Despised

Do you ever feel like you've turned into a cynical, depressed, and angry version of yourself? Because 4 kids in less than 6 years and 9 moves kind of has a way of bringing out exhaustion. And then you get even angrier because of course it's not exactly popular nowadays to be angry or depressed.

Over the past year I spent a lot of time pondering the many verses in Scripture that talk about Christ being despised. Here are some that come to mind:

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:2-6, ESV)

"The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."(John 1:9-14, ESV)

The despisal is not just for Christ, but for His followers as well. We see it happening in explicit ways in foreign countries where Christians are martyred but we also see it happening right here in our own country. We see it when rights to free speech are taken away and jobs are lost, even temporarily, due to peaching Christ. We see it when small business owners are forced to do things against their will and beliefs, like a wedding cake shop owner being forced to make wedding cakes for homosexual couples, or face punishment. We see it when we are labeled as discriminating and unloving or even hateful for confessing that ungodly living is unacceptable.

But this doesn't surprise us. Sometimes it sneaks up on us and threatens to cause us despair, but we knew all along it would be like this.

But in my own little corner of the world it hits in a way I didn't expect.

Some Christians prefer the "be happy all the time, they will know we are Christians by "our love"" tactic. They say if you are filled with the love of Christ you will speak positively all the time and FEEL positively. They are quick to chastise their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ for not being welcoming enough, loving enough, or smiling enough. They say if we are loving people and Christ enough that not only will our churches grow but our own pocket books and personal success will as well. This is called the "Theology of Glory". Some Theology of Glory pioneers are names like Rick Warren and Beth Moore. Basically, the theology of glory is a way of looking at not only faith but life as well. Rather than looking at pain and suffering square on and acknowledging it, they prefer to overcome it, deny it, or gloss over it. They see the cross as necessary but insofar as it is a means to an end of pain and death and they can get on with their lives of good works and happiness.

And then there's the sour-pusses like me. We love by dragging ourselves to the Means of Grace: by being baptized, by baptizing our infants, by catechizing our children and by receiving the Lord's Supper. The Law is seemingly in abundance in our lives because we know it is through the Law that we are brought to repentance, humility, and ultimately to Absolution, that is, forgiveness, and the ability to be prodded on by the Holy Spirit to holy living and service to others so that we can continue to see our sin and repent. We look at the law because it acknowledges what we already feel and see:  brokenness, inability, hurt, and defeat. And once we see this there is only Jesus left. In other Words, it is not glorious, it is not pretty, and...it has "no form or majesty that we should look at Him, no beauty that we should desire Him" but He is our very salvation and hope.

The ironic thing about theology of glory and theology of the cross is that the theology of glory wears a costume depicting itself as the theology of the cross. In other words, the theology of glory wears the costume of grace and love when in reality all it offers is law and brokenness which is what followers of the theology of glory claim the theology of the cross is all about. Let's go to a visual now: Here is a visual of a word cloud made from a free online sermon by Rick Warren:

Some of the words that stand out for the above word cloud are: God (what God?), want, just, feelings, burnout, going, focus, start, today, like, everything, make, work, control, get, know, and responsible.

And here is a word cloud made from a free online sermon from a confessional LCMS Pastor:

 Some of the words that stand out from this word cloud are: Christ, Kingdom, Holy, humility, Son, Cleansed, Father, Angels, Jesus, Brothers, Father, Communion, Pray, Given, Faith, Rejoice, Watch, Belong, and Dependent.

The first is full of verbs (action words): want, go, focus, start, like, work, control, make, get, and know.

The second is full of nouns (person, place, or thing) and adjectives (descriptive words): All of the above. There are only three verbs that stand out: Rejoice, Pray, and Watch. NOT: go, do, be, and on and on.

You don't have to go, do, be because Christ IS. In other words, the theology of the cross happens TO US and IN SPITE OF US. It drags us kicking and screaming through the muck and hell of this life, through our tears, our death, our illness, our brokenness, and brings us to the font, to the altar, and to the pew where our heart and ears are in-dwelt with God through His living Word.

Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. (Exodus 3:13-15, ESV)

There are some that will despise you. They profess to be Christians but theology of glory spews from their mouths at every turn. When I have suffered this past year some of them have offered their token, but very hands off, bid of sympathy but then they were as far away and unreachable as possible. When I faced my grief head on by giving birth to my dead baby instead of having the baby sucked out of me and disposed of, they ignored me. When I took pictures of that tiny body, so fearfully and wonderfully made, they looked away. And when my husband and I gave our babies a Christian burial complete with head stones to mark their graves, they scoffed. One went so far as to mock me for "dwelling" on my loss rather than "rejoicing and moving on".

For a year now I have hidden myself in embarrassment, wondering if they were right and if something was wrong with me. I have tried to pull myself together to converse with them as a happy, cheerful person only to find myself wanting to shout and scream when they don't even so much as mention my tears and loss.

But in brokenness Christ comes with healing. For He Himself was "A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised." 

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence,

and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,

O God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:10-17, ESV) (emphasis mine)