2nd Last Sunday, Nov. 16, 2003
(International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church)
Text: Hebrews 12:1-2
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Last Tuesday, on Remembrance Day, our nation remembered
those who sacrificed their lives for our nation serving in the armed forces.
Why were these men willing to sacrifice their lives? Perhaps the most
significant reason is that they were convinced of the justness of the cause and
its necessity for preserving the freedom of our nation and the peace of our
world. They considered it worthy of their lives.
Let me ask you? What are some things you would give
up your life for? As citizens of Canada, would you count the freedom of this
country worth sacrificing your life for? Or what about you husbands? Would you
sacrifice your life for your wife? The Apostle Paul writes: “Husbands, love
your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make
her holy…” (Ephesians 5) Do you love your wife as Christ has loved you? Or what
about your faith? Are you willing to give up your life when you are asked to
renounce your faith or to compromise it? All of you who have become members of
our church were asked: “Do you intend to continue steadfast in this [Christian]
confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from
it?” And you answered: “I do so intend with the help of God.”
Do you consider your faith worth giving up your life
for? If you are unsure, you should give it some serious thought, because in my
opinion, if your faith is not worth dying for, then it probably isn’t a faith
worth living with.
Today happens to be the International Day of Prayer
for the persecuted church. This Sunday we will remember in our prayers the
estimated 200 million Christians around the world who are persecuted for their
faith—Christians who are not allowed by their government to practice their
faith. 200 million is a staggering figure. It means that at least 5% of all
Christians can face severe consequences for simply living out their faith.
Unfortunately we don’t hear much about it because most of this happens in the
Third World, in places that don’t usually capture the imagination of our media.
Nevertheless, there are many Christians who are murdered each day, simply
because they bear the name of Christ.
These are people for whom the question of whether
they are willing to die for their faith is not simply an academic one. For them
it is a daily reality of life. I believe there is something important that we
can learn from them that can change the way we live our faith. For example, we
should ask ourselves why these Christians continue to practice their faith when
they know that it exposes them to danger. Why, for example, do they go to church
if they know that they might be attacked? Come to think of it, we did
experience something similar to that here in Toronto when our city got hit with
SARS. During that time, coming to church could have been dangerous to your
life, considering the possibility that someone carrying this deadly disease
might be present. Would you come to church if you knew it could be dangerous?
If the church were just a social club, a fellowship designed to improve the
quality of your life, then of course there would be no reason you should risk
your life in coming. However, the reason the persecuted Christians persevere in
practicing their faith is because the church is not a social club. For them,
practicing their faith is not optional. They do it because they see it as a necessity
for life. Church is the fellowship of those God has chosen for His kingdom. We
gather to prepare ourselves for when we will “see the Son of Man coming in
clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather His
elect…” (Mark13:26).
So the “fellowship” we share as Christians is not
primarily what we do after the service is finished when we go downstairs for
coffee & refreshments and to socialize with each other. Rather, the nature
of that fellowship is fundamentally different and it is far more significant
than the fellowship of a social gathering. It is what the Apostle Paul speaks
of when he writes: “I want to know
Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His
sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, eventually, to attain to
the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10, 11) The Christian
fellowship is primarily a fellowship of “sharing in Christ’s sufferings.”
You may recall Paul’s conversion experience when
Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus. Do you remember what Jesus asked
Paul? He said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” As Paul was
hurting Christians, who was he also hurting? Jesus Himself was suffering while
those who believed in Him suffered, for they are part of His fellowship and are
members of His body. When we suffer we know that Jesus suffers too.
We were initiated into this fellowship with Christ
through Baptism. Paul writes: “All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death.” And “If we have been united with Him like this
in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.”
(Romans 6:3, 5) Fellowship with Christ means dying to ourselves and to the
world and it promises us the resurrection of our bodies to eternal life.
This fellowship with Christ is maintained by
faithfulness to His Word—trusting His promise to care for all our needs as we
obey His call to love and care for each other. This fellowship is nurtured by
His body and blood He offers us. It assures us of His gracious, forgiving
presence with us. Sharing in this Holy Communion we proclaim Christ’s death
until He comes. It is a fellowship of those who have died with Christ and who
now have their life and being in Him.
Perhaps another way to describe Christian fellowship
is as the fellowship of the dead and dying. We are dead and dying in regard to
the world and our sinful nature. United to Christ we are no longer interested
in what this world has to offer us nor in the sinful pleasures of our bodies.
They don’t interest us because we know that these give us no lasting pleasure.
They always leave us feeling empty and betrayed.
However in Christ we share in a fellowship that is
eternal and brings true joy. Jesus declared: “Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will never pass away.” (Mark 13:31). If you put your trust in
Jesus’ promise to raise you up on the Last Day (John 11), you can count on Him
to make it happen. Because of this hope, we are not deterred in our love for
each other, even if it means enduring suffering and hardship.
Our Epistle lesson from Hebrews relates another
aspect of the fellowship we share in. We are told of “the great cloud of
witnesses” which surrounds us. The imagery is of a sports stadium. We
Christians are like those who are competing for a prize. The spectators or
“witnesses” are those who have already finished the competition, the faithful
who have died in Christ. Sometimes when I feel tempted, I find it helpful to
remind myself of this image. I ask myself, ‘would I do this if my grandmother
or grandfather were watching or would I be ashamed to do this in front of
others?’ This knowledge that our life of faith is not being lived out in
isolation, but in front of millions encourages us on to strive boldly in doing
what we ought as Children of God and to turn away from temptation. This
knowledge helps us to persevere in doing what is right even though the whole
world be against us, for we are never alone when facing temptation. For we want
to please our heavenly Father. As for this world and our sinful nature, these
count for nothing, for they are passing away.
The
great thing about this “competition” is that the final victory has already been
won by Christ. The reason we are still competing is for the sake of those who
are not yet part of Christ’s body. While Jesus has won the victory, he has
given us the privilege of collecting the booty—of welcoming into God’s kingdom
those who are still unaware of God’s love for them in Christ. And the most
eloquent words we can speak is our willingness to endure suffering and shame
for the sake of Christ’s name. It is these unspoken words that proclaim most
clearly the truth of God’s love. This is what we can learn from our persecuted
brothers and sisters in Christ, for whom we pray this day.
And now may you continue to abide in the fellowship of Him who gave His life for you so that you may enjoy everlasting life. Amen.