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Acts 4:18ff; 5:17ff; 7:54 -- 8:4
Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
Welcome to the commons cast. We're glad to have you here. We hope you find something meaningful in our teaching this week. Head to commons.church for more information.
Speaker 2:Good morning everyone. My name is Devin, and I just want to say that it's good to be here with you today. It's been a while since I've been up here. You guys got a carpeted little stage here, which is nice. Despite what it may have looked like, Nicole and I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.
Speaker 2:We've been spending, most of our time over at Inglewood Parish with Scott and the team there. It's been a really good experience so far. The community that has been informed that's been forming within the church has been incredible, but also the relationships we've had a chance to form with the broader Inglewood community has been really great. And in the coming year, we're just looking forward to deepening that as much as possible. So there's some really neat opportunities and we've been really glad to be there.
Speaker 2:So this week, though, we are going to continue our walk through the book of Acts. But before we get started, I just wanna say that if Scott or Jeremy ever ask a favor of you, be careful how you answer. Because a couple months ago when they asked me to do this, I said sure. I like teaching. It'll be summer.
Speaker 2:The text will probably be something fun. Nope. Not summery and not fun. This is an actual quote from the email that Scott sent me about what text I'd be responsible for today. You're covering the persecution text, which means that over the last couple weeks, I've spent my time upstairs in my home office looking out the window at a nice blue sky, researching and writing about the church's earliest stories of persecution and the stoning death of Saint Stephen the Proto Martyr.
Speaker 2:Sounds fun. Right? In all seriousness, no. Scott and Jeremy along with the rest of the teaching team here at Commons do such a great job on a regular basis with teaching that I'm super happy to be here, allowing for a little space for both Scott and Jeremy to take some time and recharge for the coming year. So as we make our way through the books of acts this summer, it's a chance to listen to our diverse set of voices.
Speaker 2:With a book like acts, we have a unique opportunity to jump around the text a little bit, look at different characters in the stories. So if you weren't here last week, that's okay. These stories and these sermons weren't necessarily meant to listen to chronologically. You didn't miss anything last week that you need for this week. Last week though, Jeremy did walk us through some of the broad themes and the tone of acts.
Speaker 2:He painted a picture for us that as we attempt to live faithfully in light of the gospel message, that the results are not always perfect. But at its heart, the book of acts is about people trying to make sense of life as faith intersects it on a day to day basis. Today, we're going to be covering the end of what is considered the first section in the book of acts called the Jerusalem section. It's focused on the early church's formation and momentum before it's spread into what the text calls the rest of the ends of the earth. This section concludes with the martyrdom of Stephen at the end of chapter seven.
Speaker 2:But first, I wanna say that some of the things in this text are heavy. We're going to be talking about suffering. And even as I sat down to write for this today, I found myself challenged by the text. I did not want it to move inside of me like it wanted to. I tried to dig my heels in and mold it into something I was comfortable with.
Speaker 2:But as I fought to make this text palatable to my own sensibilities, The holy spirit was patient and kind and waited for me to find the peace within that challenge. So today, if you find yourself in that same place that I was and am, it's okay Because the bible does not demand that we come to it perfect or altogether and simply asks that we come and try to make sense of it, which often means holding on to semi seemingly disparate ideas like peace and suffering. But as we come to this text, are met by the divine comforter who does not scold us for our questions, but simply shares his presence with us. So as we read the difficult things today, I invite you to come with your questions and your hurt and meet God. Pray with me.
Speaker 2:Creator God, as we come to the text, each one of us coming with different thoughts, feelings, and questions, different histories, and experiences, I want to say, that I trust you with these things, with each one of our needs, and that you would meet us in that need, whether it's a need for comfort or encouragement or peace or hope. You are the God who knows fully. You are the God who cares completely. You are the God who cares for all. So as we approach this text this morning, speak to each and every one of us through it.
Speaker 2:And I want to pray that today be nothing more or less than a chance to meet the divine. Come meet us, God. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. The story that we're gonna look at today covers a huge amount of text, so I won't be able to read verbatim every word of it.
Speaker 2:If you're interested, you can read kind of from chapter three to the end of seven and a little bit of the beginning of chapter eight. But as we make through our way through the story, we'll just stop, point out some interesting things, talk about it until we and then for the rest, I'll summarize until we end up with the stoning death of Stephen. But to really understand Stephen and his death, we need to understand or first catch up with the disciples Peter and John. The scriptures say that Peter and John are filled with the spirit, and they've just healed the lame beggar, and Peter gives an impassioned sermon about the risen Christ. And in the middle of this sermon, the writer of acts tells us that a group consisting of temple guards and sadducees was upset because Peter's teaching.
