A Reflection

7 Classic Missionary BIOGRAPHIES

Chapter 7-9

Raymond was already sixty six years old and was living in the middle ages where travel conditions
was so hard. In his old age he never stops His mission, he pursued His journey as long as He can. In this
chapter, there was written account of his unsuccessful Mission in Cyprus but still he never stopped; “Lull's
preaching probably did not meet with success, for he soon left the island, and, attended only by a single
companion, crossed over to Syria and penetrated into Armenia, striving to reclaim the various Oriental
sects to the orthodox faith.” It is really true that in some places, we could not be “successful" as
Missionaries but in the eyes of God, if we do our part and we persevere, He is glorified and our labor will
not be in vain, there is eternal honor that awaits us.

During those times of Raymond Lull, the Jews were greatly persecuted even by Christians. But Lull
loved the Jews. “This despised, race however, was not outside the circle of Lull's love and interest. He wrote
many books to prove to them the truth of the Christian religion. He showed them that their expected
Messiah was none other than Jesus of Nazareth. His great mission to the Saracens in Africa did not blind
him to the needs of missions at home,”. Lull's passion for souls, he does not leave in the Mission field,
rather, he acts in his identity wherever he is.

In his last journey in North Africa, he went to Bugia, which has a special place in his heart. Here is
where “ the story of Lull's life as it was here he, preached to Moslems in his old age and here was the scene
of his death”. In his old age, He died while obeying the vision that God gave him. In “Bulgia, he found his
way to a public place, stood up boldly, and proclaimed in the Arabic language that Christianity was the
only true faith, and expressed his willingness to prove this to the satisfaction of all. Persecution followed.
He was flung into a dungeon and for half a year remained a close prisoner, befriended only by some
merchants of Genoa and Spain, who took pity on the aged champion of their common faith.” Despite the
situation, we could see that there is still encouragement of the Lord through the lives of Lull's brethren in
Faith. There was also a time that he was rescued from a shipwreck by those who had heard of his fame as
a philosopher and missionary. It was in Pisa, Italy that he was rescued and received with all respect by

One thing that caught mostly of my attention in Lull's life was when he was persistently
proselytized by the Muslims. “Meanwhile riches, wives, high place, and power were offered the Christian
philosopher if only he would abjure his faith and turn Moslem.” It was not only once but was narrated that
they visit him often just to deny Jesus and choose Islam. Most of the Missionaries among Muslims have
experienced this kind of the World's offer. It is a reality though that others are being deceived. Lull's reply
amazed me a lot which I really want to do by God's grace, in case that this temptation come to me, “This
was Lull's reply, from the depth of his dungeon, to all their enticements: "Ye have for me wives and all sorts
of worldly pleasure if I accept the law of Mohammed? Alas I ye offer a poor prize, as all your earthly goods
cannot purchase eternal glory. I, however, promise you, if ye will forsake your false and devilish law, which
was spread by sword and force alone, and if ye accept my belief, Eternal Life, for the Christian faith was
propagated by preaching and by the blood of holy martyrs. Therefore, I advise you to become Christians
even now, and so obtain everlasting glory and escape the pains of hell."
 I noted this poem he wrote amidst temptation and hardship inside the dungeon.
"But amid the torture and the taunting -
I have had Thee!
Thy hand was holding thy hand fast and faster,
Thy voice was close to me:
And glorious eyes said, 'Follow Me, thy Master,
Smile, as I smile thy faithfulness to see"

He left Bulgia as a prisoner and just like Paul, he gone through shipwreck. But sill, he proved
himself faithful in the calling which God had given him. This really inspires me to take hold od my call. Just
like Lull, I may grow old doing the will of God in my life: “To proclaim Jesus to the Nations".

REFLECTION
The Jesus I Never Knew
Chapter 7-9

For years I had thought of the Sermon on the Mount as a blueprint for human behavior that no
one could possibly follow. Reading it again, I found that Jesus gave these words not to cumber us, but to
tell us what God is like. The character of God is the urtext of the Sermon on the Mount. How could I
have missed it? Jesus did not proclaim the Sermon on the Mount so that we would, Tolstoy-like, furrow
our brows in despair over our failure to achieve perfection. He gave it to impart to us God’s Ideal toward
which we should never stop striving, but also to show that none of us will ever reach that Ideal. The
Sermon on the Mount forces us to recognize the great distance between God and us, and any attempt
to reduce that distance by somehow moderating its demands misses the point altogether.

Just like Tolstoy, i agree that the God that we serve is a perfect God. The level of God to us and
even to pharisees is the same, we depend on the grace of God.