Something From Nothing
Blog 164
Timothy 6:7-8 “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”
I have been silent for a bit. Although I drafted two blogs, I didn’t follow through. I was in a bit of funk. However, I recently read something very challenging and worth sharing.
Richard Wurmbrand, imprisoned in Communist Romania for his faith in Christ, is deceased, but he is quoted in the monthly updates from Voice of the Martyrs. The recent article moved me.
In isolation, Richard and fellow prisoners were hungry for the printed page, the face of a human, and interestingly for Holy Communion. There was no way to gather, no elements to partake, no Bible and no hymnbook. But these isolated men of God realized they had something, something called “nothing.” They had lost families, houses, libraries and churches, and even their clothing and name. They were simply a number, but not to God.
As they thought about the value of “nothing”, a realization came to them. Jesus created the wheat and flour that made communion bread out of “nothing”. The vines which produced grapes were made from “nothing”. I quote:
“On a Sunday morning, we decided to take Holy Communion with nothing. At a certain moment, we gave a signal through the wall from one end of the corridor to the other. And at the same moment, we took nothing in our hands, and we thanked God for it. We ate nothing and remembered the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was broken for us.”
The exhortation to follow was to remember persecuted Christians. Many lost everything, and yet they help us realize the value of “nothing,” the detachment from things of this world and attachment to our heavenly bridegroom.
A word from the apostle Paul concerning his own persecution: 3 We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; … dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” 2 Corinthians 6:3-10