Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you.”
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, July 5, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
“The world” here is the same as I talked about on Tuesday (1 John 2:16). It’s not just that people who disagree with your decision to follow in the Way of Jesus—that is, the way of crossing boundaries to act in unconditional love to others and work for justice for the oppressed—are resentful of your efforts to change systems on behalf of those who are poor. (And it’s certainly not that people who disagree with your interpretation of the Bible refuse to stop being gay or having premarital sex, if that’s what you think it means.) The world is the entire social order built on selling lies about how to be happy or successful (by buying things or chasing down temporary “highs” through money, food, drugs, sex, etc.). The world is about the endless pursuit of wealth at the expense of humanity. This world absolutely hates anyone who is courageous enough to say “No” to the lies and say “Yes” to a life of simplicity, justice, peace, and above all, love. When we choose to step outside of the endless materialism narrative of western capitalism, those who can no longer claim power over us will hate us. We ought not be astonished at this. But neither should we fear it. Jesus is the one who destroys the walls of our societal prison and beckons us out into true freedom. Jesus holds our hand as we step through, and has our back when we experience opposition, even from within ourselves.
The “real world” is the one God created—beautiful and perfect, but sometimes a challenge to live in because of all the distractions and powerful societal messages that tell us it can’t be done.
What does it mean to me that “the world hates you”?
