It's What We Do Today

William Briconnet, Bishop of Meaux, was sent to Rome as the representative for Francis I, king of France. While there were many cathedrals, religious processions, and prayers, there was also much luxury, irreverence, and violence. On his return to France, the bishop pondered what he had seen, and found that he was dissatisfied with what the Church had to offer his soul. Professor and Bible translator Jacques Lefevre was a long-time friend of Briconnet's, and it was to him that the bishop expressed his desire for something more. His friend presented him with a Bible, and as he read he cried, "The more I read, the more I long to fill my soul with its inexhaustible sweetness!" The Scriptures wrought change in the Bishop of Meaux. He rebuked the clergy who squandered money on evil pastimes, and he banned the monks from telling coarse jokes as an excuse to take up an offering. Briconnet also visited all the congregations in the area and inquired whether the priests were faithful. If the answer was no, they were replaced with someone who was. It was not easy to find such men, so he established a seminary to train pastors. At the same time, the bishop was not above preaching in the pulpit himself!

Neither did the royalty of France escape the influence of his conversion. Francis I and his sister Margaret were his friends, and he sought to share the joy he had discovered with them. As he heard the bishop speak, the king was aware of something of what the gospel could do for his countrymen; but for whatever reason, he cast his lot on the side of Rome in the end. Margaret, however, found Jesus to be the Friend she had searched for, the One who could dispel the heaviness in her heart.

Afterwards, Briconnet continued to labor to bring others to the Saviour, and as Lefevre and others joined him in Meaux, the place became renowned throughout the country for its spirituality. If one was inclined to Protestantism, it was said that he had "drunk at the well of Meaux." Sooner or later, persecution began, as always happens when the Bible gains a strong foothold. Then the bishop was faced with an ultimatum: either recant or burn at the stake. Sadly, he chose the former, and never looked back.

The bishop wasn't the only one to fall. Another was Pavane, a gentle youth who possessed great love for GOD, and who worked to help his friends find Him. "The virgin Mary can no more save you than I can.There is but one Saviour, Jesus Christ," he explained to them. It was this statement that led to his arrest. He was commanded to publicly renounce his statement, and if he refused, he was to suffer the same fate that Briconnet would have.

Like the bishop, Pavane shrank from being a martyr, and agreed to their demand. Christmas Eve, 1524, found the lad walking barefooted and bareheaded through the streets, with a rope around his neck and a candle in his hand, to the cathedral of Notre Dame. Once there, he asked forgiveness of Mary for having spoken against her. Afterwards, Pavane was brought back to his dungeon; but he was now in a darker place than that cell. He couldn't remember the comforting Scriptures he had read, and he couldn't alleviate the tremendous trouble that now afflicted his soul.

In contrast to Briconnet, the youth decided, "I would rather go a hundred times to the stake, than to drink this bitter cup!" With tears, he confessed his sin to GOD, and resolved to forsake it. Stake or no stake, he would be faithful to his Saviour. His end came quickly, but he faced it courageously, happy that nothing could take him from Jesus now. It appears that Pavane was able to witness for Him before the flames extinguished his life, for a doctor from the Sorbonne later commented to his associates that "It would have been better for the Church to pay millions in gold than to allow that young man to speak."

We are not to be concerned in regards to having the strength to be a martyr unless we are in that situation. GOD only gives us enough grace for the day (2 Corinthians 12:9). However, we need to realize that it is what we do each day that determines what we will do in the future. Our Saviour bid us "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak" (Matthew 26:41). Somewhere along the way, the bishop and the boy were lax in this matter, and so paved the way for their denials. If we too fail to always follow this command, we begin to walk the road that will, in the end, lead us to follow the sad examples of the men we read about--and we may not be able to escape as Pavane did. After all, it's what we do today that determines what we will do tomorrow.

Blessings,
Jean

Note: See J.A. Wylie's The History of Protestantism for the accounts of these men.