“Suffering to Show the Savior”
“Suffering to Show the Savior”
Acts 7:55-60
Acts 7:55-60
As you know, there has been an epidemic of school shootings in our land, and I think many of you can recall the one that occurred in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania back in 2006. But perhaps you may not remember some of the details that set it apart. It was an October day when a gunman took hostages in a one-room school house of an Amish community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. After shooting ten victims ages 7 to 13, five of whom died, he killed himself. Then, unexpectedly, within hours after the suicide-murders, members of the Amish community visited the killer’s parents and expressed sympathy for their loss and offered support for the hard days ahead. Then, when the gunman was buried a few days later, his young widow and her three children were amazed to discover that half of those attending the funeral were Amish who shared nothing but support and concern for the murderer’s family. The forgiveness, love, and peace manifested by the Amish community toward the shooter and his family was the talk of the entire country. It was a powerful testimony of God’s grace as through their suffering they showed the Savior. How else but through the grace of God could they respond in such a way? And in doing so they displayed the same love, peace, and forgiveness as Stephen did in our reading from Acts 7.
Talk about grace – Stephen was overflowing with it in spite of the violence perpetuated against him as described in today’s lesson from the book of Acts, and to comprehend it, you need to hear some of the background that led to his murder. The apostles chose him to be one of the seven deacons to help in the ministry of the early church, which was growing by the thousands. Soon he began to do great wonders and signs among the people, and this provoked antagonism from jealous enemies who falsely accused him of blasphemy. They marched him before the Sanhedrin — the Jewish Supreme Court and demanded that he defend himself – and did he ever! But even before he opened his mouth everyone in the high council stared as his face shined like that of an angel.
It's hard to rightly imagine the scene, and Stephen’s sermon of 53 verses. It was a selective history of God’s people going way back to father Abraham. At first glance, Stephen’s words seemed rambling, but he had an ulterior motive. He had to first draw his opponents in, so he appealed to their pride of a shared heritage of great personalities of sacred history that every Hebrew admired and wanted to emulate. However, he was doing that, Stephen began to weave in how Joseph was hated by his brothers and sold into slavery, how Moses was rejected and faced stubborn rebellion during the forty years in the wilderness. Then, just prior to our text, Stephen turned the tables by switching from talking about “our” history to “you.” “Your ancestors have committed idolatry, killed the prophets who shared with you God’s loving overtures, and now you, in the present have kept up the family tradition – traitors and murderers all of you. You even killed Christ the Righteous One.”
In saying this, Stephen might as well have told the Confederates that “Dixie” was a Yankee saloon song. It was a direct challenge to their cultural superiority. They saw themselves as pious men of God and all the pent-up rage from previous confrontations with the Christ followers burst forth. The force in the Greek is that they wailed in erratic wild jeering. Stephen had hit a raw nerve and they were cut to the heart, gnashing their teeth. They are filled with rage while we hear in our lesson that Stephen is filled with the Holy Spirit. His face is radiant, he’s resolute, at peace and even possesses joy though death is coming. Why? Because he never took his face off Christ.
And this is where it really hit the fan. As Stephen looks up to heaven, he sees the glory of God and shares with them his vision: “Look”, he said, “I see heaven open and Jesus, the Son of Man, standing at the right hand of God.” That’s when the pent-up rage of the Sanhedrin could be contained no longer. To say that Jesus, the blasphemer they crucified, was at God’s Right Hand of power, caused them to cover their ears, scream, and as a mob rush in on Stephen and drag him out of the city because they couldn’t shed blood on the temple precincts. Then began one of the most painful and prolonged methods of execution imaginable. There was no escape from the hurling stones. A blow to the head causing a concussion would be merciful but often slow in coming. The one who many say was the main instigator was Saul of Tarsus, and just before the death blow the Pharisee heard the name he had grown to hate so passionately. “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord do not hold this sin against them.”
That’s the brunt of today’s lesson, and to our way of thinking, this gifted man died prematurely. What was the Lord doing? How could He allow this to happen to one so faithful? Why didn’t He stop it? Why snuff out so bright a flame? Haven’t we all asked these questions about tragedies? However, those questions can be answered only by reflection on history. After Stephen’s death, there was no longer any chance of Judaism and the Christian faith being united. Didn’t it fulfill Jesus words:
“Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins.
If they do the skins will burst… No, they pour
wine into new wineskins.”
