March 10, 2019 - First Sunday in Lent - Being Persecuted for Righteousness Sake

Pastor Brian Marsh of Moreland Presbyterian Church presided at Creator today and Pastor Ray presided at Moreland's service.

Photo by Ron Houser

In today's service we sang  two of Kelly Carlisle songs, Free to be Me for Children's Time and All That I Have for the Offering. Both were well-known by the older congregation members from the time when Kelly was Creator's music minister.  

Free to be me, what a wonderful thing!
To accept me the way that I am,
If I am to be who God wants me to be,
I must be free to be me, O, I must be free to be me.

Pastor Brian's sermon was on Matthew 5: 10-12 where Jesus spoke about those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. He preached about someone he labeled a "troubled" boy who used the word persecution in a way Pastor Brian appears to still be processing  His story almost served as a what-about example that needed to be considered while pondering the implications of the Free to be Me chorus.

Pastor Brian shared a name of the boy that he was in charge of in the youth ministry of his church. I will call the boy Sam in this post. Apparently Sam needed more discipline than most. After setting fire to a tablecloth during a youth gathering that discipline started off by locking Sam in a room to think about what he had done. Pastor Brian thought the better of that after 30 seconds and went in to talk with Sam.

He asked Sam if he knew that what he did was wrong. Sam said yes. He asked Sam to promise that he would never do that again and Sam reluctantly agreed. Pastor Brina then asked if Sam had any questions for him. Sam had one. "Why are you always persecuting me?"

Obviously this bothered Pastor Brian. He is telling this story years later. Pastor Brian's honesty is commendable. He observed that Sam struggled with a range of issues including ADD. He reflected on the meanings of persecution - hounding, harassing, badgering, bothering and excluding. There was nothing in the story to refute Sam did not see this as another example of persecution from s string of other examples.

Pastor Brian ended the story when he and his wife were saying goodbye in a speech to Sam and the members of that particular youth group. His wife gave a sentimental speech when it came to Sam and the strong, good memories they would carry of him going forward. When she declared that they would miss Sam, it brought a lump to Pastor Brian's throat. Later, when his wife and he were alone, she asked him "Do you think Sam bought it?"

The congregation laughed at this unexpected ending. What echoed through me were the verses of Free to be Me, which Pastor Brian referenced ii the sermon. Sam's issues certainly seemed to be recognized, yet he still was a problem that needed to be solved in Pastor Brian's, his wife's and possibly his parents' eyes. This was another real situation that needs to be faced while agreeing in spirit with Free to be Me. The words "persecuted for righteousness sake" took on another meaning for me at this moment. I ha thought of this as being persecuted for what the victim found righteous. Now I thought of this as being persecuted for what the perpetrator deemed righteous.

Pastor Brian revealed that he thought fear was the cause of persecution. There was fear in the victim and the perpetrator of persecution both. This is why Jesus was persecuted from the Pastor's perspective. "Jesus was misunderstood to death and made free by the joy of limitless love". 

We, who cannot remain in a state of limitless love, have questions. We want to ask when thing's aren't "right" in the world, "Where is God?". Jesus definitively answered this question. God is hanging on all the gallows humankind makes for ourselves in this world.

Yet God is not dying all at once, but dying very... very... very slowly. Always right in front of us. When we don't see this, being Christian loses its power. We lull ourselves to sleep and ignore what is happening around us. We end up trying to make ourselves feel okay, trying to preserve our faith or our hope. We make this about us and not some boy slowly dying by degrees on a scaffold right now.

Another verse from Free to be Me:

Being myself is a difficult task,
Sometimes it's easier wearing a mask,
But sooner of later, we all have to ask;
"Have I been free to be me, O, have I been free to be me?" 

The sermon made me painfully aware that none of us are above perpetrating a few of this world's persecution and often we do them with the best of intentions.

An interesting reflection for the first Sunday in Lent.