Settle Your Minds

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness.” This is what is coming to you, declares the Lord. You will be delivered over to those who hate you, and brought before those who ridicule you for the sake of Christ. This will be your opportunity to bear witness.

Bearing witness will not be fun. It will not be easy. It will not win you any popularity contests in the public square. Bearing witness to the Truth in the midst of a world of lies and deception is hazardous to your health.

Let me tell you the story of a young man named Ivan. Ivan was a soldier in the Red Army of the USSR in 1970. And Ivan was a Christian. He was not shy about his faith. Ivan was a dutiful soldier and an honorable citizen, even in the midst of a thoroughly disrespectable society.

It happened that one day Ivan was summoned to the Major's office. He knew what was coming. He had heard about the “re-education” programs that the Red Army used on its soldiers to make them tow the Party line. But somehow Ivan was not afraid, even if he was a bit nervous.

However, as Ivan walked through the crisp, snowy yard, he had a vision of a glorious angel from heaven, who spoke to him and told him not to be afraid. The angel told him, “Ivan, go. Don't be afraid. I am with you.” Reinforced by this vision, Ivan went to face the Major.

In the Major's office, Ivan was pressured to renounce his “unscientific” faith and spout the lies and nonsense of the Communist Party. He had learned the “correct” answers, and he had learned the right answers, and his faith would not permit him to give the “correct” answers that the Party required.

As the Major pressured Ivan to bow to the majesty of the Communist Party and the Red Army, Ivan found ways to confess his faith even there, in the midst of his interrogation. Finally, fed up with this stubborn Christian, the Major decided to punish Ivan by making him stand outside in the middle of the night in his summer uniform. In the middle of a Russian winter.

So Ivan reported as ordered, and took his place on the sidewalk in the midst of thirteen-below temperatures and whipping winds. And he stood there. At first Ivan was nervous about how he might be able to withstand this cold. But then he remembered the words of the angel: “I am with you.”

Ivan started to pray. He prayed for every believer he knew. He prayed for his unbelieving fellow soldiers and commanders. He prayed, and as he prayed, he did not seem so cold. His hands and feet were chilly, but he could still feel them and move them. So he kept on praying. And he sang hymns and spiritual songs. And so Ivan made it through the night. And he made it through the next twelve nights of the same thing. And it made him even more bold. Ivan went about his daily tasks singing of the glory of God and confessing his faith to his fellow soldiers.

Finally, his commanding officers arrested him. They put him in refrigerated cells. They clothed him in a special rubber suit, into which they pumped air until his chest was so compressed he scarcely could breathe. At the age of 20, Ivan knew that the Communists would kill him. On July 11, 1972, he wrote to his parents, “You will not see me anymore.” He then described a vision of angels and heaven which God had sent to strengthen him for the last trial.

A few days later, his body was returned to his family. It showed that he had been stabbed six times around the heart. He had wounds on his head and around the mouth. There were signs of beatings on the whole body. Then he had been drowned. Colonel Malsin, his commander, said, “Moiseyev died with difficulty. He fought with death, but he died as a Christian.”

Ivan took up every opportunity to bear witness to the hope that was within him. He boldy confessed his faith in Jesus Christ. And by his endurance, he gained his life. Even though he lost his mortal struggle, he persevered in faith, and so received the crown of life.

Something unfamiliar to you, and probably pretty uncomfortable to think about, is the idea of sacrifice for the sake of Christ. You listen to martyr accounts, whether from the saints of ancient times or from modern witnesses like Ivan, and you think of how great it is that God worked miracles in the lives of those bygone saints, how nice it is that He strengthened them in their times of need. But, oh Dear God, please never let that happen to me! Please don't make me suffer for the faith! Please don't make my witness uncomfortable or painful or even awkward!

You probably have a tendency, like most people, to squirm a bit when we come to this part of the Church year. All this end-of-the-world stuff – doom and destruction and disaster. Chances are, you would rather skip that stuff, and just hear the nice things Jesus has to say about the resurrection and the joys of heaven. And then we could glide right into Advent, and start building up to the celebration of His coming into the world once again.

But the world does not work that way. The devil, the world, and your sinful nature all conspire against you. They would silence you and cut off your confession of the faith. They would shut you up, shut you down, shut you off. They would torture you and destroy your flesh. They would love to see you recant, renounce, rescind your confession. And they succeed. That is what sin is. Every sin you commit is, fundamentally, an act of unbelief. Repent. Confess.

Repent of your unbelief. Confess your failure to confess the faith before rulers and princes. Repent of your self-protection strategizing, your political correctness and social maneuvering. Repent of your selfish avoidance of the Truth.

And then rejoice that your Lord and Savior has endured all things, and so has gained your life. By His agony and bloody sweat, by His accursed death on the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ has suffered all things needful to bear your sins and be your Savior. He endured all the sufferings the world could inflict upon Him, and He gave up His life willingly for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has suffered all things, so that you might not have to suffer the ultimate pain – eternal death and separation from God. He gave up His life, so that He might take it up again, and so that He might give His life to you, and in exchange take away your sin, death, and condemnation. The record of debts against you is gone.

Settle your minds, therefore, concerning your place in this world. Your life is secure in Christ. Your place in heaven is prepared for you. Your name is written in the Book of Life. Even if the devil should fill this world with demons, even if he should rage against you and destroy your flesh, he cannot win the victory. Death is defeated. Sin is conquered. Life has won the war. “By your endurance you will gain your lives.”

Cast care aside, lean on your guide;

His boundless mercy will provide.

Trust, and enduring faith shall prove

Christ is your life and Christ your love. (LSB 664.3)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.