Acts 7:1-8
Acts 7:1-8
June 21, 2020
Acts 7:1-8
And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said:
“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. 7 ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.1
Sometimes we wonder if the things we work on with our children, lessons to learn, facts to memorize, dates to know, and other such things are really that important. Is is really that big of a deal to ensure that our children know these things that just seem so useless?
Maybe it is the rise of frustration knowing that when we were children, the subjects in church and school that seemed tedious were those we just rushed through in order to get to the fun times, and avoid trouble.
1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 7:1–8). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 1
I’m not certain if this is how you are, but it is how I was...and am. There are times even now as adults that I wish I had spent more time, made more of an effort to learn things...things that now I wish I had known or could do. This has to do with Bible studies, subjects in school, and even learning to play piano.
In case you are unaware, when we began to prioritize our equipping model of discipleship across generations and within families, we rolled out numerous resources and shifted focus on certain areas of ministry – this leaves us with an incredible framework – actually more than any church I have even been a part and more than we have strategically provided here at FBC in our 99 year history. It’s more than just providing scripture memory through Awana and mission projects as teenagers, which we do, but also elevating the role and responsibility of parents, equipping families to see the beauty of generational discipleship.
Sadly we are discovering that just offering resources like our Family Worship Guide and rites of passage event plans just are not used as much as we had hoped. Some families, longing for event-driven ministries focusing more on activities and creating fun memories, much like they grew up knowing in the 1990s and 2000s simply find churches elsewhere offering such.
And... I get it.
I really do understand.
This is not always fun (like my piano lessons) and honestly, it’s a bit intimidating when the catechism questions and the Bible-centric resources that we strategically offer for our families reveal how much, as adults, we lack in our own theological understanding and doctrinal fidelity. That is not a shot, believe me. It is simply a reality that I too have faced. No one likes to be put in a position for teaching or leading
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when uncertainty and insecurity reigns. It’s easier to just say “Go read your Bible,” or “watch this video.”
It hit me years ago that while I could recite the theme song for Gilligan’s Island and The Addams Family verbatim, and tell you the starting lineup for the 1990 Cincinnati Reds, and even offer some other useful tidbits related to Top 40 songs, not to mention movie lines of blockbuster hits... as a young adult I struggled to remember the lines of the hymns sung on Sunday (especially those elusive third verses that were never sung,) though I attended every single Sunday (twice each Sunday) and Wednesday my entire childhood, find the address for essential and important verses of Scripture, and explain the simple truths of the gospel and deeper things other than the stories that have been re-packaged as simply children’s Bible stories (BTW – there’s no such thing as children’s Bible stories) of Noah, Adam and Eve, David, Daniel, and some things about Jesus but primarily Christmas and Easter retellings.
When I begin Acts 7 I am taken by the words given by God to his man Stephen. This is the longest sermon in a book of sermons - Acts. We only read a portion of it today. We’ll cover the rest in coming weeks.
In this portion, however, we see this man, full of grace and faith, brought before the Sanhedrin – a group of religious power mongers of the city who are so severely angry and frightened of anything and anyone connected to Jesus Christ that anyone brought before then literally may be facing their last moments on this earth. In Stephen’s case, we know this to be true.
The managers of status quo and personal power – these religious leaders – have set up false testimonies and lying witnesses to bring false accusations against the church leader. Stephen – not an apostle, not a pastor, but a man seeking to live his faith, called out by the church membership to be one of the first seven deacons, one who clearly lived his faith and had a walk that matched the talk, is here...alone...looking
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at a council of men who wish him dead and will listen to false testimony and allow lies to be bases for his conviction. So, what can he do?
1. SHINE FORTH
Stephen is in a situation that is far from easy. He cannot leave. He cannot run. He stands before the accusers awaiting their questions.
In 6:15 it states that “his face was like the face of an angel.” That’s a strange verse in that when I read it, I am confused. I have never knowingly seen an angel and therefore, other than viewing images in paintings or the random child wearing cardboard wings at the Christmas musical, I do not know what the face of an angel looks like. Yet, it is clear that there is an apparently visible manifestation of the brightness of the glory of God upon his face. This moment here hearkens back to Moses’s time on Mount Horeb and even Jesus’s transfiguration on the mountain in northern Israel. The glowing of God’s glory is shining upon his child’s face. This is no random religious zealot.
Stephen’s stance on who he is, is clear. His boldness, not in self, but in Christ shines through. And unlike Moses, there is no veiling the glory of God here.
It reminds me of the old Newsboys song “Shine”
Shine.
Make 'em wonder whatcha got.
Make 'em wish that they were not
On the outside looking bored.
