LOVING YOUR ENEMIES

“In the winter of 1569, the Dutch Anabaptist (i.e., Mennonite, etc.) Dirk Willems made a daring escape from the prison where the Roman Catholic authorities were holding him because of his faith. According to the ‘Martyrs Mirror,’ a compendium of accounts of the persecution and killing of Anabaptists by both Roman Catholic and magisterial Protestant authorities in early modern Europe, he fled across a frozen pond with a guard in hot pursuit. The guard was evidently heavier than Willems, for while the Anabaptist was able to traverse the pond without difficulty, the ice broke under the guard, and he plunged into the freezing waters. The guard cried out for help, and Willems turned back and helped the man back onto land. As a result, Willems was recaptured; even his saving the guard’s life did not win him a reprieve. He was burned at the stake on May 16, 1569, repeatedly crying out, “Oh my Lord, my God!” (from Plough Magazine, August 2023)

(Note: Dirk Willems crime was being re-baptized after coming to a different understanding as an Anabaptist and also leading his family and others into this new understanding and being immersed in baptism as an adult and rejecting his infant baptism in the Roman Catholic Church.) I’m staggered at the thought.

I have read this story many times by various authors through the years and I can only say that I don’t know about Dirk Willems level of faith. I also know only what I have read about the history of the Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation (It’s debilitating). Lord, have mercy on ‘church history’… so-called (it makes some of us think crazy and unkind thoughts about religion). For me to Love Enemies is to also somehow try to love church history. (I’m not there yet)

“But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.” Jesus