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PERSECUTION
Genesis 50:15-21
Matthew 5:43-48
March 15, 2009
The Catholic Church has not always forbidden priests to marry. The Apostle Peter, who was the very first Pope, was obviously married (Mark 1:30). Most of the early Popes were married, and some of their sons later became Pope after them. It wasn’t until the year 1139 that the policy of celibacy and non-marriage became official. Until that time a married man could attend seminary, then be ordained a Deacon. After many years he could move up and be ordained a Priest. After many more years, if he were fortunate, he could be ordained a Bishop.
Around the year 400 the country of England was not yet occupied by the English. The north was populated by the Welsh. The south was occupied by Roman citizens, the Britains. Because they were Roman, they were almost exclusively Christian. There, in a small town, lived a sixteen year old boy named Patricius – or Patrick. His father, Calpurnius, was an ordained Deacon. And his Grandfather, Potitus, was an ordained Priest. Patrick lived in a family of Catholic clergy. Living in this family gave him the status of a Roman noble. But, Patrick had no use for the Church, no use for God, no use for foolish priests, and no use for title. He sold his nobility. Like many sixteen year olds, he effectively traded away his future position for the equivalent of a fast car so he could pick up chicks.
At the same time the Roman Empire was crumbling. The Emperor of Rome recalled the army, and left the villages in Britain undefended. One night, an Irish raiding party arrived in Patrick’s town. They stole almost one hundred children, including Patrick, out of their beds and took them to Ireland to be sold as slaves. Patrick was sold to an Irish King named Miliucc. Although he held the title king, he was more like the tribal leader of a village about the size of Ponder. We might think of him more like a Mayor.
Miliucc was a hard and cruel man. He made Patrick a shepherd, and sent him out to remote areas to tend the sheep. But, he sent him naked and hungry. He told Patrick, “If you need food and clothes, find them or make them. If you die, I’ll buy another slave.” Patrick spent months at a time completely alone with the sheep. Most of the days he was cold, wet, and hungry. On the bright side, he learned to speak Irish and Gaelic. When someone is abusing and beating you, when you are reduced to begging for food and clothing, you pick up the language pretty quickly. It’s a matter of survival.
The Apostle Paul writes about looking out at the natural world around us, and figuring out that God is real. He says, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made (Romans 1:19-20).” Paul says if you stop and look around you it is obvious that there is a God.
Patrick is proof of this. In the midst of his loneliness and despair he came to the understanding that God is real. And, he began to pray. He found himself praying eight to ten hours a day, but not in the way that you might think. He didn’t pray for food, or clothing, or rescue. He prayed thanks to God for the goodness of His creation. He acknowledged God’s perfection and His supremacy. And, in spite of his situation, he prayed for his captors. This went on for six years.
Then, one night when he was twenty two years old, Patrick had a dream. A voice said to him, “Your hunger is rewarded, you are going home. Look! Your ship is ready.” Patrick stood up right then and began walking for the coast. It was a two hundred mile journey. When Patrick arrived at the seaport he was convinced that God had brought him safely there. How else could a naked slave travel two hundred miles without being intercepted or murdered? Patrick found a Captain who promised to take him to Britain, but he would have to work off the price of his transport as a lowly seaman. This cost him two more years of his life, but Patrick eventually returned to his hometown, and at age twenty four was reunited with his parents.
Imagine how hard that reunion must have been. Patrick’s parents had lost a self centered, spoiled sixteen year old boy. They had received back a confident, self sufficient, yet humble twenty four year old man. They thanked God for their son’s return, and gave thanks that he would never leave them again. Sometimes God has a different perspective than we do, about what is and isn’t fair. Patrick began to have visions. In these visions he would see a man named Victoricus, who he knew in Ireland. Victoricus was something like a mailman. In these visions he kept holding out a letter to Patrick and saying, “We beg you to come and walk among us once more.” Although it broke his parent’s hearts, Patrick made the decision to return to Ireland – the land of his persecution.
But first, he would head to Lerins, France; to attend seminary. Patrick believed that God alone sustained him during his trials. He believed that God alone led him back home. He believed that God alone was the source of his visions. And, he would not return to Ireland until he had the authority and power of God as granted through the Catholic Church. When it came to school he was a very average student. His work in languages, and Scripture study, was just so-so. On the other hand, he had a much deeper understanding of God’s power, protection, and love than any of his fellow seminarians. He graduated from seminary and was ordained a Deacon. Many years went by and he was ordained a Priest. Patrick was in his mid forty’s when he was finally ordained a Bishop, and received approval to be the first Catholic missionary to Ireland.
This was a big deal. The Apostle Paul took three missionary journeys to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the Roman Empire. Some of the merchants and tradesmen who did business with Rome heard the story and were converted to Christianity as well. But, beyond the influence of Rome Christianity never really found a footing. Patrick was the first missionary since Paul deliberately sent to an exclusively pagan nation which had no knowledge of Jesus.
Patrick’s first order of business was to convince the Irish to abolish slavery. It was a hard sell, but he eventually got all of the tribal ‘kings’, the mayors of each village, to stop raiding each other (or Britain) for slaves. The first act of mercy from Jesus to the Irish people was for parents to be able to sleep through the night without worrying about their children being stolen. In each of the larger villages Patrick encouraged the local leader to build a monastery. He began educating and training Deacons and Priests. Although the Church had not specifically granted him the authority, Patrick even ordained fellow Bishops.
