What Shane Says about St. Patrick's Day

Something's going on with our Missions Catalyst web site; the fun article Shane Bennett wrote did not go out to our 3000 subscribers this week. But this article won't keep - it's about March 17 - St. Patrick's day. Enjoy!

St. Patrick’s Day, A Missional Holiday
To me, growing up in midwest America, St. Patrick’s Day seemed to be the lamest of holidays: We didn’t get the day off from school. Not being Catholic, the whole idea of saints was lost on me. And I was never good at planning ahead: My green shirt was always in the laundry. That meant I spent the whole day dodging the inevitable, “You’re not wearing green!” pinches that seemed to be the main way we celebrated the day. As I got older, the green-beer-fueled drunken revelry that replaced the pinches held little attraction for me. March 17th just didn’t measure up to Easter, Independence Day, or my birthday.

But as a lifelong mobilizer, I’ve come to appreciate the special significance that St. Patrick’s Day has for the likes of us. Last month’s Practical Mobilization was a whiny tirade about how Evangelicals have had their identity stolen. I said that missions zealots such as us, should of all Christians, be people who are “for” good things, not simply “against” bad things. This month, I’d like to float out two reasons why we might want to be “for” St. Patrick’s Day and how we might use Saturday’s celebration to share some of the stuff that’s closest to our hearts.

Patrick Rocked

I’m no historian, so feel free to correct my mis-steps here, but it looks like God did some pretty cool stuff through Patrick’s life. Here’s a very brief look at some highlights. Check www.snipurl.com/1cuf1 for an 1800-word version of his life or www.snipurl.com/1cuf7 for a 300-page tome.

As a boy, Patrick was abducted by Irish pirates off the beach of his western England homeland.

The pirates sold him to a cruel master who made him oversee the sheep and pigs. He was always cold and hungry.

In the midst of his slavery, the Holy Spirit began to move in Patrick’s heart, convicting him of sin and calling him into a deep love for God and compassion for the Irish.

After six years, God told Patrick to make a run for the coast 200 miles away. Although failing to escape would result in torture and maybe death, Patrick obeyed, arrived at the shore, and (amazingly) found passage on a ship back to England.

Patrick hugged his mom, mourned his father who had died during his captivity, and began to settle into his new/old life.

God didn’t let him settle long. Soon in a “Macedonian call” dream, the people of Ireland asked Patrick to return.

Again Patrick obeyed and set off for seminary in France, where, deemed too dull to be pioneer missionary, he had to wait years before he finally convinced his superiors to send him to Ireland.

Staying in Ireland until his death, Patrick planted some 200 churches and raised up missionaries who went to Britain, on to Europe and as far south at Italy. I don’t know about you, but I’m impressed and inspired by Patrick’s life. I praise God for the example he provides to us. And I want my kids to know that I’m for St. Patrick’s Day because the guy behind the day really rocked.

Guinness Brewed
I’m also for St. Patrick’s Day because of the guy who invented the beer that will be dyed green and flow like a river this Saturday. Let me be clear: I am opposed to drunkenness. But rather than rail, privately or publicly, about drunks, let’s lift our glasses to Arthur Guinness, a man who actually did something about drunkenness in his day.

As a young man, Guinness asked God to do something about the whiskey drinking and the resulting drunkenness he saw on the streets of his Irish city. God answered his prayer, instructing him, “Make a drink that men will drink that will be good for them.” Arthur responded obediently by inventing Guinness Stout.

Now, depending on your views on beer, you may feel like this was something short of all-star obedience. Shouldn’t he have invented Orange Juice or Ovaltine? In Arthur’s favor, the beer he began to brew did help limit intoxication: Its low alcohol content coupled with its heaviness (“It’s like a loaf of bread in a can!”) means it’s hard to get drunk drinking Guinness. And its positive health benefits have long been extolled (if not proven!)

God blessed Arthur’s efforts. As the beer poured out, the money poured in. And here’s a cool connection for us: Guinness used some of his considerable wealth to finance the early mission efforts of Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, now known as Overseas Missionary Fellowship.

So now I like St. Patrick’s Day. It gives us a chance once again to celebrate a great God keeping his promises and accomplishing his purposes. If you are Chinese or Southeast Asian in descent, the gospel’s road to your heart may have been paved by Guinness and his collaboration with Hudson Taylor. If you have an Anglo heritage, your spiritual history may snake back through St. Patrick. I realize anew that God does his work in ways that surprise, that sometimes involve great pain and loss, and sometimes great success. He does it through unlikely characters, perhaps like me and you.

Here's to Patrick, and Arthur and the God over us all!