SUNDAY, JULY 27, 2008

THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

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Dear Friends in Our Lord Jesus:

A few days after Holland was devastated by the Nazis in World War II, a dozen Dutch Christians were arrested and imprisoned. After several months, one of them was released. And he carried a note to the families of the others.

Here is what the note said: "Please try to understand that what has happened to us has actually worked out for the advancement of the Gospel, since the prison guards and all the rest here are coming to know Christ. In fact, we hear that many of you on the outside have gained courage because of our imprisonment and are speaking the truth more boldly than ever before."

The note continued: "We hope that we shall not need to be ashamed because of our witness but that we may be bold enough so that Christ's influence will be spread by us, whether we live or whether we die."

Although none of the prisoners survived the war, their letter -- and their witness to the Lord Jesus -- will live forever. For their words bear a striking similarity to those written 1,900 years earlier, by another famous prisoner.

Here is what that earlier prisoner wrote: "I want you to know, my brothers, that the things that have happened to me have really helped the progress of the Gospel. As a result, the whole palace guard and all the others here know that I am in prison because I am a servant of Christ. And my being in prison has given most of the brothers more confidence in the Lord, so that they grow bolder all the time to preach the message fearlessly."

Those earlier words were written by a prisoner named Paul, an apostle of the Lord Jesus. His letter was written to the church he founded in Philippi.

Only the majestic power of Almighty God can transform devastation, defeat, despair, and death into eternal victory and glory. And the same Power that sustained St. Paul -- and the Dutch Christians -- can sustain us, too.

-- The Very Rev. Dr. Steve Sellers +