How Much do you Love God?

I am writing to all the churches and am insisting to everyone that I die for God of my own free will—unless you hinder me. I implore you: do not be “unseasonably kind” to me. Let me be food69 for the wild beasts, through whom I can reach God. I am God’s wheat, and I am being ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I might prove to be pure bread. (2) Better yet, coax the wild beasts, that they may become my tomb and leave nothing of my body behind, lest I become a burden to someone once I have fallen asleep.

The Apostolic Fathers: English Translations 5

From Syria all the way to Rome I am fighting with wild beasts, on land and sea, by night and day, chained amidst ten leopards (that is, a company of soldiers) who only get worse when they are well treated. Yet because of their mistreatment I am becoming more of a disciple; nevertheless “I am not thereby justified.” (2) May I have the pleasure of the wild beasts that have been prepared for me; and I pray that they prove to be prompt with me. I will even coax them to devour me promptly, not as they have done with some, whom they were too timid to touch. And if when I am willing and ready they are not, I will force them. (3) Bear with me—I know what is best for me. Now at last I am beginning to be a disciple. May nothing visible or invisible envy me, so that I may reach Jesus Christ. Fire and cross and battles with wild beasts, mutilation, mangling, wrenching of bones, the hacking of limbs, the crushing of my whole body, cruel tortures of the devil—let these come upon me, only let me reach Jesus Christ!

The Apostolic Fathers: English Translations 6

Neither the ends of the earth nor the kingdoms of this age are of any use to me. It is better for me to die for Jesus Christ than to rule over the ends of the earth.

The Apostolic Fathers: English Translations 7

For though I am still alive, I am passionately in love with death as I write to you. My passionate love has been crucified and there is no fire of material longing within me, but only water living and speaking77 in me, saying within me, “Come to the Father.”

Pause for effect.

I don’t know about you, but the man who wrote those words seems a little crazy to me.

Who can tell me what they think is going on here?

The man who wrote these words was called Ignatius, and he came from a place called Antioch. Antioch was one of the first churches formed among the gentiles, the non-Jews. In the book of Acts, we read that:

Common English Bible Chapter 11

They entered Antioch and began to proclaim the good news about the Lord Jesus also to Gentiles. 21 The Lord’s power was with them, and a large number came to believe and turned to the Lord.

Ignatius took over from Peter as the leader of the church of Antioch — that is, the same Peter from the bible. Jesus’ disciple who famously denied knowing Jesus after boasting that he never would deny his lord.

This man Ignatius knew Peter and Paul, and he was part of the next generation of church leaders after these apostles.

Ignatius somehow managed upset the Romans, probably because he was a Christian, and he was captured by them and taken to Rome to be executed. While on his way to Rome, traveling by sea, he wrote letters to six different churches and to one of his mates. What I read to you earlier is from his letter to the Roman Church.

Ignatius somehow heard that the Christians in Rome were planning to bust him out of prison and help him escape, and Ignatius wrote the letter to ask them not to do that. ‘I implore you’ he says, ‘do not be “unseasonably kind” to me. Let me be food for the wild beasts, through whom I can reach God.’ He knows that when he dies, he will be with God.

Ignatius loved Jesus so much that he was willing to die for him. The way he describes wanting to be killed by the beasts in the roman arena is disturbing. Jesus does not necessarily require that of us, although it seems that in Ignatius’ time, martyrdom — dying for your faith — was seen as something to strive for. A martyr was a hero, a super-Christian. They knew they would go straight to heaven, passing go and collecting $200. And for them it was an honour to suffer like Christ.

What would you be willing to give up for Jesus? Would you be willing to die for him? Give up your life for him?

Pause for effect.

I wish I could say yes. I hope that I would, but more than that I hope I never have to find out.

Yet we all have to sacrifice sometimes. We’re all sacrificing things right now. You’re staying at home and we’re doing BB online because it’s the right thing to do right now to keep people safe, but it’s a sacrifice we have to take.

What about sacrificing for your faith?

You’ll be highly unlikely to be fed to animals for your faith, but sometimes when people find out you’re a Christian, sometimes they treat you differently. They might not treat you badly, and they might not bully you for it, but you know it’s a difference.

Who is sometimes a bit scared to tell people they’re a Christian? I know I used to struggle with that a lot.

And being a Christian means you can’t always do what you want todo, especially on Sundays when we offer praise and worship to God at church, when maybe you’d rather be lying in bed or playing Minecraft.

