Tuesday, November 18th

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Tuesday, November 18

Acts 7:1-3; 51-53

And the high priest said, "Are these things so?" And Stephen said: "Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, 'Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.'

From here Stephen launches into a 48 verse-long sermon that covers the history of Israel from Abraham to Joseph to Moses to David to Solomon. I would encourage you to go back and read the whole of chapter 6 in your Bible. While Stephen is recounting the history of God’s people you can almost see the men who had arrested him nodding their heads; uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. They knew the history and Stephen wanted them to know that he knew the history as well. Then, after 48 verses, he starts to talk about Jesus and his whole tone changes!

"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it."

My first role in ministry was part time Youth Pastor at a church in Glen Ellen. I was in seminary at the time so it was a great way to get my feet wet in ministry while completing my education.
Just a few weeks into my new role I needed a haircut so I dropped into an old fashioned barber shop in Wheaton near where I lived at the time. When I say “old fashioned” I mean the striped barber shop pole outside and men only inside. I sat down to wait for my turn and reached for a magazine - and immediately noticed that most of them were rather inappropriate for a public place! I also noticed the conversation was liberally sprinkled with profane language.
I thought about leaving - but that would have been pretty awkward since I just sat down. So I just sat and waited. When my turn came I sat in the barber’s big chair and just wanted to get my hair cut and get out of there. But the barber was a talker and started right in.

“Hey, you’re new here aren’t ya?”

“Yes.”

“Whaddaya want?”

“Just a basic haircut.”

“O.K., gotcha. So, where do you live?”

“In Wheaton.”

“Whaddaya do?”

Now I had a choice to make! If I said I was a “Youth Pastor” I had a feeling the whole conversation was going to change! So I said, “I’m a teacher.”

I avoided what would have certainly been an uncomfortable moment and I avoided the conversation that may have followed.

Stephen didn’t do that.

"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it."

Problem!

In essence Stephen moves from “uh-huh to unh-unh” ...

He turns the tables on his accusers by putting them on trial!

He accuses the council of being “stiff-necked.” This is a phrase that meant stubborn and prideful.

He says they are also “uncircumcised in heart.” The physical mark of circumcision was to be a reminder of their covenant with God, but Stephen is telling them that although they have the physical mark, their hearts are far from God.

He goes on to state that they have resisted the Holy Spirit, persecuted the prophets and murdered the “Righteous One.” Notice that “Righteous One” is capitalized; that’s because it is written as a title. Stephen is referring directly to Jesus as the Messiah of God which his accusers would have considered blasphemy.

We see here that Stephen was a man of grace but also a man of truth. When challenged to defend himself he spoke the truth about Jesus, even when he knew it was likely to enrage his listeners.

The truth is that the truth can sometimes get you into trouble!

So when you are asked what you believe or why you go to church or why you read the Bible, do you ever stop short of sharing the truth about Jesus or the gospel?

Ask God through the Holy Spirit to give you both the boldness to speak the truth and the grace to do so with love.


Pastor Brian Coffey