Speaker 2:This group arrested Peter and John and threw them into jail. But despite their imprisonment, many thousands of people who heard their teaching believed and became Christians. The next day, Peter and John were brought before the high priest Annas and Caiaphas. Peter and John were asked, by what power have you healed the beggar? Their answer was Jesus.
Speaker 2:Annas and Caiaphas were not satisfied with this answer, but at this point, they didn't really have many other options. Because Peter and John obviously healed the man, there were thousands of witnesses to that fact, so the high priests kinda meet in a huddle and talk, and they decide instead of killing Peter and John, we'll just threaten them in an attempt to keep them quiet. So take a listen as I read from the text. Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, which is right in God's eyes?
Speaker 2:To listen to you or to him? You be the judges. As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we've seen and heard. I love their response, and I love their response because of this. It presupposes that God is active and that our responsibility is speaking about what we've seen and heard.
Speaker 2:In their response, I'm reminded of a professor I used to have, and he would often say, god is always doing the things of god. We don't have to manufacture things to witness. God is always producing these things. We simply need to pay attention for the things he is already doing. In the New Testament, there is a commonly repeated phrase, to those who have eyes, see.
Speaker 2:To those who have ears, hear. This phrase and the disciples response form an invitation to imagine the divine all around us. No longer is there a chasm between the sacred and the profane, All is sacred because the divine is at work in all things for all things. As I was preparing for teaching today, I was reminded of a book called practicing the presence of God in which a monk describes his journey to do just what we are talking about. He describes experiencing God not only in the liturgical elements of his life, but also while he chops wood, heals people, does the dishes, and walks to the market.
Speaker 2:Listen to what he writes. He does not ask much of us, merely a thought of him from time to time, a little adoration, sometimes to ask for grace, sometimes to offer him your sufferings, at other times to thank him for his graces, past and present, that he has bestowed on you. In the midst of your troubles, to take solace in him as often as you can. Lift up your hearts to him during the meals and incoming. The least little remembrance of him will always be most pleasing to him.
Speaker 2:One need not cry out very loudly. He is nearer to us than we think. Brother Lawrence. So today, maybe you can think of a relationship that has been healed or a time when you got better than you deserved. Perhaps it's something smaller like when just for a moment you felt joy without reason and you smiled.
Speaker 2:This, good friends, is God. And the invitation of the disciples and brother Lawrence is to pay attention to these things and name them for what they are. This morning, it's my prayer that you would encounter the divine in places that you never expected, and that you would hear and see the kingdom of God as it permeates the world around us. But let's pick up the story. After this exchange with the religious leaders, Peter and John are allowed to go free.
Speaker 2:But surprise, surprise, they couldn't stay out of trouble, and they came into conflict with the Sadducees again. In response, the religious leaders had intended once again to kill Peter and John, which seems a little extreme. But the early church and its leaders weren't just offering a passive alternative to Judaism. They were proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, turns power structures upside down, gives voice to the weak, and leaves little room for religious power brokers, which is why these sadducees reaction seems so disproportionate. Their control of the religious systems, and by extension, the people, was being threatened.
Speaker 2:But before these high priests could act on this murderous intent, a wise Pharisee spoke up and said, let's not kill him. Let's allow them to live. So instead of being killed, they were beaten and allowed to go free once again. This beating didn't deter the disciples though. They set up shop in the temple and houses all over Jerusalem and continued to teach about Jesus.
Speaker 2:And it was at this point that they recognized the need for help. So they asked the early church to appoint seven men to overlook the daily serving of food and the care of widows. And these men one of these men was named Stephen. Now Stephen, along with the other six men, were called deacons. And to be selected as part of this group of deacons, an individual needed to be of good reputation and full of the spirit and wisdom, which makes Steven sound like a pretty alright guy.
Speaker 2:So it might be tough to imagine his death at the end of this story. But it's at this point in the story that the conflict between the early church and the Jew Jewish religious establishment escalates rapidly. Because midway through chapter six, we're told that as the word of Jesus spread through Jerusalem, a great many of the Jewish priests were becoming obedient to the faith. Now imagine, if you were a high ranking Jewish leader and you saw all the lower ranking priests converting to a new faith, how would you feel? Would you slap them on the back and say, go get them champ?
Speaker 2:Likely not. Feelings of provocation and threat would probably rise up inside of you. And Stephen, being on the very front and leading edge of this new new Christian church, bore the brunt of these feelings. The text tells us that he was performing great wonders and signs. So a group called the synagogue of freedmen, who were just a Jewish congregation made up of freed Jewish slaves, argued with Stephen.
Speaker 2:But because of Stephen's wisdom, they had a difficult time debating anything he said. So instead of continuing to argue, they gathered men to falsely accuse Stephen of blasphemy. He was brought before the Sanhedrin, which was a group of rabbis who had parajudicial authority. They didn't really have any authority within the Roman world, but they were allowed to make rulings within the Jewish community, usually around practice and the law. Stephen's accuser said, he incessantly speaks against his holy place, the temple, and the law for we have heard him say that this Nazarene Jesus will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses had handed down to us.
