It’s hard for us to understand, looking from earth’s perspective, why God would allow the earthly life of one person to be sacrificed for the sake of the eternal life of another. It seems almost unfair – until you realize that as a result of Stephen’s death, both he and his persecutor, Saul, would be with Christ forever.

I was stopped in my tracks this past week as I came into the church office to pick up my mail. The little periodical, "Pulpit Helps" (July 2006) was lying on the table among the other pieces of correspondence and on the front page was an article titled, "Don’t Waste Your Cancer." "Now there’s a bold topic!" I thought as I quickly opened the piece to read it further. The author, John Piper, was diagnosed with prostate cancer and wrote the column the night before he had surgery. That surgery went well, by the way. Among his statements were the following confident points. I hope we're all listening.

It was a wonderful article, one of a kind up against the typical panic and hand ringing that is seen more often than not in the face of such threats to personal life.

I don’t have cancer that I know of, but like all of you, I realize that could change with a single sentence from my doctor: "You have cancer." If I ever do have any such life threatening issue, I hope I can respond with the same kind of bold confidence as John Piper. If I contract a disease that will take my life, I hope that it will serve for the glory of God and that my death will contribute to His great cause in some good way. Do such words scare me as I utter them? Frankly, yes, they terrify my flesh. But as surely as the Spirit of God lives in me and in every true Christian, I believe I can state them anyway, knowing that God will give me the strength necessary to calm that weak flesh should it become necessary.

Boldness in the face of nearly certain death is behind the story I want to tell you this morning. My message is called, Stephen: A Gracious Hero’s Story. It comes right out of the pages of God’s word through the writing of Dr. Luke, in Acts 6:1-8:3. To keep my thoughts organized, and hopefully keep you tracking with me, I’ll hang the message on three points: Luke’s Purpose, Stephen’s Participation, and God’s Providence. Let’s get right to the story…

Luke’s writing in the book of Acts tells us of the spread of the faith from its origin in Jerusalem on Pentecost until it had gone through much of the Roman Empire. Stephen’s story took place while Christianity was still confined primarily to the city of Jerusalem. The church was launched on the day of Pentecost in 33 AD. It spread like wildfire across the city of Jerusalem, the same city that had killed Jesus, the Messiah, not long before. Stephen comes to the forefront when a problem developed in the new church and it put him to work serving tables. By that humble call God begins to bring him out of obscurity into a place of profound influence in the church.

In the days Luke describes in these verses the church was growing rapidly. Often fast growth brings with it some "growing pains." That is what we find as we enter this chapter at verse 1.

So the story of Stephen begins with a simple problem of food distribution – simple that is, until you factor in an old pre-Christian rivalry. Notice the two kinds of Jews mentioned: The Hellenistic Jews and the native Hebrews.

The "native Hebrews" were the Jews indigenous to Palestine who had become Christians. They were the descendants of the exiled Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity to rebuild the temple under the leadership of Nehemiah and Ezra 500 years before this. They were the religious conservatives – intensely nationalistic, vigilant observers of the law and traditions of their Jewish heritage. Since many of them lived relatively close to the Temple in Jerusalem they were in that edifice often to worship. They stubbornly held to the Hebrew and Aramaic languages of their culture and shunned the influence of the Greek culture around them.

The Hellenistic Jews were the Greek speaking Jewish Christians who lived all around the Mediterranean region, maintaining their worship through a network of synagogues in their own cities since it was too far for them to go to worship in Jerusalem. They made up what James calls the "diaspora," a Greek word meaning "the dispersion." Their traditional Jewish cultural background had a heavy Greek influence. Because of this they were never really accepted by the Jews living in Palestine.

Cultural background does have a bearing on our relationships in the church. The difference between the way you were raised and the way I was raised can and sometimes will affect our ability to get along and see things eye to eye. These kinds of differences formed an undercurrent of distrust in the Jerusalem church that only needed an issue – in this case, a perceived slighting of the Grecian widows – to cause it to come boiling to the surface. Someone noticed what he thought was a slighting of the Grecian widows in the daily serving of food. Whether the accusation was accurate, we don’t know. Apparently it was a very serious complaint because it quickly found its way to the apostles and prompted a meeting.

