"What Would Jesus Do?"

“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

What do you do when you are completely out of cheeks to turn? The whole philosophy of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount was turning the other cheek. Loving your enemies, blessing those that curse you is a wondrous theory, but sometimes we get to the end of ourselves. We go through the crucible of losing our ability to understand what God is doing and what we are supposed to do in response to all the injustice in our lives. And that moment is an opportunity to experience a grace that we could never envision. We cannot envision it because it comes not from this world, but from God himself. We trust not in our emotions, but in faith- - - faith that moves mountains! We confess with our hearts and believe with our minds in a strong, bold, kind, and loving response. We ask, “What would Jesus do?” and that is a beginning of a miracle.

I love the story in Acts where the enemies of Christianity threw rocks at the apostle Paul and hit him with sticks until they were sure that he was dead. His friends gathered around him crying and then he moved- - - he was still alive and he got up. As they grabbed him to comfort and bandage him he just walked back into the town and began preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ and everyone was amazed. I wonder if Paul was the most amazed one of all. God had worked a miracle in his heart and mind—one that we still experience today- - - a miracle that is still changing the world!

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White