Wednesday
after the First Sunday after Trinity
Now
about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the
church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he
saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it
was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. So when he had arrested him, he put
him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him,
intending to bring him before the people after Passover. Peter was therefore
kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church
(Acts 12:1-5).
There are many reports of increased
violence against Christians all over the world. Persecution of Christians is
not something limited to the pages of Holy Scripture, or the history books. So
far in 2019, according to Open Doors USA, a non-profit group focused on serving
persecuted Christians in more than 60 countries, 4,136 Christians were killed
for their faith (an average of 11 per day); 2,625 Christians were detained
without trial, arrested, sentenced, and imprisoned; 1,266 churches or other
Christian buildings were attacked.[1]
Open Doors USA says that persecution of Christians is intensifying in Africa,
Asia, and the Middle East. Not surprisingly perhaps, it is Christian women who
have the most difficult time, often facing persecution because of both their
religion and their sex.
 |
| Security personnel inspect the interior of St Sebastian's Church in Negombo. |
On Easter Sunday, as Christians in Sri
Lanka gathered to celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord, Muslim terrorists
blew up three churches, killing more than 200 Christians.[2] In
March, 120 Christians were killed by Muslim militants in Nigeria.[3] In
both of these cases, major news agencies, such as the BBC, and fact-checking
websites like Snopes.com said that these incidents were not necessarily due to
the religious persecution of Christians. Rather, the church bombings in Sri
Lanka were more about terrorism to achieve political goals, and the deaths in
Nigeria were because of ongoing regional conflicts. Nevertheless, the
Christians in those places are dead at the hands of people who wanted them dead
because of their faith in Christ. Moreover, Christians around the world are
increasingly marginalized, prohibited by law in many Islamic countries from
practicing their faith, and under the threat of imprisonment or death if they
are discovered.[4]
Hate speech laws in Great Britain and Canada threaten the free exercise of
religion, jailing preachers who call homosexuality a sin.[5]
Praise be to God that, for the time being, the First Amendment prohibits
Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, hurt
feelings or offended sensibilities notwithstanding. But the United States is
the exception, not the rule. Christians today are in the same situation as
Christians during the 1st Century.
Persecution of Christians, and the
rest of the world’s disinterest/participation in it, should not surprise us. Jesus
said that these things would happen at the end of the age:
“Then
they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by
all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one
another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and
deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow
cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”[6]
But, even though the love of many
grows cold in these last days, we Christians are called to love even more. We
are called to love our neighbors as ourselves; we are called to love one
another; we are called to love God:
Beloved,
let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of
God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In
this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only
begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love,
not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love
one another.[7]
Not only ought we to love one another, we want to; we now have the ability to do so. Because we have put on
Christ in our baptism, we have died with Him, and will be raised with Him. We
are a new creation, with the Holy Spirit living in us. Our New Man desires the
things that God desires, including a desire to love our neighbor as ourself.
How do we do this? We care for our
neighbor and help him meet his bodily needs; we bless those who curse us; we do
good to those who hate us; we pray for those who spitefully use and persecute
us.[8] We
proclaim to our neighbor the Gospel, the good news of how, while we were still sinners
and God’s enemies, Christ died for the ungodly:[9] That
Christ was born, God in human flesh; that He died, the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world; and that He rose again from the dead for our
justification. We call sinners to repentance. We boldly and lovingly proclaim
this Gospel to those in whose midsts God has put us according to our vocations.
When we fall short, we repent; we confess our sins and rejoice in God’s
forgiveness in Christ, and continue to struggle to put to death our flesh and
it’s sinful desires.
And, when persecution comes, we do not
despair. We endure it with patience; we continue to confess our faith. We
follow the example of Peter and John who, when commanded by the government not
to proclaim the Gospel said,
“We
ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom
you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be
Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we
are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has
given to those who obey Him.”[10]
And we do this joyfully, knowing that
in the world we have trouble, but Christ has overcome the world.[11]
No matter what things may look like to us now, we know that the Church,
Christ’s Body, is under His protection and control.
