Category Archives: Daily Reflection

“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, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:10-12

Scarcely a day seems to go by at the moment without news of Christians being attacked because of their faith somewhere in the world. Not long ago 21 Egyptian Christians were apparently beheaded by Islamic State militants in Libya. In New Delhi in India several churches were attacked. These are just a couple of examples of Christians being attacked for their faith in a world that sometimes seems like a dark and frankly frightening place. Incidents like these put into context any insults or slights that we might be subjected to from our friends and colleagues.

The grim reality is that Christians will be attacked as a direct consequence of their faith in Jesus Christ. Over the preceding verses of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus has, through the beatitudes, shown that the way of Christ is generally completely the reverse of the way of the world. Christians are expected to live in a manner that is totally counter cultural. Jesus understands that living in this way, seeking to follow the path of righteousness, will lead to persecution. He takes this as a given when he says, “blessed are those who are persecuted.” If we live righteous lives, if we live as Christ lived, we will attract strong opposition, just as he himself did. He was, of course, ultimately executed for what he was saying and how he lived. We should, therefore, expect persecution, insults and abuse for following him.

Jesus tells us that when we are insulted, persecuted or lied about as a consequence of our relationship with him we are to “rejoice and be glad” for we are following the ways of the prophets who have gone before us. All those who have sought to bring God’s good news to the world have found themselves facing opposition. Yet it is worth persevering with our distinctive lives since the reward for living righteous lives is “a reward in heaven.” We will join Jesus in his heavenly kingdom, in God’s new creation, if we continue to follow the example that he set us.

Of course, it might be that the most challenging element of this beatitude for those of us living in the comfortable west is not enduring persecution and insult. Perhaps what we are most challenged about is the fact that we are not actually being insulted or slandered. Maybe, like me, you find yourself pondering whether in fact the life you are leading is marked out as righteous, if it is in fact distinctively Christian. Perhaps, as you scan through the beatitudes, you have found yourself thinking, “but this isn’t me?” The challenge for those of us thinking like this is to strive to follow Christ more closely, to live lives that are more righteous, and to reflect more clearly the example of Christ.

There is a great deal for us to reflect on in these verses. Are we living lives that are truly righteous, and evidently so to those around us? Is our faith deep enough to mark us out as a distinctive followers of Christ? Are we deserving of the reward that awaits us in heaven? At the same time we should be thankful that we are not subjected to the brutalities that our brothers and sisters in Christ are forced to endure elsewhere in the world. We should admire their faith, that they continue to follow Christ despite the appalling threats that they face. And we should pray for their continued strength, and that they will draw comfort from the teachings of Christ in these verses.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.

Matthew 5:9

In my day job I am a History teacher. In the last few weeks I have taught my pupils about King John allegedly killing his nephew, Arthur, Joan of Arc and the Hundred Years’ War, and King Charles and the causes of the English Civil War. If you took these few weeks as indicative of history, you would think that the past is a very violent place. You might not be wrong. History is chock full of records of battles and wars, and of leaders killing others in order to secure their own position. This, it would seem, is the way of the world. War, violence and death are the way to secure greatness. Those who love peace are destined to be a footnote in the records of history, and probably found themselves weak and helpless in the face of stronger, more forceful leaders.

Once again, here in this beatitude, we see Jesus being totally counter-cultural in his teaching. If you told any of those powerful leaders of the past that the way to ultimate success lay in making peace, they would have laughed you out of the room. Yet this is the expectation that Christ has of those who dwell in the Kingdom of Heaven. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’, he says.

It’s not just the powerful kings, queens and military leaders of the past who might struggle to comprehend this beatitude. I wonder if you have ever felt yourself embroiled in office politics? Have you seen one of your colleagues consciously trample over others to gain a promotion? Maybe you have been tempted to do this yourself. This attitude might lead to short term gain, yet if we take a long term view it is not helpful. We are just as guilty as those military leaders of the past if we take this attitude. Instead we need to be more Christ-like in our approach. Whilst the Messiah was envisaged as a strong, dynamic military leader who would defeat the enemies of the Jewish people and lead them to freedom, Jesus turned out to be a rather quieter figure, who told his followers to turn the other cheek to anyone who slapped them, and to offer their coats to anyone who tried to take their shirts. Jesus was more interested in love than hatred, in peace rather than war.

