“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 5:10, TLV

Alzheimer and Warriors.  What does Alzheimer’s have to do with today’s verse? First, what is persecution anyway? It is defined as a program or campaign to exterminate, drive away, or subjugate people based on their membership in a religious, ethnic, social, or racial group: the persecutions of Christians by the Romans. That seems serious — and straightforward. For most of us we’ve not been subjected to campaigns to annihilate or subjugate us because of our faith.

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me.” (vs. 11, TLV)

Saying all kinds of evil against us falsely because we follow Jesus? That’s probably more of what we’ve experienced.

This morning, I was thinking, persecution and false accusations are not limited to events — systematic though they may be — persecution could also include illness, disabilities, and other physical and mental struggles. Why do I think that? Please bear with me as I “talk” this through.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12, TLV)

The enemy wants to rob, steal, and destroy (John 10:10), and this includes our bodies and our minds. He will use people, famine, war, whatever he can. Whether we’re hit by a drunk driver to live a life in a wheelchair, or because of a fallen world we get cancer, or some other disease, isn’t that him robbing, stealing, and destroying? Isn’t that persecution?

What about a chemical imbalance in the brain causing inappropriate behaviors that ostracize souls from society? Aren’t these attempts to exterminate us? Or, at the least, subjugate our bodies and minds to a life of trials and tribulations? To try to rob us of our peace and faith? Wouldn’t that fall into the same category?

Where this is going

A few months ago, my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. The woman who taught Jewish roots for over forty years, mentored and discipled women who have gone on to do great exploits for the LORD, worked with Dr. C. Everett Koop (America’s Surgeon General, 1982-1989) to get warning labels on smokeless tobacco because children were disfigured and dying of mouth cancer, and even was a spy for the Jewish Anti-Defamation League to identify white supremists who had infiltrated legitimate Christian organizations, now has difficulty reading her worn Bible. That’s robbing, stealing, and destroying — that’s persecution.

Many of the great men and women of faith like Richard Wurmbrand and Corrie ten Boom, and others who were persecuted and tortured in their earlier years, were in their latter years, persecuted and tortured in their mind and body. Dementia, strokes, Alzheimer — leaving them still on earth, but not really.

As I think about my mother, I try to reconcile the unreconcilable. I can’t go down the “Why” road — it goes nowhere. Her body and soul are becoming more and more confused. But does her spirit — that part of God’s Spirit inside her — rejoice and know she is blessed even in this reviling humiliation? I have to believe the answer to that question is, “Yes!”

Who is the one who condemns? It is Messiah, who died, and moreover was raised, and is now at the right hand of God and who also intercedes for us. (Romans 8:34, TLV)

Our Messiah condemns all spiritual rulers, powers, the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. He not only condemns them, but intercedes on our behalf in heaven. The Holy Spirit within us connects with that intercession.

So what does that mean to us, to me? It means those sitting in care facilities after years of service for the LORD, are still serving as warriors for our Messiah. How? I don’t know how precisely, but they are.

As my mother journeys this treacherous road, I need to remember that she was and still is a warrior. As her daughter I will continue to pray and speak the words of life she has spoken to others and to me, even when her mind doesn’t remember or understand. But her spirit will, her warrior spirit.