Christians are not supposed to be spineless. But often we are. We don't speak up when someone tells a racist joke. We don't vote according to a well-informed conscience. We don't correct people who misuse their authority. We avoid confrontation under the guise of keeping peace. At school we keep bad company and cave in when we should resist temptation. We do not make the extra effort to participate at Mass, to give time to the needy, to welcome the stranger, or to visit the prisoner.

We have learned how to float along. We don't make waves, and the waves don't disturb us. We are content. On the surface, anyway. Inside we know the truth, and the silence we keep gnaws away and reminds us we are not the Christians we are called to be.

The stakes were higher at the end of the first century. Christianity had spread among ordinary people, but the authorities were trying unsuccessfully to put it down. Christians were hardly spineless in those days. They advocated for justice. They refuted earthly authority. They put their lives on the line, and many of them were put to death.

Our word "martyr" comes from a Greek word meaning "witness." A witness is not just one who sees something, but one who reports what he or she has seen. Some witnesses are put to death because of what they know, or what they believe, or what they do as a result. We use the Greek word for them. They are martyrs.

Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, says the Book of Revelation (1:5-8). As we celebrate Christ the King next week, the second reading for the day contains a litany of titles praising Jesus. He is Christ, the anointed. He is the faithful witness, the one who defied Roman authorities. He is firstborn of the dead, the one whose resurrection turned the tables on death and the history of the human race. He is ruler of the kings of the earth. Jesus, not Caesar, not any other king or president, but Jesus alone is the ruler over every other ruler on earth.

By recalling the contribution of Jesus, the Book of Revelation invites Christians to follow his example. Jesus was not spineless. He stood up to the people who had authority to put him death. He showed us how to behave when people tempt us to compromise our beliefs and morals.

As the firstborn from the dead, Jesus gives us hope in the midst of persecution. If we are afraid to speak up for what we know to be the truth, we remember Jesus, who has already risen from the dead, and whose resurrection promises ours as well. Knowing that there is something beyond this life will make us fearless to speak up, even if it puts our life in danger. What does it matter? If Jesus can rise from the dead, so can we.

As ruler of the kings of the earth, Jesus helps us defy any misdirected authority. If any ruler seems corrupt, we need only remember that rulers must answer to the one who rules them all - Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, and the firstborn from the dead.

This powerful Jesus needlessly and generously loves us. He shed his own blood to free us from our sins. He did all this to give us hope.

In loving us, Jesus has made us into a kingdom of priests who serve God. We share the royal blood of Jesus, and we share his priestly mission. He has established us as his own people, and he has charged us to worship God.

This passage from Revelation concludes with two images, one of Jesus and the other of his Father. Jesus will come amid clouds. Every eye will see him, including those who put him to death. His enemies will lament the day of his coming. As to the Father, "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God. The first person of the Trinity speaks only twice in the Book of Revelation: at the beginning and the end. The Father says little, yet says it all.

From the titles of Jesus to the voice of the Father - we hear these words of hope next Sunday. God is the beginning and the end. Jesus is the ruler of all. And Christians are loved. We have no excuse to be spineless. Whenever we confront those who would make us silent, we have the complete support of God.

Father Paul Turner is the pastor of St. Munchin Parish in Cameron.

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