Notice the mention of Stephen. Luke spends more ink introducing him because of the role he will play in the story that follows in the remainder of chapter 6 and 7.

As an aside, I have heard it said that there is usually a good potential in the appearance of every problem. While I don’t know if the saying is always accurate, it surely fits here. As a result of the problem they had, the first Deacons of the church were appointed which would set precedence for the church for all time. Problems aren’t always bad provided we make the effort to work through them to appropriate solutions. And since a church without problems is most likely one that isn’t going anywhere, I think it is best to try to keep a mindset of seeking the potential in the problems rather than totally focusing on their negative effects. Problems can be setbacks or stepping stones to better things.

Another point to make before we move on is to see that the apostles considered it very important that men put into the offices of the church were qualified. These men were "men of good reputation," that is they needed to be men of good character, "full of the Spirit," they needed to be spiritual men, "and full of wisdom," they needed to possess the ability to do their work. It can be tragic when the church ignores these qualifications and places men into office who lack them.

Also interesting to me is to note that each of the seven men chosen had Greek names. That is a pretty good indicator that they were from the Hellenistic side of the conflict. That certainly would kill any distrust among the Hellenists as to the intent in resolving this problem.

The early Christians were not people free of problems. Our benefit is in watching how those who formed the foundation of the church – the apostles and prophets – dealt with their problems.

Verse 7 holds a description of the results of their action.

So this problem which could have been a drag on the church to slow or stop evangelism (such rumbles often do) did not slow the work of the gospel. The widows were served fairly and those who were the teachers did not get bogged down in things that would keep them from their preaching and teaching. Their outreach continued to be so effective that even some of the Jewish priests were becoming Christians!

And that is what formed the tension that set the stage for what would happen next. This success of the gospel among Israel’s leadership class caused great alarm among the Jewish leaders –one Pharisee in particular – a man named Saul of Tarsus.

By the way, this is the first mention in Acts of anyone besides the twelve apostles doing miracles. That is very significant. Where did Stephen receive the ability to perform miracles? Luke tells us later, in Acts 8:18, that this miracle measure of the Holy Spirit was bestowed "through the laying on of the apostles’ hands" – something that we just read about in verse 6. Up to Acts 6, only the apostles did miracles. After Acts 6, miracles were preformed only by those on whom the hands of apostles were laid. This helps us understand that the miraculous measure of the Holy Spirit was something only available in the earliest days of the church, when there were living apostles.

Luke’s words "and some from Cilicia" are probably a reference to Saul of Tarsus, as that was his place of origin.

So Stephen was brought out of obscurity to a place where God would work through him. He was a humble man willing to start at the bottom as table waiter doing a menial task. Had he been unwilling to take this common job we have to wonder whether God would have used him at all. Most significant service for God begins with a humble call and a willingness to serve in that humble call. The tendency of the flesh is to want to start at the top rather than at some point that few will notice – but that isn’t often the way God works.

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time," wrote Peter in 1 Peter 5:6. If you want God to use you, don’t refuse humble service.

I like the late Jim Elliot’s definition of missionaries. He said missionaries are "a bunch of nobodies trying their hardest to exalt Somebody." Note the capital "S" in "Sombody." This is the kind of person God moves up in the church.

Stephen was a humble man. He was also a gracious man, "full of grace and power," Luke says in verse 8. When a person is conscious of the grace that God has granted to him even though he was a condemned sinner, he is more likely to be willing to extend the same grace to others – even to a persecuting enemy. Keep this in mind as we see the gracious way Stephen lived and died. His graciousness would be noted by the first full-fledged persecutor of the church – Saul of Tarsus - and would impact him for life.

