June 5. Winfred Boniface. Boniface was a pastor in charge of a parish and other pastors. That’s why he was called a bishop.
About 250 years before Boniface, a group of ferocious pagans conquered the western part of the Roman Empire—equal to today’s France, Belgium, and West Germany.
They were named Franks after the Germanic/Norse word for the javelin, the Franks’ favorite weapon, along with the throwing ax.
These were not people you would want to mess with. These were the kind of people Boniface had to face in today’s story.
Idolatry can enslave, but God can set the people free.
With satisfaction, Bishop Boniface surveyed the crowd and leaned down to sharpen his ax. The noise of the iron blade against the grinding stones drew attention, and he hid a smile as more people joined the onlookers.
He had made a public announcement yesterday, sure to draw a crowd today, and the grating sound was the perfect reminder of his plan. Today he would destroy the Oak of Thor.
The Oak of Thor was huge, and the pagans danced around it and worshiped one idol or another—a ceremony that sometimes involved sacrifices of plants or dogs or cats or the next-door pagan.
Boniface stood and gazed at the men who had gathered. Some looked simply curious, but many stared back with hardened expressions, as if they were daring Boniface to cut the tree down. One man glared and spat on the ground.
But Boniface reminded himself of the Word of the Lord to Joshua: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 NIV).
Some ancient fear held these people captive, and Boniface intended to slice through that fear. Many of the people in this Germanic tribe were afraid to convert to Christianity. Their superstitions bound them to incantations, divinations, and sacrifices of grains and vegetables and animals—and sometimes even children.
When Boniface said his God—Jesus—was good, the people believed him well enough. But they were afraid and they reasoned: what good was a God’s love, if in worshiping Him you called down another god’s wrath? Even many of the ones who had chosen faith in Christ couldn’t overcome their fear of the so-called gods, and they sneaked out under cover of night to offer sacrifices before the great oak.
Boniface had to set them free.
He carefully ran his finger across the ax. It was ready, and so was he. A tree could not be allowed to hold a village captive.
Boniface strode into the faux-sacred grove, and as more people arrived, the agitated crowd grew. Around Boniface the excited whispers of the Hessians swirled. They said things like: “He’ll be struck dead the minute he raises that ax of his.… Stop him! He brings the wrath of the gods upon us!… Thor will strike him with lightening! …Leave him be. …The foreigner wields the ax, not you and me. We’ll see if the God of Boniface is as strong as he claims.”
Boniface didn’t doubt the strength of God, and he didn’t fear Thor, but with the mounting emotion of the crowd, he would be glad when this was over. When he stopped in front of the huge oak, he prayed for the strength to bring the tree down. He raised his ax.
The murmuring hushed. An unnatural silence filled the woods. With one last prayer for God’s help, Boniface brought the ax down hard.
Suddenly a blast of wind struck the upper branches of the great tree. People screeched, and the tree popped and crackled, and smaller branches from the top rained down upon him and the surrounding crowd. Boniface covered his face with his arms.
Then, before Boniface could swing again, with a great groan, the oak crashed to the ground.
When the dust settled, the tree lay broken into four large chunks of about equal size. Boniface was shocked. He and most of the people rushed in for a closer look.
The inside of the tree was rotten.
Boniface addressed the stunned crowd. He offered the truth that would set them free from the lies that had kept them enslaved to fear and superstition. This time they listened—and believed.
What bold step can you take to help someone you care about get free from a lie? Idolatry can enslave, but God can set the people free.
DC Talk. Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries. Bethany House Publishers, 2014.
Lansing, Marion Florence, M.A. Mediaeval Builders of the Modern World: Barbarian and Noblehttp://www.gatewaytotheclassics.com/browse/spacer.gif. Ginn and Company, 1911 https://archive.org/details/barbariannoble00lansrich
Talbot, C. H. The Anglo-Saxon Missionaries in Germany, Being the Lives of SS. Willibrord, Boniface, Leoba and Lebuin together with the Hodoepericon of St. Willibald and a selection from the correspondence of St. Boniface. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1954.