Loading...Today I’m going to tell you a story. Alexander of children’s book fame, would call it a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad story. But maybe it’s not so bad because we can learn some lessons from it.
The story takes place soon after Jesus’ ascension. All the disciples of Christ were still following Jewish traditions at the temple. They spread the good news and helped the poor, but worshiped just like all other Jews.
In the Book of Acts, we read that it didn’t take long for conflict to arise among the new followers of Christ. One of the first issues came from the Greeks who felt that the Hebrew widows were receiving preferential treatment and were beginning to complain.
The twelve Apostles were trying to deal with the early conflicts as well as all of the duties that Jesus had commissioned them to do: preaching, teaching, spreading the Word of God, taking care of the poor, widowed, orphaned, and prisoners. They were feeling overwhelmed and needed some help.
They selected seven men to ordain. These men then would take on the tasks of serving and caring for the poor and needy allowing the original twelve to devote their time to teaching and proclaiming the word. Steven is the first of the seven to be mentioned by name. Thus Steven is considered to be the first Deacon. A Deacon is one whose primary function is to serve.
Stephen is described as one who was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. He not only served the poor, he was a gifted speaker also. He was so good at preaching and telling about Jesus that the Jewish leaders were threatened by him. They could not argue with his wisdom and spirit. They began to plot to have him killed. They made up accusations against him and falsely accused him of blasphemy and took him to court.
In court, Stephen stood up and made a long speech in his own defense. He told the story that the Jewish people loved to hear, their own Jewish history. He started with Abraham and went on to Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and the other Old Testament heroes. He included the history of the disobedience of the Jewish people.
At some point Steven could probably tell that he was getting nowhere in disarming their anger. He knew he could not avoid death. Steven, trusting Jesus, was not afraid. He changed the tone of his speech and went from re-telling the history of the nation to calling his accusers “stiff-necked people”, meaning they were stubborn. He said that they had uncircumcised hearts and ears. He accused them of opposing the Holy Spirit just as their ancestors had done. Now his accusers were really angry.
At this point Steven looked up into the heavens and was given the gift of a vision. He saw Jesus standing at God’s right hand. He told the people of the court what he has just seen, but they covered their ears and would not listen.
We need to realize here that these accusers, although they did wrong, were not evil people. As Jewish leaders it was their responsibility to ensure that people obeyed Jewish law and acted reverently with regard to God. They believed that no man could see the face of God and what Steven had just told them about his vision was truly blasphemy to them.
They dragged Steven out of the court and started stoning him. As he was dying Steven called out asking Jesus to receive his spirit. His final words were, “ Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Steven died becoming the first Christian martyr.
Remember I said that this was not a good story. It’s a story of a murder. It’s the story of closed minds, of lies, jealousy, hatred and violence. This is a story that is still being repeated today — closed minds, lies, jealousy, hatred, and violence. We saw it again just two days ago with another mass shooting leaving 13 dead.
We can live better than this.
What can we learn from this story is that can help us live better than this.
Steven did not fear death because he knew where he was going. He knew who was by his side. We too can know who is with us. In our Gospel reading today from John we read that Jesus prayed for his disciples, and then he said. "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word.”
Did you hear that? Did you hear that in addition to praying for his disciples Jesus, looking into the future, also prayed for all those who WILL believe in him. Jesus was praying for us. Just hours before he was taken to his death, he was thinking about us and prayed that we all will be one with him. Jesus is always thinking about us and continues to pray for us. He knew that Steven was about to meet a violent death and gave him a gift of a vision. Steven knew that Jesus was with him and did not fear his own death. The story of Steven helps us now to remember the power of belief and that Jesus is always thinking about us.
Stephen didn’t respond with lies or hatred or violence as he was being murdered. He didn’t return hate for hate. Instead, he was concerned about those who were killing him and knew that their lost souls were important to God. He asked God to forgive his murderers. Its the same thing that Jesus asked of God while they were crucifying Him. Steven’s story reminds us that God is about forgiveness. God forgives all of our sins and asks that we forgive one another even our enemies.
For the third lesson, we have to go back to the passage we read from Acts. There is one sentence that is almost lost in the story, which at first doesn’t even seem to fit. Luke is talking about the Jewish leaders’ reaction to Steven’s vision. He writes’ “At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. (now here’s the sentence) Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.” Then Luke returns to telling us about Steven’s stoning.
Saul was a witness to Steven’s murder. Saul, who later became a persecutor himself, did his best to rid the world of Christians. The same Saul, who later becomes known as Paul. The same Saul, who now is known as Paul, stopped being a person of hatred, violence and murder and became a believer and supporter of Christ. It is the same Paul who wrote most of the New Testament.
Paul, not only witnessed the violence against Steven, he also witnessed Steven’s forgiveness. I believe that the way Stephen responded to the people who were killing him did have an effect on Paul — many years later.
Steven’s story teaches us that we never know who may be watching us. The way we handle difficult times in our life can have an impact on others. Our behavior can lead others to Christ. It reminds me of the saying, “Always preach the Gospel and, when necessary, use words.”
Steven’s story shows us how we can live better without the hatred and violence, without the lies and jealousy. Stephen shows us how the love of Christ can work in our lives. The Love of Christ: The power of believing, forgiving and by reflecting the love of Christ in every aspect of our lives. The Love of Christ: So that we might be witnesses of that love to those who need to hear the story of the Good News of Christ. AMEN.
