Thought for Today
Psalm 146:5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever;
Isaiah 7:9 . . . If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.
Acts 7:59 While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
I’m not sure why, but I awoke this morning thinking about Polycarp. “Polycarp (. . . Latin: Polycarpus; AD 69 – 155) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his body.” (Wikipedia) That ultimately led me to think about Stephen, the first Christian martyr and eventually to thinking about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Why would someone offer their life for “things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”?
What might you, or I, value highly enough for which to freely offer our lives? I remember from my American History classes in junior high school reading about Nathan Hale. Then and now, I wonder, could I actually and honestly say, “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country”? My country is something I can and do see and experience in the world around me. It is a tangible reality.
I often write and speak about the reality that no one ever lives in the world in which they were raised. By that, I mean that the language, clothing, technology and other outward aspects of our lives today are not the same as they were when we were born. To use a phrase from Stephan King’s Tower Series, “the world has moved on.” In many ways, the world of today is better, more advanced than the world of the 1950s and 1960s. I love, appreciate and make frequent use of my computer, my cell phone and much of our modern technology. Medicines and medical treatments are commonplace today that were not dreamed of when I was born or in my youth. Then they were barely conceivable, at best maybe hoped for and certainly not seen. Did I have faith in their ultimate reality? Not really! Would I be willing to become a martyr for any of those technological advances? No!
What might you, or I, value highly enough for which to freely offer our lives? What motivated Polycarp? Stephen? Bonhoeffer? Christian martyrs did not offer their lives for technologies. They did not face a cruel death for things. Neither, I suspect, would any of us.
I do know that for 2000+ years Christians have faced death with “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” How often do any of us try to quantify or qualify what those ‘things’ are? We hear and speak about faith. We worship regularly; we pray often. But . . . what ‘things’ do we value with our lives?
Some years ago, I was in a carpool with 2 other faithful Christians. One of them often predicted that within our own lifetimes, Christians in America would be persecuted for our faith. I sincerely pray that he was not prescient. I do not believe that he was. However, if we were, How would you, or I, respond? Is our faith, our “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” that strong?
My own faith is grounded in the God “who keeps faith forever.” It is grounded in the God who “John 3:16 so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Although I am in no hurry to test it, I do have faith, the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. I believe the words of the one who promised, “John 14:2 In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”
Christians should not seek martyrdom; neither should we fear it. We have the promise of God’s Son who has prepared a place for us and will guide us home. That is our assurance; that is our conviction.
Stay safe, have faith, trust God,
Pastor Ray