In the face of the Church’s call to mission and evangelism, what do you think is the most effective way for Christians to spread their faith among others? Should we use all the techniques of advertising to persuade people that what we believe is worth sharing? Advertising is useful, but the problem is that the world is tired of hearing more and more words which often seem to have nothing behind them. When a group of very enthusiastic and wealthy Christian industrialists asked an expert on evangelisation what was the most effective evangelical strategy today, he gave a disconcerting answer. He said that empirical research showed the answer is martyrdom. After a long pause, one of the industrialists finally asked, “Can you tell us what the second most effective strategy might be?” It is not surprising that we look for an easier answer when the first answer may involve dying for our faith. We play down a central teaching of Christianity, which is the need to back up our words with actions – this is what Jesus means when He tells us to take up His cross and follow Him.
Today Jesus is dealing with another central teaching of the Gospel, which always appears in the readings as we come to the end of the liturgical year. It is about the end of the world. The scriptures teach that just as God created the world in the beginning, so God will bring it to its final consummation when Jesus returns in glory. The old order will give way to the new, but there will be upheavals and catastrophes before this takes place. This is what people fear; and so they play it down and put it at the back of their minds. Jesus does not give a date for the destruction of Jerusalem and the old Temple, but we know that it was indeed destroyed by Romans in AD 70. Yet that destruction did not trigger off the events of the end of the world as some feared. Jesus tells us that many other events will have to take place in the course of history before the end. We may find His talk of wars and revolutions, famines and plagues rather difficult, but in fact if we look round our own world such apocalyptic events abound. Jesus tells us not to be frightened by these events but rather to have confidence that in the end God will bring us through them and be victorious. He tells: “Your endurance will win you your lives.”
In the history of the Church, Christians have drawn strength from these words of Jesus. From St. Stephen onwards men and women have given the witness of their lives as martyrs. And persecution contuniues today. In many countries around the world, especially in parts of Africa, Asia and in the Middle East, Christians are not free to worship without harrasment. Since the turn of the millennium about 200 milion Christians are now under threat. Even in countries where Christianity is not persecuted there are opportunities to give witness when Gospel values are questioned. It may be on questions of marriage, respect for life, or justice and peace, but it takes courage to take a stand against the prevailing consensus. Jesus reminds us this Sunday that as we wait for the end in the midst of natural and social disasters we are called to have confidence in His final victory.