Acts 7

In this chapter we get to see another sermon being preached. As someone who preaches periodically and teaches on a regular basis, I need to pay special attention to the sermons that we see in Scriptures to better shape how I preach and teach, and Acts 7 is another great example.  Before I look at what Stephen said, it’s important to remember that these are not his words; these things are not from him. As I read at the end of chapter 6, his face was like the face of an angel as the Holy Spirit filled him and prepared him to speak. So, now, we get to hear the Holy Spirit speak.

Stephen begins this long recounting of the heritage of the Israelite nation, and refers to various pieces of Scripture all throughout. In fact, he didn’t just refer to scripture; all he does is speak scripture. The online Bible that I am using sort of indents and separates out the quotes or references from other books of the Bible, and there are several scattered throughout this chapter, but even the words that are not direct quotes are simply summarizing a lot of the Old Testament, with no commentary or insights from Stephen. Stephen realized, and too many preachers in this day and age miss on this, myself included, that the Scriptures don’t need a bunch of opinion and “insight” added to them. The words of Scripture are powerful and convicting and true, and we need to rely more on them and less on us. It isn’t until verse 51 that Stephen really starts giving his assessment of where the people he was facing were in light of what the Scriptures taught. The Word of God doesn’t need to be dressed up all fancy to make it effective or applicable, it speaks incredible truth to each of us, wherever we are, whenever we hear it. Those of us that preach and teach need to make sure we aren’t getting in the way of Scripture and that we allow God to speak instead of us.

As I read through Stephen’s account of the heritage of the Israelite nation, a couple things stuck out to me more than others. First of all, Stephen uses inclusive language the entire time. He addresses this group of men that clearly aren’t happy with him right now as brothers and fathers rather than “you guys.” He constantly uses the words our and we as he tells the story, he is wanting the men present to remember and know fully that he is one of them in heritage. He is one of them in their background, in their upbringing, in their training, and in their faith. These are not people from different backgrounds, they are very much from the same place. And that is something God has spoken loudly to me about, that I need to make sure I relate to people and help them see that I am from where they are from. It’s easy as a pastor to come off as a goodie goodie who never does anything wrong and who struggles with nothing. It’s easy as a pastor to convince myself that there are certain things in my past and particular struggles in my present that I shouldn’t share with very many people for fear of them looking down on me as their pastor. I need to make sure people understand that I am just as much in need of a Savior as anyone I’m speaking to or teaching. I think of the people that I admire as teachers of the Word of God, and one of the characteristics that is common among all of them, besides the fact that they teach from the Word and the Word only, is that they are vulnerable. They aren’t perfect and holy and untouchable, they are sinners just like I am and they aren’t willing to admit it. I need to teach like that as well. I need to be vulnerable as well. As I open up my heart to those I am trying to teach, they will open up their hearts to the Word that God has to share with them. I need to make sure everyone understands it’s a we and an our, not a me and a you.

Secondly, while Stephen does an incredible job tying himself and those in the audience to their forefathers and their ancestors, he also makes sure that he tells the history of their people from an unbiased perspective, and that unbiased perspective serves to remind them all that the Israelites were a rebellious and unbelieving people. When Joseph began telling what God was planning, he got sold into Egypt. When Moses went up the mountain, idols were made and worshiped. When prophets came around and talked about the coming of the Messiah, they were persecuted and killed. It’s often easy to look at our past with rose-colored glasses, remembering the good times to be greater than they really were and the bad times to be not quite as bad as they were, and that’s not truth. We need to recognize our past for what it was, learn from it, and move into the future that God has waiting for us. Stephen made sure that they all remembered the true story of their history and their heritage, then he brought down the hammer as he related to all of those present how they were just like their ancestors. His words are bold and harsh and yet very true, and his words brought the house down. God wants me to speak boldly when I need to speak boldly, always in love and only as led by the Spirit, but I know I’ve resisted far too often when I’ve felt that prompting to speak.

