This Unworthy Right Hand

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” — 1 John 1:9 (KJV)

Not every story in Foxe’s book is about someone who stood firm from start to finish. One of the most powerful is about a man who failed badly, and then found his courage again.

Thomas Cranmer had been Archbishop of Canterbury, the most senior church leader in England. He had written much of the Church of England’s prayer book, and he was one of the chief leaders of the Reformation in England. When Mary became queen, he was arrested and imprisoned in Oxford. While he was there, Ridley and Latimer were burned.

Cranmer was older and frightened. His enemies knew it. They kept him in prison for a long time, and then offered him his life and his old position back if he would sign a statement denying what he had taught. Foxe describes how they did it step by step: the first paper was vague, and once he signed that, they brought another, and another, until finally he had signed a full rejection of everything he had stood for.

It was a terrible fall. And it didn’t even save him. They had already decided he would die.

On the day of his execution, he was brought into a church in Oxford to read out his denial in public. Everyone expected him to confirm it. Instead, he wept and prayed, and then he told the stunned crowd that the thing that troubled his conscience most was “the setting abroad of a writing contrary to the truth,” all those papers he had signed “for fear of death, and to save my life.” He took it all back. And then he said:

“And forasmuch as my hand hath offended, writing contrary to my heart, therefore my hand shall first be punished; for when I come to the fire it shall first be burned.”

And that is what he did. When the fire was lit, Foxe says, he held out his right hand into the flames first, “frequently exclaiming, ‘This unworthy right hand.’” Then, with the words of Stephen, the first martyr, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” he died.

This story is for anyone who has failed. Maybe you gave in to pressure. Maybe you denied knowing Jesus, or went along with something you knew was wrong. Cranmer’s story says: it is not too late. He failed badly, and at the end, he turned back.

Remember Peter, who denied Jesus three times and was forgiven and restored. God forgives those who come back to him. If you have failed, don’t hide it and don’t give up. Confess it, turn back, and stand again.

One thing to do this week: if there is a time you gave in to pressure and went against what you believe, bring it to God this week. Confess it honestly, receive his forgiveness, and ask him for courage next time. If it is right to put something right with a person, do it.