A Witness Made Stronger than Stone
Just as we learn from Acts 7:54-60 how Stephen was A Witness Made Stronger than Stone, today our Christian witnessing is made stronger than stone by the almighty and all-merciful Jesus. May 24, 2009.
The Mohs Hardness Scale rates various minerals from softest to hardest. Gypsum, one of the softest minerals, used extensively in drywall, can be scratched with a fingernail. Harder than gypsum is apatite, the mineral that makes up teeth and bones in your body. Harder than apatite is calcite, the second hardest mineral, found as gemstones like ruby and sapphire. Four times harder than calcite is the hardest natural substance on earth, diamond. The only thing that can cut a diamond is another diamond, or a laser.
I don’t know the Mohrs Hardness Scale rating of the stones the angry men of the Sanhedrin used to pummel Stephen to death, but I do know this: from Stephen I hear A Witness Made Stronger than Stone. Those stones may have crushed his ribs and skull but they did not crush – or even scratch – his faith, his determination, and his witness made stronger than stone by the almighty and all-merciful Jesus. Today I’m going to tell you why your Christian witnessing has every reason to be just as strong.
By the almighty Jesus
Acts 6 and 7 tell us who Stephen is and how he came to this point. “[The disciples] chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit [for the] daily distribution of food [to] widows. Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose, however. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses. Then the high priest asked him, ‘Are these charges true?’ To this he replied: ‘Brothers and fathers, listen to me!” The next two and half pages of my Bible provide the manuscript for Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin. He recalls God’s faithful witnessing to the Israelites throughout the Old Testament in the patriarchs and prophets, reminding these Israelite religious leaders that a consistent response on the part of the Jewish people, historically and in Stephen’s day, was rejection. “You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! And now you have betrayed and murdered the Righteous One” (Acts 6 and 7 various verses).
This call to repentance made its mark. “When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.” The fury in their bones felt like it was cutting them up inside, and the rage they needed to vent came out in the gritting of their teeth. Stephen’s words hit home all right, but instead of sinking into reflective, repentant hearts, the words bounced off hard hearts, dangerously deflecting back at Stephen like deadly bullets. How have you responded to well meaning words of rebuke from a friend that hit home with you? Often times, instead of accepting the message of another Christian we fire back furiously at the messenger. As if this will make our fear or guilt go away. Actually, it only makes things worse. Jesus once told his followers who take his message to sinners, “Whoever rejects you rejects me” (Luke 10:16). The men of the Sanhedrin, and any of us who behave like them, are rejecting not just the messenger, but the Master himself.
In contrast to these men full of themselves, the Bible says, “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” Something sound strange there? We’re accustomed to the Biblical language of our Christian creeds confessing that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Now, he’s standing. So which is it? It’s both. Both descriptive expressions picture Jesus in a position of power. Here, Jesus stands up for Stephen even as he has always stood up for Stephen and all believers. Stephen isn’t filled with rage because Jesus stands up for believers in his prayer that “they may have the full measure of my joy within them” (John 17:13). Stephen doesn’t look fearfully at his assailants but looks up to heaven in confidence because Jesus stands up for believers when he prays to his Father “you protect them” (John 17:15). Stephen doesn’t see a threat but an opportunity because Jesus stands up for believers in his words to the Father, “I have sent them into the world” (John 17:18).
Jesus stands for something – for someone. You. Stephen. Any of his believers. He stands up for you and like a high priest prays for you, interceding in heaven above, representing your cause, and gaining for you all of God’s forgiveness and strength. It was a strength Stephen needed. “’Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ They covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.” At his trial before the Sanhedrin Jesus had told perhaps some of these same men, “From now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God” (Luke 22:69). Stephen sees that promise fulfilled, and I wonder if any of these men see it too. Seeing it, or hearing it from Stephen, put them over the edge and they lost it. Appointed officials responsible for enacting the laws of Israel and of the Roman government now broke a fistful of each by their murderous mob behavior. Acting like cornered animals that kill their attacker they turn on Stephen with stones in hand.
