“Men are wont to die, O Lord, from old age, the failure of natural warmth and excess of cold; but thus, if it be Thy will, Thy servant would not wish to die; he would prefer to die in the glow of love, even as Thou was willing to die for him.”
On August 14, 1314, Lull crossed over once again to Bugia. For nearly a year he worked secretly with a small group of converts. Lull continued to argue, “If Moslems according to their law affirm that God loved man because He created him, endowed him with noble faculties, and pours His benefits upon him, then the Christians according to their law affirm the same. But inasmuch as the Christians believe more than this, and affirm that God so loved man that He was willing to become man, to endure poverty, ignominy, torture, and death for his sake, which the Jews and Saracens do not teach concerning Him; therefore is the religion of the Christians, which thus reveals a Love beyond all other love, superior to that of those which reveals it only in an inferior degree.”
He boldly stood for the faith in spite of the strong opposition as Zwemer records in his biography, “His weapon was the argument of God’s love in Christ.”
Finally, on June 30, 1315, Raymund Lull could no longer allow himself work in secret. With a zeal to lay down his life for the sake of Christ he stood up in an open market and pleaded with the people. Before he made the decision to once again go public with his message Lull stated, “As a hungry man makes dispatch and takes large morsels on account of his great hunger, so Thy servant feels a great desire to die that he may glorify Thee. He hurries day and night to complete his work in order that he may give up his blood and tears to be shed for Thee.”
Enraged at the message brought forth by this messenger of love, the Muslims of northern Africa drug the 80 year old man into the street and, like Stephen, stoned him to death.
In an age of hatred and war, Raymund Lull chose to love the very ones who sought to take his life even until the end when he was finally welcomed home into heaven as a faithful servant. It was not wealth or fame that inspired him but rather the Love of Christ which constrained him to lay down his life for a people who utterly despised and rejected him.
May we as followers of Jesus recognize as Lull did that a life consumed with love and laid down in sacrifice for our Lord is never a life wasted. It is the ultimate act of love and our privilege as the children of God.
This overview of the life and ministry of Raymund Lull came from notes I took on the book written by Samuel M. Zwemer. If you are interested in buying a copy of the book just click on this link.
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