In the magazine business, there is an inexorable law that says that you will sell more copies of an issue if you convince people that they can do more things or do multiple things more effectively. That’s why you always see lots of cover lines like: “100 Ways to Make Your Green Thumb Glow” or “50 Great Ways to Surprise the One You Really Care About.” In fact, the book business also has its share of “How To” successes. Just think how many times variations of the title, “How to Make a Million Dollars in the Stock Market” or “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Rich” have sold a bunch. In fact, you’ve probably wondered, as have I, why anyone who had gotten wealthy via the stock market would bother writing a book.
In spite of the success of “How to” books and articles, though, I suspect that today’s text would be hard to package. “An Early Christian’s Guide on Getting Oneself Killed” just doesn’t sound like a big seller. Yet, martyrdom is such an extreme statement of one’s most fervent convictions that it has played a vital part in Christianity from the beginning. Of course, the mere fact of martyrdom doesn’t guarantee the correctness of one’s convictions—merely how firmly held they are. I’m sure the 9/11 terrorists felt like their martyrdom would show us decadent capitalists how corrupt we are. But to me, it shows how dangerous and demonic their faith can be. I’m sure the Buddhist monks who immolated themselves by pouring gasoline over themselves and lighting the fire during the ‘60s thought they were indicating the rightness of their cause. I’m sure the suicidal followers of Jim Jones and David Koresh felt their cause was just and that God would smile on them. And my heart certainly went out to the poor misguided souls in the ‘90s who thought they could hitchhike onto the so-called “mothership” by committing suicide were demonstrating the dangers of our materialistic society.
Napoleon Bonaparte is quoted as having said, “It is the cause, not the death, which makes the martyr.” So, I ask you, what is the difference between the martyrdom in the early church and these would-be martyrs to false causes? First of all, the early Christians were not deliberately seeking their deaths. They merely stood for what was right and expected God to do one of two things to vindicate them—protect them with the power of His Holy Spirit or welcome them into their eternal home. In a moment, I’m going to read a portion of our text, but I don’t want you to misunderstand me. I’m not asking you to seek out unnecessary confrontations. I’m not telling you to test God by putting yourself at tremendous risk to see if He’ll save you. To test God in that fashion would be like Jesus giving in to Satan’s temptation when the devil quoted scripture to suggest that if Jesus threw Himself down from the heights, God wouldn’t let Him fall. Jesus responded that it wasn’t right to test God in that way.
Let’s see what the Bible says. (Read Acts 6:8-15) Was Stephen looking for trouble? No. Because he was full of grace—gifts that God had given Him—and power—the ability to accomplish great things that we know from earlier in the book is the dynamic of the Holy Spirit, Stephen was accomplishing marvelous wonders that pointed toward God’s power—that’s what great signs means in verse 8. And he wasn’t merely putting on a magic show. He wasn’t on stage doing illusions to amuse the people. He was doing these great wonders and meaningful signs of God’s power in the midst of the people. In other words, he wasn’t seeking an occasion. He was ministering miraculously to the people much like his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ had done and like the apostles were doing. A real martyr doesn’t seek his/her death. An unsought death is the ultimate result of opposition to God and God’s work.
For Stephen, the opposition came about as a direct result of his ministry—the very fact that he was accomplishing God’s will and testifying to God’s purpose and presence. Verse 10 tells us that some of the leaders of the synagogues couldn’t refute or debate what he had said because Stephen was sharing and demonstrating divine wisdom and giving evidence of the Holy Spirit. It seems like the quickest way to get oneself killed is to get oneself filled. Of course, it isn’t necessarily God’s will that we be killed, but the book of Acts is a continual reminder to us that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are going to incur the wrath of those who do not want to submit to God.
But just because we face opposition doesn’t mean God isn’t behind us—even if it seems like we’re being defeated. Verse 9 tells us some of the hometowns of Stephen’s critics and it might help you see a preview of coming attractions if you note that Cilicia was the territory in what is now Turkey where Paul ‘s (nee’ Saul’s) home of Tarsus was located. And, of course, Saul persecutes the church before he becomes Paul and Saul is complicit in what happens to Stephen.
The other thing to note in these verses is that you don’t have to have done anything wrong in order to have people come down on you like you have. Luke refers to Stephen’s accusers as false witnesses in verse 13 and we know from reading his defensive summation in Chapter 7 that he did not blaspheme Moses or God as they claimed in verse 11. They even misquote Jesus in verse 14, claiming that Jesus said He would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. As we know from John, Jesus said that IF the temple was destroyed (and He was using it as a metaphor for His own body), He would rebuild it in three days.
