One day a man falls off a cliff, but manages to grab hold of a tree limb on the way down. The man calls out, “Is there anyone up there?” A voice answers back, “I am here. It is I, the Lord. Do you believe in me?” “Yes, Lord I believe, I really believe, but I can’t hold on much longer.” “That’s all right. If you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I’ll save you. Just let go of the branch.” There was a long pause, and the man calls out, “Is there anyone else up there?”
Sooner or later we all go through a time where life seems to be closing in on us. Desperation has set in. Prices are going up and income is going down; responsibilities are increasing and physical strength is waning; friends disappoint and circumstances seem to be weighted against us; the doors of opportunity quietly close and the lights on the horizon go out one by one; war and terrorism make us suspicious and fearful; families are worried and impatient.
In our scripture reading this morning, Stephen’s world is closing in around him. We’re first introduced to Stephen in the sixth chapter of Acts. The disciples were preaching with such strength and fervor that their numbers were increasing daily, but those in Greek society were concerned because the widows were being neglected. In keeping with Hebrew law, widows were provided a daily distribution of food since they had no husband to earn a living and provide food for the household. Complaints were reaching the disciples that because of their continual preaching and teaching the widows were being neglected. The disciples felt as though their calling was to preach the gospel, so they selected seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and wisdom, and appointed them to the task of caring for the widows. Stephen was among the seven appointed to this task. We often look upon this as the selection and ordination of the first deacons.
No sooner is Stephen appointed to this ministry than he is arrested. The Jews always looked upon themselves as the chosen people; but they had interpreted chosen in the wrong way. They regarded themselves as chosen for special privileges and believing that God had no use for any other nation. At their worst they declared that God created the Gentiles to be fuel for the fires of hell; at their mildest they believed that some day the Gentiles would become their servants. They never dreamed that they were chosen for service to bring all people into the same relationship with God as they themselves enjoyed.
When this selection of these first deacons was finished, the Jews were infuriated that none of the original seven had a Jewish name. Nicolaos was a Gentile who had accepted the Jewish faith, and Stephen had a vision of a world for Christ. Stephen declared that the world-view according to Christ meant that the Temple must pass away, and that the Law was but a stage so that the gospel and Christianity could be sent out to the whole wide world. In proclaiming this belief, Stephen offended the Jews because he attacked the two institutions they hold most precious: Temple and Law.
He was immediately arrested. False witnesses were brought in to give testimony against Stephen, and when the high priest asks him, “Are these things true?” he launches into a sermon that leaves them “enraged and grinding their teeth." Life is closing in on Stephen.
The account of his being stoned is not on a feel good, warm-fuzzy story, but when we look closely at Stephen’s stoning, there are a few things that still speak to us today. First of all, we notice that when life began to close in around Stephen, the heavens opened up and he saw God.
Has life ever been closing in on you to the point that you screamed and you cried and you shouted so that the heavens might open up? Whether you were screaming for healing for a loved one or deliverance from an uncomfortable situation. I can think of times in my life where I wish the heavens would’ve opened up, but there is nothing we can do to make the heavens open up. Stephen didn’t magically make this happen, in fact, no one else there saw it. They claimed that it was blasphemy, and that it didn’t happen, but what I would like to suggest is that it was because of his faith and belief that Stephen was in a position to experience God in that way.
When life begins to close in around us, it is our faith and our belief that will put us in a position to experience God, and we will each have that experience in a different way. In other words, the heavens will open up, but they will open up differently for each of us. Many times when we’re confronted with a tragedy, we feel like the only way we can experience God is if God gives us what we ask for. In other words, if a loved one isn’t healed, if a disease isn’t taken away, if a new job isn’t found, then the heavens have not opened up. Many times we miss out on the heavens opening up because we believe that they can only be opened in a certain way. When we approach God in this manner, we miss out on how God is going to reveal himself to us. He may not reveal himself through the healing of a loved one, but he may reveal himself through our loved one’s courage and through the devotion and care of friends. I dare say that Stephen wasn’t expecting to experience God in this way.
While we don’t know a great deal about Stephen, when mentioned in the Bible, he is described as either “full of faith and the Holy Spirit” or “full of grace and power.” Stephen’s life is closing in around him. A group of men, whose fears and jealousy have reduced them to savagery, are ready to lynch him. At that moment, the heavens opened up and gave Stephen exactly what he needed… reassurance. Through that experience, Stephen knew that love still reigned, God still cared, and God was still there.
When life is closing in around us, the heavens may not always open as we want them to, but when our faith draws us close to God, and if we’ll allow it, we can experience the same type of reassurance that Stephen experienced. It didn’t change Stephen’s circumstances, but it brought him peace. As people of faith, that’s what we’re after.
We also see that Stephen prayed. When life is closing in, it’s not uncommon to pray. Many an unbeliever is driven to his or her knees when the situation becomes desperate enough.
There’s the story of a bus driver and a minister standing in line to get into heaven. The bus driver approached the gate and St. Peter said, “Welcome, I understand you were a bus driver. Since I’m in charge of housing, I believe I have found the perfect place for you. See that mansion over the hilltop? It’s yours.”
The minister heard all this and began to stand a little taller. He said to himself, “If a bus driver got a place like that, just think what I’ll get.” The minister approached the gate and St. Peter said, “Welcome, I understand you were a minister. See that shack in the valley?”
St. Peter had hardly gotten the words out of his mouth when the shocked minister said, “I was a minister, I preached the gospel, I helped teach people about God. Why does that bus driver get a mansion, and I get a shack? St. Peter responded, “Well, it seems when you preached, people slept. When the bus driver drove, people prayed.”
Dire circumstances and desperation will drive many people to their knees, and it should, but Stephen’s prayer was not a prayer of desperation: it was not even a prayer for deliverance. This man, who had only recently been brought to the position of deacon, had his life flashing before his eyes. He is only moments away from having the religious leaders, the upright keepers of the law, throw stones at him until he’s dead.
Stephen doesn’t cry out to God asking to be saved. Stephen doesn’t look to strike a deal, saying, “God, if you will only save me, then I will…,” instead he says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Sounds an awful lot like a prayer Christ uttered from a cross.
When life closes in around us, it’s not always about death. Sometimes it’s about dissatisfaction with a job, or a marriage gone bad, or financial problems, or trouble at school or with parents. In instances like these, we can pray as Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." It’s a way of saying, “God, I’m turning it over to you. God, take me, hold me, calm me down, and comfort me.” The truth about prayer is it’s not so much about getting answers from God, as it is developing oneness with God. Hear that again: prayer is not so much about getting answers from God as it is developing a oneness with God.
Stephen had that oneness. How else could he have gazed up into the heavens and seen the glory of God with Christ at his right hand, while others stood ready with rocks in their hands? Stephen didn’t call out for an answer, he didn’t call out to be saved, he called out for reassurance and peace. That’s oneness with God.
I’m continually amazed at the mysterious ways of God. I’ve had this scripture, topic, and title selected for today for some time now, but the truth of this story took on new meaning for me this past week. Wednesday afternoon around 2:00, I was at my desk in the office and my computer dinged, telling me that I had received an e-mail. It was from my mother, informing my sisters and me that she had colon cancer. I called home immediately. My father answered. I said, “Dad, I just got mom’s e-mail.” My father began to cry; the first time I’ve heard him cry in my 35 years. We collected ourselves, and he began to tell me what they knew. I asked to speak with mom. She got on the phone and began crying, I think more because I was upset than any fear she possessed. She said all the right things- that they think they’ve caught it early enough and many people survive this when its caught and treated, and what bothered her most was having to tell her four children and her mother. And she said, “David, I’m really at peace with this.”
That didn’t mean she was ready to die or wasn’t going to exhaust all medical options. It meant that her faith in God was so strong, that no matter what the outcome, she had peace in her heart because she had God by her side. Recovery and survival are not certain, but her oneness with God is.
Her spirit taught me a lesson, just as Stephen’s spirit teaches us a lesson today. Stephen’s ability to pray the way he did in the face of life closing in around him was an expression of his attitude and his spirit. His was a spirit of love and an attitude of perseverance.
Several years ago during a Monday Night Football game between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants, one of the announcers made the comment that Walter Payton, the Bears running back, had accumulated over nine miles in career rushing yards; an amazing number of yards. The other announcer remarked, “Yeah, and that’s with someone knocking him down every 4.6 yards.”
When life knocks you down and begins to close in around you, remember Stephen. His faith and belief in God were such that the heavens opened up and brought him reassurance that he could pray for God to receive his spirit. My prayer for each of you is that you’ll develop a oneness with God so that your prayer can be for God to hold and comfort and soothe your spirit, that the heavens might be opened up and you might experience God in a way that you never expected. That’s oneness with God. Amen.
The story is told that Andrew Jackson’s boyhood friends just couldn’t understand how he became a famous general and then the President of the United States. They knew of other men who had greater talent but who never succeeded. One of Jackson’s friends said, “Why, Jim Brown, who lived right down the pike from Jackson, was not only smarter but he could throw Andy three times out of four in a wrestling match. But look where Andy is now.” Another friend responded, “How did there happen to be a fourth time? Didn’t they usually say three times and out?” “Sure, they were supposed to, but not Andy. He would never admit he was beat—he would never stay ‘throwed.’ Jim Brown would get tired, and on the fourth try Andrew Jackson would throw him and be the winner.”
Picking up on that idea, someone has said, “The thing that counts is not how many times you are ‘throwed,’ but whether you are willing to stay ‘throwed.’” We may face setbacks, but we must take courage and go forward in faith. Then, through the Holy Spirit’s power we can be the eventual victor over sin and the world. The battle is the Lord’s, so there is no excuse for us to stay “throwed”!
