Sermon 4/24/05
Sticks and Stones- Acts 7:55-60
(view lectionary notes for this text)
Today we’re shifting our usual gears a little bit. Instead of looking at the gospel lesson today, we’re taking time to examine a story from the book of Acts – the Acts of the Apostles, the book, written by Luke, that records the development of the early church, the struggles and triumphs of the disciples who tried to carry out Jesus’ message after he returned to God. Today, we examine a particular life found in Acts, that of Stephen, a man who takes up a small two chapter space in our scriptures.
Stephen is known as the first martyr of the Christian faith, the first person who gave up his life because of his belief in the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the scriptures. Today we read in Acts the account of Stephen’s death, as he was stoned by an angry mob. But his story starts a little earlier in the Book of Acts in Chapter 6. Unlike the disciples like Peter and company, Stephen’s task was not primarily as a preacher of the gospel at all – he wasn’t one of the missionaries. Stephen was part of a group of servants who had a special task in the early church. It had come to the attention of some of the people outside of the faith that the fervor of the disciples for preaching the gospel had caused them to neglect other duties like feeding the widowed and the needy. So those outside of the faith community criticized the disciples for forgetting about those in need for the sake of preaching about Jesus. But the twelve responded, “‘It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.’” So seven were chosen, one of whom was this man we read about today, Stephen. These seven looked on the needs of the least in their community, making sure that those who were without could receive food and be taken care of.
How did Stephen go from being such a servant to being the first to give his life for his faith in Jesus? It turns out that Stephen was a rowdy synagogue member. He wasn’t content to just go with the flow or keep quiet in his own community of faith. So Stephen and some of his fellow synagogue members were constantly debating and arguing. Eventually, his peers had enough, and began to plot against him. We read of their scheming in Acts, “But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which [Stephen] spoke. Then they secretly instigated some men to say, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.’ They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. They set up false witnesses who said, ‘This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us.’ And all who sat in the council looked intently at [Stephen], and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”
The authorities ask Stephen to respond to these accusations. And he does, in a big way. Starting with God calling Abraham, Stephen does a mini-review of the ways God has been working in the midst of the people of Israel. He concludes by saying that through the ages people have rejected the prophets that God sent to reach them, and just so they rejected Jesus, God come to earth to reach them. He doesn’t try to soften his words, and he doesn’t try to make friends. Stephen just says what is on his heart. In the verse before where our passage today begins, we find the response of the synagogue leaders to Stephen’s sermonette: “When they heard these things,” we read, “they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.” Instead of being scared by the group, Stephen is fortified by the vision of Jesus he has that starts our reading today. He tries to share his vision, but his words fall on unhearing ears. The men drag Stephen into the street, they throw their coats at the feet of a man named Saul, and they stone Stephen to death, literally pelting rocks at him until he dies. Stephen’s last words echoes Jesus’ on the cross, as he pleads for forgiveness for those who are putting him to death.
Stephen’s story is one of bravery and courage. A story of one we consider a hero, a bold man who stood up in the midst of a crowd for unpopular beliefs. We admire Stephen, perhaps. But what do we learn from him? In fact, I think we can learn from all of the players in this story – from Stephen of course, but even from his accusers, even from Saul. Saul, you may remember, is a rabbi who helps to persecute followers of The Way, which is another name in the early church for followers of Jesus. Eventually he, too, finds a relationship with Jesus. It’s easy, maybe, to gloss over the mention of Saul in this passage, Saul who later becomes Paul, one of the most famed disciples of the Christian gospel. We can put ourselves in Paul’s place when he’s on the “good guys” side. But do we want to imagine ourselves as Saul? There he is, standing silently by as Stephen is stoned to death. Do we ever stand by and do nothing when we see others treated unjustly? Still another lesson comes from putting ourselves in the shoes of those who are also part of Stephen’s synagogue. Stephen’s beliefs are different than their own – they don’t understand what he’s talking about, and what they do understand, the disagree with. But they can’t seem to let different views exist together within their community. They must root out all different views, even willing to put someone to death rather than embrace him as a part of their group.
But I think that the most important message from this passage comes to us from Stephen’s words and actions. Stephen reminds us that the call to Christian discipleship is not reserved for a few people, not just for a few who hold certain positions in the church. The Greek word for martyr simply means witness. A witness is someone who can testify to what has happened. In this way, we are all witnesses, and all martyrs, as we can all testify to what we know about Jesus. If you have experienced God in your life, you can witness to your experience.
Many of you know that I am a vegetarian – now a vegan actually. But there is also a youth in our congregation, a freshman, who has been a vegetarian for about a year now. Obviously, I’m proud to have a fellow young vegetarian, the youngest I know of at this church. But what make me really proud of Mallorie Fallon is that she’s standing up for something she believes in, despite the fact that it is difficult to be a vegetarian when you’re still primarily depending on other people for your meals, and when you are still likely to get a lot of criticism or friendly harassment from people who are more attached to their meat! My point is not to sway you all to the vegetarian lifestyle – though of course I wouldn’t mind that either(!) – but to point out our ability to go against the flow, to stand up for something that is sometimes hard to do, to take a stand. If that power is in someone at 14 or 15, then surely it is within all of us to make bold commitments, even if it brings us unwelcome attention from others.
Stephen’s commitment was to his faith in God through his love of Jesus Christ. I believe that we share in his commitment – I hope that is what brings you to church today, to this community at St. Paul’s. What would you risk to stand up for this commitment? We must remember that Stephen was not one of the twelve, or even one of the disciples who was going out to preach the gospel. He was someone who waited on the tables of the poor. If he was a part of St. Paul’s, maybe he wouldn’t have been a committee chair, or a lay speaker, or a pastor. But he might have worked at the Karing Kitchen, or donated yarn for blankets, or signed up to help with child care. He was a servant, not a leader. But that didn’t change what he believed, or how passionately he believed it, or how much he would give for what he believed. It is the same for us. No matter what our role here at St. Paul’s, in a way the same is still required and demanded of us from God – our faith, our selves, our lives.
Today, we remember Stephen, the first martyr of the church. And today, we challenge ourselves to have faith that will stand when the crowd is going the other way, faith that will stand when others would throw stones. Amen.