Life Lessons
Today we honor St. Stephen, the first deacon, and a Christian persecuted by Saul.
Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he 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 him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel. Then the high priest asked him, "Are these things so?" And Stephen replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. You are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it." When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died. - Acts 6:8-7:2a,51c-60
God was on Stephen's side, but he was still persecuted and stoned to death.
It makes sense, in a way, that if God would choose to live among us in the form of his son, Jesus, and suffer a horrible death by our hands, that He would not stop us from doing harm to ourselves and one another.
Instead, He loves us and begs us to be loving as He is loving.
We tend to look on that attitude as a weakness. But look at what God did with the persecution of Stephen.
He turned Saul around, and today, we credit Paul with the growth of the early church. Stephen is viewed as a martyr, someone who died for the greater good of all of us.
There was a time in our history, when death as a martyr was admired, revered, even desired. But times change. Or do they?
We still have people who will die for a cause and be considered martyrs by their supporters, and we, like the Romans, might call them terrorists. The difference is they take the lives of others along with their own.
Today we remember those who are persecuted for their faith, pulled away from their calling and work, to be tortured and killed.
Today we honor the true martyrs, and we vow not to contribute to their persecution. Instead, we should defend and support them, and do all we can to keep them safe.
I guess that means we should put ourselves in harm's way, along with them.
Are we ready to do that?
More to come...