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STEPHEN THE MARTYR
Unsung Heroes, Part 2
From Acts 6, 7 & 8
August 5, 2007
Pastor Bob Sanders
This is the second in a brief series of messages entitled Unsung Heroes. We’re looking at some of the lesser-known characters in the New Testament – the often overlooked individuals who play such a crucial role in the story of the early Church. Last week we looked at Barnabas the Encourager. Today I want us to think about a man named Stephen. He’s called the first martyr because he was the first believer to be killed for his faith in Christ. But the primary meaning of the Greek word martyr is not someone who dies for a cause. In Greek martyr means a witness – someone who bears witness to Jesus Christ, someone who points to him in word and deed as the living Savior. In Acts 1:8 Jesus said to his disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses (literally, ‘my martyrs’) in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” You see, Stephen was not a martyr because he died. He died because he was a martyr, because he was a powerful witness to the Lord Jesus.
What I find so compelling about this story is not just that Stephen died. What grabs me is that he found something in this life worth dying for. In Jesus Christ Stephen found something so good and so real and so powerful that nothing else came close to matching it. Jim Elliot was another martyr, and he found the same thing. Some of you know his story from the recent movie “End of the Spear” – how he was killed while bringing the Gospel to the Auca Indians of Ecuador. Stephen would have agreed with the famous words Elliot wrote in his journal (as printed on your bulletin cover):
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep
to gain what he cannot lose.
And the question Stephen’s story begs us to answer is “What is worth your life? What have you found that is worth living and dying for?”
Stephen’s story begins in Acts 6 and continues through chapter 7 and on into chapter 8. I’m going to read the first part of it now, and then later we’ll hear the ending.
Acts 6:1-10
1Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 2And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, 4while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.” 5What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
8Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. 9Then 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. 10But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.
Luke begins with a disagreement in the early church, and there’s an encouraging word in these verses for every church officer. Following Pentecost thousands of people had made decisive commitments to Jesus Christ and joined the church in Jerusalem. Many of these new believers were “Hebrews” – that is, they were Jewish Christians native to Palestine. Many others were “Hellenists” – Jews from other countries who became Christians while visiting Jerusalem for Passover and Pentecost. Over time, the church set up a relief fund for widowed members of the congregation, but the Hellenists thought their widows were being neglected and started grumbling about it.
Trustees may find it encouraging to learn the disagreement concerned the distribution of church funds. Even in the Book of Acts church budgets can cause conflict. Elders may find it encouraging to see that the first church had to deal with “us versus them” disagreements. Whether it’s Hellenists versus Hebrews, or newcomers versus old-timers, or contemporary versus traditional, these disagreements have been around a long time. Pastors will be encouraged to see that the apostles didn’t try to do everything in the church. They had to delegate in order to carry out their primary mission, which was to pray and preach the Word of God. They called a congregational meeting and selected a team of seven to handle the problem. These became the first deacons, and what they did was so important to the church’s life and health that only the most able and trustworthy persons were chosen. I hope that’s an encouragement to our Deacons.
One of these seven was a man named Stephen. In our text he’s described as “full of faith and the Holy Spirit…full of grace and power” (vv.5, 8). I like how Eugene Peterson describes him in The Message: “brimming with God’s energy.” Unfortunately, his Spirit-filled career was a short one. See, in addition to caring for the poor, Stephen started spreading the word about Jesus – which is only natural since it was Jesus who’d gotten him interested in helping the poor in the first place. Stephen started healing and preaching and talking about how Jesus had changed his life. And that’s what got him in trouble.
By the way, it’s the same today as it was back then. Serving the poor is fine. Talking about Jesus is not. Helping the needy is admirable. Sharing your belief in Christ is arrogant. When you try to live out your faith through works of service and words of witness it isn’t long before the opposition shows up.
Stephen was hauled before the Jewish authorities and put on trial. His critics couldn’t match him in an open debate, so they brought false charges against him. They accused him of undermining their religion by speaking not only against the temple but against the Law of Moses itself. They said, “We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed on to us.” But that isn’t at all what Stephen said. What he said was that God doesn’t dwell in buildings but in people. And that in Jesus Christ God hasn’t abolished the Law of Moses but fulfilled it. But in those days that kind of thing could get you killed (look what happened to Jesus), so Stephen was on pretty thin ice.
The high priest asked him, “What do you have to say for yourself?” and Stephen did what he did best: he started talking about Jesus. He talked for a long time. His message takes up most of Acts chapter seven and, suffice it to say, it isn’t what you’d call “seeker-sensitive.”
The gist of it was that from the year One God’s people had always been an ornery lot – “stiff-necked,” he called them – and said they were circumcised as all get-out in one department but as mean and low down as everybody else in all the others. They’d given Moses a hard time in the wilderness, he said, and there hadn’t been single prophet since they hadn’t had it in for. The way they treated Jesus was the latest and worst example of how they were always not just missing the boat but doing their damndest to sink it.
Well, that got their attention. Here’s what happened next.
Acts 7:54 – 8:3
54When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. 55But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56“Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. 58Then 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. 59While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60Then 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.
1And Saul approved of their killing him. That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. 2Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. 3But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.
Most of us have met people who think they’re being martyrs when what they really are is being obnoxious. They’re the ones who show up at your front door and harangue you till you have to ask them to leave, and then they pat themselves on the back for how they’re suffering for the Lord. Martyrs!
