to be wanted. We look for those groups and associations that will not only cater to our needs, but receive us with a genuine welcome. But our LORD, in our text for today, pronounces the blessing in just the opposite direction—when we are hated, excluded and reviled. Very few would put that on their introductory packet to their fellowship: “come to our church where we are hated by the world.” For those who are driven by popularity, it would never do. But consider the reasons why such animosity is leveled against you. The text indicates it clearly: “on account of the Son of Man.” And that is where every believer must live—on account of the Son of Man. So, with the question lingering in the air, let us ask it: how is your life lived on account of Jesus? To ask it a different way: is Jesus the “why” when someone asks you the reason for the way you live? Can you say, as the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” If the answer is “yes” (and I truly hope it is), then you will have already experienced the conditions in our text today. Why are you humble? Why are you honest? Why are you patient? Why are you loving? And each time the answer is the same: “for to me, to live is Christ.” It is a precious thing to take inventory of the reasons that you live as you do, and set them against the simple measuring line: “to live is Christ.” And this is where the blessing is found. The term simply means: to be happy or well off. Sometimes it indicates a state of being envied. Imagine that, you will be envied and considered well off when you receive the vitriol of the world against your faith in Christ. Let us remember, however, who is applying this blessing—it is the LORD Jesus, not the world. The people of this world cannot see that their wicked treatment of you as you live on account of Christ is providing you a blessing. So, why does Jesus pronounce the blessing upon the suffering of His servants? Simple: the LORD does not see blessings from the standpoint of our temporary satisfaction or our settled and peaceful state in this world. Consider what He says at the end of our text: “your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” The apostles rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ (see Acts 5:41). The Apostle Paul said this in Galatians 6:17, “From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” And there is a response Christ describes for us: a willing reaction of joy. Imagine that, you can rejoice and even leap for joy when you are facing the great hostility of those who hate Jesus. 1 Peter 4:13 tells us this, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” Again, Peter instructs us in 1 Peter 2:20, “For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.” There is no blessing applied when your suffering is brought on by your own bad behavior. But, when you do good, when you strive in this world to be as Christ, living on account of Him, and you face the onslaught of the persecutions of this world, it is a gracious thing in the sight of God. You are living and proving out your love for and faith in His Son, our LORD Jesus. So, hang on, Christian. Soon the trials of this life will be over and your greatest rejoicing will come when you stand in victory with the LORD Jesus in that eternal place where we will be with Him forever. In His Grace, Pastor Michael
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