April 20

Rev. Joan E. Sulser ~ Scripture Acts 7:55-60

When I was growing up, my parents were careful about what we watched on television – making sure we didn’t watch shows with violence in them. But there was one movie that they encouraged us to watch every year, even though it was somewhat violent. That movie was The Robe – the story of the Roman soldier who crucified Jesus and gambled for his robe. By the end of the movie, the Roman has become a Christian. When Marcellus is called before the Emperor and given the choice of renouncing his faith or being killed, we were always on the edge of our chairs, even though we had seen the movie before. I remember wondering, each time I saw the movie, whether I would have the courage to admit my faith if it were a life and death question. I would sometimes daydream about bravely and romantically going to my death for Jesus, but I was afraid I wouldn’t really have the courage or strength to do that.

The Robe was an imaginative rendition of what might have happened to one Roman soldier after Christ’s death. But today’s scripture passage is about a real martyr, Stephen. According to the Bible, he was the first Christian to die for his faith.

It used to be that every Christian child was raised on the stories of Christian persecuted for their faith. Stephen, stoned for proclaiming Jesus … Paul, imprisoned and beheaded for his faith … the early Christians, hunted down and thrown to the lions or burned or crucified … people who defied governments, stood firm in the face of religious persecution … children knew the stories of people who considered their faith worthy dying for. And those stories helped shape the children and formed their faith. The example of those who had gone before often strengthened young Christians to face difficulties in their own lives.

We don’t talk very much about Christian martyrs these days. Partly, I think, because we are aware that people who consider their faith worth dying for too often are also people who consider their faith worth killing for. Partly, I think, because it seems like martyrs are something that only happened in the Bible or in the early years of Christianity. Martyrdom seems long ago and far away.

Yet a few years ago, an issue of Outside magazine had a tribute to a modern martyr. Sr. Dorothy Stang was shot to death in the Amazon in February 2005. She had lived in Brazil nearly 40 years, in the heart of the Amazon’s brutal conflict over illegal logging, mahogany smuggling, and corrupt land deals. She taught poor farmers about sustainable forestry and helped them fight eviction by wealthy ranchers with dubious claims to the land. Sr. Dorothy said every Christian should be an environmentalist and no tree-lover could save the forest without first lifting up the poor within it. She supported the formation of two multi-million-acre forest reserves.

Sr. Dorothy dodged bullets on several occasions, faced down gunmen, stood up for the rights of the poor. She saw her enemies clearly, yet kept on working for justice and the environment.

Sr. Dorothy was murdered while reading scripture aloud to her killers. "This is my ammunition," she reportedly told them, holding up her Bible. She rejected their gangsterism – and the easy options of retreat or indifference.

The reporter who penned the tribute to Sr. Dorothy wrote, "Her invisible weapons, faith and courage, proved more powerful than guns. keep the song alive, her T-shirt said the last time I saw her." (Outside, May 2005)

As I think about Sr. Dorothy and Stephen, I’ve been haunted by how they lived for their faith, not just how they died for their faith.

Sr. Dorothy spent 40 of her 74 years deep in the Amazon, working in dangerous and difficult conditions, and telling people it was her faith in Christ that called her there and helped her stay there.

Stephen was one of the first deacons, ordained by the disciples to help with church administration. He oversaw the daily distribution of food to the widows of the church, and he told others about Jesus and what a difference Jesus made in his life. "Though he was chosen not to preach but to serve, his witness of caring for the least in the community (Jew and gentile alike) so provoked and challenged the powers that be that he was captured and killed. The first Christian martyr comes not from those preaching the word, but from those feeding the hungry." (Scott Bader-Saye, The Christian Century, April 2002)

We tend to forget what martyr means. The Greek word martyros means "witness/someone who testifies." When this word shows up in other places in Scripture, it’s translated as "witness." When it refers to Stephen, it’s translated as "martyr." A witness is a person who speaks for his or her faith in such a way that the person may be killed for expressing their faith.

