“AN IMPORTANT MARTYR MATTER”
ACTS 6:8-15 & 7:54-60
8 And Stephen, full of grace
and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.
9 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.
10 But they could not withstand
the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.
11 Then they secretly instigated
men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”
12 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,
13 and they set up false witnesses
who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law,
14 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.”
15 And gazing at him, all who
sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
54 Now when they heard these
things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.
55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit,
gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
56 And he said, “Behold,
I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57 But they cried out with a
loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed togetherat him.
58 Then they cast him out of
the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 And as they were stoning Stephen,
he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
60 And falling to his knees he
cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
What do you do when someone
really sticks it to you? Stephen didn’t have to think twice about what
he needed to do. He put himself in God’s hands and asked God to forgive
his enemies. “Lord,” he said, “do not hold this sin against
them.” I wonder how many people these days would do what Stephen did that
day?
I had a friend in high school
who would have had a hard time understanding Stephen. He made it clear to me
one day that he had his doubts when it came to Jesus and the Christian faith. As
far as he was concerned Jesus was meek and mild and he didn’t want any part of that.
His attitude was simple. If someone is pushing your around you push them
back.
That’s what nurse did one day with one of her patients. The patient was
an old curmudgeon who was very demanding and at times a little demeaning. Shortly
after he had his surgery he woke up and wasn’t very happy. So, he buzzed
the nurse. When she walked into the room he complained about the curtains. “Why are the curtains closed? It’s
too dark in here,” he grumbled. “Oh, I’m sorry,” the
nurse said with a smile. “We closed them because the house across the street
is on fire and we didn’t want you to wake up and think that the operation was a failure.”
When someone is pushing you
around you can push back. That’s not going to get you very far though.
Have you ever
heard of a building in New York City called the “Spite
House?” It was built back in 1882 on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street. The house was built by a New York
millionaire by the name of Joseph Richardson. It all started when a man who owned
an apartment building next to Richardson’s land told
him he wanted to buy the land. However, the man refused to pay Richardson what he thought the land was worth. So,
Richardson decided to get even. He decided to build a house of his own on the land. Because it was just a narrow strip of land though Richardson’s house was only five feet wide. He made sure though that the house was tall enough so it blocked all the windows in his neighbor’s
apartment building. Richardson actually lived in his “Spite
House” for fifteen years until he died in 1897.
Usually when
you push back it doesn’t make things better. It only makes things worse. Some people push back when they feel like they’re being pushed around. Others sit down and feel sorry for themselves.
Randy Pausch could have done
that. Some of you may have heard of him.
His story has been in the newspapers. He also appeared on a few talk shows. Randy Pausch is a theater professor at Carnegie
Mellon University. Actually,
he was a professor at Carnegie Mellon
University. He gave his
final lecture last September. He didn’t give that final lecture because
he didn’t want to teach anymore. He gave that final lecture because his
doctors told him last summer that he had pancreatic cancer and only a few months to live.
Imagine what it must be like to be 47 years old with a wife and three young children and suddenly being told that you
only have a few months to live. In his final lecture Randy Pausch talked about
some of life’s lessons. When he was finished everyone in the packed auditorium
gave him a standing ovation. The inspiring lecture was later posed on Youtube
and at last count it had been watched by more than 1.8 million people. In an
interview that he gave after his final lecture he ended by saying, “You know, life is a gift…Again, it sounds
trite, but if you wait long enough other people will show you their good side. If
there’s anything I’ve (learned) that is absolutely true. Sometimes
it takes a lot longer than you might like. But the onus is on you to keep the
hope and keep waiting.”
Those don’t
sound like the words of a person who pushes back when they feel like they’re being pushed around. Those also don’t sound like the words of a person who sits down and feels sorry for themselves when
they feel like they’re being pushed around. Those are the words of a person
who knows that Stephen knew what he was doing when all those stones were being thrown at him.
You continued
to live you life faithfully and gracefully. You love even when it’s hard. You
love even when it hurts. You love even when it looks like the situation is hopeless.
If you have any doubt about
that being the right thing to do just look at what happened after Stephen said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against
them.” Did you notice who was standing there when Stephen died? We’re
told that the people who were throwing all those stones at Stephen laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. Saul was his Jewish name. His Roman name
was Paul. That’s right Paul, the same Paul who later went on to become
the greatest of all the apostles. The same Paul who wrote all those letters that
we have in the New Testament. The same Paul who started all those churches.
Paul started out hating Christians
but ended up becoming one of the greatest Christians of all time.
Some people will
tell you that the decisive moment in Paul’s journey from persecuting Christians to proclaiming the Christian faith happened
on that road to Damascus.
They’ll tell you that the decisive moment came when he saw that blinding flash of light and heard Jesus speaking
to him. I don’t believe that though.
I believe that the decisive moment took place while he was standing there watching Stephen slowly die. I believe the decisive moment took place when he heard Stephen ask God to forgive all those people who
wanted him dead.
Stephen didn’t
push back. Stephen didn’t sit down and feel sorry for himself. He continued to live his life faithfully and gracefully and that made a huge impact on Paul. It made Paul think about himself and what he was doing with his life. Stephen didn’t live to see
what God did with the faithful and grace filled words that he uttered that day. Sometimes
that’s the way it is. You don’t always see what God does with your
faithful words and your grace filled deeds. You can be sure though that God will
always use them to bring a little goodness into this world.
Syndicated columnist David
Pollay puts it a little differently. Several years ago he wrote a column called
“The Law of the Garbage Truck.” He began by asking a couple of questions.
“How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your
mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day?” He then goes on to say that he learned not to do that one day while riding in a New York City taxi cab.
“I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station.
We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.
My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just
one inch from the other car’s back-end.
“I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe
what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and
he started yelling bad words at us...And for emphasis, he threw in a one finger salute…
“But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi
driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, ‘Why did you just do that!?
This guy could have killed us!’ And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the
Garbage Truck™.” He said:
‘Many people are like garbage trucks.
They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles
up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.
So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move
on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.’
“So this was it: The "Law of the Garbage Truck." I started thinking,
how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their
garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets? It was
that day I said, "I'm not going to do it anymore.
”I began to see garbage trucks. Like in the movie "The Sixth
Sense," the little boy said, "I see Dead People." Well, now "I see Garbage Trucks."
I see the load they're carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing;
I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.”
I don’t want you to live your life
faithfully and gracefully because it’s what you’re supposed to do. I want you to live your life faithfully and
gracefully because of what can happen when you do. God used Stephen’s faithful
and grace filled words to make Paul an apostle. I have no doubt that God will
also do something wonderful with your faithful and grace filled words and deeds. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes
April 20, 2008
