Martyrs - What's our commitment ?

The story of the beheading of John the Baptist (Mark 6:14-29) is a particularly unpleasant one. It is a biblical account which is backed up by historians of the time and this reminds us of the influence that John had. John as we know went about preaching to people about their need to repent – a Saviour was coming into the world and they needed to be ready to meet him.

John rightly became a symbol of a moral and a holy man, a reputation he held even with King Herod himself. Herod was fascinated by him, but Herodias was not. She tried to think of any ways in which she could get rid of John, and eventually tricked Herod into having John killed.

John became a martyr for a cause that he didn’t even fully understand, but he became a martyr willingly because he knew that his commitment to what was good would be rewarded not in the fleeting passing of this life but in the everlasting life which Jesus would win for him.

Many of the great biblical characters died for their faith, but sadly martyrdom is not a thing of the past. In the past century more martyrs died for the Christian faith than at any time in the past 2000 years. Some died as missionaries sharing the wonderful gospel message directly, others such as Martin Luther King died working for the victory of gospel values. Recently as we have watched the news we’ve seen Christians murdered for their faith in places like Syria....

I suspect that none of us are very keen to be martyrs but, to answer the call of commitment which Jesus makes to us, and which he displayed for us on the cross, it is important that we learn some lessons from him and from others for whom their faith has been so important…

The first lesson is an obvious one – martyrs get killed ! But it’s important to remember that they are killed, not for the convictions they hold, but for expressing those convictions. They don’t keep their faith private, but recognise that it is so important, not just for them, but for everyone, that it has to be shared.

The example of many martyrs is that they are willing and ready to say the things which need saying. Today the Church often looks a bit timid, a bit afraid of what people will think, and we forget, or conveniently ignore, just how radical the message of Jesus is. He talked about defending the rights of the marginalised, the poor, the outcasts, of giving people a chance of maybe another go after they have made a mistake, or maybe just the chance of the experience of being loved. That’s the message he calls his people to live out today…

For the Church to make an impact in our communities today, we need to be prepared to take the martyrs stand and to tell people that Jesus and his message are important, because if it doesn’t look important to us, then it certainly won’t look important to anyone else !

A second lesson from martyrs is that it is not only what they say, but where and when they say it that is important. The disciples of Jesus who were killed were killed because they spoke out in places where people didn’t like what they were saying. That is true of so many martyrs through the centuries. They have spoken out about things people don’t want to hear.

And the radical Christian message is one that will not always be popular – we talk of love, of compassion, of giving people a chance, and these things sound so reasonable, but to many they are not – many are more concerned with selfish ambitions and desires, a lust for power or fame, and the message of Jesus is one that opposes everything they stand for…

And if we just talk about Jesus within our Churches, or within groups where we feel comfortable doing so, we will never share a message that is there to be heard. A martyr is someone who recognises the need to say something to an audience that may not want to hear !

And the final characteristic that I want to think about this morning is that martyrs inspire us, and, as Christians, we must be people who inspire others to look for Jesus. One of the consequences of a respectable fairly formal Church, which is what we have in this country is that we don’t often show the excitement and joy of a relationship with Jesus.

In him we have found our Saviour. In him we have found someone who loves us so much that he would die for us. In him we have found someone who accepts us, with all of our faults and failings, and continually welcomes us back into his arms, which are continuously outstretched calling us back.

The martyr is someone who is totally committed to a cause that they believe is even worth dying for. We may not want to die, but as we recognise the commitment of Jesus, who gave everything for us, we have to decide if we think he is worth living for !

To finish I’d like to offer 2 stories of commitment – In the first, the conductor of a community orchestra was almost at his wits end ! At every single rehearsal, there had been at least one member who had been missing. Planning for a well organised concert was almost impossible. At the last rehearsal, he called for attention and said, "I would like to thank the first violinist for being the only member of the orchestra to attend every rehearsal." The violinist smiled shyly and humbly said to the conductor, "Well, it seemed the least I could do since I won't be at the concert tonight."

The second is rather more serious – there is an Italian film called, GENERAL DE LA ROVERE. During the occupation of Italy, the Nazis rounded up a group of people in a frantic effort to crush the resistance movement in the land. Their actions resulted in the capture of several people who were not members of the resistance forces.

The officer in charge tried to identify the resistance leaders. When his efforts failed, he ordered execution of all--both the resistance members and the innocent bystanders. On the morning of the execution, one man began to cry out, "I'm innocent; I didn't do anything." One of the resistance leaders approached him and asked, "You didn't do anything?"
The man replied, "No, I didn't do anything." The resistance leader spoke again: "I don't understand. Our whole way of life was being destroyed. Minds were being warped; institutions were being subverted; and you didn't do anything?" When the man replied once again, "No, I didn't do anything," the resistance leader commented, "Then you deserve to be punished."

May Jesus, as we one day meet him face to face, overlook our human failings and never doubt our commitment to him. AMEN