Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
It’s not one of my most celebrated holidays, but I enjoy Saint Patrick’s Day. When I was a child the day meant dodging a certain friend of mine, as I had nothing green to wear and she enjoyed the hunt of pinching anyone who lacked the color. I suppose that might be one of the reasons its not one of my favorite holidays. I still like the day, I’m one of those people who tend to like most holidays regardless.
For most of us in America we tend to think of Saint Patrick’s Day as a day to celebrate everything Irish. Of course in our own strange way the majority have interpreted that idea as an excuse to hit the bar. I find that amusing, but as I’ve never been able to drink alcohol for medical reasons, and had little interest in alcohol to begin with, well, I’ve had to look for other ways to celebrate the day. Personally I enjoy making a good Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner in the Crock-pot, but I confess not much else happens to mark the day in my calendar.
But what is Saint Patrick’s Day anyway? Who was this Saint? What was so “saintly” about him?
Saint Patrick was a man attributed with being one of the first to bring the gospel to Ireland. This alone is a really cool thing, but if you look deeper into his life you may just find your own life challenged in a new way.
Just ask yourself this question:
Why did Saint Patrick want to bring the gospel to Ireland?
His story is from so long ago we don’t necessarily know a huge amount about the man, but we do know some. We know, for instance, that as a teenager he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and for six years he was a slave in Ireland. We know that though he was raised in church, he found his faith as a slave. We know that he escaped slavery, following God’s voice, after six years. He then went into the ministry, and then, and this is what I find inspiring, he returned to the place of his slavery to serve and minister the gospel of Christ!
Think about that for a minute! Follow the story!
When did Saint Patrick find God? Was it on a pew bench? No! He found God in the middle of slavery! Isn’t that the truth though? Because God is not confined to a pew bench! God is a God who can reach you at your worst! And He did for Saint Patrick! Reaching down into a horrible circumstance and touching a heart!
But that isn’t all! Because after God rescues Saint Patrick what happens? Saint Patrick returns to the people who mistreated him in order to reach out to them in love!
Can you do that? Can I do that? Can we not only reach out to God in the tough times, and forgive those hurting us, but then turn around and reach out to them in His love?
It’s a question God seems to be exercising in my life lately. Can I come out of my protective shell and risk injury by reaching out to people who tend to hurt me? I’m not saying to put yourself in an unhealthy situation, or to let people use you. But can you love people who hurt you?
But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:27-28
I wonder what Saint Patrick thought of this verse. I wonder what he felt and thought when he felt God calling him to go back to the people who had hurt and enslaved him and share God’s love with them. Did he question the calling? Did he argue about the injustice of it? Or did he have such a focus on God that God was able to fill up his whole heart with love for these people, no matter what they had done?
Going back would have been a challenge, it was certainly not without risk to his own life. But yet he went, he followed this call and shared God’s love.
That isn’t easy, even when the only risk is a nasty response, its not easy. But in the end it is the kind of sacrificial love God calls us to.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Romans 12:14
So often we look at verses like that and I think we simply think it means we shouldn’t return evil for evil, and a little farther down in verse 17 it does say that, but this verse is talking about something more!
On the contrary: “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In so doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:20-21
Even here we seem to focus on that “heap burning coals” and not on what these verses really mean. We are called to LOVE those who hurt us. We are called to BLESS those who hurt us.
Can we do that?
I don’t know about you, but I tend to be a very anti-confrontational personality. If there is someone out there who I know hasn’t been the nicest person to me in the past I’m more likely to hide in a hole where they are concerned. I may not hate them, or even dislike them, I may even be able to pray for them and wish them well. But reach out in love to them? Actively be a blessing? Even when I feel God’s prompting I confess I tend not to do it.
I think I want to be more like Saint Patrick though, have that amount of focus on Christ that I can let Him fill up my heart with His love. I really do want to learn how to reach out, not just to those who love me, but to those who hurt me.
So this year, as I remember Saint Patrick’s Day, I’m going to think of more than just a lucky day, but a day to love others, even those who hurt me.
It’s a challenging lesson. I hope I can walk in it.
~Joy Aletheia Stevens
Photo Credit: by Claire Thompson (CC BY 2.0)
Photo Credit: by Andreas Franz Borche (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Photo Credit: by Scott Robinson (CC BY 2.0)
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