No longer ashamed
by Chelsea Pietsch
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No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale (Isaiah 29:22).
Have you ever felt ashamed of your Christian faith and beliefs? Perhaps you’ve slipped your cross necklace back under your jumper before picking the kids up from school? Perhaps you’ve placed your Bible in your drawer or under your novel so that it won’t be easily seen? Or maybe you’ve felt your heart rate increase or cheeks blush in the company of others who have made hostile comments about people of faith or the Bible?
If you have felt this way, you are not alone. We live in a society that is increasingly hostile to Christianity. The Christian faith is so often portrayed and perceived as a thing of the past, the old jumper that everyone’s outgrown. Sometimes it’s even portrayed as a cult – something that is patently bad for you.
With the feeling of alienation comes grief. We can feel misunderstood and alone. It might be hard to find friends and colleagues with whom we can relate meaningfully. There’s also the grief of having access to something true and beautiful – the pearl of great price – that other people look on merely as an artefact of curiosity, or even worse, something to be laughed at or scorned.
Yet this reading gives us hope. It shows us that, one day, the Lord will reveal his beauty, truth and goodness for all to hear and see. The deaf shall hear, the blind will see, the mockers will cease, and false accusations will be no more. Things will be made right. We will no longer feel like aliens, and when we speak, our voices will no longer tremble, and our cheeks will not blush.
Dear Lord, when we experience the scorn of the world, help us not to be ashamed but praise you because we bear your name (1 Peter 4:16). Amen.
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