Interestingly we are not called to be at peace in this beatitude, although that is implicit within it. Instead we are called to be peacemakers. Jesus expects us to further his kingdom by bringing peace to the world around us. This might be within our own families or friendship groups, it might be between rival factions in our offices, or it might be lobbying our governments to work for peace on a global scale. Jesus, the son of God, sought to bring peace to the world. We, as his followers, as his co-heirs are called to do the same. If we do, we in turn will be deserving of our place as children of God.

Let’s all pray for peace in our world today. Let’s pray for peace in our cities. And let’s pray for peace in our homes. Above all, let us all strive to work for peace where we are, to aim to be peacemakers where peace is lacking. Let’s strive to be true children of God.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

Matthew 5:8

It seems like a while since we’ve had a proper political scandal here in the UK. Of course, our tabloid newspapers like nothing better than a good scandal; for them it’s front page news. They enjoy the hypocrisy of a politician who has been living a life of hypocrisy. They like nothing better than running with a story of a politician who has been sleeping with his secretary, or fiddling his expenses, or covering up his former misdeeds. Reporting such scandals is in the public interest, the media maintain, since it is important that we see our leaders for who they are.

Politicians are real people. The media might not like to recognise this, but our leaders are not some kind of super-being. Politicians, like the rest of us, make mistakes. They are ordinary human beings with the frailty that goes with this. They are prone to the same failings as the rest of our species. Can we really blame them when their errors of judgement are discovered? Can we really expect them to live lives of purity?

Whilst the debate could rage for ever about whether is appropriate for politicians to be held to some higher moral standard than the rest of us, there is no doubt about whether this is the case for followers of Christ. Christians are called to a higher standard of living than that expected of other people. We are expected, as Jesus states in this beatitude, to be ‘pure of heart’. The life of a Christian is one that is marked by diligent study of God’s word, a faithful life of prayer, and a conscious effort to live in the same way that Christ did. We are expected to love all those whom we encounter, and to model Christ-like living to the world. There is no room for hypocrisy here. It is not enough to be Christ-like on a Sunday morning, or once a week at home group. The Christian’s way of life is to be consistent at all times. If we model Christian living sometimes, but are consciously sinning by omission (not doing the things that we should have done) or by commission (doing the things that we should not have done), then we are not pure of heart. There is simply no room for a Christian to behave in this way; we are called to a higher standard of living, and if we are truly to honour Christ, we need to ensure that we are pure of heart.

This is hard. There are no two ways about this. Being pure of heart in a fallen, sinful world is incredibly difficult. Thankfully we have a God who forgives us when we inevitably fall, a God who through his son has wiped our sins clean. Nevertheless, our aim should be to strive for purity of heart, for consistency of living, for avoidance of sin.

Let’s confess our sins before God now and pray that through his Spirit he will strengthen us to live lives free from sin, to be ‘pure of heart’ in a fallen world.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

Matthew 5:7

Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day here in the south of England. It was certainly cold, but nevertheless the sun was shining. I found myself in Brighton with my friend Howard, and we strolled along the promenade and to the end of the pier and back in the glorious sunshine. One of the things I always notice when I go to Brighton is the extent of the homeless problem; it seems that you can’t walk more than a few metres without finding someone bundled up in a pile of sleeping bags, sheltering in the doorway of a building. I’ve never really known what to do when encountering a homeless person on the street; my instinct is to give them money, but at the same time I find myself thinking that this isn’t dealing with the root cause of homelessness.

Of course, many churches now support homeless people by running night shelters, which provide beds for those who need them, as well as helping people to resolve the issues that are at the root of their problems. It is great to see churches taking a lead in providing this sort of service, since it is this practical support that I believe Jesus is advocating in the beatitude above.

