The full text as
prepared for the Sunday, March 17, 2013 message:
"Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you." (Genesis 26:24)
I want to tell you the story about the kidnapping of a man named Maewyn Succat.
Maewyn lived in Britain in the waning days of being ruled by Rome. He lived what today we would call a life of privilege. Both his Grandfather and his Father held positions of local power: Grandad a Priest and dad a Deacon.
In stark contrast to his forebears, Maewyn was wild and rowdy, prone to robbery at the whim of wanting something. He held to none of the religious beliefs of his dad and granddad. Perhaps we could say he was an atheist, or worse yet, a pagan.
During these days, the first decade of the 400's, raiding parties of Brits into Ireland to capture innocent people and bring them back as slaves was common; so was the same true in reverse.
At about age 16, spoiled, self indulgent, Maewyn was captured, brought to Ireland and sold into slavery. Purchased by a tribal King, the boy was made to tend the sheep on a mountainside. He lived outside day and night with the sheep.
It was during this time that Maewyn turned to prayer, that fragments of bible verses, long forgotten prayers and homilies from his childhood began to emerge in his memory, a sense of the Presence of God... and he no longer felt alone. Later on he would write that he prayed about 100 times a day (and almost as much at night) to escape and return to his home.
Then one night in a dream he was urged to get up and leave; head to the coast and find a ship back to Britain.
"Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you."
He trusted this inner compulsion; made the perilous journey of 200 miles to the coast of Ireland where he was able to find a ship that would take him home.
After 6 years in captivity, Maewyn Succat was home. His experience of God's grace and provision solidified his faith. He began to study in the monastery.
One night he had a dream in which a man from Ireland came to him with a hand full of letters. He opened up one of the letters and it said, "The Voice of the Irish." and then a voice came out of this letter saying to him, "Holy boy, please return to us. We need you."
Maewyn struggled in his soul. Could he return to Ireland and minister to the same people who had enslaved him? Once again, he turned to God in prayer. He received the answer in a dream. He said he dreamed that God way praying for him and he knew he would be protected.
"Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you."
Maewyn, now a priest petitioned his church to let him minster to the Irish.
"Please send me, I know these people, their language, their customs... and they need the message of God."
"No," they said, "you are still too wild, you lack tact, you lack learning; and you are too playful, too lighthearted. We cannot send you. We are sending another."
Three emissaries from the church failed over the next 12 years to bring Christianity to Ireland before Maewyn was given the chance. Like those before him he was made a bishop and given the Christian name Patrick.
Patrick had a personality that was extremely winning with the people. He was unaffected by his position, power, and mission, and he had the kind of welcoming presence that won people over. He was serious but also playful too. It helped him to win converts in every village. As a matter of fact, as a result, it aggravated the Celtic Druid priests. They decided to give him some real problems to worry about. A dozen times, it was recorded he was arrested and put into prison.
Can you imagine? You finally get to do what you want to do; you think it will be the best time of your life so far; and a dozen times you are put into prison. The prisons were cold, harsh places to be. Yet, a dozen times, Patrick was able to escape, which is miraculous in itself. In between times, he traveled throughout Ireland, founding monasteries, schools, and churches that would, in time, transform the non-Christian country into what the Church calls its "proud isle of saints."
People sometimes made fun of him because he said that God had given him a message that there was danger ahead.
"Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you."
Patrick would say, "Laugh at me if you will. This is something that has protected me in Ireland."
Patrick's ministry lasted 29 years. He laid the groundwork of Christianity in Ireland through baptizing over 120,000 Irishmen and planting 300 churches.
Jesus said, constantly, to become like a little child again. Saint Patrick was like that. The church didn't want to send him because he was too playful and that turned out to be a great strength for him. He could reach the people because of his joy and playfulness.
Saint Patrick, like a little child, was playful along with working hard like an adult.
What an example St. Patrick’s overcoming is for our lives, for what we are facing in our lives, today. Here is a man who was an over-comer. Over-comers have challenges in their own lives, but they do not stop at the challenge– they go on to the victory. They always see with a higher perception. They know that they can go further than their eyes tell them that they can go at the moment.
What are you facing? Is it too big for you to overcome? And by the way, whatever it is, don't "be a man about it." Men don't ask for help! :o)
Can you go beyond your humanness and ask God's help? God can help us to overcome any problem. These people (over-comers) that we look at in history, including Jesus, are much just like us, and they have overcome. They have turned to that accessible power that is available to each of us from God and they have gone further.
Perhaps we could do the same with our lives – add more play to it. Think about becoming more enthusiastic about where you are right now. Think about going out this afternoon and actually living – enjoying the moment – taking in the sights and sounds and showering it all with loving vision.
Why worry about Tomorrow today? Think about living, right now, without worry about yesterday or tomorrow: living right now, being totally alive.
"Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you."
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