Acts 1:6-14; 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11
On Being Martyrs
James Sledge June 5, 2011
How many of you have heard of Harold Camping? Raise your hands if you have. Some of you. For those of you who don’t know, Camping is a conservative Christian radio broadcaster and president of something called “Family Radio,” a California based network with more than a hundred stations. Now to be honest, I’ve never heard Mr. Camping on the radio and don’t even know if he is available around here. But I heard all about his prediction that the Rapture would occur on May 21st, with the end of the world to follow six months later. It’s worth noting that Camping also predicted the Rapture’s arrival in 1994, but then, a now, the Rapture was a no-show.
I asked for a show of hands of those who knew of Camping, and a good many of you did, but let me try someone else. How many of you have heard of Jesus? Raise your hands. Well, we did a lot better this time. I think all of you raised your hands. I guess that means that I don’t have to explain to you who Jesus is, how he came proclaiming that the reign of God had drawn near, how he was executed but rose again, and how he commissioned his followers to continue his work after his resurrection.
So we’ve established without much doubt that more of you know who Jesus is than Harold Camping, but let me ask another question regarding them. How many of you would trust Harold Camping over Jesus? Raise your hands. Okay, how many of you would trust Jesus over Harold Camping? Raise your hands. And we have a winner… Jesus!
I have another question to ask, but I don’t want you to raise your hands on this one.
How many of you paid any attention to the possibility of Judgment Day arriving a couple of weeks ago? How many of you have worried about this or about some folks’ saying that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012, and the world will too? I ask because quite a few Christians do seem to worry about such things. Even though the Bible makes no mention of a Rapture, and the very idea of a Rapture was only dreamed up in the 1800s, lots of Christians ears prick up when someone says they know when it is. Even though Jesus says on more than one occasion that he doesn’t know when the new age will arrive, and that when it does it will not take any special knowledge or figuring to detect it – it will be as obvious as the arrival of Spring or Summer – still Christians persist in speculating about such things. Over and over Christians act like they trust the teachings of the latest end-of-the-world-crackpot over the clear teachings of Jesus.
Now certainly natural human curiosity contributes to this, as well as the hope of the faithful that God will one day redeem and restore all creation. After all, Jesus teaches us to pray for that day when God’s will is done here on earth just as it is now in heaven. And so it makes sense that Christians would keep an eye on the horizon of the future.
I actually have some sympathy for those who had placed their hope in a Rapture on May 21. They were wanting God to do something dramatic, to take decisive action. In a world filled with hurt, suffering, and brokenness, what person of faith hasn’t occasionally hoped for God to do something grand, in one fell swoop to change everything.
The disciples in our reading from Acts have been witnesses to such a thing, to the resurrection. They have been spending time with the risen Jesus, and they are wondering what the next big thing will be. “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” Not quite the Rapture, but still the hope that God will decisively change the shape of life on earth.
But the decisive change Jesus tells them to get ready for is something that will transform and empower the community of believers. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When asked about what comes next, Jesus doesn’t give any formula or timetable. His focus is here, on what we do on this earth, serving as his witnesses.
I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. Far too many Christians have embraced a gospel of evacuation. This gospel promises to rescue believers from earth, to whisk us off to heaven, either when we die or come the Rapture. This gospel calls us to endure life’s struggles and difficulties in exchange for this promise to take us to some better place where there is no pain or suffering.
But the gospel Jesus proclaims is not one of evacuation. Jesus proclaims the Kingdom that has come near, a coming day when God’s will is done here on earth, as it is now in heaven. Our reading today from 1 Peter today calls us to be willing to suffer, to be reviled by others, not in the hope of some future evacuation, but in the certainty that God will restore. And the Bible itself ends with a picture of that restoration, with a new heaven and new earth. The very images that so many people associate with heaven, pearly gates and streets paved with gold, are not images of heaven, but of the new Jerusalem here on earth. And in the meantime, Jesus calls us to be his witnesses, to let the world know about the new day that is surely coming.
The word translated “witnesses” is the basis of our English word, “martyr.” This association of martyr and witness came about as the result of early Christians holding fast to their faith even in the face of death. They were so sure of God’s power to renew, restore, and bring life out of death, that they would not waver in their faith. They willingly embraced the same sort of suffering Jesus had faced, trusting that the power of resurrection had been set loose in the world, not a power to evacuate them, but to restore all things.
We too are called to be witnesses, to live in ways that demonstrate our trust in God’s power to restore and make new, to live in ways that show the world our hope that God’s will shall yet be done on earth, that all creation shall be redeemed. Jesus calls us to live now by the ways of that coming day just as he did, to love and forgive, to be willing to lose ourselves for the sake of others, to do God’s will over our own, knowing that nothing, not even death, can stop God’s plans.
Of course it is likely that very few of us will ever be faced with life and death decisions about being witnesses. Most of our calls to be martyrs will be much more mundane in nature, but still we are called to witness regularly, daily. Every time some of our friends are making fun of someone or some group because they are different, we are called to be witnesses of God’s love for all. Every time we discuss politics, we are called to witness to God’s special concern for the most vulnerable, to witness to Jesus’ call to love neighbor and enemy, to be willing to lose ourselves – our privileges and advantages – for the sake of the kingdom.
When we cast our vote we are called to witness by putting our desires second to God’s will and to the needs of the weak and vulnerable. When we decide how much of our money we will dedicate to our own needs and pleasures, and how much to the needs of others, we witness. When we decide not to lash out at someone who has hurt us, we witness. When we work for peace and justice, we witness. When we care for God’s creation, we witness. When we refuse to use distortions or half-truths or to stretch the truth in order to win the argument, we witness. And especially when we swim against the currents of popular opinion, challenging the consumerist, me-first attitudes that dominate our culture, we are Christ’s witnesses, declaring by our daily acts that we have glimpsed a new day, a day of peace and forgiveness and healing and hope and possibility for all.
Harold Camping has already revised his predictions of the Rapture. It is now rescheduled for October 21. Is that right Jesus? Is it the one? But Jesus says, “It is not for you to know the times or the periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses. That’s you, and you, and me, and you, and you, and every one of us here. Jesus promises to come to us, to empower us by the Spirit, in order that our lives, our daily living, might show the world the hope of something better.
Thanks be to God.
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