The Luck of the Irish?

Do you ever ask yourself the really difficult questions? You know, those deep philosophical queries that take you all the way to the core of the meaning of life? Questions like: Why does everybody wear green on St. Patrick’s Day? And why do I get pinched if I don’t? And why are the Irish so lucky, anyway? Well, this little article may not fully answer those questions. But I can say this: there is no such thing as luck! God is orchestrating everything in this universe—from the orbit of the planets (Isaiah 40.22)1 the exact time when a sparrow falls out of a tree dead (Matthew 10.29). He controls it all! And the story of St. Patrick is an example of this truth—a great illustration of God’s loving hand designing our days for good…

Contrary to our childhood imaginations, Patrick of Ireland was not a quirky little Irishman who went around pinching people and searching for four-leafed clovers! It is also highly unlikely that he wore a funny green suit. In fact, Patrick wasn’t even Irish! So who was this man who has a holiday named for him?

Patrick was a modestly educated boy who lived in 4th century Britain. Though his father was a deacon, and his grandfather a pastor in the local church, Patrick was unimpressed with Christianity, unconcerned with eternity, and unacquainted with Jesus Christ. That is, until he was sixteen. At age sixteen, Patrick was captured by pirates and ferried across the Irish Sea to become a slave of those ‘barbarian’ people called the Celts—the Irish. For six years Patrick served as an enslaved farm-hand.

But there on the Irish hillsides, alone and desperate, he began to call out to the living Christ whom his grandfather had faithfully preached. There, in the midst of harsh slavery in a pagan land, Patrick became a committed follower of Christ! Gone were the trappings of mere outward religion; and in their place came a genuine trust in the life and death of the historical Jesus.

Isn’t that a wonderful illustration of how God works all things—even the lowest moments of suffering—together for good to those who love Him and are called for His purposes (Rom 8.28)? Patrick would later say that God graciously planned his slavery to get him converted! That is a radical, but thoroughly biblical, thought! And God’s goodness did not end there…

At age twenty-two, after six years of slavery, Patrick escaped and was eventually reunited with his family in Britain. It must have been a glorious reunion. His parents thought sure that neither they nor their son would ever have to think of the pagan, unchristian Irishmen again. But God made them think again! Patrick began to sense that God was summoning him to return to the land of his captivity. This time, not as a slave of the Irish, but as a slave of Jesus Christ—a missionary!

And that is exactly what Patrick did. He went and gave himself to the people who had so demeaned and abused him, and laid out his life in missionary labors among them—just like his Lord had done three hundred years before! Within decades, under Patrick’s preaching, Ireland became an island that glowed for Jesus! The hillsides were dotted with loving, Christ-exalting churches!

To this day, thousands of Irish believers owe their existence to God’s grace in sending them such a man. Talk about ‘the luck of the Irish’!

But what did this ancient saint teach? What message did Patrick bring to Ireland? And has it any relevance for today? Here is a brief summary of the message Patrick preached to the people of Ireland:2

· There is one living and true God (Isaiah 45.5), who reveals Himself in the persons of the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.
· Men and women everywhere are “slaves to sin” (John 8.34)—knowing what we ought to do and so often failing to do so; knowing that there is a God (who made us, owns us, and loves us), and yet failing to honor and obey Him as we should.
· We—because we refuse to recognize and obey our Maker—are “worthy of death” (Romans 1.32).
· Yet, Jesus Christ “laid down his life for us” on the cross (1 John 3.16)—taking the death penalty that we deserve, so that we might be rescued from it ourselves.
· If we “believe with all our heart” in Jesus (Acts 8.27), we may be forgiven of our sins and granted eternal life with Jesus.

That is, if we stop running from God; stop hiding from God; stop ignoring God; stop defying God…and truly turn to Jesus—God will forgive all our running, hiding, ignoring, and defying! And (for us religious types) if we would stop trying to earn our way back to God with all our religious activity (penance, mass, confession, good works, etc.)…and simply trust that, through his sinless life and sacrificial death, Jesus Christ has earned our way back to God for us—then God will forgive our sins, too!

All of that amounts to really good news! The apostle Paul says it like this in Romans 6.23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” This is the good news Patrick preached to the Irish in the fourth century AD. This is the good news that Jesus the apostles preached in the 1st century. And this is the same good news that will rescue 21st century men and women, too!

So let me ask you: Have you recognized your Maker? Have you realized that “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God” (Isaiah 59.2)? And have you decided to place your eternal hope squarely into the nail-scarred hands of Jesus? And if not, would you do so today? For “whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3.16)!

1. All Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible.
2. These points (along with the corresponding Scripture references) are drawn from The Confession of St. Patrick. Translated by John Skinner. (New York, NY: Image Books, 1998).