But Stephen was made stronger than their stones by the almighty Jesus who broke through the stone tomb at his resurrection. Stephen was made stronger than their stones by the almighty Jesus who had ascended into heaven with all power and authority as the cornerstone of the Church. Stronger than a tomb, stronger than Rome or Israel, stronger than the Sanhedrin or the rage of hell itself, Jesus stood up and made Stephen and his witness stronger than stone too. “On this rock I will build my church,” Jesus once promised about such a witness (Matthew 16:18). Look to the ascended and almighty Jesus, who is stronger than the hardest of hearts in your hearers, our weakest attempts to share the faith, and the fiercest enemies whose persecution we fear. “[God’s] incomparably great power for us who believe is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion” (Ephesians 1:19-21). Jesus makes you and your witness stronger than the hardest obstacle thrown your way.
By the all-merciful Jesus
Even death. Could you do it? Could you die for what you believe? Martyrdom is a strong witness! Martyrdom also says a lot about the killer. After all, taking a person’s life is a much of a witness as being willing to die for a cause. President Obama says that an accepted U.S. practice of torturing prisoners says as much about our country as it does about those we torture. Whether you believe that is partisan and political rhetoric or principled leadership, the truth of the matter is this: how we behave is always a witness to others. Jesus himself said that. So what do you think of this witness to Stephen’s martyrdom: “And Saul was there giving approval to his death.” There Saul stood, with the clothes of Stephen’s killers lying at his feet (to give them extra stone-throwing power). With the blood of Stephen still dripping from his hands, in the days to come, “Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison (Acts 8:3). Saul stood strong in approval at Stephen’s murder. He stood strong against the Christian church. And not long after he fell hard with his face shoved into the dirt of Damascus and he whimpered at the feet of the ascended Jesus. Jesus, whom he was persecuting, wanted Saul bad, not to punish him or persecute him in return but in mercy to pardon him, change him, recruit him, and send him as a witness. There at the feet of Jesus Saul was killed and Paul was born. Stephen’s witness stronger than stone, stronger than death, helped to make Paul the witness he became. He later wrote, “When the blood of the martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles’” (Acts 22:20).
Whatever we decide among our hundreds of decisions each day. However we behave among our hundreds of behaviors each day. People observe us. We are witnesses by our behavior. We’ve been there, like Saul. We’ve stood around giving our approval to the mockery of God’s name, or by our silence giving approval to the verbal persecution of a fellow Christian. People don’t hear anything from us so they assume, by our behavior, that we approve. We’ve been there, like Paul. Face buried in the dirt, looking at the bright light of Jesus and dreading his wrath, led blindly to a place we wouldn’t have otherwise gone, and delivered by the mercy of Jesus. Not punished or persecuted in return but pardoned, changed, recruited, and then sent as a witness.
Stephen cemented his life on this mercy as stones were pounding him to the ground. “’Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this he fell asleep.” Stephen’s hope is not his own strength but the mercy of Jesus that will receive his spirit in heaven. Stephen’s concern is not just the injustice of his own death but the well being of his murderers. That changed Saul’s life. You may someday be martyred for your faith. Then again, Jesus gives us plenty of opportunities to witness in less dramatic fashion. When people come to you not throwing stones but they ask you, “How’s your health?” or “What are you doing this weekend?” or “Have you found a job yet?” It’s an opening for you to let them know that Jesus is in charge there, and you are his witness. You can witness Christian priorities to your children by your family scheduling. You can witness Christian generosity to your fellow Grace members by giving your money or your time to volunteer. You can witness Christian forgiveness to a friend or family member who has sinned.
There are people in your life who need Jesus. They need to know more about your almighty Jesus – that nothing stands up against him. They need to hear about your all-merciful Jesus – that nobody is excluded from his eager love. Friends who need Jesus. A neighbor. A relative. A person who has experienced a crisis. Those are just 4 of the 12 categories of friends who need Jesus you can keep track of, pray for, and witness to using this half sheet form on which you can write their names. Tuck it in your Bible. Tape it on your desk. The hurt they have been misled to believe, the guilty they feel, the hopelessness that drives them down are all strong. But your witness is stronger. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on May 24, 2009
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