Speaker 2:In response to the charges, Stephen delivers the longest monologue in all of acts. His response is a survey of Jewish history starting with Abraham, Joseph, the patriarchs, and Moses, all the way through Israel's sustained rebellion. At its core, Stephen's diatribe is an indictment of Israel's constant rejection of the ones whom Yahweh has sent, including that of Jesus Christ, God himself. Finally, Stephen says this, you stiff necked people. Your hearts and your ears are still uncircumcised.
Speaker 2:You are like your ancestors. You always resist the holy spirit. Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one, and now you've betrayed and murdered him. You have received the law that was given to you through angels, but you have not obeyed it.
Speaker 2:Now I think if Stephen was being graded on this response, he would have got a does not play well with others comment. But if you thought the Sanhedrin and the synagogue were mad before, it's nothing compared to what comes next. Luke writes, the members of the Sanhedrin were cut to the quick and began gnashing their teeth at him. A mob grabbed Stephen and carried him outside the city, and the text tells us this. But Stephen, full of the holy spirit, looked up into heaven and saw the glory of God.
Speaker 2:And Jesus standing at the right hand of God, look, he said, I see heaven open and the son of man standing at the right hand of God. At this, they covered their ears and their eyes, yelling at the top of their voices. They all rushed him, dragging him out of the city, and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Speaker 2:Then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord, do not hold this sin against him. When he had said this, he fell asleep. Now with the time that we have left today, I want to cover three things from this story. Stephen's suffering, Stephen's imitation of Christ, and the phrase he fell asleep. Sound fair?
Speaker 2:In Celtic spirituality, there was a belief in things called sin places. These were physical locations where Celts believed that the distance between the far off divine world and our close-up, normal everyday world was shrunk down. These two worlds butted up against each other. Think about a place called like, think of Stonehenge. But this belief was not exclusive to the Celts.
Speaker 2:Similar beliefs are found in some indigenous spirituality as well as Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Judaism. In all of these cases, though, thin places were sacred and often used in liturgy and worship. For Stephen, at the moment right before his death, he looks up and sees Jesus. He sees vividly the son of God standing, coming close to him for what is about to happen. In his suffering, Stephen experiences the closeness of Jesus.
Speaker 2:Now I'm not here to say that something that suffering is something we should create for ourselves, nor am I here to say that suffering is something that God sends to us. I simply want to say here today that suffering exists. And if we're open to the experience, Jesus can meet us in our suffering. Or as Henry Nauwen writes, the more you have loved and have allowed yourself to suffer because of your love, the more you will be able to let your heart grow wider and deeper. When your love is truly giving and receiving, those whom you love will not leave your heart even when they depart from you.
Speaker 2:The pain of rejection, absence, and death can be fruitful. Yes. As you love deeply, the ground of your heart will be broken more and more, and you will rejoice in the abundance of the fruit it will bear. In a room this size, I am sure that there are people here who are suffering today. Maybe the source of your suffering is a broken relationship.
Speaker 2:Maybe it's the state of the world, or maybe it's watching someone you love make unhealthy choices, or maybe it's that you're lonely because nobody will take a chance and say hi. Whatever the source of your suffering is today, please understand suffering is not the end. Your suffering is sacred. It's a thin place where God wants to meet you, and it can be a fruitful transformative journey. And Stephen definitely seemed to understand this.
Speaker 2:I mean, the whole reason he was in trouble in the first place was because he had been caught up in the love of the kingdom of God, and he knew that he had to share what he had experienced firsthand. As Stephen is dying, he says, Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit. And then he cried out in a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. This is a quote of what Jesus said as he died on the cross. At Easter, when we rehearsed the passion narratives where this quote comes from, it sometimes washes over me because I've simply been around this story for so long.
Speaker 2:This is how we work. Overexposure produces desensitization. When I hear the Easter story year after year, the radical nature of Jesus' statement can fall a bit flat, And I have to work hard each year to enter the rhythms of Easter and receive everything that the story has for me. But I think there's a second reason why Jesus' words fall flat sometimes, and it's because Jesus was the one to say them. I mean, it's Jesus.
Speaker 2:What else could he have said? Could Jesus have stayed silent on the cross? Could he have called out for those legions of angels that the mob was taunting him about? The academically correct answer is, of course, he could. That's what makes that special.
Speaker 2:But if I'm honest with myself sometimes, I do not expect him to do anything other than what he did. See, the kind of love which motivates an innocent man to pray for his enemies who are murdering him seems perfectly reasonable for the son of God, but entirely surprising for Stephen. But in Stephen, we find hope for the possibility of this kind of love. Stephen was not God incarnate. He was just a man, a perfectly average man.
