FAITHFUL!
“Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” – Jesus
Tomorrow is Confirmation Sunday at Our Savior. The Scripture chosen for the mediation for this special day is Revelations 2:8-10: 8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
It turns out that Revelations 2:10 is my wife’s Confirmation verse as well as my youngest daughter’s, Hannah. The verse itself, part of a brief letter written to the church at Smyrna, is a divinely power-filled call/encouragement from Jesus to the believers there to remain close to Him, to continue to believe, even when they suffer. It is a similar power-filled call to each of us.
Dr. Joseph Stowell, former President of Moody Bible Institute, in commenting on this verse, tells the story of some children who remained faithful unto death. (Simon, the brother who was our Sudanese pastor here, told us similar stories.) In the southern half of the nation of Sudan, Christians are mercilessly being kllled. Men are lifted up on crosses in village squares and crucified to mock the Savior they worship and adore. Troops are coming in, loading Christians into flatbed trucks, driving them into the desert, and dumping them there with no supplies so they will fry in the desert. For one crime -- they are followers of Jesus.
Stowell says that one of his best friends happened to be in the capital of a country like that, where most of the parents of the children there had been killed. It’s a sick pattern: kill the parents, make the children into Islamic converts, and then sell them as slaves. His friend said he was walking through the capital of this country, and about 40 kids whose parents had been killed stood in the town square. The priest of the mosque came out, stood on a platform, and with a bullhorn told these kids to bow down to Allah and repeat a prayer of conversion after him. All the kids went down … except one. The kid looked to be eight or nine years old.
The mullah got angry and said, "You bow down. I told you to bow down. If you don't bow down, I will kill you." This child said, "I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I cannot bow down." The mullah motioned to the guards, and they plowed him down. The kid dropped dead in a pool of blood. As soon as the kid dropped, eight other kids stood up. He said, "I'll kill all of you." They didn't move. Four of them were murdered. Finally in anger he said, "You're not worthy of death. Sell them all into slavery."
That happened in 2006 here on planet earth. The children said, "Even if it means death, I will not renege on Jesus. I'll take up my cross and follow Him."
Tomorrow we will again be fed by the Good Shepherd through His Word and the Holy Supper He provides. This is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for us that we might be His own.
As we listen to 16 young students make a solemn vow to remain faithful to Jesus even unto death, it will also be an opportunity for each of us to renew our vows to remain faithful to Jesus … even unto death … remembering 1 Thessalonians 5:24: "The One who calls you is FAITHFUL and He will do it."