Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a,51-60
4th Sunday of Easter – ILCW Year A
April 17, 2005
Peace to all of you who are in Christ (I Peter 5:14b). Amen.
Judge Lynwood Smith asked Eric Rudolph, “Did you plant the bomb that exploded at the New Woman All Women clinic here in Birmingham on January 29, 1998?"
In a forceful voice, Rudolph responded, "I did, your honor."
"And did you cause that bomb to detonate?" the judge followed.
Rudolph’s voice seemed to swell with pride. "I certainly did, your honor."
In his 11-page manifesto explaining his actions, he explained that he had planned to detonate five bombs on five successive nights at the Olympics "to confound, anger and embarrass the Washington government in the eyes of the world for its abominable sanctioning of abortion on demand." "By the grace of God," he wrote, "I am still here -- a little bloodied, but emphatically unbowed."
He would call himself a “martyr,” following the voice of the Good Shepherd. But do his actions really fall in line with the Shepherd, who leads his sheep to pasture?
Remember Peter’s words from our epistle today: “How is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth” (I Peter 2:20-22).
Let’s look at a real martyr this morning. He was the first Christian martyr… his name was Stephen. He shows us that: HEARING THE SHEPHERD MEANS FOLLOWING HIM I. In Charity, II. In witness, III. In forgiveness.
I. IN CHARITY
In what situation do we first see Christ calling Stephen to serve (Acts 6:1-9): “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”
What wonderful days for the Christian Church! It was growing by leaps and bounds. People were so moved by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his resurrection, that they were selling much of their possessions and sharing them with those who were less fortunate. But even with all of that good will floating around, discontent surfaced. The Grecian Jews (those born and raised outside of Israel) complained that their widows were being slighted. Did you notice how the leaders of the church reacted? They didn’t respond, “Oh, those foreign-born Jews are NEVER satisfied! They are always looking for something to complain about.” Instead they took them seriously and worked to correct the problem. There was some guilt and prejudice involved. Coming to faith, didn’t mean that the Christians instantly became perfect. They were still making decisions that were affected by the sinful flesh.
The apostles did not want this problem to hinder the growth of the church, nor did they want the solution to hinder the spreading of the Gospel. Charity, as a fruit of the faith was important, important enough to call a meeting of all the disciples, so that it could be handled responsibly. But it did not hold precedence over the Gospel, as the apostles pointed out: “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables” (Acts 6:2). The main purpose of the church is not to right social injustice and remove poverty from the earth. It’s main goal is not set on fixing the momentary problems of this sinful existence here, as Eric Rudolph seemed to think (and no wonder he wandered so far from the truth). The true purpose of the church is what we are doing this morning, proclaiming the Word of God, so that you, then, as Christians, might follow the path of Christ, hear his voice, and act charitably in your own lives… first and foremost by caring for the poverty of the soul, and then also by caring for the lesser needs of our fellowman – their body.
That’s where Stephen came into the picture. The disciples picked responsible individuals, who did focus on charity, so that the apostles could focus on the REAL work of the church. Note what kind of men they were looking for: “known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3). Even in charity, the Word of God was the most important thing. They didn’t say, “Hey, let’s involve a few of those guys that we don’t see at the temple very often. Maybe getting them more involved will increase their attendance. That’s actually backward. If a person is not filled with the Spirit, if they don’t have an initial love of God, that draws them to worship God regularly to hear the Shepherd’s voice, do you really want them to be in charge, even of the ‘charitable’ activities of the church? Even in such service, we want that person to be a proper and God-fearing representative of the Good Shepherd. No matter what work we have in this church, whether it is helping on the Education Committee, which really does involve the Word of God, or the man overseeing the care of the church grounds, we want them to be led in their decisions and proposals by the Spirit, not by a heart that doesn’t have time for Christ. Service does not build faith. The Word of God and his Sacrament are the only means by which God does that.
II. IN WITNESS
Look at Stephen. He was only called on to serve tables. And that is where we get the word deacon. It could be practically translated ‘waiter,’ because they ‘waited’ on the tables of the poor. Yet, even in that capacity, Stephen didn’t feel that he should keep his mouth shut. He didn’t say, “Oh, I’m not an apostle. I’m not a pastor. I’ll leave the sharing of God’s Word to the professionals.”
St. Luke records: “Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)-- Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen” (vs. 8).