In effect, Stephen’s death caused the bursting out of the new wine of the Christian faith. The Christians were forced out of Jerusalem and they took their faith with them. The worldwide movement had now begun and Stephen was the catalyst for bringing about the clear break. Soon Phillip and Peter would make their missionary tours, and there would be the founding of the church at Antioch which would spawn the planting of churches throughout the cities of the Mediterranean. Yet, there’s one more by-product of Stephen’s martyrdom. It’s the impact it had on a young man named Saul in our lesson. Saul saw Stephen on trial for his life, not fearful but radiant, the face of an angel. Under the hail of stones, Saul heard Stephen ask Jesus to forgive his murderers. Then later when on his way to destroy the church at Damascus, Saul met the risen Christ who said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard to kick against the goads.” Do you remember that? Goads were sharp sticks to move animals in the right direction, and Jesus was indicating that although Saul was angrily opposed to Christianity, but there was something inside that was pushing him unwillingly toward its truth. Many believe it was the joy, peace, and lack of bitterness that Stephen displayed while dying. How could he have been so calm – so sure he was right? How could he forgive people even as they were killing him? The way that Stephen bore up under suffering like a goad, stuck in Soul’s soul, and played a big part in his conversion.
But now for us, what is to be our big takeaway from this lesson? Suffering to show the Savior – sacrificial love being manifested in the midst of affliction – like that of Jesus the Good Shepherd laying down His life for the sheep. That was the powerful witness of Stephen, and I began this morning by highlighting this same love, forgiveness, and peace among the Amish community. It was a powerful testimony to the truth of their faith and the reality of God’s grace and glory. Yet, is this where we are– like the Amish to dispense forgiveness without bitterness toward God and the shooter? And, frankly, we’re not. That was the conclusion of a group of sociologists who published a book, Amish Grace, four years after the shooting. They argued that Amish ability to forgive was grounded in their deep reflection and meditation on Christ forgiving his tormentors and killers. It’s the heart of their faith that they rehearse and sing it out constantly – so that forgiving even the murderer of their children was not impossible. And, secondly, the authors said that our culture teaches self-assertion – insisting that your freedom, interests, and needs come first and that nourishes revenge in response to suffering.
So, it’s hard for us as a society to have a spirit of the Amish, but as individuals we are enabled through the work of the Holy Spirit to manifest a suffering love that goes the extra mile. I think of some good friends, Pete and Kris. Pete’s brother, Maurice, went the wrong way and was estranged from God. For years Pete had been praying and been supportive of him and just recently when Maurice needed major surgery in Seattle, Pete and Kris drove out and stayed with him three weeks through various procedures – and it led in bring him back to the faith.
Suffering to show the Savior. That’s what we witnessed in the life and death of Stephen, and when it comes to persecution and suffering isn’t it coming closer to home? You’d hear about it in other places of the world but now more believers are being taken to court, crises pregnancy centers burnt down, and now those who lost loved ones at the school shootings in Nashville. Increasingly the way of the cross and the Kingdom is cutting across the will of humanity. And the response of people is either repentance and faith or rejection and persecution. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom.” How can we be free of persecution in our pluralistic culture when we affirm that in Christ alone, we are truly related to God?
Of course, in the U.S. there is little chance we’re going to be gored by a bull in the arena as the early Christians were who lived the truth of God and suffered for it. Maybe for us, opposition to our beliefs will entail getting a mean Facebook comment, not receiving an invitation to a party, or being called intolerant, bigoted, or close minded. Some will experience it more deeply by being excluded from opportunities, feeling ostracized at their jobs, or even losing their livelihoods. But it’s so important to realize that we are called to be faithful and trust that our suffering works to show the Savior. It’s been said that in America we tend to beg people to follow Christ. We even make it as easy as possible. We don’t offend, but Jesus didn’t mince words. He talked about picking up the cross. He knew that becoming a Christian involved suffering. May we practice faithfulness moreso in our lives – not hiding our faith on social media for fear of backlash – not giving into pressure at the workplace – not being afraid to share the Gospel with unbelieving friends because of assumptions that make it about you. It’s the way of the witness and in the Bible the word is martyr. It’s the way of Stephen and it’s about the Spirit’s work to increase the love factor in our lives. Indeed, isn’t it the big issue in our lives, that of fear? How do you overcome it? The Scripture is clear: “Perfect love casts out fear.” So, it’s not fearing less but loving more. Walking down the street you’re not going to just march into somebody’s house. But if you see the smoke, there’s a fire and someone needs help, you’re going to barge in. And isn’t that what Stephen did? He saw his accusers as a house of fire with hate, and in love he stepped in, speaking truth, desperately seeking to save them. May we, by God’s Spirit and grace seek to more aspire to such love as we focus, like Stephen, on the One who first loved us saying, “Greater love has no man than his than He lay down His life for His friends – and His enemies.”