Variety: Matthew 5:11

Blessed are you when people revile you, persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  Matthew 5:11

In parts of the world, the practice of Christianity is illegal, churches are bombed, and children are hounded. To be aware of this persecution should prompt his followers to risk their reputations to make peace when others in their neighbourhoods — the people without the tree in the living room or the lights by the door — are persecuted for being different.  

Amy-Jill Levine