Living Martyrs

Living Martyrs
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:59-60 NIV

I was listening to Pastor Mason one morning as he spoke about martyrs. In my mind, saints and martyrs are sort of related. So I began thinking of the names of Saints. My wife has a saintly name; I already knew that there was a Saint Ursula. I did a search of my neighbor’s names and found a Saint Marcia (spelled differently though). If you can believe it, I even found her husband’s name, Saint Ralph. But there was no saint Eric to be found. I can hear the voices of my closest friends in my mind saying, "Of course there is no St. Eric. All people named “Eric” are bad."

In the Bible, people that follow Christ are considered saints (Romans 8:27). Or in other words, you don't have to be dead to be a saint or a martyr. A good redefining of martyr might be "Someone who volunteers their life for the gospel of Christ." While "living Martyr" might sound like an oxymoron, I think it further explains what we are as new creations in Christ. We "new creation" folk are new because of the Holy Spirit's indwelling, presence and power. Pastor Mason went on to say that martyrs are living co-witnesses that are empowered to testify for Christ (John 15:26-27), that we convict the world of sin (John 16:5-11) and that we are assured to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 16:12-15). These are the things that define the healthy life of a saint and living martyr.

In today's verse, Stephen didn't die a martyr; he lived as one. He was a Saint long before his passing. He was a saint because he volunteered his life for the Gospel of Christ. God may not be calling you to die, but I think He may be asking you to live vibrantly, and to volunteer the time you have left for the Gospel.