First Sunday after Christmas [On Christian Martyrdom] (27-Dec-2015)

This sermon was preached at St Mark's Lutheran Church, Mt Barker, 8.30am, 10.30am.

Click here for PDF file of sermon for printing.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Matthew 23:34)

Jesus says: I will send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today I’m not going to focus on our Gospel reading, but we’re going to focus on a particular topic, which is Christian martyrdom. And you might think, Why am I discussing such a topic so soon after Christmas?

Well, in our church calendar, this is exactly the way things are ordered. You probably know the Christmas carol, “The twelve days of Christmas”. What are these twelve days of Christmas? They’re not the days leading up to Christmas, they are the days from Christmas Day up until the 6^th January when we remember the wise men coming to visit the baby Jesus. The visit of the wise men is called Epiphany. We’re going to celebrate Epiphany next Sunday.

Between Christmas and Epiphany, we have what’s called the “Twelve Days of Christmas”. So today, being the 27^th December is the third day of Christmas.

In the historic church calendar, the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th days of Christmas have always been dedicated to remembering three different people. Yesterday, the 26^th December (which we often call Boxing Day), is a day to remember Stephen in the New Testament, who was the first Christian martyr, the first person to be killed because of his faith in Jesus.

Today, the 27^th December is often a day to remember John, who was one of the twelve apostles. And tomorrow, the 28^th December is often a day to remember the innocent martyrs, who were the baby boys in Bethlehem who were killed by King Herod when he was trying to find the baby Jesus.

I’ve chosen to talk about martyrdom on this particular Sunday, because it is becoming a big issue for us Christians today. There have been more Christians killed for their faith in the last century than any other period of church history. With the rising up of ISIS in the Middle East in the last 18 months, we have heard some horrific news come from those areas. Many Christians have been killed for their faith, and many Christians even today are in great danger.

So what do we make of all of this?

Well, a couple of weeks ago, during the Advent season, I preached a sermon about John the Baptist’s preaching, where he calls his hearers a “brood of vipers”. In this sermon, I mentioned particularly about how some Roman soldiers came up to John the Baptist and asked him what they should do. John said to them: Do not extort money from anyone by threats of by false accusation, and be content with your wages.

John doesn’t tell them to stop being soldiers, but to be good, honest soldiers, soldiers that don’t bully people around, and who are happy with their pay. Notice here that John doesn’t tell these soldiers to abandon their posts, or to give up their weapons. This is very important for us to understand. We have a number of people in our congregation, as do many Lutheran congregations, who are or have been in the armed forces. And these people need our prayers and our support.

Sometimes soldiers and police have to use the weapons that they have been given to protect the wider community or the country. I’m not a policeman, I’m not a soldier, and so I’m not allowed to kill anyone. But if a person poses a threat, as in Paris recently, where terrorists went in and started killing people, it’s a policeman’s and soldier’s duty to do something about it, maybe even kill the terrorists. The terrorists committed murder, the police and the soldiers didn’t.

At Christmas time, the angels came down and sang: Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth. Yes, they sang peace on earth. And we know that the fifth commandment says: You shall not murder. But the New Testament clearly teaches in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 that a soldier or member of the police can use lethal weapons, and also at the same time be a good Christian, with God’s blessing. They are protecting and serving their country. This is so important for us, because even though we Christians want to do everything to build each other up in love and to serve our society and community in a peaceful and loving way, we have no right to look down on people in the armed forces. They are also doing good work, just like anyone else. We live in a sinful world, that needs order and peace. Being a solider or a policeman is good work that needs to be done, and it is godly work.

However, in a conversation following on from my sermon a couple of weeks ago, someone said that the terrorists in Paris probably justified their actions in the same way. But let me explain what the difference is. The terrorists in Paris were private citizens, and they had not been given any right by the country of France to use their weapons in the way they did. They were murderers. The police and the army of France did have a right to use weapons, not in service of themselves, but in service of the country of France, in service of the state. And governments, states, nations, are also wonderful gifts from God and they need to be defended. There are some people, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, and some Christians in history, who don’t believe that Christians can be soldiers. What this means is that if another country comes and wants to invade and take over, they expect all the unbelievers to do the fighting for them. This isn’t honest, and it’s not fair—we Christians are citizens of this country too, and someone has to do the hard work.

Now, let’s come to the word: martyrdom. What’s a martyr? The word “martyr” is a Greek word that means a “witness”. In the church, a martyr is someone who has been killed because of their faith.

