Date- 28 April, 2002 (Fifth Sunday of Easter)
The young folks in our Mount Zion youth group have requested that we spend some time studying the book of Revelation and so we have been doing that. We are still in the first three chapters looking at our Lord’s individual message to each of seven of the early churches. As I read our lesson from Acts for today two things struck me. The first was the striking number of parallels between the crucifixion of Jesus and the stoning of Stephen. These parallels include that both were arrested and tried by the ruling religious council, both were tried by citing false witnesses, both prayed for their persecutors, and both prayed the favorite prayer of Jewish children found in the psalm we read this morning. Psalm 31, verse 5, reads “Into thy hand I commit my spirit”.
It is almost as if God is putting an exclamation mark on the words of His Son when Jesus told His Disciples that after He was gone the Holy Spirit would come to them so that Jesus would abide in them and they in Jesus. And this would empower them to do the things Jesus did, and even greater things. These words of our Lord have to ring in our ears as we watch Stephen pray for forgiveness for those who are in the process of killing him. And then it hit me; this is the answer to the events of September 11.
You and I as ordinary men and women, as Stephen was an ordinary man, can yield our anger and our hurt and our fear to the Holy Spirit so Jesus abides in us and we in Him. Then we are empowered to pray for forgiveness for the terrorists who killed so many, or for the parent who abused us, for the lover who hurt us, for the friend who deserted us, for the spouse who left us and for all those who have treated us as less than a child of God. The Spirit that empowered Stephen is ours in Christ and can bring forgiveness into our lives as it did in Stephen’s life. Praise God for what He reveals to us in the life and death of Stephen!
The other thing that struck me is in relation to the words of our Lord directed to the church at Thyatira in chapter 2, verse 20 of the book of Revelation. He tells them he has against them that they tolerate evil among them, evil that leads men and women away from the Gospel. In the youth group we focused on the word “tolerate” and as I read our lesson it struck me that tolerate is exactly what Saul was doing while Stephen was being stoned to death. As far as we know, Saul did not throw one rock or cheer on those who were throwing rocks. He was present and he was silent. He tolerated. He stood and watched and he tolerated.
And Jesus says He has it against members of
His church who tolerate evil, especially evil that
takes our focus away from the Gospel. So in the
youth group we considered what it means to
tolerate. To tolerate is to endure or put up with that
with which we are not in agreement without protest.
What Jesus is saying is that for Christians it is not
enough for us to refrain from doing what is wrong
in God’s eyes, we must not tolerate such behavior
or action when we encounter it in others. We are to
be His light in the world and we are to shed the light
of his truth on the dark areas of our world. Our
silence condones the darkness.
Take movies, television, magazines and books of today. How many movies playing today or TV shows on the air this week would you be comfortable inviting Jesus to watch with you? How many magazines and books on sale today or perhaps in your home would you be happy to have Jesus browse through or read with you? When is the last time you told someone their language or jokes offended you? Have you ever told a bragging friend or acquaintance that cheating on taxes is a sin in God’s eyes? Are you willing to state to any who voice the opposite opinion that abortion and pornography are wrong? Do all who know you know that you do not tolerate lying. We live in a world that glorifies violence, idolizes homosexuality and hungers for graphic portrayal of explicit sexuality and we tolerate it just as Saul tolerated the stoning of Stephen. Our moral outrage is not stirred nearly as much by a city block full of people in New York City hanging out their windows watching a woman being stabbed to death as she begged and pleaded for help over a 40 minute time span and no one helped or even called the police until she was dead as it is by a bad call by the referee of our son’s or daughter’s soccer or baseball game.
Recently an assistant football coach at the U. of Nebraska was denied the head football coaching position at Stanford U. because of his Christianity. And officials at Stanford felt comfortable giving his Christianity as the reason for denying him the job to the press and TV. The coach said it was not the first job he has lost for the same reason. His Christianity didn’t hurt Nebraska, which has one of the best records in college football in the last 5 years. I am confident this coach shines the light of Christ on the dark places he encounters and that he prays for forgiveness for those who use his faith in Jesus against him.
As we hear our Lord promise that the Spirit will empower us to do the things He did, and even greater things, may we also hear him saying, “I have it against you that you tolerate the evil among you”, that you just stand and watch. Amen.