CHRIST HAS CALLED YOU TO BE HIS MARTYR

Perpetua was a young wife and mother, with a nursing child, in 203 A.D. Although the Roman emperor forbade conversion to Christianity, she believed in Jesus – with her servant Felicitas. They were arrested leaving church. She and Felicitas were thrown into prison. Her father (an unbeliever) begged her to renounce her faith. He said, “Have pity on us (your parents and brother).” She said, “Do you see that pitcher of water? Can you call it anything but a pitcher?” – “No.” – “So can I call myself nothing other than what I am: a Christian.” When she stood before the judge her father came with her infant son and said: “Have mercy on your child (and make the sacrifice to Caesar)!” But she said, “I am a Christian.”

Perpetua went joyfully back to prison. Her son was given to a Christian couple to be raised by them. In the arena, a mad cow ran at Perpetua and gorged her; but she survived and said to the others with her in the arena: “Stand fast in the faith.” She even gave courage and comfort to the gladiator who had to execute her. Perpetua, Felicity and the others were put to death by the sword, one by one. (B. Wolfmueller, A Martyr’s Faith in a Faithless World, p. 38-39)

Perpetua is the “godly matron” and Felicity the “saintly maiden” of whom we sang. Christ called them to be His martyrs. But what does that mean? In our text Jesus addresses this with the apostles as He says that they will face persecution.

Sermon Text, St. Mark 13:1-13. Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?” And Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows. But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. May Your Word of truth keep us in the way of truth, taking heed to ourselves and our faith, so we make it all the way to eternal life in heaven, as You have done for all Your blessed saints. Amen.

Dear saints:

What does it mean to be Christ’s martyr? Narrowly speaking it’s to die for the faith. We think of the apostles: all of them except for John died a violent death, even Matthias (Judas’ replacement) and the apostle Paul. But as we saw with Perpetua and Felicitas, who faced first the beasts and then the sword in the arena, it wasn’t just the apostles, or even the leaders of the church, but men and women, young and old, slave and free, poor and rich, leaders and the unknown.

Christ calls everyone to be His martyrs. It might startle you to hear that Christ has called you to be His martyr. You might think: I’m not sure I could do that. That’s because we might think that martyrdom equals a violent death.

But martyr in the broader sense just means witness. The word for witness in the New Testament is the Greek word martyr. The word is applied to the people who died for their faith because it was the ultimate witness: they witnessed their faith to the death. When Jesus told the apostles at His ascension, “you shall be My witnesses” (Ac 1:8), He actually said “My martyrs.” He wasn’t saying they would die for the faith. He was saying to be His “witnesses.” Here Jesus says to the disciples, “You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them,” and His word testimony, or witness, is a form of the word “martyr.”

We focus on the dying so much that what we can miss in their stories is their witness. They were not there to die but to witness. The point is that they didn’t let the prospect or fear of death keep them from witnessing.

Nowadays, what does the word “witnessing” say to you? We think of missions. That you “witness” your faith to someone about Jesus. It doesn’t strike you as dangerous. It seems it should be an easy thing: “You can tell the love of Jesus; you can say He died for all.” It’s so easy a child can do it; but we should not go into it thinking that it will not cost you anything.

There’s this idea that witnessing is easy, martyrdom is hard. We’ve lost the knowledge that the early church had, that martyr and witness are the same.

That’s because it does involve dying. It’s dying to self. That’s what it means that “when Christ calls a man He bids him come and die” (Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship). The sinful flesh, the old Adam inside you, doesn’t want to do it if it costs you.

We must admit that too often we refuse to let there be a cost. A Christian who reads the Bible and listens has to speak it (Ro 10:9-10). Then it will be dangerous for you. You will not meet with approval, generally. Not in our world. That’s what Jesus teaches His apostles here who will go out and preach the word He’s spoken to them. “You will be hated for My name’s sake,” Jesus says.

But your sinful flesh wants it to be easy to be a Christian in this world. You know how even you are too worried about what your friends, acquaintances and co-workers think if you fully speak what you believe. You know how easily intimidated you are into being silent when you should speak. Christians don’t push back against schools scheduling events on Sundays, or against employers scheduling them for work on Sundays, and see what the results are. Our witness is lacking, the world gets worse. It gets worse for us, and it doesn’t help them.

Jesus addresses this fear about speaking. He says: “You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. And the gospel must be preached to all the nations.” The reason for the conflict with the world, according to the world, is to silence you. But Christ says the reason for this conflict is to be His witness, to speak. He addresses our fear: “Do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.”

But the reason you can speak faithfully, that the Holy Spirit will give you the words and speak through you, is only by regularly hearing God’s Word, having your faith fed, being in church, and daily being in the Word. As you read the Bible the Holy Spirit speaks to you and fills you so His truth will come out of you.

We lament that the world isn’t the same as it used to be for the church, that people don’t need church like they used to, don’t need to be Christian to be considered respectable. But this is exactly how it was in the early church. One in the arena with Perpetua was a male slave, Felicitas was her maid, and Perpetua gave up wealth and earthly attachments to face down fear and not give up what Christ had given her. They were scorned by the world and cast aside. For us too, this world is no friendlier or harsher. But it is an opportunity to witness.

Your witness may not be eloquent and it may not come out perfect. It doesn’t require perfect knowledge of the Bible. Remember, being His witness is being His martyr. It’s simply dying to self. The first way we do that is in repentance.

Witnessing to Christ in your faith and your life actually centers in repentance. The obstacles to witnessing are all about yourself, being afraid to put yourself out there, not knowing what to say. But in repentance you put self away, you die to self, you drown the old Adam, your sinful self. You depend on the fact that Jesus died for you and rose again, and by faith you receive forgiveness, salvation, life. When God’s forgiveness is spoken to you, your forgiven self, the new man, arises. This is what happens in the Lord’s Supper. Christ cleanses you. By coming to His Supper you proclaim His death, you proclaim Him, you’re testifying that you are a sinner and He is your Savior. You’re being His witness, His martyr.

This is the witness everyone needs to see. What witness do others see in you? That you’re so busy, get all your projects done, or you have all these successes in life? Or do they see that you haveto run to Christ, go to church, to be forgiven?

This is how you are truly His witness – a witness of His grace. This is what you show and speak to others. Not what you are but what a great Savior He is. This is why we uphold the truth of His Word, because only if it is true are you forgiven, saved. Jesus promises: “He who endures to the end will be saved.” This is true, not only of the martyrs who were killed for their faith, but all the saints in heaven, your loved ones too, whose faith Satan tried to kill but couldn’t.

This is what we won’t give up. Even if you die for it, this can’t be taken from you. Even now you join in one united voice of praise with all the saints and all the martyrs – with whom you, His witness, are one. Praised be His name forever! Amen!