Acts: Acts 7:55-60
Gospel: John 14:1-14
Epistle: 1 Peter 2:2-10
This
week we continue with the story of the early church. In our reading from Acts
we hear of the stoning of Stephen, the first person to die because they
followed Jesus. We have all heard the story and know that Saul, soon to be
Paul, was there to witness it. We also may be familiar with Stephen’s last
words, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them,” echoing the words of Jesus on
the cross. Yet I think what gets lost in this story, at least for me, is that
Stephen is forgiving his executioners even as he is being killed. Stephen is
often remembered as the first martyr, which he was, and he was willing to
standup in the midst of persecution and die for his faith. But for us in the
Western world we are not at risk of much persecution of any sort, Stephen
stands as a reminder that even what little we do receive is to be returned with
forgiveness and love, not vindictiveness and anger.
In
some sense in fact the story of Stephen in Acts and the Psalm this week don’t
directly relate to us in the West. We are neither facing death for our faith,
nor facing death from our political foes like the Psalmist. We can of course
take general truths from this Psalm, such as the words Jesus cried from the
cross, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” (31:5) That is something we should
all be praying. But these passages remind us that there are people today who
are facing directly what Stephen and the Psalmist also faced. When we pray the
Psalms we are uniting with the Body of Christ in prayer to pray these for the
people of God who are facing persecution.
It
is like this for any of the Psalms. When we are high and we read a Psalm of
distress, we pray it for those who are feeling distressed; when we are alone
and wearing, we pray for those who are persecuted because they also are a part
of the Body; and when we are certain God is near and with us we pray the words
“my God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (22:1) because someone is feeling
that exact thing at that moment. That is one of the powers of the Psalms in the
life of the Church, it forces us to pray not only for ourselves, but also for
others, whether we know them or not.
Someone
mentioned in a Bible I went to recently the power of some of the things John
says in his Gospel and one example is the juxtaposition of saying things like,
“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of
the Father, He has explained Him” (1:18) with things like “if you had known Me,
you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen
Him” from our reading this week. (14:7) On the one hand, no one has seen God;
however Jesus has “explained” him. This word is used six time in the New
Testament and the other five times it is clear that the word means someone used
words to explain or relate something that happened. So I think this is an
interesting word here to describe how Jesus has revealed the Father. But
getting back to the point and in contrast 14 chapters later John is writing
that in Jesus we have indeed seen the Father. In fact, earlier in the previous
verse when Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes
to the Father but through Me,” it is clear that Jesus is the only way to the
Father.
I
felt a little bit like the theme this week was that God never leaves us. That
came up in all four passages, however I ended up not discussing it much. But
that is definitely a truth we need to be reminded of. I haven’t mentioned the 1
Peter passage yet, but the closing verse of our reading is so crucial the
church made up of Gentiles and sinners, “But you are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the
mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Praise
be to God, that he has grafted us into the people of God, both as a group and
individually. Once we were lost and running around like sheep without a
shepherd, but by the mercy of God, we are now a part of God’s people. God’s
love never stopped calling to us even when we were running around lost. God
never leaves us!
That
is the message this week. No challenge to action, but a call to be aware and
reminded of God’s presence in our lives in order to, as Peter writes, “Proclaim
the mighty acts of him who called” us. Let us be mindful of Christ in us, so
that we are Christ to those around us.
Grace
and Peace.
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