Usually when we think of martyrs, we think of the stories of people in ancient times, such as Christians acing lions in the Coliseum. We shudder when we hear the word today because it’s usually applied to radicals of this religion or that waging battle or being suicide bombers.
The word martyr is from the Greek word for witness, for that is what the early martyrs were, people willing to die for their witness to a faith, not returning evil for the evil done to them. Yesterday, April 9, was the 80th anniversary of the death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, hanged by the Nazi regime for his possible implication in the plot to kill Hitler.
His real witness was his work as a co-founder of the Confessing Church in Germany, opposed to Hitler and anti-Semitism. Offered several opportunities to live outside Germany during that time, he continued to speak out against Hitler and his policies. He, along with others paid the ultimate price for their willingness to stand for their faith. We need to ask ourselves: what price are we as Christians willing to pay?
Prayer for the Day
Too much a people of the flesh, we come to you, O God,
Acknowledging that we live in slavery to our possessions and fears;
Unable to see your eternal spirit, we accept representations.
That we hope will satisfy our need for comfort and ease.
Forgive us and reclaim us so we may be your servants,
As we struggle with your call to witness to your truths.
In the name of the One who is the model of servanthood,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.
Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1939)
Rise up, O Lord; O god, life up your hand; do not forget the oppressed.
Why do the wicked renounce God, and say in their hearts,
“You will not call us to account”?
But you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief,
That you may take it into your hands; the helpless commit themselves to you
Psalm 10: 12-14