Sometimes life is a bit tough. I don’t know how everyone is coping with the Coronavirus pandemic, but some of you might be scared. Some of your parents may be struggling with work right now. It’s a really, really bad time for a lot of people. I’m lucky that I’m allowed out of the house for work, and a few of the other officers here are the same.

Even so, it’s a pretty difficult time for every one. But the start of my favourite book of the Bible offers hope: James 1:2-6

Common English Bible Chapter 1

2 My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. 3 After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking in nothing. 5 But anyone who needs wisdom should ask God, whose very nature is to give to everyone without a second thought, without keeping score. Wisdom will certainly be given to those who ask. 6 Whoever asks shouldn’t hesitate. They should ask in faith, without doubting. Whoever doubts is like the surf of the sea, tossed and turned by the wind.

Saint James writes that tests, hard times, are really times for joy. I don’t think he means to take it to the extent of Ignatius, who almost pathologically revels in the idea of being eaten by beasts in the arena, like Tiger King gone wrong. What happens in hard times is that they toughen you up, and when you’re tough, you grow in faith and wisdom. And if you don’t have wisdom, you can ask God without doubt, and God will give it to you.

Use the hard times to grow in endurance. It’s like whenever you work out or train for sport. You run drills or practice your skills over and over, or run laps, so that you become stronger, faster, better. It’s the same in our lives. We do the hard stuff so that we can improve.

God never promised us an easy life, and if a preacher ever tells you God wants you to happy, healthy, and wealthy, and it’s your fault somehow if you’re not — run away from them, because that’s bad theology, bad pastoring, and bad bible reading.

Life is hard, and God knows it. He knows it because he came down to Earth in the second person of the Trinity — Jesus Christ — and was beaten, tortured, pierced with thorns and whipped, spat on, and killed in the most horrific way. But after he died, he rose from the dead, buying salvation for us — the gift of eternal life. Knowing that, a little isolation and social distancing is manageable.

Saint Peter, the man who led the church of Antioch before our martyr Ignatius, writes:

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humble yourselves under God’s power so that he may raise you up in the last day. 7 Throw all your anxiety onto him, because he cares about you. 8 Be clearheaded. Keep alert. Your accuser, the devil, is on the prowl like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith. Do so in the knowledge that your fellow believers are enduring the same suffering throughout the world. 10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, the one who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, empower, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be power forever and always. Amen.

Times are tough right now, but we’ll get through. Remember that Jesus’ sacrifice was so great that we have eternal life to hope for. And finally, let’s pray:

Great God and Heavenly Father, Please come powerfully to our nation in these dark and difficult days. Please slow the spread of this virus throughout our land, and please protect the vulnerable from its deadly touch. Please lay your healing hands upon those who are now infected—please restore them to health and strength. Please comfort the families of those who have died from this disease. Please fill their hearts with your presence and gather around them friends, family and neighbours who will comfort and support in their time of loss. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the gift of modern medicine, and thank you for the passion and dedication of medical staff everywhere. Please give each one of us your wisdom in every decision we make; please protect and sustain us, and give us the strength, energy and courage we need to carry on. Please guide the minds of our leaders in the decisions they make that will affect all our lives. Please lead them to act wisely, carefully and in the best interests of all Australians. Please shine your light on the path ahead. Please draw close to the anxious hearts and troubled minds of those who now face great financial stress; please protect them and their families from long term economic damage and guide them day by day and step by step through this crisis. Please give each one of us the calmness and wisdom we need to carry us, together, through the days, weeks and months ahead. Please plant into the heart of every Australian the spirit to love our neighbours as ourselves, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus in caring for those around us—friends and strangers alike—as you draw our community together in love. Please, loving Heavenly Father, draw especially close to those who are alone or troubled at this difficult time. Calm their troubled hearts, and move their friends, family and acquaintances to call them to encourage and support them. Thank you, Heavenly Father, that you understand our suffering for you too have suffered—you have seen your beloved Son suffer rejection, humiliation and death on the cross to rescue us from the powers of darkness. Please bring great good out of this great evil; please remind each of us that we do not need to make the journey of life on our own, in our own strength, but that you are here, as close to us as our own breath, to fill our hearts with your love, surround us with your powerful protective arms and guide us in your path. And we ask all these things for this country, and these people, we love in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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