Deuteronomy 3:22 “Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.”
Telemachus was a fourth-century monk who felt God calling him to Rome. In obedience, he went there and arrived to find crowds surging through the streets and into the Colosseum. When the gladiators came in and saluted the Emperor, it suddenly dawned on him that they were going to kill each other for sport. He left his seat, jumped over the rail and ran towards the warriors, shouting: “In the name of Christ, stop!” The crowd laughed along until they realized it wasn’t part of the show. A gladiator slapped him with his sword, sending Telemachus flying to the ground. He got back up between the two fighters and again declared: “In the name of Christ, stop!” The crowd grew hostile and shouted at the gladiators to finish him off. The same fighter ran him through with his sword, and Telemachus lay down in a pool of blood on the sand. His last feeble dying words were the same again: “In the name of Christ, stop!” Something strange then happened. A hush came over the crowd. One man towards the back stood up and left, and then slowly everyone else did too. The year was 391AD, and that proved to be the last gladiatorial fight to the death in the Colosseum.
Saint Telemachus changed the course of history. And so can we. Never again in that great stadium did men kill each other for the entertainment of the crowd – and it was all because of one tiny voice that could hardly be heard above the tumult. One voice – one life – that spoke the truth in God’s name. God is still looking for people willing to move beyond their fears to stand for him and cry out: “In the name of Christ, stop!” Or maybe “Start!”
Spend some time asking the Lord, and then listening, to see what he might want you to stand up for today.
Lord, I choose to fight with and for you today. Amen!
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