Monday, November 17th

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Monday, November 17

Acts 6:8-15

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, "This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us." And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

When we think of the word “hero” some of us think of fictional characters like Batman, Rocky Balboa or Jack Bauer. Some of us think of athletes like Michael Jordan or LeBron James. But, in general, I think most of us would agree that we tend to throw the word “hero” around a bit too easily.

I recently came across the story of a Pakistani teenager named Aitzaz Hasan. In January of this year 17 year old Hasan noticed a suspicious looking man walking toward his high school in Pakistan. He quickly recognized that the man was a suicide bomber wearing a jacket loaded with 13 pounds of explosives and clearly intended to detonate the bomb inside the school. Thinking quickly, Hasan ran toward the man and challenged him to a fight. After a brief struggle the cowardly bomber set off his explosives, killing both of them instantly. Hasan’s courage and decisive action saved the lives of over 1,500 faculty and students in the high school. I think we would all agree that Hasan was a hero.

In John 15 Jesus defined true heroism when he said, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lays down his life for a friend.”

We are introduced to just such a hero in Acts 6.

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

Stephen was one of the seven men chosen to administer the distribution of food to the widows in chapter 5. Along with the others he was chosen for his Godly character and wisdom. Here Luke tells us he was a man “full of grace and power.”

When I think about this description of Stephen it occurs to me that, in my experience, those two words rarely describe the same person. That is, when it comes to both personality and behavior, human beings tend to gravitate toward one of those two polar opposites. People are either graceful or they are powerful.

Some folks are gentle, soft-spoken, patient, and very easy to be around. You probably know someone in your life right now that you would describe as full of grace.

Other people are more confident, in charge, type “A”, “get it done” type people. These folks aren’t always comfortable to be around, but they get a lot done! You might have a boss or co-worker that you would describe as full of power.
   
So, at first glance “grace” and “power” don’t seem to go together! Grace is a gentle word; power is a stronger, harsher word; yet Luke says that Stephen was both!
   
Stephen was full of grace, Luke says.

What is “grace?”

The Greek word translated as grace is charis, and it carries the meaning of gift, and specifically the gift of God’s favor.

The gift of God’s grace is at the very center of the gospel.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God... (Ephesians 2:8)

Interestingly, in John 1:14 Jesus is described in the same way:

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

So what does it mean to be “full of grace?”

To be full of grace is to be full of God’s favor.

In Ephesians 1:4 we read:

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

To be full of grace is to be full of God’s love.

In Ephesians 3:17-19 Paul writes:

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

To be full of grace is to be full of God’s forgiveness.

Ephesians 1:7 says:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace

To be full of grace is to be full of God’s peace.

In Colossians 3:15 Paul reminds us to...

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts

To be full of grace is to be full of God’s Spirit.

In Romans 8:16 we read:

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

Stephen was full of grace because he was filled with the gift of the gospel; because his life was defined by the gospel; and because his identity was anchored in the grace and love of Christ.

Luke also says that Stephen was full of power.

What is “power” and where did Stephen’s power come from?

The word is dunamis, from which we take our words dynamic and dynamite. Dunamis refers to might, strength or ability.

Luke says,

But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

His power came in the form of wisdom; and his wisdom came from the Holy Spirit.

In John 15 Jesus said:

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

Stephen was full of power because he had received the gift of the Holy Spirit when he put his faith in Jesus.

What I think what we most need to see here is that, although Stephen was certainly a hero of the faith - as we will see later in this chapter - he was no different than you and me. He was simply a man who believed the gospel and had allowed Jesus to fill him with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit then filled him with both grace and power.

I believe the Spirit wants to do the same for each one of us.

Pastor Brian Coffey