“A Guy Named Steve”
Acts 6:8—8:1
(Introduction)
Good morning! Oh, that’s much better—thank you. My name is Stephen, but you may call me Steve if you’d rather. I guess we’re here for me to share my story with you folks. Have any of you heard of me before? You know me as the first martyr. The first to die for the privilege of following the Lord Jesus Christ. You may have thought I’d amount to more than I did. Maybe the Lord used me to do more than you think.
I was one of the Seven the Apostles called to assist in the ministry of the church. The others in the church called me a man “full of the Holy Spirit” and “full of God’s grace and power.” Which was encouraging, but not really complimentary. I mean, it’s no reflection on me, is it? I’m not a wonderful person, but I’m filled with a wonderful God. I believe that trusting Christ means taking him at his word and risking all for his sake. Many opposed me, it’s true. Even people within the church would have preferred I take a more cautious approach. But I knew what the scriptures taught and I knew what Christ had done, and I was willing to risk everything for the truth of those implications.
(Development)
God was doing a lot of good, and people’s lives were being changed. In spite of this, my ministry provoked fierce antagonism. First, men from the Freed Slaves Synagogue began to argue with me. Which I welcomed—I really enjoy a good argument! And they could not stand up against the Spirit. Thwarted in open debate, these men started a smear campaign against me. (When arguments fail, substitute mud, right?)
They persuaded certain people to make accusations against me, which allowed them to take me to the Sanhedrin. They took me into the high council chambers (the same room where Peter had stood just months earlier, and the Lord himself just months before that.) I was charged with blasphemy against Moses and against God. This was an extremely serious accusation. For nothing was more sacred to the Jews, and nothing more precious, than the temple and the law. The temple was the sanctuary of God’s presence, and the law was the revelation of God’s mind and will. Therefore, to speak against either was to blaspheme. Had I? You’re wondering, aren’t you? Do you think I was guilty of blasphemy? Well, was Jesus?
Jesus said he would replace the temple, destroying it and in three days building another. His hearers thought he had meant this literally, but the temple he had spoken of was his body. “I tell you, one greater than the temple is here.” Many Jews drew a wrong conclusion—they conceived of Yahweh as so completely identified with the temple that its existence guaranteed His protection, while its destruction would mean He had abandoned them. Although in the past the people came together to the temple to meet God, in future the meeting place with God would be Himself.
Jesus said he would fulfill the law. He was accused of disrespecting the law, but the scribes and Pharisees did not understand him. What he did was to contradict the scribal misinterpretations of Moses, and so sweep away all the traditions of the elders. But he was never disrespectful of the law itself. On the contrary, he said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” His resolve to lay down his life for us would fulfill all priesthood and sacrifice.
What Jesus taught, then, was that the temple and the law would be superseded, meaning not that they had never been divine gifts in the first place, but that they would find their God-intended fulfillment in him, the Messiah. Jesus was and is himself the replacement of the temple and the fulfillment of the law. Moreover, to affirm that both the temple and the law pointed forward to him and are now fulfilled in him is to magnify their importance, not to denigrate it.
But I stood accused of blasphemy. The high priest asked me, “are these accusations true?” But he had to shade his eyes as he looked at me! My face shone bright. I was accused of speaking against Moses and against God, yet bore the same mark as Moses of having been with God. And now, all eyes were on me, and it was my turn to speak.
(Stephen’s speech)
My speech has been called my “defense,” but it wasn’t what you’d think. I wasn’t seeking an acquittal from the Sanhedrin. I wasn’t there to defend myself—I was there to testify to Christ. And I could do this in a way we would all understand, from the scriptures, the history of the Jews. I traced the ways of God with His people from Abraham to Moses. I tried to show them that God’s activity is not confined to the land of Israel, and that worship acceptable to him is not confined to the temple.
ß Abraham: God appeared to him in heathen Mesopotamia, and told him to go to the land God would show him.
ß Joseph: God was with him while he was a slave in Egypt.
ß Moses: God appeared to him in the Midian desert, consecrating the place “holy ground.” And Moses himself prophesied of the coming Messiah, saying, “God will raise up a Prophet like me from among your own people.”
ß David & Solomon asked for and built the temple, but “The Most High God doesn’t live in temples made by human hands.” Heaven is His throne, and the earth is His footstool. Could anyone build Him a temple as good as that?
God’s presence is not limited to any particular place. On the contrary, the God of the Hebrews is the living God, a God on the move and on the march, always calling His people out to new adventures, and always accompanying and directing them as they went
No building can confine Him or limit His activity. If He has any home on earth, it is with His people. He has pledged Himself by a solemn covenant to be their God. Therefore, wherever they are, there He is also. God is always with you, wherever you go. Are you ready to blaze new trails for God?
Wherever you set out to go, you will find that God is always with you. Change is painful to us all, especially when it affects our cherished customs. Yet true followers of Christ are open to change. They know that God has bound Himself to His church (promising that He will never leave it) and to His word (promising that it will never pass away). But God’s church means people, not buildings, and God’s word means scripture, not tradition. We must not allow such things to imprison the living God or to impede His mission in the world, as the Jewish leaders had.
I looked the Sanhedrin full in the face and said, “you stiff necked people!”—just as Moses had said of their forefathers. They insisted on bodily circumcision, but their hearts and ears were uncircumcised. They were heathen still in heart, and deaf to the truth. They were the guilty ones! “Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You have deliberately disobeyed God’s law!”
“Enough! Enough!” The council was furious! They covered their ears and rushed me like a mob. They dragged me outside, through the streets, beyond the city walls, to a quarry-like place where large rocks lay strewn about. They cast me down on the ground, and I stumbled and fell in the dust. This would be the end for me. And a beginning.
(Climax)
I looked up and saw the radiant, magnificent glory of God, and saw Jesus standing at God’s right hand, in the place of honor. Why was he standing instead of sitting? Because I had been confessing Christ before them, and now Christ was confessing me before God! Christ has stood up as my advocate! The vision gave me courage—I was not wrong in the stand I was making.
Those who had brought witness against me were by law required to cast the first stones. To give themselves freedom of movement for forceful throwing, they removed their outer garments and laid them at the feet of a young Pharisee named Saul. Our eyes met, and I could see in them self-righteous pride, but with just a hint of uncertainty, a desire to do right. I felt that what he was about to see would stick with him a long time. Perhaps the Lord would use this for good … time would tell.
They picked up stones, big ones, and began hurling them down at me. I felt sharp, searing pain in my ribs, in my legs, on my skull. And I heard the sickening thuds and popping sounds inside my body, and I cried out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” And the rocks kept whistling through the air. And just before all went black, I managed to squeak, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And then … I felt a hand helping me up. It was—it was Him. I’ve been in his presence ever since that moment, with no pain, only glory. You’re in his presence now, too—you can see him if the eyes of your heart have been opened. You have his table in the corners here, I see. That’s wonderful. I pray you’ll see him. He’s with you wherever you go, remember?
(Conclusion)
That day started a terrible persecution against the Lord’s church in Jerusalem. Men and women were dragged out of their houses and jailed simply for loving Jesus. The apostles stayed in the city, but all the others scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. End of the story, right? Not at all, for they knew God would be with them wherever they would go, and so they shared the Good News with everybody, all over Judea and Samaria!
My death and the persecution which ensued, shocked and stunned my brothers and sisters in the Lord. But now I understand, how God would use even this to promote His church’s mission, to advance His kingdom. The Lord can transform tragedy into triumph and turn wrath into worship. So go and do something new for Him. Go and do something brave for Him. Go, knowing that He will be with you.