We sometimes refer to someone with a silent, sighing, poor-me mode as having the air of a martyr. "No, never mind (sigh), I’ll take care of it." That’s a long way from the original intent of the word and the people to whom it truly applies.

A witness and a martyr is a person who is willing to speak out against the injustices of the world because of Jesus Christ. A martyr is someone whose allegiance to Christ is stronger than their allegiance to nation. Martyrs don’t keep their faith private. They refuse to keep their mouths shut, and therefore they get into trouble. As soon as we open our mouth about Christ and the Christian faith, that is when we start becoming a martyr. Martyrs open their mouths for Jesus Christ.

It’s not just what we say but when and where we say it that makes for martyrdom. If we talk about Christ and social justice in church among believing friends, nobody gets too upset about it. But in certain situations and certain places, you can get killed for saying the same words.

An unsettling characteristic of a martyr is that they are willing to die. They don’t want to die, but they are willing to die for Jesus Christ that others might live in justice and freedom.

Stephen didn’t set out to die by stoning. He set out to be faithful to Jesus. Stephen worshipped and served and told others of Christ’s love. It was his serving and talking that brought him to the attention of the Jewish leaders and it was his talking that led to his death. At his trial, Stephen gave a long speech that enraged the people who heard it. Overcome by anger, they abandoned their orderly trial and lynched him.

Sr. Dorothy didn’t set out to die by gunfire. She set out to be faithful to Jesus. Sr. Dorothy worshipped and served and told others of Christ’s love and God’s desire for justice for all people. It was her talking, as much as her actions, that brought her to the attention of the corrupt landowners and it was her talking that led to her death. She spoke the truth to power and those in power didn’t want to hear it.

Martyrs aren’t quiet, long-suffering folks. Neither are they super-Christians. Martyrs are ordinary people whose faith compels them to speak out. Then, their faith gives them the strength to continue to proclaim their love for Christ, even if they’re afraid, even if they know they’re getting into hot water.

Both Sr. Dorothy and Stephen show us that it is possible to love our enemies, as Christ commanded. They also show us that it’s often costly to do so. We don’t have to be divine to do what Jesus did. We just have to keep praying for his Spirit to help us. And we need to practice loving and serving in all sorts of little ways, so we build up our faith muscles for the hard times that may come. I think Stephen and Sr. Dorothy were able to face death with forgiveness and love because their life was filled with forgiveness and love. As they lived their faith and testified to Christ’s teachings, Sr. Dorothy and Stephen became more and more Christ-like. I’m sure they were afraid, but they kept on anyway.

We do not need a lecture on psychology to tell us that courage is not the virtue of those "who do not know what fear is." I do not believe that there are such people. Jesus was in an agony of fear in the garden and those hours come to us all. Courage is possessed by the person who estimates the fear-causing situation, but summons all his [or her] resources and meets it. Courage comes by doing courageous things when we want to run away, and let us remember that a little child going upstairs to bed in the dark, and imagining all sorts of bogeys and horrors, often shows as much courage as a soldier whose impulsive dash during some peak of mental excitement wins him a medal for bravery. (Leslie Weatherhead, Prescription for Anxiety, 1956)

I hope I’m never tested as Stephen was … as Sr. Dorothy was … as thousands of Christians have been over the centuries. I hope I’m never tested as thousands of Christians are every day. But their witness inspires me and strengthens my faith. The courageous witness of other Christians gives me hope that I’ll have the courage to stand up for my faith. To speak out against injustice because of God’s passion for shalom and wholeness. To value all in this world because God created it. To treat others with respect because they are also children of God. To share what I have with those who don’t have as much, because I believe in a God of generosity and abundance. To mourn with others because God shares our pain and grief. To tell the good news of Christ’s triumph over death. To invite others to share the joy I’ve found in following Christ.

Would I die for my faith? I don’t know. Every day I ask God to help me to live my faith. Would you die for your faith? Equally important, will you live your faith? In the face of ignorance, will you be witnesses to the transforming love of Christ? In the face of hostility, will you keep alive the song of love and justice? In the face of apathy, will you share the good news of Jesus Christ? Will we be witnesses – martyrs?