Sermon: St. Polycarp – 2022

23 February 2022

Text: Matt 10:26-33

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

St. Polycarp learned the Christian faith from the Apostle John.  And Polycarp himself was ordained into the office of the holy ministry, and later became the bishop of Smyrna, in what is today part of Turkey.  He was a beloved figure in the early church, even before his heroic death.  He defended Christian orthodoxy against Gnostic heretics, fearlessly calling their famous leader Marcion, “the first born of Satan” right to his face.  Polycarp was a preacher and a teacher, and brought many heretics back into the church.  His name itself means: “much fruit,” even as Polycarp’s pastor, St. John the Apostle, recorded our Lord as saying: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

But it is on account of the bishop’s death that he is most remembered, bearing much fruit and proving himself to be a disciple.  St. Polycarp was 86 years old, and was ordered to burn incense to Caesar – which was a ritual of State worship.  In refusing, St. Polycarp replied, “I am a Christian,” and with shocking defiance, asked his interrogators if they would like to be instructed to study Christian doctrine, encouraging them to make an appointment with him.  When he was commanded to worship Caesar or be put to death, the old bishop said, “Eighty six years I have served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” They built a pyre and put Polycarp to the flames and to the sword.  The elderly bishop did not fight them, but went manfully to his martyrdom.

St. Polycarp knew all about Jesus from the preaching of John, and he knew the Scriptures like the back of his own hand.  He took to heart what our Lord Jesus Christ said concerning our persecutors and those who hate us: “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

We are to fear God instead of men.  We are to “bear much fruit” and thus “prove to be [His] disciples.”  For ultimately, all that our enemies can do to us is to kill us, and then, we are untouchable to them, as we enjoy the blessings of eternal life, knowing that we await our resurrection by our Lord Jesus Christ, after which, we will live forever in the flesh in a new heaven and a new earth.  So we “fear, love, and trust in God above all things,” even above our fear of persecution or pain or death.  “The fear of the Lord” is indeed the “beginning of wisdom.”  St. Polycarp knew this and confessed it; he lived it and he died affirming it.

Bishop Polycarp feared God – even as He loved and trusted in His Lord, taking to heart Jesus’ command to “have no fear of them.”

Our Father knows even the number of each hair of our heads.  He knows and cares for every sparrow on the planet.  And the Father cares so much for us, His fallen creation, that He sent the Son into our world to die for us, to rise for us, and to give us new and eternal life in His name – the name by which St. Polycarp was endowed with courage, the name of the Lord Jesus whom he served as a Christian and as a bishop over the course of a long life of proven discipleship, bearing much fruit.

Polycarp knew that our Lord said clearly: “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”  We are Christ’s witnesses, whether we are among friends or foes, whether confessing Him is safe or dangerous.  St. Polycarp confessed Jesus in the face of suffering and death, and his example has inspired hundreds of years of Christian brothers and sisters to likewise faithfully bear witness and confess Christ, saying, I am a Christian,” come what may, like it or not.

Dear friends, until recently, it had been easy to be a Christian.  Our faith used to be mainstream, and not that long ago.  Ordinary people packed churches every Sunday.  Saying “I am a Christian” might even give you advantages: business connections and respect in your community.  But those days are over.  We have seen the high cost of discipleship in Finland, where acknowledging Christ before men, where publicly bearing witness to our Lord and His Word, where simply saying, “I am a Christian” is enough to be arrested, interrogated, charged, and possibly imprisoned.  We have seen more than a hundred churches burned down by hatred-fueled arsonists in Canada, and the prime minister’s response was to shrug and say that it is “understandable.”  Once again, the State is a jealous god that demands citizens pinch a bit of incense to Caesar.  And in our own country, Christians are hauled before judges, sued, and accused of crimes for believing that the Word of God is true, and living one’s life and running one’s business while confessing “I am a Christian” brings financial ruin. 

In our culture, in our schools, in movies and television, and on the Internet, we see hatred and hostility against Christian people that rivals the days of the Roman Empire, where we were called cannibals, accused of incest, and labeled “haters of men” and “atheists.”  Today, Christians are called “haters” and “bigots” who “oppose science” and who should be removed from public life. 

We are not being literally compelled to pinch incense to the president of the United States or the prime minister of Canada, but we are hated and our legal, God-given rights are being undermined by the government.  We have truly become “enemies of the State.”  Yes indeed, dear friends, we still confess with St. Polycarp: “I am a Christian.”

And while we should not hesitate to call our opponents “the firstborn of Satan” and rebuke them with the boldness of the good bishop, we must always also retain Father Polycarp’s gentleness and willingness to die for our faith if need be, with a meekness and serenity that amazed both Christians and their persecutors. 

And when we do feel fear and anxiety, dear friends, when the threats of what the future has to offer in our country and in the world for those of us who confess Christ fill us with foreboding, let us not only remember the warning about denying Jesus, let us also hold fast to the gracious promise about acknowledging Him before men.  For to God, we are more valuable than the sparrows for which God cares and preserves during their lifespan.  Let us remember that each one of us is the recipient of the greatest gift of all: the blood of Christ, the redemption of the cross, the salvation of Him who willingly went to His own death, the death of the cross, so that He can bring our name before the Father in heaven as one whom He acknowledges as redeemed by the blood of the Lamb!  How can we blaspheme our King and our Savior?

And so, let us “bear much fruit” and prove to be our Lord’s disciples.  Let us always be eager to acknowledge Him by confessing with St. Polycarp and all the martyrs throughout history, whether our culture praises us or curses us, whether we are respectable members of society or enemies of the State.  Let us hear the whisper of the Word of God in our ears, and let us proclaim our confession on the housetops: “I am a Christian.”

 Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.