Sermon for October 5th

Many of you work in businesses or for companies. Some of you even own your own business. So, many of you have also probably had to create, or learn about or memorize “mission statements.” They are all the fad now. Everybody must have one it seems. Churches, hotels, libraries . . . some of you might even have a personal mission statement. A seminary professor once told my class that a great mission statement for a church would be, “Come die with me.” We laughed. But then he told us why. “Come die with me.” Why would that be a good mission statement? Because that is finally what Jesus calls us all to do, this is where our hope lies.

What would you like to experience in your life? Buy a house? Finish the construction of a house? Buy a bigger house? Would you like to retire? Would you like success in your vocation? Do you want kids? Grandkids? Well, compare your desires to what the apostle Paul says he wants to know about in his life: the power of Jesus’ resurrection, the sharing of Christ’s sufferings, becoming like Jesus in his death, attaining the resurrection of the dead, getting the heavenly call from Jesus Christ. All these things have a common denominator: it looks like Paul is looking forward to the day when he dies. Now, that’s rather morbid isn’t it.

Paul doesn’t necessarily seem to want to die right away does he? He doesn’t seem especially depressed or suicidal. However, it does appear that Paul isn’t afraid to die; in fact, he sees that his death will possibly be more exciting and powerful than his life. He puts it this way, “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” Seems like he is willing to do either for the sake of his faith in Jesus.

After Jesus was resurrected from the dead he appeared to many people including his disciples and said this, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” I am going to focus on just one part of this promise: “You will be my witnesses.” The Greek word that we translate as witnesses is pronounced martees or martwos—the same root for the word we now translate as martyr or martyrs.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses—my martyrs—in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” If we translated that verse in this way it would be a little more ear catching wouldn’t it? But you don’t hear that translation usually because the word can mean both things and, well, while many of us will witness and testify to the truth of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, few of us will be killed for that belief. Yet, perhaps, it’s just that we have a very small perspective about what being a martyr really entails. Have you ever met a martyr? Have you ever heard about someone who was killed for their faith? Do you think you will ever be a martyr?

Many church historians and sociologists have pointed out that the growth of the early church was due to the blood of martyrs. It seems that many, if not all, of the eleven disciples were martyred—killed because they confessed belief in Jesus Christ. Now, that might not seem that surprising, considering that in our time we often hear about suicide bombings and terrorist attacks by people within the Muslim faith. In fact, it might not even seem like much of a witness to truth at all.

However, there is a difference between a suicide bomber today and the martyrdom of the disciples at the time of Jesus. Psychologists point out that people will sometimes die for something they believe is true, but people will not die for something they know is not true. From all historical accounts, the apostles were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. If they were just making it up or unsure of the authenticity of their faith, it would be almost inconceivable for them to risk dying for it or to confess a made up faith to their executioners. Yet, that is exactly what they did. And their deaths led a tremendous number of people at their time and centuries later, to believe in Jesus Christ. God used their deaths to lead others to faith.

The same thing is still happening today in fact across the world. This world map, that was hung at the entrance to the sanctuary shows some countries around the world where people are being killed, beaten, imprisoned and persecuted because they believe and confess that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior. This includes women, children and men. Sometimes they are martyred because they are deemed to be “proselytizing” or attempting to bring others to faith in Christ. Sometimes they are martyred because they own Bibles or give Bibles to others. Sometimes they are martyred because they are attending a Christian church. Sometimes they are martyred because they have converted to Christianity while their family, clan or nation disagree and feel disgraced. However, in each case, God uses their suffering, their persecutions and their deaths to support the faith of others and lead them to faith.

At the convention I recently attended, I heard the story of a family in Malatya, Turkey. Three Christian men were asked by five Muslim men to share their faith. They gathered together in an office where the three Christians were henceforth beaten and then shot in the head. Surprisingly, at least to the news media, the families of these three men publicly forgave the assassins who took the lives of their husbands and fathers. One Muslim reporter wrote this, “What these women have done has meant 1,000 times more than what 1,000 years of missionaries have done.” In fact, as this story is told and retold, God is leading others to faith.

A daughter of one of these men asked her mother awhile later when she would be able to meet the men who killed her Father. The mother thought she misheard, but after verifying her daughter’s question, she asked the child why she wanted to go see them. This four year old girl said that she needed to tell these men about Jesus so that when they would be able to go to heaven and could say they were sorry to her Daddy and the other two men. This is how God works. As we hear these stories, our faith is supported. This is how God works through a martyr.

The apostle Paul says he wants to know about the power of Jesus’ resurrection, the sharing of Christ’s sufferings, becoming like Jesus in his death. He wants to know about attaining the resurrection of the dead and getting the heavenly call from Jesus Christ. Paul and the other apostles, this girl’s father and even this girl herself have the mindset of a witness, the mind of a martyr; not wanting to die, but understanding that God can and will even use death to further his kingdom. They are not afraid of those who can kill the body, but pay attention to the one who has promised to save their body and soul.

What about you? Do you need to fly to Turkey or Iran or some other far off place and give up your life for the sake of the gospel? No. You don’t have to do anything. This is a promise. You will be my witnesses, Jesus says. You will be my martyrs.

How many of you expect to die someday? Well, for those of you who didn’t raise your hands, there is still a one hundred percent mortality rate throughout the world. Someday you will die. You might die in a car crash, you might die of cancer and you might die for your faith in Jesus Christ.

If you die in a car crash, I promise you, your family is welcome to hold your funeral here at Saint Peters. People will remember your life and your faith. We will remember you and remind all who are here of the promise Jesus gave you—your inheritance of eternal life. Not because you were a good person, but because you were made right with God through Jesus Christ. People will hear God’s promises and God will use your death to support our faith and lead others to faith. You will be a witness-a martyr.

People who are dying of cancer, often find themselves being told that they have a limited time to live. The doctor might tell you six weeks, or six months or maybe even a year. You might have met someone in this situation who wasn’t afraid any longer to share their faith with their family because time was short and death was near. You might have met someone who sought out Jesus at the end of their life. They wanted to know the power of Jesus’ resurrection, as Paul says. They were waiting for their heavenly call. On their conversations they supported your faith and led people to seek Jesus for comfort and prayer. They are witnesses. God uses them as martyrs.

Finally, there are people in this world who die for their faith in Jesus Christ. You remember the girl in Columbine who was asked if she believed in God. She said yes. And how many people around this country and the world were brought to faith by God through this young martyr? This holds true all across the globe as people live out their lives knowing that God’s calling continues through life and even at death.

Being a martyr, being a witness and sharing your faith with others is both a demand and a promise. Jesus commands that we go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded. He calls us into vocations to serve others, to find relationships and to love one another in the name of Jesus Christ. He tells us not to be ashamed of him and his words, but to share the good news joyfully. But finally, when your work on this earth is done, God promises that you will be his martyr, his witness, not only in your life but in your death whether you like it or not. You can live your life trusting that God can and will use you to spread his gospel and expand his kingdom. Jesus says, “Come die with me. I have promised you eternal life. You are my witness. You are my martyr.” Amen.