Witnessing and Rejoicing With the Martyrs
Sermon for Holy Innocents, Martyrs, year B
Bible reading: 1 Peter 4:12-14
Well, whose idea was this? Death and mayhem at Christmas time?
It may seem strange and out of place, maybe even a little tasteless, to be observing this day of the Holy innocents when we Christians are rejoicing and celebrating the birth of the blessed Christ child. Do we really, in the middle of the joy and peace of this season, want to hear about innocent children being murdered?
It might be even more disconcerting to find out that actually all three of the days following Christmas Day are, in the calendar of the church, dedicated to martyrs – Christians who died violently, giving witness to Christ. The 26th of December is the feast of St Stephen, deacon and martyr; the 27th is the feast day of St John the Apostle, evangelist and martyr, and the 28th of December – today – is Holy Innocents, Martyrs.
Why all this suffering, death and martyrdom when we are supposed to be celebrating joy, life and peace?
Partly it is because these days of remembrance and thanksgiving for the martyrs predate the festival of Christmas, which actually came into the Christian calendar some time after these days of remembrance were set. So in a sense, they were here first.
But there’s also a deeper reason.
Sometimes, even we in the church, forget that the Christ child whose birth we are celebrating during these days of Christmas was and is praised and adored because he came to live in and with and for the suffering of all people, and ultimately to himself die a violent death at the hands of his enemies for the sake of all people.
The famous preacher and theologian, Helmut Thielicke said once that we should always remember that the manger and the cross are made of the same wood
.
This joy and peace we Christians have at Christmas has not come to us cheaply. Christ gave his life for our salvation and freedom. The birth of Jesus is a reason for joy only because of what Jesus achieved for us on the cross, and in his resurrection.
Likewise, we have received this Christmas good news of Christ and His work of salvation for us through the witness of the church through the ages. In Greek, the word witness is martyros. A Martyr is somebody who gives their life as a witness. In the New Testament era and early church, there were a number of these, including many of the apostles who gave their witness of faith in Jesus so that others, including you and me, would be able hear and believe the message of Jesus Christ.
In a special way (as we remember today) these little children – the holy innocents, who were brutally killed by Herod in his fear and rage – were the first martyrs of all. They gave a witness not by what they did or said, but in their deaths, at the hands of Herod who was trying to find and kill Jesus, and so stamp out the Gospel at its source. In dying they pointed to Jesus who had come into the world to save from death. Today as we remember them, we receive their witness and their blood speaks to us of Christ.
So maybe today’s remembrance is not so inappropriate after all. Perhaps it is in fact quite a good antidote to the shallow sentimentality and triteness of Christmas in our culture, where we too quickly sweep the suffering and death that is everywhere in our world (in our lives too) under the carpet in order to find some kind of temporary superficial happiness
It is a reminder that, when you see past the enchanting story of the angels and shepherds, this was the terrible reality of that situation. It was real, just as the horrors of mass murder and genocide in our world today are real.
As I wrote this sermon, I could not help but think of the massacre at Beslan in Russia 3 years ago in which many children were killed. I also could not help but think of the thousands of innocent children who are legally killed in the womb each year in our country. You may also recall the children killed in Rwanda and other African nations, where there were situations something like the one in today’s gospel reading: a jealous and frightened megalomaniac protecting his power base, who is prepared to do terrible deeds to achieve his ends.
Mary, Joseph and Jesus, warned by God himself, are saved from Herod’s fury by fleeing to Egypt. And so we see that Jesus is barely out of the manger before the shadow of the cross begins to fall upon his life, and upon the lives of those around him.
In Jesus’ public ministry he experienced opposition and trouble all the way, because He challenged the kingdoms and empires of this world by his very presence, and by simply speaking the truth – Herod, the religious authorities in Jerusalem; the Roman occupiers.
It is the same for us. Jesus said, as the world hates me so it will hate you.
And Peter reminds us here too: do not be surprised…. as if something strange were happening.
If you stand against the kingdoms of the world by confessing Christ, sooner or later you will find your faith tested. This is true of followers of Christ whoever they are. The true church, wherever it is and whatever environment it lives in, is always persecuted, because it is in its very nature counter-culture and by simply existing, challenges the powers. So when we speak the truth (or even more powerfully, live the truth) of Jesus Christ, we will find ourselves attacked.
Am I being too dramatic? Well, while it may be true that our physical safety is not in danger because we confess Christ, we are certainly under Spiritual attack. Richard Dawkins’ book, The God Delusion, directly attacks the faith of Christians with accusations and judgements against the churches that have, despite their falseness, eroded the faith of many believers in our own culture.
Perhaps this Christmas, some of you have experienced the tension and opposition generated when you make a Christian witness to family members and this is rejected, and you are humiliated. Or maybe you have been on the receiving end of something that is increasing significantly in Australia: bullying of Christians in the workplace, where sometimes Christians are frozen out and marginalised because of their faith in Christ.
And then there is the dimension we often forget. We share in the persecution of brother and sister Christians in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan, Belarus, and other places where Christians are arrested, detained and imprisoned and killed for their faith. We are part of the Body of Christ along with them, and when one part of Christ’s body suffers and is attacked, we all – whether we know it or not – suffer and are attacked. And as we stand with and pray for these fellow Christians, some of whom today are still martyred, we share in the witness that they make for Christ.
Neither should we assume that because we are free to worship and witness in our land today, we will always have this freedom. Things can change, as our fellow Lutherans in Indonesia and Malaysia have discovered, as they experience times of significant opposition from the community and the authorities. It was just last year in Indonesia that, without warning, a Lutheran Church was bulldozed and a congregation displaced and scattered. While we are free and able to worship and witness to Christ as we wish now, we should not think that this freedom is assured forever into the future.
The innocents, whose witness and martyrdom we remember today, were the first to share in the suffering and death of Christ. This may sound like just a piece of history to us who find following Jesus comfortable and convenient, but many believers who are harshly persecuted find great strength and inspiration in the blood of the martyrs.
The early Christian bishop and theologian Tertullian said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.
In other words, Christians were emboldened to witness even more, because their faith was strengthened by the witness of the martyrs. This is what the fellowship of the church (the communion of saints) is all about – we are strengthened in our faith by one another’s witness. This is why we keep these feast days for the martyrs – to be strengthened by their martyrdom, for their witness to Jesus impacts on us and strengthens our faith, so that our lives here today in this time and place can also be a powerful witness to Jesus.
And when we ourselves find that we come under attack, Peter reminds us this is where we cling to the good news of God’s promises to us in our baptism. He says here in verse 13 that we can rejoice in sharing Christ’s sufferings, because like the martyrs before us, we know that what we have – our kingdom, our crown, our salvation, and therefore our peace and joy – can never be taken away from us. And, Peter points out, all who suffer for Christ’s name will shout for joy when he is revealed – we together with the all the saints and apostles and martyrs.
Peter says an even more beautiful and uplifting thing about this in verse 14. He echoes Jesus’ very own words in the beatitudes when he says that as we find ourselves reviled, despised, frozen out, humiliated, attacked as Christians, we are truly blessed, because the Spirit of Glory rests on us. God’s Holy Spirit comes to help us and encourage us and strengthen us and empower us so that we can do his will, speak his word and bear whatever happens.
May that Spirit of glory that rested on the martyrs rest on you, as you live out your baptism as witnesses of Christ to the glory of God the Father. Amen.