Good Sermon

I need to remind myself of the disciple Stephen. Most people refer to him as Stephen the Martyr, and although he was the first martyr, I don't think that is what he should be remembered for. He was one of 7 disciples to be chosen to lead food distribution to the poor and to reach out to the widows in the community of believers in the early church of Acts. He was known as an excellent leader and speaker, and above all you could say he had extreme faith in the sovereignty of God. When he was falsely accused of speaking blasphemy against Moses and against God (Acts 6:11), he didn't quiet his message, fearing what the people would do. He was eventually pulled before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish court, and asked to defend himself, which he did rightly, the entire time knowing that he was speaking his death sentence (Acts 7, read it, it is pretty scathing, good stuff, the kind that gets your own blood flowing). Did he water it down? Did he trim the claws of Judah? Nope, he spoke from the heart, and obviously allowed the Holy Spirit to speak through him. Scary, but he must have fully believed "where O' death, is your sting?" (1 Cor. 15:55) He knew his fate, and kept talking, unashamed, unafraid. Ultimately, he knew who God was. I think that is important, so I will repeat it, he knew who God was, and he was bold in his beliefs because of it.

I believe that a real understanding of God always leads to practical and compassionate actions toward people. That is why I think Stephen knew who God was, he wanted to reach out to the poor and widows. Trust me, I don't believe that I have an understanding of God, far from it, but he is giving me glimpses, and a compassion for the poor and marginalized is what is overflowing from that glimpse.

The main reason I have to remind myself of Stephen's ministry is that it wasn't too long, and probably looked nothing like he had envisioned it. One sermon and then stoned to death. God better be sovereign. He takes a good leader, a great debater and speaker and offs him after one sermon. Just one more reminder that God doesn't need us, no matter how talented we are. God calls us more to be obedient than He does to be good. Whew, that takes some pressure off. We don't see the big picture, only God does, but maybe Stephen's words when he was being stoned "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60) planted a seed into the guy holding the coats, Saul, who two chapters later has his own conversion and becomes possibly the biggest reason for the spread of the Gospel in the early church. I have to be OK with our ministry whether it looks like Paul's, or even if it looks like Stephen's ------ because God is sovereign.