St. Stephen is a man of many
firsts.
He is the first Deacon—one of seven sent by the Apostles to feed the widows and
orphans, a person set apart to a ministry of word and service.
He is the first Christian Martyr—someone who dies for the faith—dies while
telling the story of Jesus and his love.
He is arguably
the first Saint—the first Holy One of the New Testament, someone assuredly connected
to Christ, so connected that death can not sever the bond.
Surely he can be a model of the
faith for us—his death can provide a script for us—a script for dying and for
living. He witnesses, trusts, and forgives—surely that is a faithful way to die
and way to live.
Let us pray
St. Stephen witnesses, trusts,
and forgives, a model and script for us as well.
Stephen preaches the longest
sermon in the book of Acts—60 verses covering the highlights of Hebrew
Scripture—and then he is stoned to death (a warning perhaps on preaching over-long).
This is the culmination of his Christian life
“Look!
The Son of Man stands at the right hand of God!
Look!
Jesus is the Ascended Lord of all.
Look!
The scapegoat murdered by Rome
betrayed by the religious authorities
on that awful Passover
—he is God’s chosen,
he is the true authority,
life out of death,
faithful to the end and beyond!
Look!
He is the way!
Imagine
living a life where your ending—says something about the goodness of God!
Then
Stephen, knowing he is near the end, entrusts himself to Jesus, “receive my
spirit.” His words here echo Jesus’ from the cross, his death a model of Jesus’
own.
Even
as Stephen suffers traumatic violence, he asks this with an untroubled heart.
The house
—the dwelling place
—the abiding place
John’s Gospel insists (43 times by my count)
—the place where God the Son leans into God the Father,
which is also where we lean into the Divine—born of God,
the relationship in which we receive trust and comfort in a distrustful and
uncomfortable world,
the promise of an abiding place where God is made known—an abiding peace.
Yes,
Stephen trusts our trustworthy Lord,
he receives rest and release. May we all be so blessed.
Finally,
Stephen forgives these people who attack and are murdering him
—including among them Saul who will later be called Paul—a saint shaped by
Stephen’s faithful death.
Stephen pleads with Jesus, “Don’t hold their sins against them.” Another echo
of Jesus’ words to his loving Father—Forgive!
Isn’t
that interesting—while Paul never met Jesus in the flesh, he essentially
experiences Christ’s crucifixion when he watches Stephen die, got to experience
that steadfast forgiveness found in Christ, when Stephen forgave him for his
part in the stoning.
Again,
don’t we want this for ourselves at the end, not holding onto any slight, not
leaving any relationship a loose, or even jagged, end. Just reaching out, one
more time to mend the tear.
If
you want to know what a good Christian death can look like, look to Stephen
—witnessing to Jesus,
trusting him with your whole self,
forgiving those who have harmed you.
But not only that—witness, trust, forgiveness
—those can make for a good life as well.
According
to Dr. Amit Sood of the Mayo Clinic, who studies these sorts of things
—when people come to the end of their life, and look back, their regrets
included:
-not having courage to express their true feelings,
-working too hard,
-and not spending enough time with family and friends.
Courageous confession, a real sense of rest, and tending to relationships. Witness,
trust, forgiveness…
When
we tell folks about our deepest convictions
—when we tell people about Jesus
—isn’t there something multiplying about it?
In telling the story of our faith it strengthens our faith!
I know there have been times when I’ve taught a bible study or confirmation class,
and I came out of the session more convinced and encouraged than I’d entered
in.
Some Sundays Pastors even have to preach themselves into faith,
proclaim “Jesus loves you” until it hits us: “Oh, Gee, that’s me too!”
Some of us have been attending
the "Meditation & Mindfulness for Here & Now" study by
Pastor Phil from Denville
—meditation is one of those practices, like keeping Sabbath,
where struggling to do nothing, does a whole lot.
Trusting that the world will keep turning without our effort,
that all those thoughts about the past and future, that come once you stop,
full stop, will still be there when you get back, but maybe a little less
urgent…
It’s all grace, all gift—no work
required, just peace for the moment.
Tending and mending
relationships hopefully won’t be as dramatic as Stephen, or even Jesus,
forgiving an active murder
—but having a practice,
some form of:
“Tell the story, name the hurt, grant forgiveness, renew or release the
relationship”
as a tool in your toolbelt
—you aren’t going to go wrong that-a-way.
Stephen, the first Martyr—witnessing,
pointing to Jesus, Crucified Lord of All.
Stephen, one of the first
Christian Saints—sanctified because he trusted the one who is surely
trustworthy.
Stephen, first Deacon—so dedicated
to acts of service that he somehow saw the needs of even the people in the
process of killing him—they needed to be forgiven, he could follow Jesus in even
that!
Witness, trust, forgiveness.
That’s a death, and that’s a life—worth
reflecting upon, worth struggling with, worthwhile. Amen.
