Doing Right By Ed McDowell

Persecution in the Quest for Doing Right

“God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” Matthew 5:10 NLT

Crowds were beginning to gather. Jesus sought a place to spend time teaching his disciples more about following him and the Kingdom of God. He took them up a mountainside, and the crowds followed.

Here on this mountainside, Jesus teaches a breadth of subjects that mattered to people then and matter to us today (read Matthew chapters 5-7). He begins by teaching about the blessings of God for those who live out God’s ways, even as life’s challenges pile on.

Doing right and being persecuted for it is an unjust experience every time. 

Jesus wants the disciples and anyone else willing to listen and follow him to understand God’s response to this situation, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

Reflection

What a response from God! The Kingdom of Heaven is ours! 

Jesus doubles down on this truth of what God’s response is to being persecuted for doing right by following Christ: 

“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.”

Matthew 5:11-12 NLT

Consider this:

• We will be mocked, persecuted, or lied about because we are followers of Christ.
• When this happens, God’s response is to bless us. His blessings are always far more significant and more substantial than the worst persecution has to offer.
• We are invited to be happy about God’s remarkable response to persecution.
• In addition to God’s blessings, a great reward awaits us in heaven.
• When persecuted for following God, we are in good company. This reality dates back to the prophets of the Old Testament.

Remember, Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven is ours!

Encouragement

Persecution is hard in all its forms. No one, especially Jesus, is trying to make light of it. 

What Jesus is teaching is that God’s response to the suffering experienced in persecution is far greater than the pain and trauma of the current situation.

Jesus invites us to lean into God of all the unjust actions placed on our lives for following Christ.

I am reminded of the Apostle Paul’s response: 

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

Galatians 6:9 NLT

Insight

It is hard to understand God’s blessing when we are under fire by others for following Christ. Perhaps we tend to look for ways to avoid persecution, so we think that is what God should do—protect us from persecution, right?

Jesus endured great persecution and suffering. It was intense and hard in every way. Yet, God the Father gave Jesus the capacity to endure an incredible outcome—a resurrected life that lasts forever.

In my journey with people through a wide range of persecution, I hear God’s blessing in their words when they share things like:

• “God’s presence was near.””
• “was filled with peace beyond anything I could come up with.”
• “Here was a strange sense of hope.”
• “saw angels guarding over me.”
• “”Few people showed up and stayed close to me.””
• “”My heart was filled with compassion for those persecuting me.”

I would suggest that these are some of God’s blessings given amid persecution.

Prayer of Resolution

Would you consider reading this prayer out loud to express your shared resolution to follow Christ together?

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for inviting us to follow you.

Thank you for teaching us what to expect as it relates to persecution.

Thank you for sharing God’s response to unjust treatment in all its forms.

Thank you for God’s blessings, which are always far greater than the worst persecution.

Thank you for the opportunity to do right, even when we are under immense pressure to follow you.  

Thank you for future rewards that include nothing less than the Kingdom of Heaven.

Help us to stay focused on you. You showed us how to endure persecution and unjust treatment in their most intense form.

You lead us into a life that lasts forever.

We resolve to keep doing good as we follow you.

With your help, we resolve to stay focused on you, even when it is hard.

In your name, Jesus, we pray,

Amen

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Ed McDowell is the CEO of Warm Beach Camp Ministries. He also coaches and consults in board leadership and development to bring fresh perspectives to perplexing situations. Ed authorizes a devotional series titled A Well-Planted Faith in an Uprooted Culture. His writing and speaking aim to challenge people to have God’s Word inform how they live. Ed and his wife, Bev, live on Camano Island, Washington, where they live out their mission statement: “To give our lives away for the cause of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible.”