The reaction of the people in the crowd is almost humorous, yet incredibly sad at the same time. It is funny to think of grown men, and likely many older men, covering their ears and yelling at the top of their lungs like a little kid. Verse 54 says they were “enraged in their hearts”, and my first reaction is to condemn for this reaction or to look down upon them, but I can’t go too far with that thought before God convicts me on how I react when my sins and my shortcomings are pointed out. Now I’ve never physically covered my ears and shouted at the top of my voice but I’ve done that in my mind, I’ve done that in my heart. I don’t like to have the issues that I’m struggling with put in front of my face, to be brought up and called to the carpet, but I need it. I need those people in my life, and I am so thankful I have some guys in my life, along with my wife, that are willing to say the things I need to hear when I need to hear them. It is painful sometimes, it hurts sometimes and I get mad sometimes, but I know that I need it. The people in the crowd weren’t in that place in their hearts. Their hearts were full of pride and they weren’t ready to hear what they were doing wrong and where they were struggling, and we see that in the reaction that comes forth.

Stephen, all the while, keeps his eyes focused where they should be, on Heaven, on our Savior, on our King. My mind can only imagine what it would be like to look up and to see the glory of God and to see Jesus standing beside the throne. While I have never physically seen that view of Heaven and while I likely won’t in my lifetime, in my heart and in my mind that is where my focus should be. When my heart is focused on the glory of God and the goodness of His grace, my mind won’t worry so much about the things around me on this earth that constantly bog me down. When my soul is always looking upward, it won’t be burdened as much by the pain and suffering and trials that come every day. Stephen is facing a mob of angry men, getting interrogated and talked badly against, I imagine he was beginning to get an idea of what was going to happen to him, and he kept his eye on the prize. Incredible focus and perspective that I need to be reminded of daily.

Stephen is taken out of the city and stoned, and as Jesus did, shows incredible grace and forgiveness by praying for the forgiveness of the people killing him. But the last piece of this chapter that jumped out at me is that this is the first mention of Paul, who is still Saul at this point. The people laid their robes at the feet of this young man and he watched Stephen get murdered. What an impact this event would have on the life of a young man, and I think this affected Saul in a couple ways. First of all, this was an incredible example that he was being given of how not to treat people, even people of a different faith. Stephen was persecuted and killed for what he believed, and this sort of treatment was soon to become commonplace. For Saul, he guarded the robes at this stoning, but he got his chance to participate in many others. Saul watched this all unfold and was given the example, which he definitely lived out, of how to persecute believers in Jesus. Secondly, I think this event probably stuck in the back of Saul’s mind for a long time, probably until a few days after he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus.

We all have events or circumstances in our lives that point to Jesus, and often times those events or circumstances happen long before we are looking for him. In hindsight, looking backwards, it is much easier to see how God pursued us, how He placed hardships and circumstances and people in our path so that we would be influenced and encouraged to seek after Him. I think back to my days in high school when I had to (and got to) experience the death of one of my grandmothers and one of my grandfathers. I had been in church all my life, sure, but I really hadn’t been seeking after Jesus, I had just been going to church. I wasn’t looking for a Savior I was looking for a certain reputation and a certain ease of life (my parents would have killed me if I refused to go to church!). Through the death of my two grandparents I had to see them struggle and battle and fight for their lives, which was incredibly difficult to watch, but I also got to see the love that they had for their family shine through as my Grandma Hill would ask people what they needed or if they were doing all right as they came to visit her while she was laying in bed dying. I got to witness the incredible generosity of my Grandpa Webb as he gave away what he had accumulated to build a church that would affect hundreds of people for generations to come. As I listened to a man literally in his last days take the time to say thank you and I love you to his grandson I began to realize that this life wasn’t just about myself and how much fun I could have. I began to realize then, which I didn’t even recognize until just within the last couple years, that there is a much bigger purpose to my being on this earth and God has a much greater plan for me than to just be a nice person that goes to church. And that is the same perspective I expect Saul gained when he met Jesus and became, as we know him well, Paul. I can’t help but think he looked back in his life and could point to that day when he heard the words of the Holy Spirit, spoken through Stephen, and realized that was an important day in the formation of my faith, that was a day I questioned what I’ve always known and began to look for a Savior. Paul, like most of us, took a while to give in. Paul, like most of us, didn’t immediately jump into the water and get baptized and repent of our sins. Paul continued down the path of destruction and God continued to pursue him and draw him to himself, until Paul finally gave in. I’m glad I gave in a lot of years ago, but I also know there are still areas of my life that I have yet to give over to Him.

Lord help me to identify all of them and hand them over to you, one by one.