Stephen wasn’t like that. He wasn’t trying to be obnoxious, and he certainly wasn’t trying to get killed. He was just so filled with this new life in Christ that when asked to talk about it his enthusiasm outran his caution. And it infuriated the members of the council. They started to turn purple with rage, ready to explode. That’s when Stephen got “the look.” You know that look someone gives you when they’re looking at you but not looking at you? That look that makes you turn your head to see what the other person can’t take his eyes off of? That’s the look Stephen was giving the council. While they’re glaring at him in fury, he’s looking up into heaven. Verse 55 says, “Filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God.”
Stephen knew he was in danger, but what he saw caused the hate-filled faces to fade from view. “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” “The Son of Man” – that’s Jesus. “At the right hand of God” – that’s what we affirm every time we repeat the Apostles’ Creed: “On the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty…”
That’s what Stephen saw. Only he saw Jesus standing, not sitting. Throughout the New Testament the risen Christ is pictured as sitting beside the Father in sovereign power. But when Stephen saw him, Jesus was standing. Maybe you think that’s just a minor detail, but I think it’s huge. I think Jesus is standing because his servant Stephen needs to see him, needs to know his Lord is paying attention. I think Jesus is standing to put courage into Stephen, even as Stephen was giving witness to Jesus. And I’ll crank it up one more notch. I think Jesus is standing to honor Stephen. I think Jesus is giving his servant a standing ovation as he welcomes him home.
When the council heard those words, they dragged him out to kill him. Stoning someone to death is hard, hot work – especially someone young and strong like Stephen. So they checked their coats with a young man named Saul who was there because he thoroughly approved of what they were doing. Then they started in, and as the murderous stones battered his body, Stephen prayed just like Jesus had done: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
And then he died.
It was a scene Saul never forgot. Years later when he’d become a Christian himself and right up to the day he died, Paul (as he became known) remembered that day when he’d stood guard over the pile of coats and watched the whole bloody business. As he watched this good man die and heard him pray, a seed was planted. It has been rightly said that the church owes Paul the apostle to Stephen the martyr.
The story ends with this: “That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.” Remember what Jesus said back in Acts 1:8? He told his followers, “You will be my witnesses…” Where? “…in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Please notice this. When persecution broke out it looked like evil was winning. But the Lord was using this persecution to get the message out of Jerusalem and into the world. Saul went on a rampage, but all it was doing was to push Christians out of their comfort zones, scattering them like seed so they could take root in Judea and Samaria and begin to bear fruit for Jesus Christ.
* * * * *
When I was visiting Princeton Theological Seminary last May I paused in front of a bronze plaque that stands just outside the door to the cafeteria. On the plaque are inscribed the names of three Princeton graduates who, like Stephen, shed their blood for their faith in Christ:
Walter Macon Lawrie – thrown overboard by pirates in the China Sea, 1847.
John Rogers Peal – killed with his wife by a mob at Lien Chou, China, 1905.
James Joseph Reed – fatally beaten at Selma, Alabama, March 11, 1965.
I stood before that plaque and thought of these who died for the Lord they loved more than life. And it reminds me that even now in many parts of the world, men and women are risking their lives to bear witness to Jesus Christ, and some of them are paying for it with their blood. We need to remember them in our prayers this morning – persecuted sisters and brothers in parts of Africa (Sudan and Mauritania, certainly, but also in Senegal), and throughout the Middle East (including the tiny remnant of beleaguered believers left in Palestine), in China, Pakistan, and Indonesia – to name just a few.
Nowadays most of us work very hard at not being martyrs. At not calling attention to our faith in Christ. At not saying or doing anything that would earn us the slightest disapproval of others. But Stephen’s story reminds us that there was a time when Christians were known for this sort of thing – known for the ways they joyfully parted company with their possessions, with their family and friends, with their very lives. Did Stephen and these other martyrs make it their goal to get arrested and killed for Jesus? No, it’s just what happened while they were living out this new life and trying to tell others about what they’d found in Jesus Christ.
The challenge of this story, at least for me, is that so many of us in the church today settle for so much less. Instead of the kind of life we see in Stephen – a life full of grace and power and passion – many of us settle for a polite, mentally balanced, socially acceptable “religion” that has very little worth living for. And hardly anything worth dying for. We’re Presbyterians, for crying out loud! “Decently and in order” – that’s our mission statement. We hug the middle of the road like it was holy ground. No passion, please. It keeps the rest of us from napping. And for heaven’s sake, no big deal about Jesus, OK? It makes our friends and neighbors think we might be fanatics or fundamentalists. That’s as close to being martyrs as we care to get.
But Stephen was so full of this new life he couldn’t hold it in. Whether he was making sandwiches for the widows or proclaiming his faith to the highest court in the land, he couldn’t help pointing to Jesus. He died young, but at least he’d found out what it is to really live. And when it came time to die, Jesus Christ gave him a standing ovation.
Thanks be to God for people like Stephen – for people who won’t settle for a half-hearted, lukewarm, play-it-safe religiosity. People who aren’t afraid of what others think of them. People who refuse to apologize for Jesus, who choose instead to bear witness to him in works of humble service and words of Gospel truth.
Isn’t that what you really want? Isn’t that the kind of church you want to be part of? I hope so, because it sure is what I want. To be part of a company of men and women who are sold out for Jesus Christ. Like Stephen. Full of faith and the Holy Spirit. Full of grace and power. Full of Jesus.
May God make us more and more like him.
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