May 4, 2011
Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter
By Colleen O’Sullivan
The high priest rose up and all his companions, that is, the party of the Sadducees, and, filled with jealousy, laid hands upon the Apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out, and said, “Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people everything about this life.” When they heard this, they went to the temple early in the morning and taught… Then the captain and the court officers went and brought them, but without force, because they were afraid of being stoned by the people. (Acts 5:17-21a, 26)
Piety
I will bless the Lord at all times;
praise shall be always in my mouth.
(Psalm 34:2)
Study
John opens his Gospel with this powerful imagery:
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
God’s Word is irrepressible. It has always existed and always will.
But there are ever those who would like to silence the Word. In today’s reading from the Book of Acts, the Sadducees are trying to repress the Word. For the second time, they bring the Apostles before the Sanhedrin. This time they throw them into the local jail for their preaching, healing and wonders performed in the name of Jesus Christ. They will silence these people once and for all! As you and I know, God will not be silenced. God has a different plan. He sends an angel to free them and they go right back to preaching his Word in the Temple. The walls of a first century prison cannot constrain the Word.
God’s Word is irrepressible, but even in modern times there have been forces at work to silence that Word. Leading up to and during World War II, the Nazis were bent on destroying Christianity and replacing it with their own ideology. They attacked the Catholic Church by virtually eliminating every organization supported by Catholics – from Catholic schools to trade unions. (For more information, one source is: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0033.html.) In Poland, hundreds of priests were shot and several thousand were sent to camps. Even under the Third Reich, the Word would not be silenced. St. Maximilian Kolbe died a martyr’s death in Auschwitz when he offered to die in place of a stranger. Within Protestantism, there were also many who were martyred because they continued to proclaim the Word and resist evil. I am reading a biography about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who actively worked in the resistance movement against Hitler (Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906-1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance by Ferdinand Schlingensiepen). He and a number of his fellow pastors in the Confessing Church were killed by the Nazi regime in their effort to silence God’s Word.
The Soviets, too, attempted to wipe out any trace of God’s Word in Christ, but, again, without success. If you want to read an inspiring book, pick up With God in Russia, the story of an American Jesuit, Walter Ciszek, S.J., who was imprisoned in Moscow for five years on charges of spying for the Vatican and then sent to hard labor camps in Siberia from 1946-1955. Even under the watchful eye of the Soviets, he covertly continued to preach, celebrate the Eucharist, and minister to his fellow prisoners. Brutal treatment, cold and starvation couldn’t silence the Word.
In the People’s Republic of China, Christians who worship outside of state-sanctioned churches are vulnerable to persecution. MSNBC reported on the seizure of some Christians this past Easter Sunday (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42737024/ns/world_news-asiapacific/). Again, for all the government’s efforts, God’s Word refuses to be repressed.
Action
We don’t have to hide or take circuitous routes to worship on Sunday or any other day of the week. The government could care less if or where we worship. It seems to me that persecution isn’t the enemy of the Word in Northern Virginia today as much as indifference is. When I think about the people I work with or the people who live on my street, no one hates the Word of God; for the most part, they just don’t much care about it. It’s not on their radar screens. God’s Word is irrepressible, but from first century Jerusalem to modern-day China, the Word has always found willing proclaimers. In what ways are you doing that for Christ?
