So I was sitting on a mower the other day and decided to just be quiet and listen. I had my earbuds in, but no music was playing at all and because of the buds, I could barely hear the sound of the lastec machine behind me. I was just listening...and God took over. And for some unique reason, He brought to me the story of Stephen, which you can find in Acts 6-7. So I just allowed the Lord to flash through my mind the very short life of Stephen and found myself in a holy place...while sitting on a mower (it can happen that way). And I found myself saying over and over, "are you kidding me?" which is my one saying that I have used throughout my life. So today, I felt compelled to share his story with you.
All we know from Acts 6 is that the church was growing very fast and the disciples had needs of the people to meet, but they couldn't do it, so they begin to search for Spirit-filled, wisdom-driven servants to help in nurturing new disciples. Stephen was one of the seven men selected and Scripture tells us that he was a man full of faith. What does it mean to be full of faith? We will see in a few minutes. All took place and the numbers of discipleship grew even more so.
Now, Stephen was just being Stephen, serving his Lord faithfully when all of a sudden opposition arose against him. By the way, when you and I are doing the Lord's work and will, you should not be surprised in getting attacked as if some strange thing was happening to you (1 Peter 4:12). It is going to happen and I think Stephen (being full of faith) was waiting for it. So, because his loyalty was to Jesus and not to the world, he spoke to the people...he faced the opposition. And his talk is brilliant for many reasons. 1. He spoke their language. The people who are opposing Stephen love Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. Those are their boys. So as long as Stephen was talking about them, the people were happy. Side note, how many sermons today entertain us more so than challenge us? When we walk away from church, do we think "good sermon" or "i need more of Jesus and less of me?!" Stephen then transitions to 2. Jesus. They were eating out of Stephen's hands until Acts 7:51 when he called them stiff-necked people (Moses used to say the same thing) and confronted them with resisting the Holy Spirit by not embracing Jesus as THEIR LORD and SAVIOR. It has now gone from "good sermon" to "I am going to have this preacher removed from our presence!" 3. He keeps his gaze on Jesus! He knew he was going to be attacked and so this moment allowed him not to look at the worldly scene around him, but caused him to gaze to heaven and as he does guess what he sees? Friends, I believe it is the only time in Scripture you will see these words. You see, when Jesus served His purpose on the Cross and stated from the Cross, "it is finished" He then was seated at the right hand of the Father. His mission was done. Accomplished. Have a seat Jesus! Check out Hebrews 12:2-3...He endured the Cross, scorned its shame and then was seated at the right hand of God! But when Stephen looks up to heaven, he sees Jesus doing what? STANDING! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!! Why is Jesus standing? We could come up with many reasons but on the mower I felt the Lord whisper to me, "it is because Jesus saw Himself in Stephen in that moment." You want to move the heart of Jesus, well, it happens when Jesus sees Himself in us. Think about it. Isn't that called worship? Isn't that called being full of faith? Isn't that a perfect definition of discipleship?
But it only gets sweeter. Allow to me finish up by telling the rest of the story. My hero CH Spurgeon said of Stephen these four thoughts: 1. Jesus was seen by Stephen. 2. Jesus was invoked by Stephen. 3. Stephen trusted Jesus. 4. Stephen imitated Jesus. After Stephen's sermon, the people yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death. Oh, by the way, guess who was present that day? V.58 says a man by the name of Saul (who is also referred to later as Paul.) So Stephen looks up to Jesus, calls out to Jesus "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" and then cried out in a loud voice "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That convicts me so deeply that I have a hard time reading that line. Now we see that Stephen was indeed a man full of faith. His life wasn't his own. His life pointed to Jesus. I chuckled because I thought to myself on the mower, how many people thought to themselves, if Stephen hadn't pushed the envelope that day, he might have been able to avoid opposition and death and had more years on earth...what a waste really. But to Stephen his life was pointless if he couldn't talk about Jesus and push people to a full-on relationship to Jesus. And oh, by the way, do you remember who was standing there? Pre-Jesus Christ Paul. By the way, as I was finishing my time on the mower Jesus brought these thoughts to mind...could it be that Paul was inspired to say some powerful statements because of what he saw this day????? Imagine Paul seeing Stephen be Christ-like in this moment and later Paul said these words:
"preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching."
"absent in body, but present in Spirit."
"for you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."
"i press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
and my fav...
"for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."
isn't it possible that Paul thought of Stephen when the Spirit laid those words on Paul's heart? Let's keep striving to be people full of faith and no longer afraid of this world! Let's see Jesus, invoke Jesus, trust Jesus, and imitate Jesus for His Glory and Honor. Let's live in a way that Jesus sees Himself in us! Yes and Amen!
Bless you
ReplyDelete