“To Be Like the Teacher”
Lord, deliver us from a martyr complex that would lead us to want to be maligned; deliver us also from a persecution complex that would lead us to believe that we are being persecuted whether we in fact are or not.
At the same time, though, teach us the hard lessons that the road less traveled is not easy street and that going against the current is not a leisurely swim.
Cause us to be true to the ways of Jesus Christ our Lord—the ways of radical grace, love, mercy, peace, faith, hope, and forgiveness. Cause us to be reminded—not morbidly but realistically—of what those ways cost Jesus. Deliver us from a shallowness and foolishness that would let us believe that if we live his life in the world the people we encounter will accept us better than they did him.
When we pray that we want to be like Jesus, O God, give us clarity as to what exactly we are praying for.
Amen.
“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!” (Matthew 10:24-25)
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