This letter from John Calvin to five young Frenchmen
about to be martyred in 1553 for carrying the gospel into France was the
introduction to John Piper’s book- Filling up the afflictions of Christ.
It reads,
“We who
are here will do our duty in praying that He would glorify Himself more and
more by your constancy, and that He may, by the comfort of His Spirit, sweeten
and endear all that is bitter to the flesh, and so absorb your spirits in
Himself, that in contemplating that heavenly crown, you may be ready without
regret to leave all that belongs to this world.
Now, at this
present hour, necessity itself exhorts you more than ever to turn your whole
mind heavenward. As yet, we know not what will be the event. But, since it
appears as though God would use your blood to seal His truth, there is nothing
better for you than to prepare yourselves for that end, beseeching Him so to
subdue you to His good pleasure, that nothing will hinder you from following
whithersoever He shall call… Since it pleases Him to employ you to the death in
maintaining His quarrel, He will strengthen your hands in the fight and will
not suffer a single drop of your blood to be shed in vain. Your humble brother,
John Calvin.
I spent time meditating on this letter when I
began to read this book a few weeks ago. I showed the letter to a dear friend
and his response was, “Uche, don’t you think this is what Osama Bin Laden would
write to his followers?” I was quiet; a little ruffled with his perspective but
awakened by the seriousness of Christ’s call to His disciples, which Brother
Calvin stressed in his letter.
One Umar Abdulmutallab, a disciple of Osama from
Nigeria was arrested last week Friday (on Christmas Day for crying out loud)
for attempting to blow up himself in a plane on its descent into Detroit
Metropolitan Airport USA. As if our national challenges are not enough. Are we breeding suicide bombers now? The
signs are worrisome. Let he that readeth, understand.
On the first Christmas, God entered into history by
sending His Son Jesus as a suffering slave who would ultimately give His life
after enduring torture and martyrdom. With that event, God revealed to us that
self-sacrifice is His specific method for tackling the problems of rebellion,
evil and the sin of mankind. Josef Tson said, “Self-sacrifice is the only
method consistent with God’s nature.”
God cannot respond to hate with hate, because if He did,
He would be borrowing not only the method but also the nature of the devil, who is
the originator of hate. God can only respond with love because He is love and
by giving Himself for those that hate him, He expresses the essence of His
nature. All who are born of God have become partakers of His nature and must
respond to evil as the Father did. This is our call, this is how He
triumphs over evil and gets glory for Himself through mere mortals like us.
The question that needs to be properly addressed when
martyrdom is discussed alongside suicide is, for what or whose cause?
We have several cases of suicide in the Bible; from King
Saul and his Sword bearer to Judas Iscariot and Samson. Others include
Abimelech, Ahithophel, and Zimri. What led these men to such tragic exits; selfishness
or service? Samson stands out among the lot. In contemporary terms, Samson rocked the Philistines with a great push. Call it a suicide-push, I call it a destiny fulfilled. He was born to end the Philistines oppression and he did. What are you born to start or end?
The Lord Jesus still
calls His disciples to radical living. A scripture appears in all four Gospels and the letters to the Churches in Revelation reechoes it, “…whoever will
save his life shall lose it, but whoever will lose his life for My sake, he
shall save it… Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Matt 16:25; Mk 8:35; Luke 9:24; John 12:25; Rev 2:10
Kingdom Exploits With Uche 