Proper 19 B                                                                             Isaiah 50:4-9
September 17, 2006                                                                Psalm 116
St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church                              James 2:1-5, 8-10, 14-18
The Rev. Linda McCloud                                                         Mark 8:27-38

When You’re Following Jesus,
There’s No “Back of the Line”

Our Gospel reading for today contains what is known as one of those “hard sayings of Jesus.”    

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”  (Mark 8:34b-35) 

Last fall I gave to each family at St. Margaret’s a 2006 Church Calendar.  This is so that you may keep up with the dates of Easter and Christmas, Advent and Lent, Pentecost, and all else that interests you.  Since we are a mission church, we do not have Holy Eucharist every day.  As such we miss the opportunity to absorb the richness of the Church calendar.  This richness includes the feast days of the holy martyrs.  In September there are some notable feast days of martyrs on the calendar, ranging from the time of Cyprian - Bishop and Martyr of Carthage in 258 to Constance and her companions in 1878 to The Martyrs of New Guinea in 1942.     

            Before we get too far into this sermon, I want to set out a working definition of “martyr” as it pertains to Christianity.  “Martyr” comes from the Greek word meaning “witness.”  Originally, this term was applied to those Apostles and other disciples of Jesus Christ who had witnessed his life, ministry, and death.  More particularly, it was applied to those who had seen the risen Christ and who were “witnesses to his resurrection.”  Even now, a bishop in the Episcopal Church is “called to be one with the apostles in proclaiming Christ’s resurrection and interpreting the Gospel, and to testify to Christ’s sovereignty as Lord of lords and King of kings.”[1]   

Eventually, “martyr” came to mean those who laid down their lives for their faith in Jesus Christ.  In the first three centuries of Christianity, there were plenty of people who fit this definition.  During this time “martyr” particularly meant that Christians had the opportunity to deny their faith and save their lives, but deliberately chose instead to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ at the cost of their lives.  This was in contrast with those Christians who “volunteered for martyrdom.”  Volunteering for martyrdom was roundly condemned by the bishops.  

Martyrs were also defined in contrast with other Christians who denied their faith in order to save their lives. Those persons who denied their faith at such a crucial time would be excluded from communion.  If they wished to be restored to communion, they were required to do penance, sometimes for many years, before being restored to the full fellowship of the church.  Those who had thus denied their faith were allowed to attend church, but were not allowed to receive communion.  These people were called “the lapsed.” 

With that in mind, let us look quickly at the lives of some of the martyrs on our September calendar.  These are people who lost their lives and saved their lives for the sake of Jesus Christ and the Gospel.  We begin with St. Cyprian.  His name might sound familiar because in Darien, Georgia we have a sister church that bears his name.  St. Cyprian had a rather short career as a Christian.  He went from being an aristocratic pagan in the year 246 to being Bishop of Carthage in North Africa in 248.  In his ten years as Bishop, St. Cyprian dealt kindly with the lapsed, restoring them to communion after they had done penance that matched the severity of their lapse.  He did not want anyone to leave the Church under any circumstances. 

Under the persecution of the Roman Emperor Decius, Cyprian went into hiding.  This was not exactly lapsing, but some people thought he got very close to the edge on this issue. One could hope that his compassion for the sinners was a result of his own experiences.  We can be glad that his moderation prevailed.  His purpose was to maintain the unity of the Church that Christ had prayed for in the Garden of Gethsemane.   

Ten years later with another Roman Emperor, there came another wave of Christian persecution.  This time Cyprian did not go into hiding.  He lost his life for the sake of Christ and for the Gospel on September 14, 258. 

Jumping ahead to more modern times, we celebrate the feast day of the Martyrs of New Guinea on September 2.  These martyrs were Christian missionaries of European origin, and when World War II came to the shores of New Guinea, their lives were in danger.  They had the option to leave and save their lives, but they received a letter from their Bishop, Philip Strong, which said in part: 

“We must endeavor to carry on our work.  God expects this of us.  The church at home which sent us out will surely expect it of us . . . the people whom we serve expect it of us.  We could never hold up our faces again if, for our own safety, we all forsook Him and fled, when the shadows of the Passion began to gather around Him in His spiritual and mystical body, the church in Papua.”   

            At the behest of their bishop they stayed.  On September 2, 1942, eight priests and two laymen who had been betrayed into the hands of the invaders were executed “as an example.”  This feast day also commemorates the courage and faith of Papuan Christians who tended to the wounded and saved many lives. 

Lastly, I want to bring to our attention Constance, Nun, and her Companions, (“The Martyrs of Memphis”) whose feast day is September 9.  These six individuals are remembered for their work in the Yellow Fever epidemic in 1878 in Memphis, Tennessee.  Constance was a Superior of the Sisters of St. Mary, an Episcopal Order of Nuns.  She and six other nuns had lately come to Memphis to establish a girl’s school in connection with the Cathedral of St. Mary.  When the Yellow Fever epidemic broke out, they found that the Cathedral was in the heart of a highly infected section of Memphis.  They could have left town just as 30,000 other people did, but they chose to stay and minister to the sick and dying.  They also found homes for orphaned children.  Approximately five thousand people died in the epidemic. Constance and three of her nuns died of the disease, as did two Episcopal Priests who were also physicians. 

There are still nuns in Tennessee who are of the Order of Sisters of St. Mary.  They reside in a convent in Sewanee on the Cumberland Plateau.  They went there to establish a school and to help their neighbors.  Our Bishop’s wife, Jan Louttit, attended St. Mary’s School at Sewanee, which has since been turned into a retreat center.  Although their numbers have dwindled over the years, the Sisters of St. Mary still have Morning Prayer and Holy Eucharist six days a week in their chapel.  It is open to the public and they have the most wonderful altar bread.  I ran across the recipe one day in the library and copied it out.  This is the bread we use for communion here at St. Margaret’s.  Anna has been baking it for us for over a year now.       

That’s only three of the remembrances of martyrs on our September Calendar.  In addition, there are some other saints’ days in September that commemorate Christians who did not die martyrs’ deaths.  Their lives are just as fascinating.  They, too, denied themselves and took up their crosses and followed Jesus.  I encourage you to look into their lives as a good way to keep up with the “communion of saints.”   

Most of us will probably never have a feast day on the calendar, but we don’t need that to follow Jesus.  We can take up our cross and follow him every day.  He is right in front of us.  When we’re following Jesus, there’s no such thing as being in the back of the line.