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Rejoice! It’s a word that takes a large amount of its emotional content from its context. On one occasion, on the lips of Jesus, it took on a rather hard edge. Hard for us, at least. But also, Jesus gave us great encouragement for our time.

We know what He said, don’t we?

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.

Rejoice at the slander, the evil falsely spoken about us, the persecution. It’s a blessing, said He! Older translations capture the stronger sense by translating the word “glad” as “exceedingly glad”.

A New Season

In the West, we are not accustomed to being the focus of so many social and political groups as they seek a whipping boy. We have had a long period of tenuous handholding with the powers that be. In some circumstances, we have had a seat at the top table, with heads of churches and heads of government blending at important functions. That’s as it was.

Of late, it is quite different. We are slipping from relevant to irrelevant, from accepted to being social pariahs. Finding “exceeding gladness” amidst the encroaching tumult is not easy.

The question is, what would rejoicing at being falsely slandered look like? Or sound like? Would it preclude fighting back, pursuing our rights, going on the offensive? Would it result in silent, yet joyful, submission, like Jesus before Pilate?

Those are real questions to which I don’t have a qualified answer, because this is a new season with new experiences. And every experience has its own dynamics.

But what I do know is that Jesus meant to be taken seriously, and His words ought to at least flavour our communications among each other, if not with the outside world.

When Peter and John were accused and flogged, we read,

“The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

What would be the basis of their/our rejoicing? Certainly not masochism! But perhaps what the slander and persecution revealed — God was at work! The Gospel was causing offence!

And therein lies the encouragement.

God is at Work

Try not to get over-excited by this, but with so many groups within society now lashing out, it might just be because the Spirit of God is doing what Jesus said He would do, “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” (John 16:8)

We are praying for our nation. We are praying for a mighty move of God. That move is not going to come without provoking the prevailing powers and philosophies. There will be casualties, and we may well be among them. Peter and John were. Stephen was. Paul and Barnabas were… Our brothers and sisters throughout history have been.

Let’s not imagine that when the Spirit of God comes crashing like a tsunami into the prevailing power structures, we will ride the crest of the wave in triumph. No. We may well be represented in the casualty list.

When we pray for a move of God, and the aftermath of our praying is increasing opposition, rejoice. God is at work.

A Work in Progress

That may well begin (has already begun?) with us being slandered falsely, just as Jesus said. We may become social pariahs. And if history is any guide, it won’t stop at slander. Jesus’ words show us that persecution is also on the menu.

So, insofar as the tide is turning against us, rejoice because, in my limited understanding, it means that God is at work. I know we would like His work to feature all the good stuff — people falling in repentance, churches full, moral rectitude across society, and the like. That may happen. We pray that it will. But that may be stage two or three. Stage one might be the wild raging of the powers of darkness working through human social powers to seek and destroy whatever exposes and opposes them.

Revelation 12 shows us the unbridled fury of Satan. Unable to destroy the long-awaited Child, he wages war against the followers of Jesus. As God encroaches on Satan’s fiefdom, he will rage all the more, using people, governments, and social movements as his tools.

So, as you pray for revival, whatever that word implies to you, remember you may well feature in it in ways you have not intended. When God opened cracks in Roman hegemony in the first few centuries, believers suffered immeasurably. When God brought His word into the language of the people in Europe, our brothers and sisters were burned alive. When the Reformation began to break through in France in the mid-1500s, up to 70,000 Christians were massacred.

Strength in Weakness

To return to Jesus’ example, when the prophets of Israel spoke the words of God to a renegade people, they were persecuted and executed. Jesus said we can be like them.

Many of my friends in persecuted places pray not for the persecution to end, but for the courage and strength to endure it.

So, where are we? Be encouraged. In the most persecuted nations today, God is at work in ways unimaginable to us. In our land, as believers become more and more the focus of public ire and legislated harassment, God would also seem to be at work. The learning curve we are on is to switch our mindset. Rather than cry out about the oppression and slander, we need to learn to rejoice. We can only rejoice if we perceive and believe that, behind the turmoil, God is at work.

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Image courtesy of Adobe.