saint Patrick

Patrick is my favorite missionary! You may know him as saint Patrick. I use a small 's' because the Biblical use of the term 'saint' applies to ALL WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST. It was NEVER-INTENDED to be used to imply any sense of SUPER-HERO or SUPER-HEROINE status. I was preaching in my home Church one time and I mentioned that in God's Kingdom, ..."there are no big 's' saints." I didn't realize how this sounded to the ears of the folks in the pews. I think I woke up half the Church. They thought I said, "...there are no big @$$ saints." Well, at least I got their attention. In any event, 'saint' is not a RANK to be achieved. It is synonymous with the term 'believer.' And, if you were to ask humble folks like 'saint Patrick,' I am sure they would agree. The Christian faith is not made-up of spiritual hierarchies. We don't get rewarded black-belts matching some level of spiritual maturity. No! We get the honor of serving our Lord... and perhaps... just perhaps... being a part of alleviating some misery in this world. In any event, I am sure there have been many great missionaries who deserve equal respect. However, saint Patrick tops my list and here is why...

Patrick grew up in a wealthy ENGLISH home! Yes! That's right! Patrick was ENGLISH! At a young age Patrick was kidnapped by a band of raiders. These raiders took Patrick to  Ireland where the raiders sold him into slavery! One of Patrick's many jobs as a slave was to take care of the pigs. However, in so doing... God was preparing Patrick to serve Him in bigger ways. We need to remember, if we are faithful in the small things, God will trust us with greater responsibility as Jesus taught in Matthew 25:23...

"His master said, to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master."

One day Patrick had a chance to escape and was able to gain passage aboard a ship back to England. Of course, everyone was surprised to see him. You can imagine the shock and joy! Patrick was assumed dead and had been gone for years.

Patrick had been home for some time when God called him for a special task. Patrick felt God was calling him. God asked Patrick to return to the people and the land in which he had been a slave. Remember, God often calls us into the impossible so we can see God do the possible! You can imagine Patrick's emotions. I am sure it was a mixture of... "God are you nuts!" to "God, you are calling me?" Well, nothing ever happens overnight. Patrick shared his 'calling' with the Christian religious leaders and they basically said, "No!" They felt Patrick was not smart enough to enter the priesthood. They also had bigotry against the Irish. After all, thought the Christian leaders, "How much sense does it make to leave a comfortable wealthy lifestyle, to live in poverty... let alone danger?" You would have thought these 'Christian' leaders would have thought otherwise... did they know Jesus?????

Well, Patrick fooled all of them. No, Patrick was not a nuclear scientist but he studied hard and eventually entered the ministry. However, even after this accomplishment the leaders decided not to send Patrick... so Patrick did the obedient thing... HE SENT HIMSELF! Sometimes we have to remember our obedience is to GOD and not to earthly authorities.

You know the rest of the story. Patrick went back to Ireland. He lived in a cave in virtual poverty. However, Patrick had purpose in his life. Patrick had Jesus. So, Patrick traveled among the various Irish tribes in order to tell them about Jesus.

There are many legends surrounding Patrick and most of them probably are NOT TRUE. Such as driving the snakes out of Ireland or using the SHAMROCK to teach the TRINITY to the Irish. However, here is the eventual result of the combined ministry of Patrick and another missionary by the name of Columba. Ireland became a Christian nation and monasteries were created throughout Ireland. As Western Civilization started to collapse on the European continent it was the Irish Monks who not only saved the Bible for future generations, but also saved modern agriculture. These monasteries contained Monks who faithfully translated and copied the Scriptures. These monasteries became repositories for copies of the Bible and seeds!

We are celebrating saint Patty's Sunday on March 18th! Come join us as we celebrate God working in the lives of folks 'just like us' for God's purposes!

See you tomorrow!