The old film Martin Luther shows him on his way to a debate in Leipzig. A caricature of Luther appears on a door with the message “Death to the Saxon Hus.” When I saw the film for the first time, that message was a puzzle. Who was Hus? Many Lutherans today would ask the same question.

Jan Hus (1370-1415) was a Bohemian priest and theologian. He denounced the moral failing of clergy including the pope, preached against indulgences and crusades. He was summoned to a Church Council at Constance in 1414. Although he had been given a safe conduct, he was arrested and charged with heresy. Like Luther a century later, Hus demanded that he be shown his errors from Scripture. He was condemned to death and burned at the stake on July 6, 1415. It has been said that before his death he declared: “you may kill a weak goose (in Czech Hus means goose), but more powerful birds, eagles and falcons, will come after me.”  The spiritual descendants of Jan Hus are the modern day Moravian church, the first denomination with which our ELCA declared full communion.

It bothers me to read stories of martyrs where the agents of the church are the persons responsible for putting the martyr to death. I hope we are inspired by saints like Jan Hus who stood up for their beliefs, but I  also hope we are warned  not to regard others as less Christian because their views differ from ours. Diversity is a blessing, not a threat.

Read Ephesians 1:17-18 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne