Open Door Policy - St Patrick

Open Door Policy – St Patrick falls on the No Detours Sunday in our Lenten sermon series. St. Patrick’s day is all about the color green. Green rivers, green clothes, green beer and of course – green clover.

Clover Time

The three leaved clover, or shamrock, is synonymous with St. Patrick’s Day because, as you heard in the children’s message Patrick used it in his missionary work to the Irish people. The story of St. Patrick goes beyond the color green. It’s a story of reckless love. As it goes Patrick was captured from his home in Britain by Irish raiders. He lived as a slave for a number of years until he ran away and escaped back to Britain. There he studied to be a Christian clergyman. Instead of living out his days in the safety of Britain he recklessly risked his life and went back to Ireland as a missionary to try and convert his captors along with the rest of the Irish people to Christianity.

This morning we continued our sermon series, Open Door Policies. These are God’s surprising strategies for getting sinners home. Today we are reminded that there are no detours allowed. If there was anyone who deserved a detour it was St. Patrick.

Reckless Love

People have scratched their heads for more than 1500 years at the story of St. Patrick. Why would he go back? Reckless love. Patrick knew that God’s love is boundless. He sent his Son to die for sinners, of whom I am the worst. The Apostle Paul was the first to say those words, and yet each of us can make those words our own. I’m not suggesting that we have a contest to see whose sins are truly the most heinous. Each of us can claim the status of chief of sinners because we can only compare ourselves to our Holy God. When we see the foolish love that God had for each of us, that Jesus gave up his life for me, for you. Because of his sacrifice all my sins and yours are gone. We can begin to see how we can reflect that onto others. Even being so reckless as to return those who had enslaved us?! May God’s reckless love be our reckless love. I leave you with the Lorica, or person confession of St. Patrick.

Lorica of St. Patrick

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ on my right, Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,

Christ in the eye that sees me,

Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through a belief in the Threeness,

Through a confession of the Oneness

Of the Creator of creation. Amen.

Want to hear more? Watch this week’s message taken from Jeremiah 26, Open Door Policy – St Patrick.