Blessed Vituperation

Scripture: Luke 6:22, 23(a) NASB -   “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.  Be glad….and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.”

In an old Harrison Ford film, “Air Force One,” the presidential plane gets hijacked by terroristic Russian nationals who, desire to force the American president to release from custody a vile dictator who is exceedingly hostile to American interests on a global scale.  In an especially memorable scene, the president’s young teenage daughter is asked by the chief villain-- after he removes her and the first lady from the rest of the plane’s hostages—‘Do you think that I’m a bad man?  I’m someone’s son…someone’s daddy; I myself have three small children…’  The stoically defiant teen responds, as a tear streams down her face, ‘You’re nothing like my father; my father’s a great man; you’re NOTHING like my father.’  There’s no rancor or fear and trepidation in her voice, but she is unflinching in her conviction about who her father is as she sits facing her enemy.

In the face of who we know our heavenly Father to be, shouldn’t we, too, as did that fictional hostage, boldly affirm daily within our heart that those who (without cause) revile or oppose us, and in a multitude of other ways attempt to demoralize us, are nothing like our heavenly Father?  If ever you find yourself marveling over the unwarranted animosity or resentment of others, just consider the source, as did our Savior in His encounter with the enemy in Matthew 4:1-11 and reckon it as a cause for ‘Halleluiah! Thank You, Lord! (Luke 6:22)  I must be making some progress in resembling You, rather than resembling the crowd!  (Only make sure that indeed you are!)  Seeking to do what’s right seldom wins popularity contests; but then again, it didn’t win our Savior any either—except, of course, when He performed miracles that fit into what people desired.  The sharp contrast between the fickle love or  pseudo-acceptance of human beings and our Savior’s GREAT faithfulness toward you and I, His blood-purchased ones, should never be trivialized amidst the growing animosities of a world on a collision course with the Holy Creator God of the universe, who has saved us from the wrath to come  (I Thessalonians 5:9; Rom. 5:9)

Prayer:  Dear Abba, while we in the western hemisphere may not be in danger of losing our head here in America just for being Christian, we are thankful for the freedom we presently enjoy to simply be who you’ve saved us to be.  Help us, Lord, to cease marveling over revilers!  They’re as old as Cain—nothing new. In Jesus’ name,  Amen.      
                             
(By Denise Diggs)