Henry Martyn was a man who
literally burned out for God in a short lifespan of thirty-one years. He only
spent six years on the mission field in India, but he served with an intensity
that accomplished more than many who live the allotted threescore years and
ten.
As a young man, Henry turned
his back on a very promising academic career to become a preacher of the
Gospel. Many of his peers thought it a waste of talent and tried to dissuade
him from missionary service; but once he had put his hand to the plow, there
was no turning back.
Before he set sail for
India, Henry had to make a sacrifice. Like most young men, he was not immune to
cupid’s bow. He was smitten by Lydia Grenfill, a young lady six years his
senior, whose home was not far from his in the south of England. Martyn
proposed to her, but she turned him down because she did not want to leave
England for the mission field. As you might imagine, Henry was heartbroken. However,
Henry did not allow his love for Lydia to keep him from the work to which God
had called him. On the eve of his departure from England, Martyn said, he had
to let go of Lydia for the sake of his calling and smash his “beloved idol.”
During his time in India the
longing of his heart for Lydia is apparent throughout his journals. He wrote, “Lydia
is a snare to me. My heart is still entangled with this idolatrous affection
and consequently unhappy.” Undaunted, Henry Martyn continued his ministry, working
incessantly on translating the NT into Hindustani, Persian and Urdu. Henry
worked long hours and suffered from the heat and tropical diseases. His health
began to fail in 1808; but he said, “While there is work which we need to do,
we shall live.” A year later he was devastated by the news that his sister
Sally had died of tuberculosis, a disease which now ravaged him as well. By
1812 he completed his translations of the New Testament and in October he
passed. Interestingly, Lydia, his “beloved idol” died of cancer in 1829—an
unmarried, lonely, unhappy, and confused spinster of 54.
As I thought about Henry
Martyn’s life I was struck by the sacrifice he was willing to make. He chose
the call of Christ over a life with Lydia. That takes guts. But God will be a debtor
to no man. Remember what Jesus said in Mark 10:29-30, “Truly, I say to you,
there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father
or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a
hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and
children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Notice the “hundredfold” guarantee
in that passage. The Gospel is a radical call to let go of earthly things—relationships,
plans, wealth, position—so that God can place in our hands something of greater
value. Martyn made a smart trade, but not an easy trade. Because of his
sacrifice think of the untold number of souls who came to salvation by his
translations of the NT. On the other hand, think of Lydia’s loss. Think of all
she could have accomplished alongside Henry Martyn had she shared his vision
and passion for the Gospel. In the end, she died empty-handed and forfeited the
chance at an amazing marriage and ministry.
The application for us is the
same. What must we sacrifice in order to follow Christ? It may not be easy to
let go of our “beloved idols” but Christ promises to bless that obedience
one-hundred times over. However, if we hold back or hold on to earthly things,
then we will trade the eternal for the temporal. We will lose the greater
reward for something of lesser value. -DM
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