And
take they our life,
Goods,
fame, child, and wife,
Though
these all be gone,
Our
victory has been won;
The
Kingdom ours remaineth.[12]
Even if we lose everything we have on
this earth, including our lives, the gates of Hell shall not prevail against
Christ’s Church. On the Last Day Christ will raise me and all the dead, and
give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly
true.
Bibliography
Blake, Heidi. "Christian Preacher
Arrested for Saying Homosexuality Is a Sin." The Telegraph,
May 2, 2010. Accessed June 27, 2019.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/7668448/Christian-preacher-arrested-for-saying-homosexuality-is-a-sin.html. Dale McAlpine was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” after a
homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a
number of “sins” referred to in the Bible, including blasphemy, drunkenness and
same sex relationships...Police officers are alleging that he made the remark
in a voice loud enough to be overheard by others and have charged him with
using abusive or insulting language, contrary to the Public Order Act.
"Christian Persecution Today."
Open Doors USA. Accessed June 27, 2019. https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/.
Durrani, Temur. "Pastor Charged
with Causing a Disturbance in Toronto's Gay Village." The Star,
June 5, 2019. Accessed June 27, 2019.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/06/05/pastor-charged-with-causing-a-disturbance-in-torontos-gay-village.html.
A 39-year-old pastor was charged with causing a disturbance in the city’s Gay
Village, Toronto police said Wednesday, after he took to the streets to preach
pro-Christian messages to passersby a day before.
Luther, Martin. “A Mighty Fortress Is
Our God.” stz. 4. Lutheran Worship.
St. Louis: Concordia, 1986. Hymn #298.
Smith, Samuel. "120 People
Killed, 140 Homes Destroyed by Nigeria Fulani since February." The Christian Post, March 15, 2019. Accessed June 27, 2019.
"Sri Lanka Attacks: More than 200
Killed as Churches and Hotels Targeted." BBC News. April 21, 2019.
Accessed June 27, 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48001720.
Winsor, Morgan, and Dragana Jovanovic.
"ISIS Claims Responsibility for Sri Lanka Easter Bombings That Killed over
350." ABC News. April 23, 2019. Accessed June 27, 2019. https://abcnews.go.com/International/isis-claims-responsibility-sri-lanka-easter-bombings-killed/story?id=62570339.
Wintour, Patrick. "Persecution of
Christians 'coming Close to Genocide' in Middle East - Report." The
Guardian, May 2, 2019. Accessed June 27, 2019.
[1] Open
Doors USA, “Christian Persecution Today,” Open
Doors USA, 2019, https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/.
[2] BBC,
“Sri Lanka Attacks: More than 200 Killed as Churches and Hotels Targeted,” BBC News, April 21, 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48001720.
Morgan Winsor, and Dragana Jovanovic. "ISIS
Claims Responsibility for Sri Lanka Easter Bombings That Killed over 350."
ABC News. April 23, 2019. https://abcnews.go.com/International/isis-claims-responsibility-sri-lanka-easter-bombings-killed/story?id=62570339.
[3] Samuel
Smith. "120 People Killed, 140 Homes Destroyed by Nigeria Fulani since
February." The Christian Post, March
15, 2019. https://www.christianpost.com/news/120-people-killed-140-homes-destroyed-by-nigeria-fulani-since-february.html.
[4] Patrick
Wintour, "Persecution of Christians 'coming Close to Genocide' in Middle
East - Report," The Guardian, May 2, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/02/persecution-driving-christians-out-of-middle-east-report.
[5] Heidi
Blake, "Christian Preacher Arrested for Saying Homosexuality Is a
Sin." The Telegraph, May 2, 2010. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/7668448/Christian-preacher-arrested-for-saying-homosexuality-is-a-sin.html.
Durrani, Temur Durrani, "Pastor Charged with
Causing a Disturbance in Toronto's Gay Village." The Star,
June 5, 2019. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/06/05/pastor-charged-with-causing-a-disturbance-in-torontos-gay-village.html.
[6]
Matthew 24:9-13
[7] 1
John 4:7-11
[8]
Matthew 5:43-48; 6:1-4
[9]
Romans 5:6-11
[10]
Acts 5:29-32
[11] John
16:33
[12] Martin
Luther, “A Mighty Fortress,” stz. 4.
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