We hear the word “martyr” in the news quite a lot, which is used in a different way. It seems as though some of the people who have been committing acts of terrorism in the name of Islam in various parts of the world go into these situations thinking that if they are killed, or even if they kill themselves, then they are martyrs. So for example, if a terrorist goes somewhere with a gun, and kills people, knowing that he might be killed by the police for doing this, then he would be a martyr. Or, if a person goes somewhere with a suicide vest and blows himself up, then he would be a martyr. Now, this is not what a martyr is. You can’t become a martyr by committing the crime of murder, or by killing yourself. That’s not martyrdom.

However, sometimes it happens that in certain places it becomes a crime to speak the name of Jesus, or to speak his words, or to tell the truth about him or what he said. If this happens, Christians must still speak the truth—the Christian faith must still be carried on whatever the cost, and Jesus promises to walk with his own people through these dark times. And when a person is killed for being a Christian, then they are a martyr.

Now, we don’t think too much about this issue, because it’s quite unlikely in Australia, that we would be killed for our faith. I don’t know about you, but I don’t live in fear at night for my life because of my Christian faith in this country. However, many Christians throughout the world do, and we are all part of the same Christian church, and part of the same body of Christ. And St Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12: If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together.

Jesus prophesied many times during his life that Christians would be persecuted. And I read at the beginning of our sermon today: Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town. At the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus predicts the way in which Peter, his disciple, would be killed. He says: Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) We know from history that Peter was also crucified, just like Jesus—his hands were stretched out, as Jesus says, when he was old.

What about you? What would happen if you had to choose between Jesus and staying alive? Would you reject Jesus? Many people fall away from the faith in our country simply because they don’t want to look bad to their atheist friends. What about you? Have you ever had a time that you stopped coming to church or stopped praying or reading the bible for a silly reason? Have you denied your Lord? How many times have you denied him? In the parable of the sower, Jesus says: Some [seed] fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it… The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in a time of testing fall away. We are often such weak Christians—we fall away and deny Jesus for such silly reasons. I have heard so many stories in our wider church about people who one day think that the sun shines out of their pastors, or a Christian friend, but as soon as they disagree with him on some ever so minor point, then they say he’s an idiot, and chew him up and spit him out like even unbelievers would be ashamed to do, and they can’t physically hear him and the word of God he speaks anymore, and sometimes even fall away from the faith. People really do fall away for such silly, petty reasons. But also remember that there is forgiveness if this happens. Peter denied Jesus three times, but then after Jesus rose from the dead, he comes to Peter. He doesn’t tell Peter off, and tell him what a disappointment he has been, but he simply asks Peter three times, Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? Peter denied Jesus three times, but Jesus also encourages Peter with this question three times. So also we need to be tough Christians and to prepare ourselves to speak a good word when we’re asked—we should take our opportunities to speak when we can. Jesus says: When they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. But if we chicken out, and deny Jesus, we shouldn’t despair—Jesus knows our weakness, and he forgives us. Peter’s times of denial strengthened him for the future when he clung to Jesus right to the end, even to the point of death. The Holy Spirit didn’t need his confession of faith earlier, but he gave him a wonderful confession of faith later.

So let’s go now briefly through three small readings about Stephen, John and the boys from Bethlehem, and see what it teaches us.

St Stephen’s Day was yesterday, the day after Christmas, the 26^th December. Of course, I kind of like this day, because my name is Stephen, and because of that, I have a bit of an interest in St Stephen! In the book of Acts, Stephen was appointed and ordained as a pastor, together with six others by the twelve apostles. The twelve apostles needed to share their work, and to delegate part of the great load that they carried. Part of duty of the apostles (and still today of all pastors) was to visit the poor and the sick and the needy. However, the apostles found that this charitable side of their ministry was taking away from their ability to pray and study God’s word. So they enlisted some others to help, to share the work. Jesus himself sends the apostles out two by two, so right from the beginning, it was always seen that apostles and pastors don’t work as lone rangers, but together with others.

So Stephen was one of these new assistant pastors, sometimes called a deacon. It turns out that Stephen was arrested and then he was brought before the Jewish high priest, and he gave a defence of his faith in Jesus. When he had finished speaking we read: Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

This passage from Acts 7, is just wonderful, and I often read it at deathbeds. If you find yourself with someone who is going to die, you might like to read them this passage. Even when Stephen is faced with the angry mob, what happens? Does Stephen find himself left alone without Jesus? No—he sees Jesus standing right there with him, in heaven, standing at the right hand of God. You can see this is such a wonderful fulfilment of Jesus’ words where he says: I am with you always to the end of the age. Also, we see Stephen ask Jesus to receive his spirit. And even when Stephen is confident that he is going to heaven to be with Jesus, he also has the strength to pray for his enemies, these men who are killing him at that very moment. Lord, do not hold this sin against them. We might think about this each time we go to sleep. We can say: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Look after me through the night, just as I know you will look after me when I die. And as I look back on the day, who has sinned against me? Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And then right at the end, it says: He fell asleep. He fell asleep, because we know that when he dies, it is not the end, but that Jesus will wake him up to see him face to face in Paradise.

