In February we move from the season of Epiphany, the time in which we celebrate Christ coming for all nations and recognizing that the babe born on Christmas is not just true man but also true God, to the season of Lent. Lent is a time in which Christians prepare their hearts through repentance, prayer, and fasting. It is also a time to joyfully prepare for the Paschal Feast of Easter. It is in this time of transition that we look to one of the earliest church fathers, Polycarp of Smyrna, who lived as a child of God encouraging the righteousness of Christ and one who gave his life for his message.
Polycarp was one of the early bishops of Smyrna, one of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation, and a disciple of the Apostle John. He was likely born around the year 69 and was martyred around the year 156. There is some debate in regards to his age when he was martyred. We possess one of his letters to the Philippians, a letter written to him from Ignatius of Antioch (another bishop of the early church), and we also have the account of his death called The Martyrdom of Polycarp.
In his letter to the Philippians he writes that the church of Philippi requested his comments on righteousness, but he first points them back to the preaching of Paul that they had received. Overall the letter presents a strong encouragement to live in the righteousness of Christ and to live with the hope and guarantee of our righteousness, Christ Jesus. Polycarp writes, “Let us, therefore, become imitators of His patient endurance, and if we should suffer for the sake of His name, let us glorify him. For this is the example He set for us in His own person, and this is what we have believed.” This advice Polycarp himself would have to take when the order for his death came.
After the martyrdom of a fellow Christian, Germanicus, the crowds chanted for the death of Polycarp. When Polycarp heard the news he had planned to stay in Smyrna, but his friends forced him to flee the city to a small cottage. As the friends were still weary of the police finding them they moved Polycarp further away to another cottage. When the police found the first cottage they questioned and tortured one of the young slaves until he told them where Polycarp was hiding. When the chief of police arrived, Polycarp had been sleeping and when they woke him he went down to see them. He then told his servants to prepare a meal for the police so that he might have a chance to pray before he left. After his prayer the police took Polycarp to the arena where he was tried for being a Christian. The magistrate told him, “Swear the oath(to Caesar), and I will release you; revile Christ.” Polycarp responded, “For eighty-six years I have been his servant, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” He was then sentenced to be burned at the stake, but when the fires were lit they encircled him like an arch and he did not burn. When the magistrate saw this he ordered the executioner to stab him with a dagger.
Polycarp is remembered for his service to the church, his faithfulness in the face of persecution, and his martyrdom. Before the fires were lit Polycarp prayed to God saying in part, “O Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, the God of angels and powers and of all creation, and of the whole race of the righteous who live in your presence, I bless you because you have considered me worthy of this day and hour, so that I might receive a place among the number of the martyrs in the cup of your Christ, to the resurrection to the eternal life, both of soul and of body, in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit.” Amen.
Vicar Patrick Gumz