As I prepare for answering the call of our Lord to leave the land of my birth and the country that God in His grace has used to be a blessing in my life (South Africa), I am reading up on the history of Christianity in Britain. It is very interesting ... introduced during Roman rule and then spread to Ireland. With the decline in Roman rule, a subsequent rise once again in paganism ... then Irish missionaries, who with little influence from far away Rome had introduced Celtic spirituality into the new religion, going to the picts of the West of Scotland and from there to Lindisfarne and Northhumbria on the North West of England.
Here one meets Aidan of Lindisfarne (died 31 August 651), an Irish monk and missionary credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria. He founded a monastic cathedral on the island of Lindisfarne, served as its first bishop, and travelled ceaselessly throughout the countryside, spreading the gospel to both the Anglo-Saxon nobility and to the socially disenfranchised (including children and slaves). He is known as the Apostle of Northumbria and is recognised as a saint by the Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion and others.
Below are some extracts from my previously reviewed
Celtic Daily Prayer, which look at Aidan through the eyes of those who met him and knew him directly. In him we see the type of person described by James, namely one whose faith is shown by his actions. As we are working through James' Epistle at the moment (read my introduction
here) I include these here because they are wonderful reminders, particularly for preachers of the gospel, of the type of witnesses we long to be.
KING OSWALD
I am Oswald, King of
Northumbria. I already knew Aidan before
he came here; he was a young monk when I was a boy in exile on Iona. I had been bitterly disappointed when Corman went
home, So, when Aidan and his monks
arrived, I said, “Thank God you’ve come.
I’ll give you any bit of land you choose for your monastery. I’ll help you in any way I can. Just call on me.”
And so he did. I even taught him the English language – me,
who never taught anyone anything except how to hold a sword! But Aidan supported me too. He helped me to see how to be a practical
Christian and turn my faith into action.
I’ll never forget the look on my hungry warriors’ faces when I gave our
Easter dinner away to the poor! But
Aidan was thrilled. He’s genuine through
and through, is Aidan. There’s no
difference between what he teaches and what he is.
THE FIRST TRAVELLER
I am a British
Christian. My family were Christians
when Ireland was still in pagan darkness.
I belong to the ancient church of this land. I didn’t like the thought of this Irish
missionary upstart. I thought he was a
puppet of the English king, whom I hate.
When I saw him coming down
the lane I would have passed by in silence.
But something about him, something about the way he looked at me, made
me stop. “Are you a Christian?” he
asked, gently.
“Of course,” I said,
huffily.
“That’s good to hear,” he
said. “Now will you try be a better one?”
I don’t know why I didn’t
explode with anger, but I didn’t.
Suddenly I actually wanted to be a better Christian. And suddenly I wanted to know Aidan better
and hear what he had to say.
THE SECOND TRAVELLER
I am English; and I used
to be pagan. When I saw Aidan coming
down the road I thought, “Here comes that foreigner the king thinks so highly
of, with his strange religion. But I
don’t want any new-fangled ways. The old
gods are good enough for me.”
But Aidan stopped when he
got to me and said, “Are you a Christian?”
“No,” I said, “and I don’t
want to be either.”
Then he said, “Will you
tell me what you do believe?”
And for some reason I
wanted to talk to him; and we talked.
All that he said was new to me – about Jesus, who came to show us what
God is like. Then he said, “Would you
like to hear more? Would you go to a
meeting n your village if I arranged one?”
I said, ”Yes.” So I went, and what I heard convinced
me. Aidan’s monks convinced me too, by
the sort of people they were. They
didn’t ask me for anything; they just wanted me to know the truth. Now I am a Christian.