Shine.
Let it shine before all men.
Let em see good works and then
Let em glorify the Lord.
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2. SPEAK TRUTH
Stephen said “Brothers and fathers, hear me,” when asked if what he was accused of doing was true. Yet, after this call to listen he did not speak of the accusations because they were lies and not worthy of response at this point. He spoke truth to the accusers, and not unlike Christ when tempted by Satan in the early portions of the gospel accounts, Stephen battled the lies of the enemy with the truth of the Word of God.
In this case, the young disciple remembers. God brings back to mind his learning from childhood. He knows the stories of God’s people, just as those on the court do. But, he believes them and knows they reveal more than the Sanhedrin and the self-righteous desire to admit.
So Stephen speaks truth – He speaks the inerrant truth of the Word of God.
He mentally went to the Old Testament and began to unpack the history of God’s people beginning with the patriarch Abraham.
Now, God certainly gave him this message, but it is clear that Stephen knew his Bible. He knew the history of Israel. He knew the truth of God’s Word. He followed Christ because his own personal study revealed that the words of Jesus fulfilled that which he had heard his entire life.
He wasn’t taking these self-righteous religious geniuses to a place they had never been, but he was taking them back to the truth of God’s Word they had read, but forgotten.
6 And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. 7 ‘But I will judge
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the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’
To the ones judging Stephen, he reminds them that they were the ones being judged.
3. STAND FIRM
For us today, this is our challenge. When confronted with spiritual questions, morality issues, confusing items that secularism and moral liberalism has declared to be okay, fine, ambiguous, not really a sin, no big deal, just a choice, feelings, self-actualized lifestyle choices, identity and gender questions, and other such things what is your answer?
Inaculturethathasdevaluedthehumanlifetodeclarebabies little more than tissue to be removed like a cancer under the excuse of a woman’s right to choose.
Inaculturethathasallowedno-faultdivorcetobecomethe law of the land, ultimately turning the God-honoring lifetime union of one-man and one-woman in holy matrimony into a temporal association for as long as it is convenient.
Inaculturethathasredefinedgender,sexuality,identitytoa point where biblical teachings are determined to be old- fashioned, out of place, hurtful, irrelevant, or even hate speech.
Inaculturethathasallowedforthedivisionamongpeoples to grow to such a place where even honest conversations cannot even occur without racial divides widening.
Inaculturewheregenerationaldividesmaybegrowingas wide as others, but with no one addressing them in the public square and therefore, a collective ignoring continues with any understanding of familial elder care from a biblical perspective being ignored if ever considered.
Inaculturewherethereligionofchoiceforthoseunderthe age of 25 (for those who desire to claim to be spiritual) has
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been categorized as moral therapeutic deism that leaves no room for sin admission, redemption, regeneration, and transformation, but sees God as a being who works for us to provide therapy and helps when we desire him to, but truly is not one to surrender one’s life to.
Inachurchculturewherechurchgrowthisbuilton replicating the event-driven styles that propagated the landscape in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s providing incredible ski trips, missioncations, and the best lock-ins in the history of events that cause youth pastors to retire, but developed fewer disciples...now that we have hindsight working for us.
Forthechurcheswhodesiregrowth,butleanlessintothe gospel of Jesus Christ, but into the three Cs of megachurch impact – Constituency, Charisma, and Capital...while forsaking the one “C” that matters – Christ.
How do you address these ever-changing issues? How do those in the church who have dogmatic beliefs about certain issues until someone they love chooses to defy those beliefs, or their own circumstances shift, answer these questions?
How do Christians who were certain in who they are only to be living in the crisis of their faith now respond?
How do our children and the generations to come know what the answers to confusing questions should be? Are there real answers?
CONCLUSION
Yes! There are answers. There is a biblical worldview that has never changed. There is a biblical worldview based on the immutable, inerrant, never-changing, all-encompassing Word of God, but if the Word is not known, read, discussed, dissected, ingested, lived out, searched out, and loved...when the questions come the answers will not be found. The firm stance that many believe they have will be revealed to be shifting
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sand. And we will wish that we had learned that which truly is needed. When we don’t, we guess. When we guess, we most often miss.
And let’s be honest...we cannot afford to miss on this.
Stephen stood firm, spoke truth, and shone forth the glory of God on the most difficult and glorious day of his life. Because he knew more than a list of answers. Because he knew THE answer.
Stephen knew Jesus. He knew Jesus loved him because the Bible (the entire Bible, even the Old Testament stories of Abraham and others) told him so.
And when you know, you can face life. When you know the answer, you can give the answers.
Footnotes