Stephen was a Christian, therefore he was a witness. Following the voice of the Good Shepherd, he shared the Gospel, even when it brought opposition. That opposition would make a martyr of dear Stephen. But is that true? The Greek word ‘martyr’ means ‘witness.’ How fitting a connection. In reality, everyone who witnesses to Christ is a martyr – they sacrifice the pride of sinful flesh. They don’t boast about themselves, but readily, humbly admit their own sinfulness, and proclaim the love of Christ. Witnesses are ready to martyr their reputation, accept denunciation, because they are vocal in their faith. And if needs be, every Christian should be as willing as Stephen to be a martyr in the literal sense, to die for the name of Jesus Christ. Could you do that? Maybe, if Jesus isn’t worth dying for, you should hear this portion of Stephen’s witness (Acts 7:2a,51-53):
“He replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me!… 51 "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him-- 53 you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it."”
Hearing the voice of Jesus means that we follow him… even to suffer in his name. God forbid that we live through an age, where Christianity once again comes under such persecution, that Christians end up dying for their faith, but it would not surprise me if that age did come again, and we should be ready for it. But whether we will be martyrs or simply witnesses, we best not stand back from the opportunities that we have to share the Gospel. Christ leads us into the company of others, to share life with them, his resurrection. If you pull back from the opportunity (strain head backwards as if someone is pushing you forward and you don’t want to go), you’ll get a stiff neck alright. Your hearts will grow numb and your ears deaf. Who are you resisting but the Holy Spirit? Again, are those the kind of people that we want to be leaders in our church? Are we worthy of the call? What made Stephen worthy? What gave him the confidence to stand before the Jews at a trial for his life?
Listen to Luke (Acts 7:54-56): “When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."”
When Jesus told his disciples to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them… and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19a,20a), he gave them a promise. What was it? “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mat. 28:20b). Our Shepherd doesn’t run so far ahead, that he doesn’t see when we are trouble, when we are doing his will. Instead he is beside us as always, and even more so, giving us strength when we are our weakest. We shouldn’t shy away from opportunities to speak about Jesus, because we never know if Jesus might open our eyes to see him, and to speak more eloquently of him than we ever have before. If we don’t try, how can we hope to help anyone? What hope is there for ourselves then, when our love of Christ is so small, that we only talk about Jesus, when we know we are among Christians? Can we hope to see the pastures of heaven, if we don’t even speak about Jesus at home? Haven’t we stopped short in our discipleship, our following?
III. In forgiveness.
At Stephen’s martyrdom, we see the greatest reason for our hope, even in the face of our stiff-necked opposition to Christ’s leadership: “They covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:57-60).
Oh, to be like Stephen! There’s no revenge in his voice. How obvious it is, that he heard and followed the voice of the Good Shepherd, who knew that his suffering was for a good purpose, that did not hold a grudge against those who killed him. We fail to do that in the smallest of things. If someone hurts us in the slightest of ways, we try to return the ‘favor.’ Yet, Stephen, clobbered by stones, reeling from the pain and the force of those concussions, could not only forgive them in his own heart, but ask God in heaven to forgive them too. Stephen could do that, because he too had been stiff-necked at one time, but Jesus died to forgive him. He did not base his hope on his ‘martyr’s’ death, but on the death of the Good Shepherd, of which Peter said today: “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (I Peter 2:23-25).
It was with this faith that Stephen uttered his appeal for Christ’s forgiveness of these murderers. It was a strong appeal, because it was based on the abundant mercy of God himself. How strong? Did you notice how the text made special mention of someone else? Saul. That was the Hebrew name of someone very familiar to all of us – the apostle Paul, who was still being stiff-necked, approving of this bloody stoning of an innocent man. Hearing Jesus voice means following him, even in forgiveness, forgiving those, who are the cruelest to us. We know that they will have to stand before God for these acts. Their eternal soul will be on the line. If Christ loved them so much to die for them, we certainly want to pray for them, so that they come to recognize that themselves, so that, even if we haven’t been friends here on earth, we may be eternal friends in heaven. We would like it to be said even of them at their time of death, “They fell asleep.”… asleep in the arms of the Good Shepherd.
Bombs don’t promote the Gospel. Defiantly confessing the murder of others to make a point, does not make a martyr. This man would best fit among the Muslim extremist, rather than a martyr of Christ. No, those who want to lead and be undershepherds of Christ, must first hear his voice, enter through Christ alone, and not based on one’s own merits, and lead the sheep to proper pastures, as Jesus says: “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:9,10). Doing things the wrong way, without properly consulting Christ’s will, can make thieves of us, stealing, killing and destroying faith, by introducing a false way of living and believing, which can only harm souls. Instead, we cling to the promises like Stephen. We gladly hear and follow Jesus’ voice – in charity, in witness, and in forgiveness. Amen.
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21). Amen.