He began locating a Bishop in every town. The Bishop worked with the local ‘king’ to help ensure the will of God found its way into each political decision. This is how Patrick got the Irish to stop inter-tribal warfare. Under Patrick, for the first time, the Irish begin to live as a single people, as one nation. If tax money could be spent on business, and not on warfare, the people could become more prosperous. Patrick was able to build over one hundred churches, each staffed with a full time Priest. He performed over one hundred thousand baptisms, some of these for families with new wealth that would rival some of the best families on the European mainland.
Patrick was able to achieve so much success because he understood the Irish. They were a nation of druid pagans; they worshiped nature and found gods in the streams and forests. Patrick understood that. He told the story of his own conversion, how the God who created the universe (and all things) made his presence known. At the same time that Augustine was writing his famous books which delved into all of the nuances of God; Patrick developed and matured the branch of theology we still call Natural Revelation today. The Irish have always seen God in creation, and now they had a name for him – Jesus Christ.
The Irish were practitioners of human sacrifice. They believed these nature gods needed to be appeased. Patrick didn’t condemn their practice. Instead, he validated it! He explained to them that human sacrifice was absolutely necessary. A simple look around will convince you that this world is not perfect. Human sacrifice is necessary if perfection is ever to be achieved. Then he delivered the greatest news the Irish had ever heard.
The only perfect human had already been sacrificed. He died on the cross for the sins of this world, and someday he will return to take us all to the place of perfection. He quotes the Apostle Paul, “Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself (Hebrews 9:25-26).” The Irish get it! They understand the cross, and they embrace the faith.
Patrick didn’t succeed with every issue he tackled. He could never get the Irish to adopt a more Christian attitude about sex. Having sex with anyone you want, anytime you want, anywhere you want, whether you’re married or not, was the Irish way. Although he preached over and over on the topic he never could change their view. He was also unsuccessful in getting the Irish to adopt a more Christian view of marriage. Irish marriages were a one year institution; renewable every February first, at the feast of Imbolc. Each year on that day Irish couples either renewed their wedding vows, or walked away. Patrick was never able to get them to take a long term view of the family.
Towards the end of his life the Britains began sending raiding parties into Ireland, and stealing young women as slaves. The worst offender was a British ‘king’ named Coroticus. Patrick was furious. These were baptized, church-going, married Christians. He wrote letters of protest to Rome, and to the government in Britain. He was informed, ‘The Irish are not even human, let alone Christian, there is no reason to be involved in this’. And so, Patrick did something very daring, and very dangerous. He sent a letter to ‘king’ Coroticus, and his Bishop. In this letter he excommunicated the Bishop, the ‘king’, and all of his soldiers. He personally put them out of the Catholic Church and damned them to hell.
That got everybody’s attention! He was formally summoned before the Cardinal in Britain, along with Coroticus and his Bishop. There were lots of accusations. There were lots of hard words. Eventually, Patrick withdrew his excommunication and was forced to pay a very large fine to the Church. However, the Irish received formal recognition, and the slavery trade died once and for all.
Patrick was in his mid seventies when he died on March 17, 461. The Irish immediately began calling him a saint. The Cardinal in Britain never officially granted him that right. To this day, no Pope has ever officially canonized Patrick. But, can you imagine the outrage if anyone ever tried to deny St. Patrick of Ireland.
During the season of Lent we try to deal honestly and bluntly with some of the hard topics of faith. So far this season we have talked about suffering and loneliness. Today we look at persecution. Every one of us knows persecution. If you’ve ever dealt with the playground bully; if you’ve ever had the other kids meet behind your back to plan your embarrassment; if you’ve ever been publicly humiliated by a teacher; if you’ve ever been emotionally or physically abused; if you’ve ever dealt with an ugly divorce; if you’ve ever taken the blame for a co-workers mistake; if you’ve ever been told, “The disease is back”; you know about persecution.
During the Sermon on the Mount Jesus told the disciples to, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” It’s an easy thing to say; it is almost impossible to do. And yet, we have examples of holy and righteous men who lived to this higher standard. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. As a consequence he spent years in an Egyptian jail. When his brothers were finally brought before him, humbled and without hope, did he treat them with disdain and hatred? No, he forgave them and prayed for them. Joseph could see that God had a higher purpose than his own persecution.
Jesus of Nazareth committed no wrong. He broke no laws; he violated no statutes; he committed no sin. In spite of this he was nailed to a cross. As he hung there did he call down fire, or armies of angels to punish his persecutors? No, he forgave them and prayed for them. His words were, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34).” Jesus could see that God had a higher purpose than his own persecution. Patrick was stolen out of his bed as a sixteen year old boy. He lost six years of his life starved and naked. He was subjected to months of outrageous loneliness. When he finally discovered God, did he beg him for punishment on his captors? No, he forgave them and prayed for them. Patrick could see that God had a higher purpose than his own persecution.
I don’t know who has persecuted you. I don’t know all of the details of how wrongly, and unfairly, you have been treated. Perhaps you have been abused. Perhaps others have taken delight in your misfortune. I don’t know. Here is what I do know. No matter how hard it may seem to you the best course of action is not vengeance. The best course of action is mercy. In that same Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7).” Don’t we all want mercy from God? Don’t we all believe that God is smarter than we are? If so, then shouldn’t we do exactly what he tells us to do? Shouldn’t we follow the example that Jesus himself gave us? Isn’t the wisest choice to forgive our enemies, and pray for them? This isn’t something we should do. This is something we must do.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cahill, Thomas. How the Irish Saved Civilization. New York: Doubleday, 1995.
Morgan, Robert J. On This Day. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997.
Patricius. Confessio. (The Declaration).
Patricius. Epistola. (Letter to the soldiers of Coroticus).
Thomas, Charles. Christianity in Roman Britain to AD 500. London: Batsford,
1981.