“FINDING JOY IN THE HEART OF A MARTYR”

ACTS 7:54 – 8:1

54  When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.

55  But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

56  "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

57  But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him.

58  Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59  While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

60  Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.

8:1  And Saul approved of their killing him.

You’ve heard the saying many times…Don’t get mad.  Get even. That’s the way it works these days. As the little boy said when he was trying to learn the Golden Rule, “Do one to others before they do one to you.”

That’s the way commentator Andy Rooney thinks. Some time ago he offered some provocative thoughts on the prison system in this country.  He offered those provocative thoughts during his spot on 60 Minutes.  “Did you know,” he said, “that it costs $40,000 a year to house each prisoner?  (Gee) for $40,000 bucks apiece I’ll take a few prisoners into my house.  I live in Los Angeles. I already have bars on the windows. I (also) don’t think we should give free room and board to criminals.  I think they should have to run twelve hours a day on a treadmill and generate electricity.  And if they don’t want to run, they can rest in the chair that’s hooked up to the generator.”

That’s the way it works these days. When someone treats you badly the temptation is always there to give that person a little taste of his or her own medicine.  That’s not what Stephen did though when he found himself being cursed and cussed at by that angry mob.

Stephen got himself into all that trouble when he started witnessing to his conviction that Jesus was the Son of God.  That infuriated the leaders of the Sanhedrin who thought that his conviction was blasphemous.  They thought it blasphemous because it assumed that Jesus was divine and as far as they were concerned that was an insult to God.  People who eat and sleep and laugh and cry aren’t divine. Only God is divine.  So, when Stephen said he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God that really infuriated them.  It infuriated them so much that they dragged him out of the city so they could start throwing all those rocks at him.  The goal wasn’t to teach him a lesson.  The goal was to kill him.

These days we have to deal with road rage.  Bach then they had rock rage.

Poor Stephen quickly found himself in a heap of trouble. The interesting thing though is that he didn’t fight back.  He didn’t throw any stones at them. He didn’t start screaming insults at them. Instead, he did the same thing that Jesus did on the Cross.  He forgave them.  Jesus said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”  Stephen said, “Father do not hold this sin against them.”

Now I’m not going to sugar coat this for you. It isn’t easy to do what Stephen did that day. That’s what it means to follow Jesus though.  It means you love when it hurts.  It means you love when it’s hard.  It means you love when the thing you really want to do is let someone have it.

Unfortunately, people today aren’t like Stephen. They’re a lot like Michael Smith.  Maybe you read about the little incident he was involved in this past week. It happened at the Rainy Day Bookstore in Fairway, Kansas. Jane Fonda was there to sign copies of her new autobiography, “My Life So Far.” While she was signing books Mr. Smith, a Vietnam War veteran, walked up to her and spit tobacco juice in her face. Because of Fonda’s actions during the Vietnam War, Smith said spitting in her face was “an act of honor.” Of course, Mr. Smith didn’t say if running away like a coward after he did it was also a part of his “act of honor.” Now compare that with the way Jane Fonda reacted.  Vivian Jennings, the owner of the bookstore said the actress was very “calm and gracious about it.”                                                                                    (Associated Press April 22, 2005)

Father do not hold this sin against them.  You don’t see people do that very often these days, do you? There’s a simple reason why you don’t see it all that often. Simply put, people today take themselves too darn seriously.  There’s an attitude out there that says, “I’m important and if you show me any disrespect at all I’m going to let you have it.”

It’s too bad people can’t behave the way actor Gregory Peck did one day when he went out to eat with a friend. The restaurant they went to was crowded and people seemed to be taking their time eating.  After standing in line for quite a while the friend became impatient and said to the famous actor, “Why don’t you tell the maitre d’ who you are?”  Peck replied with great wisdom, “No, if you have to tell them who you are, then you aren’t.”

When you’re humble like that and realize that you’re not perfect yourself, that’s when you’re able to do what Stephen did that day.  That’s when you’re able to love even when you’ve been battered and bruised and bumped around a little. It’s the same attitude that led poet Maya Angelou to write these very powerful words.

When I say... "I am a Christian"             I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin’.'"

I'm whispering "I was lost,                     Now, I'm found and forgiven.”

When I say... "I am a Christian"             I don't speak of this with pride.

I'm confessing that I stumble                  and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"             I'm not trying to be strong.

I'm professing that I'm weak!                And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"             I'm not bragging of success.

I'm admitting I have failed                      And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"             I'm not claiming to be perfect,

My flaws are far too visible.                  But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"             I still feel the sting of pain.

I have my share of heartaches. So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"             I'm not holier than thou,

I'm just a simple sinner,                         Who received God's good grace, somehow.

When you’re humble and do what Stephen did that day, not only will it have a profound effect on you.  It will probably have a profound effect on someone else as well.  That was true for a young man was there that day when Stephen was being stoned to death. His name was Saul and he held the coats of the people who were throwing all those rocks at Stephen.

Early on in his life Saul did everything he could to defame and destroy those who followed Jesus.  He despised and detested everything about this new fangled faith.  Then one day while he was on his way to Damascus he had an unexpected encounter with the risen Christ.  It changed his life forever.  Saul did a complete turnaround.  He let go of his hatred and accepted the risen Christ.  He went on to become the Apostle Paul and sacrificed everything to bring the Good News to people near and far.