As followers of Christ, we are expected to be merciful – to show mercy to those around us. If we show mercy, then we will be blessed by God because he, too, will show us mercy. Mercy here means being willing to forgive those who wrong us, since we have been forgiven infinitely more by God. But mercy here, I believe, also has more positive connotations; we are called to show mercy to those who find themselves in difficult, uncomfortable or even painful circumstances. This extends to being merciful to the homeless people we encounter on our streets, but also to those who are suffering as a consequence of illness, stress, relationship breakdown, economic hardship or any other number of other afflictions. In a sinful world, the tendency is to ignore the plight of others – especially those with whom we do not have direct contact – yet here, once again, Christ’s followers are called to take a counter-cultural stance. We are expected to make ‘being merciful’ to others as a key priority for our lives.

What is the end result for us if we are merciful to those around us? Well, we, in turn, will be shown mercy by God. He will support us, protect us, encourage us, and provide for us when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances. And ultimately he will show us mercy by welcoming us into his new creation. Whilst being merciful is not our ticket to salvation – that comes only as a result of a personal relationship with Jesus Chris, our saviour – mercy will be a key character trait for those who genuinely know and follow Christ.

How merciful are you do you think? Are you closer to the world or to the kingdom of God in your application of mercy? Why not join me in praying today that Jesus, through his Spirit, will enable us to be more merciful to those who need to be shown mercy? Why not pray that he will transform our lives in order that we might transform the lives of others?

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

Matthew 5:6

Last night I went to the cinema with my wife, Claire, to see Selma. This is a fascinating film that tells the story of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s attempts to enable African Americans to exercise their right to vote. Led by Martin Luther King, the SCLC sought to organise a march from Selma to Montgomery, the state capital of Alabama, to highlight their cause to George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama. This was no easy feat, since their efforts were hampered by many of those in positions of authority. Despite the non-violent nature of the protests, the authorities frequently turned violent, leading to the brutal deaths of many of those involved. What impressed me so much about the story was the way in which the Church was willing to stand up for the moral rights of African Americans, and to help the downtrodden to gain their political freedom. For me, it represented just one more example of Christians standing up for the oppressed and taking a stand to transform the world in which we live.

In this beatitude, Jesus tells us that the people of God will ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’. They will strive to live in a way that is worthy of God, a way that represents and mirrors his righteousness. Being righteous, of course, is not what gains us entry to God’s kingdom; that can come only through acknowledging and repenting of our sins, and pledging ourselves to Christ. Having given ourselves to Christ, however, we should choose to live righteously. We should, in fact, ‘hunger and thirst’ for righteousness. Being righteous should be a key focus of our lives.

What does this look like? What does it mean to be righteous? There is of course a personal element here. We should devote our lives to serving Christ personally. We should seek to avoid sinfulness and strive for purity of thought and action. We should ensure that our love of Christ guides us through every decision we make and in every interaction with others. We should stand out as followers of Christ to those around us, marking ourselves as different to the wider world. By extension, though, we should seek to establish God’s righteous kingdom in the world. We should be leading proponents of social action, serving those who are less fortunate than ourselves, speaking up against injustice, and enabling all of our fellow humans to know God’s love. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference saw a social ill and set about trying to change the situation, to make things right. This kind of action must surely be a crucial element of our calling.

Our hunger and thirst for righteousness won’t be satiated until Christ comes again in glory. It is at this point that we ‘will be filled’. I wonder how hungry and thirsty we feel at the moment, though? Are we aware of our hunger and thirst? Or are we more attuned to the world in which we live rather than the Kingdom of Heaven, and therefore fail to notice that hunger and thirst for righteousness deep within us. Jesus is clear that a blessing awaits those whose deepest desire is to see God’s righteousness reflected in the world; we will gain spiritual fulfilment in his kingdom. Why not pray today that you will hunger and thirst for righteousness? Why not pray that you will be motivated to strive for personal and social righteousness right now?