Blog Archives
Will the American Church Embrace Martyrdom? Why it Must!
Martyrdom of Saint Andrew (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional Thought of the Day:
8 But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (TEV)
10 Then I heard a strong voice out of Heaven saying, Salvation and power are established! Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah! The Accuser of our brothers and sisters thrown out, who accused them day and night before God. 11 They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness. They weren’t in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ.Revelation 12:10-11 (MSG)
35 Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. 36 Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. 37 Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. Hebrews 11:35-37 (NLT)
12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)
Martyrdom.
Pictures of Stephen being stoned, with a smug young man named Saul standing in the distance. That same man, being beheaded. Peter and Andrew being crucified. The list of things in the Hebrews passage above, describing the end of life of many believers. In modern days, Jim Elliot and his fellow missionaries being killed, or the people in countries in the Middle East and Asia being killed because they went to church. Churches blown apart by suicide bombers.
Will it happen here? Will we be called upon to be Martyrs? Are the “restrictions” being place on believers in the public square and in public education and in the Healthcare Mandate the forerunners of a great persecution of the church?
Will the American Church fight against martyrdom, run from it, or in faith, embrace it?
Will we wait until we are truly persecuted to embrace it?
You see, martyrdom is not just dieing as victims, matter of fact, a victim mentality is foreign to the idea of martyrdom. We’ve lost the true concept of the word, which is to bear witness, no matter what! Martyrdom means to testify and to “prove”, to stand behind that testimony, even if it means our life.
It is what we are commissioned to do, from the very moment of our baptism. It is our call as the church, to be so focused on the mercy and grace and love of God, that our very lives testify to this relationship God wants with everyone.
Martyrdom is our mission, our apostolate, the reason why we aren’t taken to heaven when God calls us and makes us His own. In order to be martyrs, we embrace sacrifice, suffering and even persecution the way Christ did, not struggling against it, It takes a a special attitude. It means that we have to realize that those who would annoy us, try to restrict us from expressing our faith publicly, those who mock us, and even those who are determined to physically abuse or kill believers, they are not our enemy. They are the ones we have been sent to love, to show mercy to, to share the reason we have hope, no matter what we have to endure to testify to God’s love and mercy for them. We have to get out of our mind that they are the opposition. They are the ones we are called to be martyrs for, even as we pray for them as Stephed did in Acts. Asking that God would NOT hold their sin against them.
That’s martyrdom.
We need to embrace it, we need to have the trust in Jesus, that as we live, testifying to His love, that He will give us the strength to endure in Him. That He will give us the words, and the strength to love, even as He calls us to be His witnesses, His martyrs.
May His church always embrace that call.
Lord Have Mercy!
Related articles
- Persecution, Martyrdom, the Love of Christ…. and a hard lesson in prayer (justifiedandsinner.com)
May our spirit of forgiving and understanding grow progressively…
Jesus in Prayer…
Devotional thoughts for the day:
Matthew 5:43-45 (MSG) 43 “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ 44 I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, 45 for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty.
Mercedes Morado and Begoña Alvarez, who were among those who worked with Monsignor Escrivá for years, wrote that his spirit of forgiving and understanding toward those who slandered him grew progressively, to the point where he could say in all simplicity, “I don’t feel any resentment toward them. I pray for them every day, just as hard as I pray for my children. And by praying for them so much, I’ve come to love them with the same heart and the same intensity as I love my children.”30 He was putting onto paper something of his own personal experience when he wrote, “Think about the good that has been done to you throughout your lifetime by those who have injured or attempted to injure you. Others call such people their enemies…. You are nothing so special that you should have enemies; so call them ‘benefactors.’ Pray to God for them: as a result, you will come to like them.”31 On another occasion, Encarnita Ortega witnessed how he reacted when told that Father Carrillo de Albornoz had left the Society of Jesus, later apostatizing from the Catholic faith. Monsignor Escrivá was visibly moved and deeply sorry. He buried his head in his hands and fell silent, withdrawing into himself, praying. Salvador Canals reminded him that this same man had once organized a very serious campaign of slander against the Work. Monsignor Escrivá interrupted him bluntly, “But he is a soul, my son, a soul!” (1)
Facebook is becoming more and more for me a place of sorrow, a place I dread to go.
The reason is, in part, the present governmental crisis, the shutdown of the government.
But my sorrow isn’t caused by that, but by the reactions of many friends, most of whom are followers of Christ. Yet, even as they fall on both sides of the issue, they do so with anger and wrath to an extreme I haven’t seen yet in my life. They act like they are the survivors of church bombings in Pakistan, or the other persecutions that is literally costing lives – not just money, in this world. Again – I long for real discussion on these issues – but not this series of diatribes against President Obama or against the Republican leaders. Will the people of God grow up? Will we return our focus to things that truly matter, like the salvation of souls? The healing of wounds caused by sin?
Or will we major in the minors? Will we continue to neglect a need for God, because our focus is on governments, or economics or protecting ourselves? Will we mourn over sin, over those who choose separation from God, and will we rejoice when prodigals come home? Heck, will we seek them out, even as Christ sought the treasures in the fields
Will we become like Christ – who embraced suffering, so others could be healed, so others would know life as the children of God?
In order to do that, we’ll need to develop that same kind of spirit that was observed in Escriva. And I would be keen to note that it grew in him – it obviously needed to.
Is our reputation, our feelings, even our own personal well-being worth more than a soul that is broken, that is so easily healed by God’s mercy and grace? Can we put the best construction on our enemies and adversaries work? On those who battle in Washington D.C. or in St Louis, or here in our backyards?
Or are their souls worth trying to bring God’s light to? Are they worth mourning? Are they worth sacrifiing time to pray for them, and the effort to love them?
Lord have mercy on us – and help us minister to those who oppose us,, or whom we think oppose us. Develop in us the heart of Stephen the deacon/martyr, and may our spirit grow, and may that growth itself encourage others to depend on you.
AMEN
(1) Urbano, Pilar (2011-05-10). The Man of Villa Tevere (Kindle Locations 1819-1832). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- Forgiveness – A Stumbling Block Or An Anchor? (pearlsofwisdomconsultingservices.com)
- Encountering others on Holy Ground. (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Persecution, Martyrdom, the Love of Christ…. and a hard lesson in prayer (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Love Them, Love Them, Love Them: Discipleship lessons from the gym…and Coach C (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Have We Shut Down…the church (justifiedandsinner.com)