Who but the Holy Spirit, working through gracious men like Stephen here, could change the heart of the man who, as Luke would later write in Acts 9:1, "breathed threats of murder against the disciples"? Saul’s persecution of the church, described by Luke in Acts 8 and 9, it the church like a runaway 18 wheeler. Yet in time, the impact of the graciousness of Stephen would not only stop the eighteen wheeler – it would turn the man, Saul of Tarsus, completely around and make him one of the greatest advocates for the message of Jesus that we have ever known. That’s the power of a gracious nature. Please never forget that you never now who is watching you closely or just how much others are being influenced by your attitudes and actions.

OK, Stephen was out among the people performing miracles by the power of Jesus. He was drawing great attention to the message of the gospel. Some Jewish men, probably including Saul of Tarsus, rose up and argued with him.

Notice the tactics of these men. They couldn’t cope with the power of Stephen’s message any more than they could cope with the words of Jesus during His earthly ministry. So what did they do? Acknowledge that they were wrong? No. They resorted to what is so common among those refuse the truth yet today – dishonesty and false accusations. If you can’t cope with the message, attack the messenger. Those of us willing to firmly stand up for what is right need to remember this tactic and expect it. It will come. People who do not love the truth are not above lying and using other equally underhanded tactics if it serves their purpose.

A mob viciously dragged Stephen away and deposited him in the chambers of a quickly assembled Sanhedrin council.

Alright. The lines have been drawn. It’s the whole council of the leaders of Israel, including the murderous zeal of Saul of Tarsus, against the one man – Stephen, who is "full of grace and power."

The charges are read. The false witnesses tell their lies. (I can’t help but believe they were getting good at this by now!) Stephen is on trial for his life.

Luke has set the stage in his narrative. His purpose in telling the story was to bring Stephen to center stage and introduce the man, Saul of Tarsus, who would later, after he had been converted to Christ, turn the world upside down with the teaching of Christ. Let’s look more closely now at:

Stephen’s reply takes up the next 51 verses of chapter 7. We don’t have time to read it all this morning. Much of it is a rehearsal of Israel’s history of turning their backs on God’s prophets, just as they were about to do with him. If you would like to read a wonderful, inspired thumbnail sketch of Israel’s history, you’ll find it in chapter 7.

Suspiciously absent from Stephen’s words however, is a defense of himself against the false charges. Though he knew full well the power these men had to bring about his death, he used the opportunity to preach the gospel! I’ve often wondered whether I, if I were in a similar position, would have the courage Stephen had. There was no softening or compromising in his words. No hedging. No second thoughts. Not even a flinch. He was rock solid in his convictions right up to his last breath. Stephen was the kind of faithful witness whom detractors would later accuse of "turning the world upside down" with the preaching of the gospel.

After citing numerous examples of the great men of God in Jewish history who had been resisted and rejected by the leaders throughout their 1500 year history, Stephen drove home his point in verse 51 and 52:

Though Stephen was a gracious man, he did not shrink from telling these men the truth! All was fine and good until he said those words. They were words the council didn’t ever want to hear again – the same words Peter and John had told them a few chapters back. In essence, Stephen’s words were, "You murdered the Messiah!"

If there were inspired headings in our Bibles, I suspect the one above what follows next would be, "Sermon Interrupted." These men would hear no more! They wanted nothing of the truth.

John Pollock, in his book on the life of the apostle Paul called The Man Who Shook the World, masterfully paints a word picture of what it must have been like to have been there in the room with Stephen. He wrote:

"The judges leaped fro their places in howling fury. The Hall of Polished Stones, scene of grave debates and historic trials, reverberated to the baying of a lynch crowd, which rushed at the young defendant and manhandled him down the steps into the strong sunlight of the Court of the Priests. Across this wide, open space, down more steps, through court after court, Stephen was swept by the maddened crowed swelled by bystanders, worshippers and traders, until they had him out of the sacred Temple precincts into the streets of the Holy City.

"No sentence of death had been passed, nor could be executed unless confirmed by the Roman authorities and preceded by solemn ritual to ensure justice to the last. Judges and mob cared nothing for that. When the northern gate was behind them and they reached the Rock of Execution, "twice the height of any man," they should solemnly have stripped him, thrown him cleanly over to break his neck or at least stun him, so that death by stoning would not be too unmerciful. Instead they pushed Stephen as he was, and his tangled clothes broke the fall and he staggered to his feet fully conscious.

