Few evangelists hold prominence in the history of Christianity. Saint Patrick is one of them. Patrick was born in the 5th century AD. He is known as the “apostle of Ireland.” But he is most widely recognized as the Saint of Ireland.
Every year, on March 17th, the Roman Catholic church, the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Lutheran churches commemorate the arrival of Christianity in Ireland through the work of St. Patrick. Today, the Republic of Ireland celebrates St. Patrick’s Day as a national holiday. Irish folks who were displaced or settled elsewhere outside of Ireland celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with great pride.
It is almost incredulous not to refer to Patrick as a “Saint.” But Patrick’s “sainthood” was not easily attained. At the age of 16, he was sold as a slave. While living in Britain, where he was born, he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland to work as a lowly shepherd. He endured six years of forced labor, then he escaped and returned to his homeland.
After his return to Britain, God called him into apostolic ministry. He felt called to return to Ireland, where he had been enslaved, to share the gospel with the Irish; the same people who abused him. During his time, the great majority of Irish folks had never heard the gospel message. He became one of Ireland’s first Christian missionaries.
But what would compel someone to return to their slave masters to share the hope of the gospel?
St Patrick was not, and is not, the only Christ follower who has given his life completely to the work of sharing the Gospel among hostile people groups. One recent example is the story of Beatrice Stockli. Stockli was a Swiss missionary in Timbuktu, Mali. She chose to live among muslim extremists sharing the hope of the gospel.
Stockli, like St Patrick, was kidnapped and suffered terribly. In 2012, she was abducted by an armed muslim extremist group. 10 days later she was released. After being released to go back to Switzerland, she planned to return to Timbuktu. Though her mother and brother urged her to stay after she had returned to Switzerland in 2012, she, like St Patrick, did not heed their request. She told them, ”It’s Timbuktu or nothing.” She died in captivity in 2016.
What compelled her and St Patrick to have such resolve? Their love and devotion to the Lord, even to the point of death!
The Call to Go
St. Patrick was stirred with compassion for the lost. Not just the lost, but those who were once his enemies, his oppressors. His family and friends begged him not to go, but his obedience outweighed their persuasion. He was committed to the fullest. In his lifetime, he wrote two major works, the Confessio and the Epistola. In his Confessio we learn of his commitment to go, “I pray to God to give me perseverance and to deign that I be a faithful witness to Him to the end of my life for my God.”
St. Patrick was committed to proclaim the gospel among the nations. He took the Great Commission seriously, he once exclaimed, “That is why I cannot be silent – nor would it be good to do so – about such great blessings and such a gift that the Lord so kindly bestowed in the land of my captivity. This is how we can repay such blessings, when our lives change and we come to know God, to praise and bear witness to his great wonders before every nation under heaven.” When we are changed by the gospel, we are compelled to change others by proclaiming the redemptive good news of Christ!
St. Patrick did not consider himself much. But his commitment to God came from a proper view of God’s redeeming work in his life,
So I am first of all a simple country person, a refugee, and unlearned. I do not know how to provide for the future. But this I know for certain, that before I was brought low, I was like a stone lying deep in the mud. Then he who is powerful came and in his mercy pulled me out, and lifted me up and placed me on the very top of the wall. That is why I must shout aloud in return to the Lord for such great good deeds of his, here and now and forever, which the human mind cannot measure.
We may not be much, but we have much to offer. We have the greatest message the world has ever heard and still needs to hear!
When Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary, the land was filled with idolatry and paganism. After about a decade, about 1000 people were converted to Christianity in Ireland. Later on, his work paved the way for the gospel to be proclaimed in the British Isles, Gaul, and Central Europe.
His commitment is reminiscent of Paul’s commitment to suffer for the sake or Christ (2 Corinthians 4:8-10; 2 Corinthians 11). His resolve was rooted in the hope he had in Christ even if it meant he had to lose his life,
It was not by my own grace, but God who overcame it in me, and resisted them all so that I could come to the peoples of Ireland to preach the gospel. I bore insults from unbelievers, so that I would hear the hatred directed at me for travelling here. I bore many persecutions, even chains, so that I could give up my freeborn state for the sake of others. If I be worthy, I am ready even to give up my life most willingly here and now for his name. It is there that I wish to spend my life until I die, if the Lord should grant it to me.
St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, like Christmas, have watered down his legacy, as people are more focused on leprechauns, wearing green, drinking green beer, getting drunk, and the selling of merchandise. The man may be associated with cultural folklore, but his legacy is about faithfulness in gospel witness. His legacy is not about good luck, though we are the ones “lucky” to be blessed by his life’s testimony.
May the words attributed to him be our anthem,
“Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.”
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Written by Daniel Messina
