This week we learned more about an early leader in the dynamic Christian community named Stephen. While his presence in Acts is relatively short (just chapters 6-7), it is clear that Luke wants us to realize what a special man Stephen was. He is a man of "grace and power" (v. 8), which immediately connects him in our minds to Jesus ("full of grace and truth" Jn. 1:14). And, of all the speeches given by leaders in Acts, Stephen's speech in chapter 7 will be the longest. Luke is showing us that Stephen is the embodiment of being a Christian. Stephen's life speaks and shows the way of Jesus, even in his death by stoning at the end of chapter 7. Here, in other words, is a "saint" for us to both emulate and to take encouragement from.
Who have been the "saints" in your life - the men and women who have helped you see what it means to be a Christian? Give thanks to God for the gift of their example.
In exploring Acts 6:8-15, we talked about the two different types of faces present in this text. There are the faces of Stephen's accusers, the men from the synagogue of the Freedmen who are looking to stir up trouble for Stephen and to rid themselves of this nuisance. Then, there is the face of Stephen, a face that is "like the face of an angel." In order to heighten the difference between these two groups, I told two stories and gave two "facial" images - one of a face of hostility and one of a face of deep composure.
The two faces can be summarized as follows:
The face that begins to crunch up and tighten at all the wrong places … the face where animosity is beginning to seethe underneath.
Hatred.
Insecurity.
Aggression.
Fear.
Power.
And then this other face.
The face of someone who is gentle.
Who is kind.
Who has found it in his heart to love.
Who can forgive.
Who can look upon other people and smile … like we smile when we see the joy of a child.
Great hope.
Great joy.
Great love.
Where in your own life recently have you seen a face of aggression? What was causing the tension? What helped either alleviate the person's frustration or seemed to add to it?
Where in your life have you seen someone with a deep sense of inner integrity, grace, and quiet strength? What do you feel was the key to this person's "graciousness"?
There is a direct connection between Stephen's outer appearance and his inner character. The expression "face like an angel" is rare in the Bible, and it is used to connote someone who has spent time in the presence of God, whose life and mind and heart have been shaped by God's deeper ways of grace, forgiveness, and sacrificial love. Those with faces like angels are those that have seen God's immense love. God's love for them specifically ... but also ... for all of those around them regardless of their race or gender or class or orientation or political affiliation. Those with faces like angels have seen that God truly is love and truly desires to redeem the world, not punish it.
Having a face like an angel also signifies Stephen's willingness to live the practices that will keep him close to God. Practices like: living simply, taking time for quiet and prayer, looking beyond daily headlines to deeper rhythms of grace, being grateful, being generous, living a life of worship, and living as a servant to others.
What is one practice you'd like to try this week to help you be in God's presence more? Carve out five minutes of quiet time in your day? Try to speak less and love more when in a meeting or with your family? Pick up a devotional book that you can read on a daily basis? Practice the spiritual discipline of going for a walk out in nature at least once a week?
Sometimes we find it hard to relate to these early Christians. Sometimes what is needed are more recent and more relatable stories of the "saints." One such story comes from Melissa Nussbaum in Give Us This Day (a devotional resource):
"My kids still talk about my mother's friend Joni who used to take them to her trailer in Palo Duro Canyon, where she gave them Orange Crush and let them roast marshmallows over a fire they helped to start. Joni and Dudley married young and began sharecropping. They were born poor and lived poor, but Joni knew there was always someone in greater need than they. I remember the day her neighbor came to the door. His baby was sick, and he and his wife had spent the grocery money on medicine and doctor visits. He needed money. Joni said, 'I don't have any money, hon, but come on in. I'll give you half of all my food.' And that's exactly what she did. Like Martin of Tours dividing his cloak, Joni divided the cans in her pantry and the eggs and produce in her refridgerator and the meat in her freezer, making herself the bridge from that hungry day until the next payday. Joni did it because she was a Christian and took Jesus at his word when he said that if someone wants your tunic, give him your cloak as well.
"Joni also smoked and weighed somewhere north of three hundred pounds and teased her hair and wore long, brightly polished fingernails. She did not look like a saint, unless we envision saints wearing paisley polyester caftans and blue eye shadow."
Comments
Post a Comment