Speaker 2:But during his murder, he called out for forgiveness for his murders. This is proof that Stephen had been transformed by the same love that Jesus showed. And standing right there watching was a man named Saul. And spoilers, Saul becomes Paul. And later in this series, we are going to double back and take a look at Paul's story as he becomes one of the central figures in the early church and one of the main characters of the later bits of acts.
Speaker 2:But for now, I can't help but imagine how watching Stephen's death must have impacted young Saul, who later mentions this event in chapter 22 of acts, and you can go there and read it if you want. This incredible act of love, Stephen's imitation of Jesus' love, would have seemed impossible other than the fact that Saul himself was there to witness it. The love of God that makes it possible to forgive our enemies transformed Stephen. And it transformed Saul who'd later write these words in first Corinthian eleven one, imitate me as I imitate Christ. These words invite all of us into the journey of being transformed by God.
Speaker 2:So if you hear Stephen's prayer for his enemies and you feel like that's not in you, it's okay. I'm not sure if Stephen or Paul would have thought it was possible for them either, But that is part of the mystery of the kingdom of God, that little by little, each one of us can be transformed into the likeness of Jesus himself, and the love that was impossible for us yesterday is impossible for us today because of Jesus. The Jerusalem section ends with the martyrdom of Stephen, and the last words of this section are, he fell asleep, which is a weird way to end such a dramatic story. One way to understand this is as a euphemism for death. You know, like when the childhood pet dies and you have to explain what happened to Fluffy, you say something like, oh, we took him to a farm, or fell asleep.
Speaker 2:He went to sleep. Something like that. These statements are common social conventions. They let us off the hook for explaining complicated themes like death to a child. And as common as it is for us today, it was common for the ancient world as well.
Speaker 2:Jeremy has spoken about at least one of these kind of euphemisms. In the story of Ruth, she is told to go and uncover the feet of Boaz while he sleeps. In this story, feet do not mean the thing at the end of his legs. Feet means an entirely different thing, and if you're interested in that story, go back and listen to that series and have a good chuckle to yourself about what that means. As humans who have to live with one another, we're just uncomfortable talking about certain things.
Speaker 2:And it and that's possible that that's what's going on here, but I think it's pretty obvious to any reader of this story that Steven is dead. And after all the intensity of this story, for the biblical writer to ease up suddenly on the intensity now because he's uncomfortable with the adult themes doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I think a better way to understand this phrase is as an affirmation that there is more to life than the things we can see and touch. There is a tradition in the New Testament that can help us understand what is going on here. Let me read first Corinthians thirteen twelve, which says, for now we see only reflection is in a mirror.
Speaker 2:Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully fully, even as I am fully known. He fell asleep was not an easy attempt by a squeamish writer to talk about death. Earlier, we talked about the suffering and how there is fruit even in our deepest hurts. When Jesus was on the cross, he cried out, father, why have you forsaken me?
Speaker 2:From that suffering came the defeat of death, the possibility of love that make enemies friends, and the hope that when we hurt, even when that hurt costs us our lives, death is not the end. He fell asleep was not because death is powerless. And in the face of what Jesus did on the cross, he fell asleep was not a weak way of avoiding an awkward conversation. It was a powerful proclamation that the kingdom of God is all around us. And even when faced with suffering and pain, the kingdom of god prevails.
Speaker 2:In the church calendar, there is a day set aside for Saint Stephen. Depending on the exact tradition, the days vary a little bit, but generally, they are lumped together in the days immediately following Christmas. In the Catholic tradition, Saint Stephen's Day is on Boxing Day. And in his 2009 Saint Stephen's address, Pope Benedict the sixteenth said this, like his master, Saint Stephen died forgiving his persecutors and thus makes us realize that the entry into the world of the son of God gives rise to a new civilization. The civilization of love that does not yield to evil and violence and pulls down the barriers between men and women, making them brothers and sisters in the great family of God's children.
Speaker 2:And today, friends, this is my prayer for you, that you would both participate in and encounter this new civilization called the kingdom of God, where enemies become friends, transformation is possible, and where death has been made powerless. Please pray with me. Creator God, we trust this vision of the kingdom that sometimes feels far off from us, that the transformation that we see in Stephen's love for his enemies just isn't there inside of us. But we trust that as we seek to listen to you, to see you in this world, that we would be caught up in that same story and little by little, we would experience that same transformation. For those of us in this room who are suffering, God, I ask that you just draw close, not to fix it or make it go away, but just to honor that it's there.
Speaker 2:Would you bring your presence to each one of us in whichever way we need it today, God? And as we go from this place, would we just have a sense of your nearness? And we ask this in the strong and powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen.