The Lutheran Hour
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"A Dubious Distinction"
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Text: Matthew 5:11-12
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! So that we might be His, so we might withstand Satan’s persecutions, Jesus lived, died and rose. Because He has risen, we are conquerors, and in every situation, every temptation, under every persecution, Christians are able and glad to rejoice.
The 5-year-old boy was at a fast-food restaurant with his mother, brother, and sister. I’m proud to say that the family, just because they were surrounded by others, saw no need to change their custom of praying before their meal. The boy asked if he could say the prayer. They bowed their heads and he led them. Loudly. He began with the common table prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus, be our Guest and let these gifts to us be blest.” Then, he added, “And, Lord, if Mom would add the gift of fruit pies for desert, I would be even more thankful. God, this is Your friend, Danny, signing out for the entire family. Amen.”
Many of the people at the other tables smiled, especially at that last part. Most did, but not all. At the next booth, with her back to the family, a lady whispered so all could hear, “No wonder this country has gone to the dogs. Kids today don’t even know how to say their prayers–as if God doesn’t have other things to do than provide fruit pies. And since when do we ‘sign out’ at the end of a prayer.” She said other things, but you get the drift. The boy who had prayed, with deep concern etched into his face, asked his mom, “Was that a bad prayer? I didn’t know I shouldn’t pray for fruit pies.” Mom said, “Danny, I’m sure God liked your prayer.” Her comforting was complimented by an older man who leaned across the aisle, smiled and said to the boy, “I’ve been praying for a lot of years, and if I know God like I think I do, He would rate that prayer as being one of the best He’s heard. In fact, I think it’s a shame more people don’t ask Him for fruit pies. Fruit pies can be good for our hearts and souls.”
Unsurprisingly, Mom did buy fruit pies for the entire family. She warned her children, “Take it slow. They’re hot, you know.” During the mother-mandated cooling time, the little boy picked up his fruit pie, kneeled on the booth seat, turned around, tapped the lady who had put down his prayer and said, “Here, I want you to have my fruit pie. Fruit pies can sometimes be good for our hearts and souls, you know.”
It’s a sad thing that quarreling sweethearts can bring their loud and very personal fights into that same restaurant and everyone seated around them would keep silent. They may exchange embarrassed glances, but they would never, ever, think of intruding on the quarrelsome twosome. It is sad that businessmen, without fear of comment or criticism, can go into that restaurant and pepper their conversation with vulgarities and profanities, which might make the meanest Marine Master Sergeant blush. With the air turning blue around them, most would keep quiet. But when a 5-year-old boy submits a very personal prayer to his Savior, some people, well at least one person, felt it her duty to publicly put down his petition. That little boy had, for the first time in his life, been persecuted for his faith in Jesus. He has been given a choice – pray to Jesus or remain silent.
The boy survived the persecution this time. But in years to come, mom will not always be there, and as he grows, her words, at least for a time, will probably not carry as much weight as they did that day in the restaurant. In the future, there won’t always be a kindly gentleman who will come forward to offer words of support and sympathy. Scheming and shrewd, Satan, having evaluated the boy’s unique set of insecurities and anxieties, will try to wear down, grind down, tear down the boy’s Christian confidence, conviction, and courage. When it comes to persecution, the devil knows one size doesn’t fit all. That’s why he takes the time to design private, personal persecution plans for all who have Jesus as Lord.
After the world fell into sin, Satan had felt pretty good about things. Souls would sin; souls would be judged; souls would be sent to hell. His kingdom would grow. It had to. Then about 2,000 years ago, according to God’s promise, Jesus came to earth to reclaim lost souls. Born in Bethlehem, Jesus lived His life fulfilling the laws we could not keep; swimming through the temptations which had swept us away. Carrying our sins, Jesus was betrayed, beaten, and nailed to a cross. When Jesus died, it seemed Satan would keep possession of those souls. He would have, except for the fact three days after the Romans had split His heart with a spear, three days after the priests had set a seal upon His grave, Jesus, a living Jesus, rose from the dead. Escaping from the dark dungeon of death, Jesus told the world that the price of their salvation had been paid.
People believed Him. In the thousands, and tens of thousands, in the millions, they turned to Him for hope. Satan, seeing his kingdom of darkness crumbling about him, could not accept this change without reacting. He retaliated by publicly persecuting those who said, “Jesus is my Lord.” The persecutions which early Christians suffered were terrible beyond description. They were flung to the lions and burned at the stake; trampled by wild bulls and ripped apart on the wheel. The Roman emperor Nero wrapped confessing Christians in pitch, set them alight, and used them as living torches to brighten his evening strolls in his gardens. Some Christians were sewn into the skins of wild animals and had hunting dogs set upon them; others had molten lead poured on their bodies. Those are just a few of the public persecutions I can share with an all-age audience.
And what was the reaction to the devil’s public persecution? Believers said, “We expect nothing less. Jesus warned us that persecution would come to those who cling to Him.” They were right. Jesus had said exactly that. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first … you do not belong to the world, I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” (John 15:18-19). Then, in case we hadn’t understood the cost of discipleship, Jesus added, “If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you, also.” Paul supported Jesus’ words when He wrote, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted … continue in what you have learned” (2 Tim. 3: 12-14). When the promised persecutions arrived, believers remembered Jesus’ words, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 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 …” (Matt. 5:10-12).
Observers might say persecution is a dubious distinction, an honor that most might readily forego. Not the early church. Faced with the choice of following a Savior who had given His life so that they might be forgiven or returning to a world of hatred and horror, most said, “There is no choice. Jesus is my Savior and Lord.” Look in the book of Acts, the 16th chapter. Paul was preaching about his Savior in the city of Philippi. Wishing to stop the sharing of the Redeemer, a mob attacked him. Paul was beaten. He was arrested. He was locked in chains. He was thrown into prison. Most of us, having had such a day, might try to fall asleep, comforting ourselves with the knowledge that things would have to get better tomorrow. Not Paul. At midnight Paul was not asleep. No, he was singing. Not singing “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.” No, he was singing songs of praise to the Savior. Little wonder Paul’s jailor, with his family that very night, converted to the Christ. Little wonder years later, Paul, who was languishing in a Roman jail cell, wrote to the believers in Philippi, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4).
Rather than getting Christians to desert Jesus, Satan’s public persecutions solidified them in their faith. He kept losing souls – big time. The blood of the martyrs became the seed of the church. Unbelievers seeing that Jesus’ followers were unafraid of pain, and could look past persecution, deserted the devil to follow the Savior. It is no different today. Even as this message goes out over the air, there are more than 70 countries where Christians are persecuted for their faith; 70 countries where Christians are standing fast, where Satan still loses. For decades Russian communism tried to erase the Savior’s Name. Today, communism is gone and the church is stronger than ever. For half a century the Chinese government has persecuted the Christian faith. Today there are millions more believers than when the public persecutions began. Yes, Satan loses big time when he publicly persecutes the people of the Christ. Which maybe is why, in some places he is switching his tactics. In some places he comes using a more personal, private persecution.
One of the great men I have met in the course of my ministry was a Lutheran pastor, Richard Wurmbrand. Pastor Wurmbrand was an evangelical minister who spent 14 years as a prisoner in Communist Romania. In 1945, when the communists seized his native land and tried to control the churches, Wurmbrand resisted the persecution. He began an underground ministry to his people as well as the invading Russians. He was arrested in 1948, spent three years in solitary confinement, seeing no one but his communist torturers. I know he was tortured. As a high school student in chapel, I watched as the Rev. Wurmbrand, his freedom purchased at great cost by concerned Christians, opened his shirt and showed the 18 deep scars he had earned resisting persecution.