Another false charge is that Jesus said He would change the customs that Moses had given the people. What had Jesus actually said? He regularly cited the old covenant, but then took people beyond it. He gave expectations greater than the Mosaic law because He could point to the intent of God behind the law. You know, in the modern era we often wish that our Supreme Court could understood the intent of the “founding fathers” better when they interpret the constitution. But Jesus, who was there at the creation of the universe and who was there when as God the Son He agreed with God the Father and God the Spirit on the plan of salvation, could DEFINITIVELY assert the intent behind the old covenant and point us toward the NEW covenant—the same covenant we will celebrate and recommit ourselves to in the Lord’s Supper as we partake of it this morning.
Speaking of which, consider the fact that the more rabid Stephen’s accusers became, the more his face began to glow as though He stood in the presence of God Himself. If we want to be effective, we need the presence of God in our lives. If we want to be calm in the face of false accusations or even unfair accusations salted with a little bit of truth, we need to have the presence of God in our lives. I know that we don’t really want to be killed; we don’t want our lives ended forcibly before we’ve accomplished all we can accomplish, but if we want to impact the people and circumstances around us—right up to the end—we need to follow Stephen’s example and stay in the presence of God.
And how do we do that? I point you right back to verse 8. He was full of grace and power—gift and effectiveness. Imagine, if you will, considering the fuel that runs most of our society, a gasoline station along the metaphorical road of life. It has two large signs that can be seen from all around. One sign says, “Come on in! Your bill is already paid!” That’s grace—something paid before you ever reach the place where you’re ready for it. The other sign says, “Without doubt, the BEST gasoline in the universe!” That’s power, the chemical necessity to make your car burn its cleanest and most efficient and go its fastest. Grace tells us that we don’t deserve God’s presence in our lives, but it is available to us anyway—prepaid. Power tells us that wonders, signs, miracles, effective prayer, and service with an impact is done in God’s terms and with God’s power—not ours!
But of course, modern society would see such a figurative gas station and say, “My bill is already paid? What kind of gimmick is that? What kind of con are they running? It’s too good to be true!” and keep on driving. Modern society would see such a figurative sign and say, “Best in the universe? Who are they kidding? There are a million brands out there!” and keep on driving. Yes, they do. Because they continually reject the free gift of salvation and God’s constant desire to fill His servants with His Holy Spirit Power by thinking that there must be some other way, there must be some way that I can be smart enough, good enough, dedicated enough, disciplined enough, or emotional enough to feel at peace and accomplish great things. They can’t figure out that the only sure way to find peace and the only sure way to make a difference is to let God have complete control of your life.
This morning, as we take time to confess our sins and reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice for us, we will eat a piece of bread and drink a bit of the fruit of the vine, remembering the broken body and shed blood of Jesus. As we do so, we need to ask God to remove anything in our lives that might be keeping Him from working in us completely—a clean vessel full of grace and power. You see, Stephen is an example to us of being ready to pick up our cross and follow Him. It is simply that, as we shall see, Stephen’s crown (his name means “crown”) was a bunch of heavy stones thrown to take his earthly life away.
So, if we are an expert on Jesus and on the things of God—if we are filled to overflowing with God’s grace and power through the Holy Spirit—we will face opposition, perhaps even opposition to death. Yet, even opposition gives us the chance to speak the truth—even when they don’t want to hear it. Let me summarize Stephen’s message from Chapter 7 where he neatly ties together the old covenant that his opposition wanted to cling to so tightly and the new covenant where Jesus lived out the intent of the founding Trinity.
Verses 2-8 – We’re all children of Abraham. God removed him from his old circumstances in Mesopotamia and brought him to the land of promise. Abraham didn’t get the fullness of what God intended for all who believe. He acted in faith and obedience, bringing about the miracle of Isaac’s birth and the institution of circumcision. The latter institution was the identifying mark of a male Jew and something with which all Stephen’s hearers could identify. In telling this part of the tale, Stephen affirmed his unity with the tradition of the old covenant. By mentioning the Egyptian bondage in verse 7, Stephen indicated that the promise to Abraham wasn’t the end of God work with Israel.
