Acts 7:55-60, Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 and 1 Peter 2:2-10
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is from Acts 7:55-60. To make sense of verses 55-60, you need to start at the beginning of the chapter. Stephen, a disciple, has been called to ministry serving and caring for poor widows. According to Acts 6:5, Stephen was “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”. Stephen was teaching and preaching in the synagogue when he was seized and charged with blasphemy against Moses and God. He was taken by force to appear before the Sanhedrin for trial. Sound familiar?
Much of Acts 7 contains the powerful defense given by Stephen as he reminds the Sanhedrin of the history of Israel – a history of rejecting Moses and God, which the Jewish leaders call blasphemy. At the end of his discourse, Stephen accuses the Jewish leaders of resisting the Holy Spirit and their ancestors of killing the Old Testament prophets who spoke of the coming of “the Righteous One”. Verses 55-60 describe what happened to Stephen as he was taken outside of the city and was stoned to death. Like Jesus, Stephen had spoken the truth of their rejection of God and the Jewish leaders didn’t like what they heard. And, as he was dying, Stephen asked the Lord Jesus to “receive his spirit” and “do not hold this sin against them”. In other words, Stephen was asking the Lord Jesus to forgive those who were killing him. The words are similar to what Jesus spoke while on the cross.
In the study notes of my Life Application Study Bible, the following is written: “before people can give their lives for the Gospel, they must first live their lives for the Gospel”. That is an apt description of Stephen. He was a martyr for the truth. It is interesting that the word “martyr” in Greek actually means “witness”. That is what Stephen was – a witness for Christ, spreading the Gospel and the story of Jesus’ life and teachings. I think many of us associate the word “martyr” with a physical persecution or death. But according to the Greek definition, we are martyrs because we witness, sharing the Gospel with others as we are called to do as Christians.
In the second New Testament reading, 1 Peter 2:2-10, the apostle Peter writes about the foundation and cornerstone of the Church which is Jesus Christ. With that solid foundation, we believers become the stones of the building adding layers to Christ’s foundation. Following Stephen’s death, other apostles (including Peter and Paul) set out on evangelistic missions to spread the Gospel and the Church grew through the Holy Spirit and the efforts of the apostles and disciples.
As Christians we are called to share the Gospel with others, to be a witness (martyr). Worried about what to say to others? Don’t be – before His death Christ promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would be with them as they went out into the world. The Holy Spirit would give them the words to speak when they preached or faced times of persecution. You have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and set aside for the purpose of sharing the message of salvation Jesus Christ has provided for all. Can you think of a better way to glorify God?
Marsha Schroeder
Church Elder