Pulpit Message Introduction for Nov. 4

Blessed are you when people speak evil against you

Jesus said, “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.”
Why did Jesus disciples have to be hated so?
The writer of the book of Peter gives us a good explanation.
In I Peter 4:1-4 it says, “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you.”
True followers of Christ are hated by the world because they do not conform to the world. Their unconformity makes the world feel uncomfortable. That is why they are insulted, persecuted, and falsely said all kinds of evil against. If you are a true follower of Christ you are bound to receive such abuse in the world and in the church as well.
What? In the church as well? Yes, in the church as well! This is because the church has been conformed by the world unaware. Many people who join the church are originally people from the world. They were born and raised in the world. After they joined the church they brought with them worldly thoughts and worldly standards. This is called secularization of the church. A secularized church hates true followers of Christ. Martin Luther described the Roman Catholic Church in the middle ages as that kind of a church. It was the church in exile and was taken captive into Babylon.
Have you been said falsely all kinds of evil against in the church? If so, rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.
In the Nov- Dec issue of our Chinese devotional the ‘Proclaim’ bimonthly, there is an article entitled, “Building a loving community” by Xiao Dao Sheng. It talks about how church secularization has hampered the building of a loving community. I have made 50 copies of it. I hope each and every one of us will take a copy and read it carefully at home.
Hatred rings out in the world like the shrill clash of metal against metal; the hammer against the nail. Hatred is the force of darkness that covers the face of the earth, reaping destruction where it goes. Hatred is most often aroused by our self-righteous resentments. It is easier to shoot the bad guys, to seek retribution for the satisfaction of our moral feelings, than to get at the root of the bad guys or to transform them. It is easier to kill bad people than to build loving community to embrace them. The actions of that hatred often create judgment, condemnation and church division. What a difference it would make if our hatreds were redirected to love. Hatred grows out of a limitation which is forced upon us by having to live with one another even with people we don’t like. Hatred is the force and power of destruction. It leads away from happiness to living hell. The world loves to tell us that what is most important is what makes "me" most important. The world loves to tell us that value is measured by the strength of my voice, the size of the group which will come and hear it; the world loves to tell us that value is determined by success, not meekness. Success is the ability to stand while others fall, the ability to climb over and above the others. Christ came preaching a different message. "Deny yourself," he said. In humility count others better than yourself. Look not merely to your own interest, but to the interests of others. Be even like me ... who came not among you to display power and glory, but to empty myself, to take the form of a servant. Does the world like this standard? No, it loves only those who abide by the world's standards. "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I choose out of the world, therefore the world hates you." "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." Anger, resentment, bitterness; slander; power, conflict, hatred ring out like a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal; the harsh sound of metal against metal; the hammer against the nail-disrupting, bleeding, destroying human relationships. But the power that heals, that reconciles, that blesses us is more like the silence of happiness, interpreted by LOVE.
Amen.

被毀謗之福
主耶穌說：人若因我辱罵你們，逼迫你們，捏造各樣壞話毀謗你們，你們就有福了。應當歡喜快樂，因為你們在天上的賞賜是大的。在你們以前的先知，人也是這樣逼迫他們。
為甚麼做耶穌的門徒會被人憎恨，毀謗的呢？原來是因為耶穌的門徒不效法這個世界，世界便辱罵他們，逼迫他們，捏造各樣壞話毀謗他們。如果你是基督的真正門徒，你也必會受到同樣的來自世界和教會而來的逼迫和毀謗的。
為甚麼教會也會逼迫毀謗基督徒呢？這是因為教會的人都是從世界來的，他們不知不覺地把世俗的思想和標準也帶進教會來。教會變成世俗化就憎恨那些價值觀與他們不相同的人。
蕭道生在今期的傳遞生命雙月刊裏有一篇文章叫做【建立愛的群體】提及教會世俗化是妨礙建立愛的群體之最大阻力。
世界所用的方法是辱罵，逼迫，毀謗，憎恨。
基督門徒的方法是溫柔，憐恤，和睦，相愛。
耶穌說為義受逼迫的人有福了，因為天國是他們的。
阿門。