This week’s “thought” comes from a man whose faith and commitment to Jesus I have admired for years. Shortly after I came to Christ 38 years ago, I headed to the Dominican Republic as a short-term missionary. At one point I came across a book in the mission’s library. It was Richard Wurmbrand’s autobiographical sketch of the 14 years he spent in a Communist prison camp in Romania for being a Christian - “Tortured for Christ.”
It was the first Christian book I ever read cover to cover in one sitting, and I have given out many copies to friends ever since! The two stories I share today were related by Wurmbrand to a friend, and are samples of what you will find in that book. They come from the most recent “Voice of the Martyr’s” magazine. Enjoy.
Story #1:
“Richard once overheard a conversation between a
pastor named Simeon and a thief named Cunia. Every day Cunia stole
Simeon’s eyeglasses and then offered to return them in exchange for the
pastor’s supply of sugar. Pastor Simeon never complained, and then one day he
said to the thief, “I will give you the sugar gladly. You don’t need to
blackmail me by taking my glasses.” “Why don’t you get angry with me and report
me?” Cunia asked. “Because I want you to become a better man,” Simeon
replied, “I love you.”
“Nobody loves me,” Cunia said. “I am a
thief.” “It is Christmas -- Jesus’ birth,” Simeon continued. “He
loved thieves so much that He likened Himself to a thief who comes in the
night. I too have learned much from thieves. You are passionate in
your trade. You go to great lengths to get money. You suffer repeatedly, but,
once freed, you revert to stealing. You are a model of perseverance. Like
you, I too like gold. I have chosen as my eternal abode a city where even the
streets are paved with gold. Jesus came from there to enrich us. There is no
need to steal anymore.” He went on to tell Cunia about the Son of God who
was born in a stable to save us...
Wurmbrand said of Pastor Simeon, “On Christmas
the Son of God was made a man that we might become children of God. His aim has
been fulfilled. There are real children of God.”
Story #2:
“On Christmas Eve, while Richard lay in bed, an
abbot named Iscu lay in another bed on his right, awaiting death from the
tortures he received. The abbot was serene knowing he would soon be with Jesus
in heaven… On Richard’s left was another prisoner – the man who had
tortured Iscu. His comrades had turned on him and he too had been
imprisoned and tortured. Distraught by his deeds, this man woke Richard
during the night. “I have committed horrible crimes,” he confessed. “I
can find no rest. Help me,” he pleaded.
Just then, Iscu called two other prisoners to
his side to help him. Leaning on them, he slowly walked to his former torturer
and sat down on his bedside. “You were young and did not know what you were
doing,” he said, caressing the man’s head. “I forgive you and love you, as do
all the other Christians you have mistreated. And if we sinners who have been
saved by Jesus can love like this, how much more is He ready to erase all the
evil you have done, to cleanse you fully. Only repent.”
In that common cell in which there was no
privacy, Richard heard the torturer confessing his crimes to the one he had
tortured… Both men died that night, on Christmas Eve. It was not
simply a commemoration of the event in Bethlehem. It was Jesus being born in
the heart of a criminal.”
Such a degree of love really is amazing.
Who could explain it except as the fruit of a very real and true faith in Jesus
Christ. And what a blessing it is for those who have messed up so badly
to discover that salvation is by the grace of Jesus, and therefore no one is
too far gone to be beyond the reach of God’s power to redeem. Not even a man
who had tortured and brought great pain and suffering to many.
It is a matter for great praise that forgiveness
is not earned, but as the Gospel proclaims, is a free gift of grace to those
who cast themselves upon the mercy of Jesus and take eternal refuge in the
blood that was shed to satisfy God’s just wrath against sin. A Gospel
promise that is to all who will turn in faith to Jesus and leave their life of
sin behind -- regardless of how terrible that past life of sin may have
been.
Blessing the Name of him who came and took on
flesh that first Christmas, Pastor Jeff