After he was freed, Richard Wurmbrand wrote a great many books, including one called “The Triumphant Church.” In that book he says, “I remember my last Sunday school class … I took a group of 10-15 boys and girls on a Sunday morning, not to a church, but to the zoo. Before the cage of lions I told them, “Your forefathers in faith were thrown before such wild beasts for their faith. Know that you, also, will have to suffer. You will not be thrown before lions, but you will have to suffer at the hands of men who would be much worse than lions.” Quite a lesson for Sunday school children.
You know, I taught over 25 years of confirmation classes in my parishes. Today, as I look back on those students, I believe they would have done well in the face of such lions.
But my students, and most of my listener’s children and grandchildren, have never been thrown to the lions or threatened by soldiers or kidnapped by religious extremists. The day of public persecution never came for them. That does not mean, however, that all have stayed faithful. They haven’t. They just kind of wandered away. That’s why, if I wanted to give my Sunday school students a clear object lesson about the persecution which would come to them, I would not stand them before the lions’ cage, as did the Rev. Wurmbrand. The free world has become too sophisticated, too enlightened to allow prides of pouncing lions to roam around. No, I wouldn’t take those students to the lions’ cage. I would lead them into the laboratory and encourage them to look through the microscopes. I would point out to them the billions of bacteria that are invisibly, unexpectedly, unrelentingly prepared to invade and attack and destroy them from within. I would explain to them that Satan has prepared for them a private, personal persecution which will come to them when their resistance is low and they are weak. I would share with them that their private, personal persecution will be firmly implanted doing its work, sickening their souls, separating them from their Savior, before they ever have an inkling that something is not right – if they ever figure out that things aren’t right.
A small child is not invited to a birthday party. He doesn’t fit in with the group. To fit in he has to use some of the words that his classmates use. He doesn’t know exactly what those words mean. His mom and dad don’t use them; have said he shouldn’t, either. Still, our child knows that people laugh real hard when somebody uses those words. He knows that the students who use those words the most are never left off the birthday party list. Satan has given this child his very own private, personal persecution. No, nobody has said anything to the boy; nobody has threatened his life or his family. Still, he is faced with a choice: compromise Christ and be accepted or stand fast and stay home. This persecution bacteria, if it remains unchecked, undiagnosed, and untreated, can easily lead to serious, spiritual complications. If he beats off this persecution, there will be others. As a teen, he will hear his coach call a practice on Sunday morning. “If you’re not there,” it is announced, “you don’t play.” The student is being forced to pick between his coach and Christ. The young girl wants a date. She knows how other girls seem to stay popular. She must choose. The businessman can advance company and career by sharing information, telling a small lie, stepping on someone else. He must decide, as must you. I can’t tell what your persecution is, but I know the devil will continue to persecute you, will keep placing before you persecutions where denying Jesus seems like the smart move, the understandable move, the only right move.
When those moments come, and they will come, follow Jesus’ advice. Rejoice. That’s right. Rejoice. Give thanks to God that the devil has thought you valuable enough to devise your very own private, personal persecution. Rejoice that you are in good company. Satan has done such a thing for the heroes of the Bible; he did it for Jesus, the disciples and every other saint that has ever lived. Rejoice. Rejoice because the devil doesn’t persecute people that he already owns. Rejoice. Rejoice because for those who resist, who are faithful to the Savior, there is a great reward in heaven. Rejoice. Because that’s what God’s people do when they are given their very own, private, personal persecution. If you are feeling that kind of persecution and need some help, call us at “The Lutheran Hour.” We will be glad to provide you encouragement and assistance, which comes through Christ the Savior alone. Amen.
Lutheran Hour Mailbox (Questions & Answers) for November 7, 2004
Topic: Miracles (Part 1)ANNOUNCER: And now, Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. Today’s question is, “If I believe in God, do I also have to believe in miracles?” and they add, “especially today.”