Even Stephen’s prayers for his enemies came true, because it says: The witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul…And later it says: And Saul approved of his execution. Now, later in the book of Acts, we read that Saul’s sins were not held against him, but that Jesus met him on the road to Damascus, and he became one of Jesus’ apostles and took the name: Paul. Paul became a wonderful missionary to the Gentiles. And then Paul wrote many letters in the New Testament, and especially, Paul gives some of the clearest testimony in the bible about why his sins were not held against him, as Stephen prayed, and why for all baptised Christians our sins are not held against us.

So what a wonderful passage of Christian encouragement! In Stephen’s situation, he preached, and he was killed for it.

But now, let’s read about John. St John’s day is today, the 27^th December, the third day of Christmas. John was one of Jesus’ 12 disciples, and he even wrote one of the four Gospels, and what a wonderful gospel it is! John also wrote three letters in the New Testament, which we call 1 John, 2 John and 3 John, and he also wrote the last book of the bible, Revelation. Now, as far as we know, John was not a martyr. He wasn’t killed for his Christian faith. But he was exiled. In Revelation 1:9, we read: I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Patmos is an island that is part of Greece, and is one of the Greek Islands, where many tourists today go for holidays and cruises. But in those days, Patmos was a very isolated place—and John was sent there by the Romans to get him out of the way.

So John wasn’t killed or martyred, but he preached, and he was punished by being sent away. And history is full of people like this. There are a lot of people who have been sent away by governments into the wilderness, the desert, to a desert island. We might think of Soviet Russia where many people were sent to concentration camps called Gulags, including many Christians. It was forbidden to speak about Christianity during communism, and those who did were sent to Siberia. Also, sometimes in the church, people and sometimes good pastors and good Christians fall foul of church politics and are sent away to some remote place as a kind of punishment to keep them out of the way and not cause trouble.

But then we read about the baby boys in Bethlehem. They are called the Holy Innocents, and Holy Innocents’ day is tomorrow, the 28^th December. We read about them: Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he ascertained from the wise men.

These baby boys were not killed because they preached like Stephen or John, but they were killed because the king was trying to kill Jesus. What a tyrant! We have heard of stories in Iraq in the last 18 months where little babies and toddlers have been killed by swords or even crucifixion because they Christian babies and toddlers, part of Christian families.

So we see three different types of martyrdom with these three: Stephen preached and was killed, John preached and sent away out of sight and out of mind, and the innocent martyrs didn’t say a thing and were killed anyway.

And yet, in all of this, Jesus is there, wiping away the tears of his faithful ones and encouraging them. It’s not like our Gospel reading today, where Mary and Joseph can’t find Jesus. No—in these situations, Jesus is not absent, he’s not missing. He’s right there in the midst of it. When people persecute Christians, they persecute Jesus himself. When Jesus appeared to Paul, he said: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And to the church, he says: be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.

Just to conclude our sermon today, I want to tell you about a martyrdom that took place this year in Libya. On February 15 of this year, 21 men were kidnapped and killed in Libya by members of ISIS because they were Christians. It so turned out that these men were all from Egypt, and were members of the Coptic Orthodox Church. However, when they first released the names, they only had 20 names. So who was the missing one? It so turned out, that there was a man called Matthew Ayairga who was actually a Muslim from Chad, and wasn’t an Egyptian Christian like the other men. But when he saw the faith of the others, and the terrorists asked him if he rejected Jesus, he apparently said, “Their God is my God”, knowing full well that he would be killed. Let’s also pray like Stephen: Lord, do not hold this sin against them. Can the fighters of ISIS even become Christian missionaries like St Paul? Nothing is impossible with God.

This reminds us of when Ruth said to Naomi: Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. And so, let’s thank God for wonderful birth of his Son in Bethlehem. This wonderful birth is so full of light and encouragement and joy. This is good news of great joy that will be for all people. The angels sing: Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth. And so let’s also thank God for gathering so many people to come and kneel around the manger of Jesus, some of whom have knelt down around that manger with great danger to their lives.

Jesus says: I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

Amen.

Dear Jesus, as we remember your parents today trying to find you as a twelve year old boy, teach us to remember that in our darkest moments, you are never missing, and that you have always been with your people even when they have been killed because of you, because you have died and risen and have won the victory over death. Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth among those with whom he is pleased! Amen.