Faithful In The Face Of Persecution

Valaam Monastery

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

                                                                                                (John 15:19-21 KJV)

I have worn a small wooden cross for almost twenty years. I wear it to remind myself of the suffering that Jesus endured for the sake of the world. I wear it to remind myself of the suffering that faithful Christians have and continue to endure for the sake of Jesus' name. I purchased this necklace from a peasant woman at the monastery at Valaam, Russia while on a mission trip. It reminds me of the persecution that Christians endured for so many years when to be a Christian meant that you would be sent to work camps in Siberia or possibly killed.

There was no public worship allowed at times in their history. Churches in Russia for a very long time were repurposed. Some became Communist meeting halls. The beautiful Church of our Savior on Spilled Blood was used over the years as a morgue, a warehouse for vegetables, and later a museum. People met in homes, when it was possible, to worship and to teach one another. One elderly lady in a nursing home told me how her husband a pastor had been sent to a work camp. But, in spite of all of the persecution, the faithful continued to meet. She told me of a time when grandmothers would baptize the children at the cemetery. To keep from being reported for having an assembly in their homes, they would gather around the grave of a loved one so that it would appear that they were grieving for that loved one and not having the religious service that they were actually having. They gathered to worship and celebrate the Sacraments at the risk of their very lives. Today, churches have been rebuilt and new ones are growing in Russia.

But, that is not the end of the persecution of Christians. Today, people around the world are being imprisoned and killed for their faith in Christ. Many gather secretly to worship just as the women in Karelia gathered around graves and just as many of the first followers of Jesus gathered together in the catacombs. They gather(ed) in secret to worship together and so that the word of God could be shared with others and others would come to know him. But, they do know that by doing so their lives in this world are in jeopardy.

I believe that we, in the United States, all too often take our freedom to worship God a bit for granted. Maybe, a whole lot for granted. Are we not willing to suffer any hardship; any persecution, for the sake of Jesus' name?

May God grant us both faith and faithfulness even in the face of adversity.

God's Peace - Pr. J.