The fine print of commitment: Psalm 69:8-11, 18-20
Jeremiah 20:7-13
Romans 6:1b-11
Matthew 10:24-39
When i was baptized at the age of 11, I had no idea what the risks of believing in Jesus Christ would be. As the first in my family to become a communicant member of my church, this was a big step for me. I was embarrassed that I had not been baptized as an infant, and yet there was something powerful about making a profession of faith on my own. My joy and pride at taking this momentous step were short-lived, however. When I got home I quickly got caught up in the usual family interactions. Try though I did, I could not keep "turning the other cheek." When family members pushed my buttons I was quick with old retorts.
And now they had me! I began to get messages from parents and siblings that "good Christians don't do that!" and "Jesus wouldn't want you to behave that way." In desperation, I would respond, "Who are you to say—you haven't even joined the church yet!" But the taunts hurt and frustrated, and I sought refuge in the church, my new family.
Later, as I went on to be ordained and serve in pastorates, I was faithful in teaching youth and especially confirmands the risks of faith, and the possibilities of facing ridicule or even death for their faith. I loved to cite examples of early Christian martyrs and stories from missionaries about those who suffered for their faith. I told them about a man who was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family. When he fell in love with the daughter of a Methodist minister and became a Christian, his family said "Shiva," mourned his "death," and never had contact with him again. Grandparents, cousins, his whole extended family, were lost to this man. That was the price he paid for becoming a Christian. That wasn't a real death, my confirmands would say. I would agree, but tell them that for that man, it felt like a death. But the youth always assumed that they would never have to face those kinds of threats, because in America we didn't live in a world where there were many non-Christians.
