2nd Last Sunday of the Church Year 18 Nov 2012

Dr Lutz Ackermann (Friedenskirche, Hillbrow)

Persecution (Rev 2:8-11) Grace be with you and peace of the one who was and is and is to come. Amen.

"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: "This is the message from the one who is the first and the last, who died and lived again. I know your troubles; I know that you are poor--but really you are rich! I know the evil things said against you by those who claim to be Jews but are not; they are a group that belongs to Satan! Don't be afraid of anything you are about to suffer. Listen! The Devil will put you to the test by having some of you thrown into prison, and your troubles will last ten days. Be faithful to me, even if it means death, and I will give you life as your prize of victory. "If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!" Those who win the victory will not be hurt by the second death. (Rev 2:8-11)

On Friday, when I got back home from the church office, I found the house in a big mess. Someone had broken
2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW

into the house and randomly searched most of the wardrobes and cupboards and boxes in most of the rooms. It seems that they had taken only a few items like some cash and some jewellery, but it was not a nice feeling to see, how they had treated my stuff and intruded my space. Insurance can replace material values, but not sentimental values. So, for example, one ring is missing. My grandfather gave it to me in 1982, when I finished school. So that cannot be replaced. But with other things it is not about loss. For example these stoles: they are the ones, my wife and I wore on the day of our ordination. And now I found them carelessly thrown to the ground. And that shows: here was someone who does not care at all about what is important, what is meaningful, what is sacred to another person. I am not telling this, because it is such an unusual story: if you live in Johannesburg, you can probably have stories like this every day. But I am mentioning it, because it reminds me of very different situations. Here people break into houses for material reasons, to steal stuff. But then people can also trespass and violate someone elses dignity and privacy for another reason: to humiliate their victims. So, for example, in parts of Nigeria, where Christians and Muslims live in neighbouring communities, I personally know some Christians, who have experienced attacks on their lives and their property, not because of material reasons, but because others wanted to punish them for something they said or did publicly.
2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW

So even in our day and age there are places in this world where people experience what can only be described as persecution. And normally it is because of what they believe or stand for. Sometimes is a circle of perpetration and retaliation, like many things that happen between Gaza and Israel these days or the situation in the north of Nigeria. But there are other situations, where sometimes a minority is literally fighting for survival under the constant threat of persecution, often suffering silently. And sometimes they want silence, because they know: the louder they complain, the worse is it going to get with the persecution. Now that is not something new. The words we heard earlier from the book of revelation earlier speak clearly of such a situation of persecution. Let me remind you, that in the first and second century, the Christian faith began as a movement within Judaism. Now, even in a situation of occupation by the Roman Empire, the Jews enjoyed a certain freedom. When the Romans subdued a foreign nation and people, part of their imperialist strategy was to bring with them their gods and their imperial cult and make the conquered nation participate. But the Jews were allowed a certain exception, so they could continue worshiping Yahweh in their synagogues. Now when some of the Jews started following Jesus, there was a problem: they were much more radical in their beliefs and would not easily compromise with the Cesar-cult of the Romans. So they quickly became the victims of Roman persecution. At the same time, those Jews who did not believe in Jesus were annoyed because automatically blame fell on them, too. And so they
2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW

distanced themselves from that newly forming group of Christians. So now this guy by the name of John was writing letters to those congregations which found themselves in the middle of this ongoing persecution. And he was so sure that what he was writing came directly from God that he even put these words of exhortation, consolation and encouragement in the first person, as coming directly from the Lord Jesus. Now, before we look a little bit more at what he has to say, we need to ask ourselves: is this relevant for us? After all, we live in a country, where everyone is at least officially free to believe, whatever they want as long as that does not lead to them violating the freedom of others. No-one must be discriminated against because of their race, nationality, gender, their faith or their sexual orientation. And by and large, I think we can say, that is the case. While there may be occasional exceptions, as a rule we can say that there is no systematic persecution, neither of Christians nor of other groups in South Africa today. So why bother thinking about it? Well, for one thing we must remember that the behaviour and character traits (courage or cowardice, faithfulness and perserverance or giving up) that come out in a situation of crisis often do not originate in that situation. In other words, what is not planted as a seed in times of relative freedom and tolerance cannot come to bear fruit in the time of a possible future persecution. And who knows, what the future brings. So its the sunny days when we prepare
2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW

ourselves for the stormy times. It is before the fight that we need to train. {if time: persecution never far away, modern African examples: Manche, Steve Biko} Here, of course, a temptation is that not having first hand experience of persecution we might end up as wishful martyrs. What ever happens, someone might say, I will never deny my faith well, really? How do we know? The proof, they say, of the pudding lies in the eating. Now I do certainly not wish to experience persecution (nor wish I to anyone) and as we meditate these sombre thoughts we should also turn to God in thankfulness for all the freedom we experience. But at the same time we should remain realistic and not speculate too much about how heroic we would be. So when we listen to the words of this short message to the believers in Smyrna (that was where Izmir is today, on the west coast of Turky), there are a couple of things that catch my attention: 1) Firstly, as the Lord speaks to them through the writer, identifying him by the words I am. I am the first and the last; that means the ultimate that you can think of. Here speaks the one who died and lived again. He is the Lord over life and death, and if he calls to be faithful, even if it means death, he knows what he is talking about. 2) Secondly, here like in the six messages to the other churches, he begins by asserting: I know. I know you, I know your problems, circumstances, your issues. I know, whats going on with you, how you perceive yourself and how you are perceived by
2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW

others. Sometimes we may feel it like a threat when we become too transparent. In an age where others can google some nonsense we have posted on facebook or somewhere online long ago (and which we maybe we have come to regret!), too much transparency seems scary. But make no mistake, the Lord of Lords, the one who is the Alpha and the Omega, he knows us better even than we do ourselves. And the wonderful thing is: he looks at us and through us with the gaze of his love {if time: aside Aslan} 3) And then, thirdly, he jumps right into it. No pussyfooting around: here is whats going on. Trouble, persecution, suffering and even imprisonment. He doesnt say: Ag, its not that bad. or compared to others you are still quite ok. No such patronizing nonsense, no cheap consolation, no quick fix. Sometimes we need to be forced to face reality as it is; but face it with courage. 4) But fourthly then, he speaks of hope: this is not going to last forever. Dont give up! Win the prize! Be faithful! Be victorious! And the paradox is: while he still talks about a threatening situation, that can even lead to death, death as a martyr, a blood witness of the faith, he also speaks about a final victory. The second death cannot harm you, if you persevere. Because Jesus is the Lord who has conquered death for us.

2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW

So, once again, is that a text for us, who are not threatened by persecution? I believe it is, because if we can start hearing these words as spoken even to us, even in a time of freedom and tolerance, we can begin to live accordingly even today. We can live as those, who belong to Jesus, the first and the last and the living one! We can live as those who do not need to hide, because God can see right through our deepest confusions and lies and idiosyncrasies. He says: I know you but he says it with a voice of love, with an intent to make our lives worthwhile! We can live as people who are not scared to face reality. We can call a spade a spade. Sometimes the reality we are awakening to may be harsh. But we can face it with God. And we can continue in faithfulness to God. Sometimes our lives may be threatened, but even in less dramatic circumstances we know: we can carry on, we can be victorious, because the victorious one is with us. He is with us in suffering and in weakness; and he is with us even in defeat. But he is also with us in victory. Amen. And the peace of God, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus now and forever. Amen.

2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW