ENDURING WITNESS

As we engage the stories of the first followers of Jesus the Christ, we encounter the enduring witness of their words and actions. Stephen was empowered by the Spirit in such faithful living. His life witnesses to the challenges that may come when the gospel bumps up against established religion or society. God is our sure refuge as we are built into the Body of Christ.

The second Sunday of May is Mother's Day, also known as Christian Family Sunday, reminding us that God is all about relationships. The United Church of Canada website has ideas and activities: Link here

What gives you strength, as an individual and as a church, to endure in your witness to the good news of Christ?

SCRIPTURE READINGS (Click on hyperlinks to read on Bible Gateway)

Focus Scripture: Acts 7:55-60

When we last read about the early Christian community, they enjoyed the “goodwill of all” (Acts 2:47). This regard was short-lived. In Acts 4 we learn that Jewish leaders came to Peter and John, “annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead” (Acts 4:2). The leaders ordered Peter and John to cease their witness. They did not, and the number of Jews believing that Jesus was God’s Messiah continued to grow. Again, in Acts 5:17-42, there is an account of the growing tension between these two groups within the Jewish community. As the Body of Christ grew, the disciples appointed elders,– individuals to care for the physical needs of the members. One such individual was Stephen.

In Acts 6:8-12 we learn that Stephen “did great wonders and signs” and spoke with “wisdom and the Spirit.” The temple leaders charged Stephen with blasphemy - showing contempt or a lack of respect for God. This charge was punishable by death (see Leviticus 24:13-16). Stephen stands trial and defends his witness in a fiery sermon, recorded in the first part of Acts 7. As we enter the focus scripture, Stephen has stopped speaking and the stage is set for the sentence for the charge of blasphemy.

In Acts 7:55-56, as Stephen faced his executioners, he “gazed into heaven” and “saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” This is the Easter message embodied: Christ reigns in glory. Those who heard this covered their ears to block out what were, to them, words of blasphemy.

Note the parallel between Stephen’s dying words in verses 59-60 and Jesus’ dying words. Stephen entrusts his spirit to the resurrected Christ. Like Jesus, Stephen prays that his executioners’ sin not be held against them. (See Luke 23:34,46.)

One wonders what effect these words of forgiveness may have had upon those who took up the stones to kill and upon the young man who held their coats, Saul (verse 58). We shall meet Saul again in Acts 9, first in avid persecution, then in awestruck conversion, and eventually in faithful witness.

The story of Stephen is part of the enduring witness of the early followers of Jesus. The story seems to end in Acts 8:1 with the scattering of the Jerusalem church. But very soon, those who are scattered begin to preach and the gospel message disperses.

God’s love and protection endures, as the psalmist in Psalm 31:1-5,15-16 proclaims. Strong verbs in this song of praise witness to God’s presence and protection: deliver, rescue, save. In First Peter 2:2-10, the report of the authorities’ rejection of Christ parallels Stephen’s situation. Yet, God’s gracious purposes endure. The rejected ones are drawn into the circle of God’s own.

Chapters 13 to 17 of John's Gospel, the "Farewell Discourse", are set at the table on the night before Good Friday, the "Farewell Discourse". In John 14:1-14, Jesus witnesses to the richness of God’s love, speaking of his death as the opportunity to prepare a place for his followers in God’s eternal realm: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

The early followers of Jesus moved forward in faith and trust, and their enduring witness inspires our own response to the call to share the good news of God’s saving love. The hope in God’s steadfast love that was their refuge is ours as well. What makes it possible for you, as an individual and as a church, to endure in your witness to the good news of Christ?

REFLECTION

Be with us, O God, when we are challenged to account for the hope that your love has placed in our hearts. Open us to the call of your gospel of peace, and make us bold and enduring witnesses to your saving love in Christ. Amen.

 

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