This past week, Ginny and I were able to attend a conference in Estes Park put on by seven of our local circuits. The speaker was Dr. Joel Elowsky, who is a professor at Concordia Seminary, in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Elowsky spoke on the “Faith of our Fathers: The Importance of the Patristics for the 21st Century.” The Patristics are the giants of the faith who lived, taught and wrote in the first centuries of the New Testament Church. The important writings and documents that served to guide and influence the Church may also be considered part of the Patristics.
One of the questions that Dr. Elowsky offered for our consideration was this: How is the Christian to live in a world where we are strangers and pilgrims? The Church fathers (Patristics) are found to be answering this question in the first centuries of the Church. It is a question applicable to us today as well. How do we, in the 21st century, live in a society increasingly hostile toward Christianity?
Perhaps you are aware of the case of Paivi Rasanen, a member of Parliament in Finland, who in 2019 tweeted Bible verses supporting the biblical view of marriage between a man and a woman. She was charged with a hate crime, along with Bishop Juhana Pohjola of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, for publicly expressing their Christian beliefs. The case was finally dismissed after three years in court. We are glad for our religious freedom here in the U.S., guaranteed by the First Amendment. But how long will it be before hate crime laws here mimic those in Finland? Remember the plight of Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood? For the past ten years, Jack has been in and out of court defending his right not to bake cakes honoring relationships that go against his Christian beliefs, the most recent case involving his refusal to bake a cake celebrating a man’s gender transition to woman.
Dr. Elowsky’s presentation made it clear that a society hostile to the Christian Church is nothing new. During the 2nd and 3rd centuries it was not even legal to be a Christian in the Roman empire. Surprisingly, those who followed Christ were seen by the general public as atheists. Christians would not participate in honoring the pantheon of gods worshiped by Rome. There were many instances in society when those attending a function or sporting event would be required first to show honor to the gods. The emperor himself was said to be divine, and people were often required to offer “a pinch of incense” to him as a god. Christians stood out in society when they refused. During the persecutions, this was enough to condemn one to death.
An account of the trial of twelve Christians (Speratus, Nartzalus, Cittinus, Veturius, Felix, Aquilinus, Laetantius, Januaria, Generosa, Vestia, Donata and Secunda) in northwest Africa in 180 AD survives to this day. Translated from the Latin, a portion of it reads in essence (I have edited it some):
Proconsul to Speratus: Do you persist in being a Christian?
Speratus: I am a Christian (and with him the others agreed).
Proconsul: Will you take time to consider?
Speratus: In a matter so straightforward there is no considering.
Proconsul: What have you there with you?
Speratus: Books and epistles of Paul, a just man.
Proconsul: Have a delay of thirty days and consider.
Speratus again: I am a Christian (and with him the others agreed).
Proconsul: Speratus, Nartzalus, Cittinus, Donata, Vestia, Secunda and the rest having confessed that they live according to the Christian rite, since after opportunity offered them of returning to the custom of the Romans they have obstinately persisted, it is determined that they be put to the sword.
Speratus (and the others): We give thanks to God.
Many Christians during the persecutions were martyred for their refusal to curse Christ and acknowledge Caesar and the gods of Rome. The religious practice of Rome amounted to what we might call “universalism” today. It didn’t really matter what one believed. All were headed to the same glorious end. But it was an affront and not acceptable to say that the only way to ‘heaven’ is through the Lord Jesus Christ, that any other belief is false.
Such persecution exists in various countries around the world today, with many souls being added to the list of martyrs for the faith. In our own country we see an increasing disdain for Christianity and its so called ‘intolerance’ of others. Standing up for biblical values is increasingly out of favor.
Dr. Elowsky meets with Christian groups all over the world. When he was in Africa, he told the leaders that the Christians in America pray for them in their persecution. The leaders responded that they, who themselves have often been persecuted and some even killed for the faith, pray for the Christians in America, because of what is arrayed against the Christian Church here. They in Africa are often in danger of losing their lives for their confession. But they fear for the Church in America, because the Church here is in danger of losing that confession. The battle is truly a spiritual one, as Paul says in Ephesians 6:12.
Even in times of persecution in the early centuries, the Church grew. Tertullian (155-220 AD) said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” The Church grew even through the great persecutions and in the face of societal disdain because they kept their confession. They confessed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was crucified, died and was buried. The sins of the world were put on him and he bore them to the cross. Through his blood and sacrifice, our sins are forgiven. God raised him from the dead on the third day. He lives today and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
We should not be surprised that this message is not accepted by the world at large. Jesus himself told his disciples that they would be hated by all on account of him. The Christian Church has always lived as though they were pilgrims and strangers in the land, moving through, on their way to an eternity with God in heaven. C.S. Lewis once said, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.” Paul writes to the Philippian Christians, “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil 3:20). It was in Philippi that Paul and Silas were thrown into prison after casting out a demon from a servant girl. But God opened the doors of the prison at midnight to set them free, and as a result, the jailer and his household came to faith and were baptized.
God’s will is being done, even in the face of opposition and persecution. As the forces of evil strive against the Church, we can be assured of his continued presence and steadfast love. As followers of Jesus Christ, we keep our eyes fixed on him. And we teach and preach the truth, holding fast our confession (Heb 10:23), and witnessing to others his forgiveness and love. This our brothers and sisters in the faith have done over the centuries. And in that confession and witness the Church of God will continue until our Lord returns to take us to himself.
May the extraordinary events of Good Friday and Easter give you joy and peace as you sojourn as pilgrims and strangers in this land.
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!
Alleluia!
- Pastor