KLAUS: If I heard that right, Mark, there are two parts to that question. I think I’m not going to answer two parts. I’m going to give three parts to the answer. The first part – when a person asks “are there miracles?” What they’re really asking is, “Is there a God?” The logic goes like this – I can’t do a miracle. I don’t know anybody that … you can’t do a miracle, can you Mark?
ANNOUNCER: Not me. It’s safe to say that although the world is filled with talented and gifted people, none of them could perform a miracle, either.
KLAUS: Our vocabulary sometimes indicates otherwise. We say, “Oh, the doctor performed a miraculous surgery.” And so it may seem to us. It certainly might have been a talented surgery, but the very fact that a human being can do it, keeps it within the realm of possibility, which is not what I think a miracle is.
ANNOUNCER: So are you defining a miracle, then, as something that human beings cannot do? Something that would supercede the laws of nature?
KLAUS: That’s right. Not so long ago we had the Olympics on television. I got to see some of those, and some of the things those athletes did. For a guy who’s over 50 years old, throwing themselves through the air – it seemed like a miracle to me. But those things they were doing were the result of talent and a lot of hours of practice, but no miracle.
ANNOUNCER: Because we’re saying only God can perform a miracle.
KLAUS: Only God can perform a miracle. He’s the One who created the laws by which this entire universe, and we ourselves are governed. He is the only One who can override those laws.
ANNOUNCER: And if we take a look at the Bible, we see examples of the way miracles work.
KLAUS: Exactly. In the opening chapters of the Bible, God makes something out of nothing. No human being can do that.
ANNOUNCER: Then God creates life out of nothing.
KLAUS: And He also gives souls to human beings. That’s a miracle.
ANNOUNCER: When God saves Noah, that’s a miracle. We couldn’t do any of the things God did when He was rescuing the children of Israel. For example, we couldn’t open the Red Sea like He did. So really, in order to have miracles, you first need to have God.
KLAUS: You have to have God. I really appreciate the miracles you just listed, Mark. As long as we’re listing the spectacular miracles of the Lord, we need to talk about the greatest miracle of all: the miracle of His grace.
ANNOUNCER: You mean, God so loving this sinful world, that He was willing to send His Son to save us?
KLAUS: That’s what I mean. But look at all the miracles connected with that. Jesus is born of a virgin. Jesus lives a sinless life. Jesus feeds thousands with a few loaves and fishes. He heals the sick, stills the storm, forgives sins, dies for us. The greatest miracle of all, the one we proclaim every Sunday in the opening words of my messages – there’s a miracle of Jesus’ resurrection.
ANNOUNCER: So we have a God who can make the laws of nature, and if He wants to, can override them. I suppose the answer to our listener’s question then would be, “Yes, if you believe in God, you also need to believe in miracles.”
KLAUS: If you believe in the Bible, you have to believe in miracles, too.
ANNOUNCER: But our listener also asks, “Do I have to believe that miracles are taking place today?”
KLAUS: And that, my friend, is a far more difficult question.
ANNOUNCER: Could you still give us a simple answer?
KLAUS: If I have to. The answer is, “Yes, you have to believe in miracles today.” It’s a miracle I was born as I am. So many things could have gone wrong, didn’t. And please, Mark, no comments.
ANNOUNCER: Me, comment?
KLAUS: I’ll continue. The fact that the Holy Spirit put faith into my heart, that, too, is a miracle. That I’m daily forgiven of all that I’ve done wrong, because of Jesus, that is a miracle. The list goes on and on.
ANNOUNCER: These things really do need to be considered miracles, but I’m not sure that’s exactly what our listener is asking.
KLAUS: I’m pretty sure that’s not what they’re asking. But they are miracles, and they happen today. So, yes, you should believe in miracles, which is the second part of my answer.
ANNOUNCER: Now how about this third part, and I think this is where we get into the really good stuff. The miracles you see happening on TV where somebody has a disease, and then all of a sudden they don’t. What about that?
KLAUS: That’s the part we’re going to answer – next week.
ANNOUNCER: Join us then. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.