Verses 9-16 – By mentioning Joseph, Stephen underscores the fact that God’s plan continued through a child of Jacob who was not firstborn and not in the lineage of kings. He cleverly reminds his listeners that the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph and sold him unjustly into slavery. Yet, God turned that slavery into deliverance for God’s people and fed them in the midst of the famine. Joseph sold into Egypt was lifted up by God there to do God’s work there.
Verses 17-44 – Since they had accused Stephen of speaking against Moses and the ways of Moses, Stephen spends the bulk of his defense by citing the well-known events of Moses’ life. After being raised into adulthood with the best privileges and training that Egypt could offer, Moses tried to take the deliverance of a Hebrew slave into his own hand and, as a result, had to flee for his life. I wonder if Stephen intended the irony of pointing out that it was a Hebrew brother who rejected Moses in verse 27, just like the leaders of the synagogues were rejecting him now?
Yet, Stephen continues his account with the story of the burning bush and concludes the recitation of Moses’ return to Egypt with verse 35 saying, “This Moses, whom they refused…” and set the stage for talking about the Jesus they were refusing as they refused him. The very Stephen who was accused of opposing Moses not only reminds his hearers that their ancestors opposed Moses, but goes on to quote Moses in verse 37 about a prophet like unto him that God would raise up. And he underscores the rejection motif by reminding them again in verse 39 that the ancestors of those sitting in judgment upon him were not obedient to Moses.
Stephen who was accused of being against the temple reminds them of the tabernacle in the wilderness as the foundational institution for the existence of the temple and interwove the idea of the tabernacle/presence of God into the account of the conquest under Joshua in verse 45 and the desire of King David to build the temple (verses 45-46). He reminds them of Solomon desiring to build a house in verse 47, but gives them the words of God about how no human edifice or habitation could hold the glory of God (verses 48-50). In short, as Jesus used the Scripture to refute Satan, so Stephen was using the Scripture to build the foundation of his case.
In verses 51-53, though, Stephen moves from the defensive to the offensive. He calls his listeners “stiffnecked and uncircumcised.” He accuses them of being the equivalent of their ancestors rebelling in the wilderness and NOT to be in synch with the plan God started with Father Abraham. He sharpens (v. 52) the persecution motif by asking which of the prophets were not persecuted and charges them (v. 53) with not even keeping the law that they claim to be defending. By the way, that’s a pretty good rule of thumb. Usually the ones making the most noise about laws and the rule of law are the very ones trying to get around it. They think it applies to everyone but them. We see this “above the law” nature in politicians in the secular world, but it is also present among the self-righteous of the church and clergy, as well.
Verse 54 is the turning point. Stephen’s defense didn’t go so well. People don’t want to hear the Truth—especially any Truth that makes them uncomfortable with themselves. And the fact is, God is always going to make us uncomfortable with ourselves because He wants to help us CONFORM to Him. To conform us to Him rather than comfort us without Him.
But Stephen isn’t finished yet! He goes for the closer. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, he sees Jesus clearly. In verse 55, he sees Jesus installed at the right hand of God and recognizes the fulfillment of God’s plan. His testimony is so vivid that the leaders stop up their ears (v. 57) like children who don’t want to hear something and go “Na-na-na-na-na-na-can’t hear you—na-na-na-na-na-na!” Making as much noise as possible in an attempt to cover up the inconvenient Truth they don’t want to hear, they stone him to death and Saul, later to become Paul the Apostle, acts as the hatcheck girl (v. 58).
Stoning isn’t a pretty sight. To begin with, one witness pushes the victim from a height more than twice his height so that he falls face downward. If he doesn’t die from the initial fall, he is turned over onto his back and a second witness attempts to drop a heavy stone right on his heart. If he stays alive through this, all the bystanders get a chance to join in.
Apparently, Stephen lives long enough to crawl into a kneeling position and say two important things: 1) he depended on the same Lord Jesus in death that he had depended upon in life and 2) he emulated Jesus by asking forgiveness for his killers.
And, at first, it looks like the traditionalists have won. Stephen dies, Saul is complicit in his death, and an entire program of persecution starts out the account in 8:1-3. But something important happens here. First, the early church defies the Mishnah (Sanhedrin vi.6) which forbids the burial and mourning for an executed blasphemer. Second, the very force opposing them for the present is slated to become the biggest advocate of the gospel. God’s opponents cannot win—even when it seems like God’s people have paid the ultimate price.
Jesus paid the price. Stephen paid the price. Peter paid the price. What are you willing to surrender to God this morning?