"The mob was shocked into reverting to forms of law. In a judicial stoning the first stones must be aimed by those who had brought the charges. These witnesses therefore elbowed their way to the front, threw off their outer clothes and looked around for someone to guard them. A young lawyer, panting from the race through the streets, stepped forward. They recognized a Pharisee from Cilicia in Asia Minor known as Saul among the Jews and Paul among the Greeks and Romans.

"Paul watched approvingly as each witness picked up a heavy jagged stone, raised it above his head and threw it to gash and maim the man below. Then Paul heard Stephen’s voice. In pain but clearly, he spoke as if to someone invisible but close: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

"Stones showered as the mob scrambled to complete what the witnesses had begun. Stephen mastered his pain while blood gushed from cuts and bruises. He knelt down in an attitude of prayer. Paul could not miss the words that came with loudness amazing to a dying man: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."

"The next stone knocked Stephen flat. He lost consciousness. The mob continued stoning until the body became obscene."

Luke’s description of what happened goes this way in verses 55-60:

Why would God allow this to happen to such a good man? That brings me to my final part of this message:

When a good person dies a seemingly unfair or senseless death, we who have limited vision of the big picture naturally ask, "Why?"

I confess to you openly that I do not understand all of the twists and turns of God’s providence. All I can possibly know is what God has revealed in His word. By that standard, I think I see a clue in verse 58: "…the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul." Luke is telling us that all of this related to Saul.

Look at the first verse of chapter 8: "And Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death." There’s Saul again.

There’s Saul again.

Before Saul was finally stopped and brought to his knees at the feet of Jesus on the Damascus road, there would be more Stephens, other trials, other false witnesses, more threats, and even more murders. The ringleader in all of this violence was Saul of Tarsus. "He charged like an animal tearing its prey," wrote John Pollock in the book I quoted earlier.

Yet Saul never forgot Stephen. The echoes of the young Christian hero’s speech before the council would haunt him for many years – perhaps even to the end of his life. Later, when Saul himself was converted to Christ, He would even use words from Stephen’s speech when confronting some unbelievers himself in a faraway land. One phrase of Stephen’s speech (which we did not read because of time) "The Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands," so engraved itself on Saul’s memory that it would come out almost word for word in Paul’s speech before the Athenians many years later.

At one point after his conversion, when Paul himself was mobbed in the temple by an angry crowd, he would stand up and say to that assembled group, as recorded in Acts 22:20, "And when the blood of Thy witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the cloaks of those who were slaying him."

He never forgot Stephen.

It’s hard for us to understand, looking from earth’s perspective, why God would allow the earthly life of one person to be sacrificed for the sake of the eternal life of another. It seems almost unfair – until you realize that as a result of Stephen’s death, both he and his persecutor, Saul, would be with Christ forever.

Let me leave you with these three thoughts:

Consistency and true conviction even in the face of death are the most potent weapons we have against error. We don’t use guns and bombs. Such weapons are far to weak for the task before us. It is truth in the war of ideas that win the day. Never forget that you don’t know who is watching you or who God may influence by your witness sincere.

God’s plan for our lives may differ from our expectations and wishes. We need to grow in our trust for Him and learn to accept His plans. "Not my will, but Thine be done," the very words of Jesus Himself when facing death, need to be our motto and our creed.

No Christian ever suffers or dies without purpose. We may not understand what purpose on this side of physical death but it is there, nonetheless. Faith and trust are the real issues for you and me, my friends – faith and trust.

Stephen’s name, in Greek, means "crown," or more specifically, "victor’s wreath." The stephanos was that wreath of olive branches given to the victors of the ancient Olympic Games. When Stephen’s parents named him, little did they know that someday their son would fulfill the very meaning of his name for the sake of the One who once said, "Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown (stephanos) of life."

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

[Archive]    [Home]   [Comments]   [Search]