St. Stephen, Martyr (Remembrance Day December 26)

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. And you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." Matthew 10:16-20

In a familiar parable (Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23) the Lord talked about the shallowness of religion. "But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles." That word, stumbles, is better translated, "is offended." A shallow faith is easily ashamed of its religion, is afraid of public censure or opinion. Such a faith has a limit beyond which it will not go even for the love of God. Such a faith is a sorrow to the heart of God, for it has a form of godliness, but denies its power. Yet in every age and in every people there have been those with the depth of faith against which the gates of Hell cannot prevail; those who are willing to overcome "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and that they did not love their lives to the death." (Revelation 11:11) The Church calls these "martyrs" from the Greek word which means "witness", for by the giving over of their lives these men and women bear powerful witness to the reality of God's promises in Jesus Christ. Such a man was Stephen, first called to wait upon the widow's tables, afterwards sealed to the Lord as the Church's first martyr.

All that we need to know about Stephen is found in Acts 6 and 7. In Acts 6:1-7 we read first that Stephen was one of seven who were chosen by the disciples to oversee the daily distribution of food and alms to the Church's needy. This might seem to us a menial task, but consider that the apostles established the following criteria as necessary to wait upon the Lord's tables of mercy. "Seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom..." One of these was Stephen, a "man full of faith and the Holy Spirit." We can infer that he was a Hellenistic Jew from the dispersion. Only one of the seven chosen was referred to as a proselyte; the others we assume were therefore Jews. Also in Acts 6:8-9 we read that Stephen's preaching was primarily to the Synagogue of the Libertines (the Freedmen). These were probably the children of Jews taken into captivity to Rome by Pompey in 63 BC who had subsequently been freed and returned to Palestine. Stephen disputed with them and "they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke." But the word that Stephen spoke was an offense to them, and instead of embracing the truth as he had done, they accused him of blasphemy against the law and God. Stirring up the elders and scribes, they brought him to the Sanhedrin for judgment. Acts 6:15 sets the introduction for his defense. "And all who sat in the council looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel." Such is the power and glory that is given by the Holy Spirit in times such as this.

Acts 7 is Stephen's defense as the high priest asks simply "Are these things so?" With wisdom and true devotion, Stephen recounts as his defense the covenant of Yahweh, laying it out milestone by milestone until we arrive at verse 51. It is at this point that the Holy Spirit rebukes the council through Stephen, calling them stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ears, resistors of the Holy Spirit, murderers of the prophets, and finally, betrayers of their own Messiah. I said earlier that the preaching of Jesus Christ was the stone of stumbling, the rock of offence. Jesus said of this in Luke 20:18 , "Whoever falls on that stone will be broken [unto salvation]; but on whomever it falls [in judgment], it will grind him to powder." We see those very reactions portrayed for us in the book of Acts. When Peter preached in Acts 2, it records in verse 37 that "when they had heard this, they were cut to the heart and said...'Men and brethren, what shall we do?'" That day 3,000 were added to the Kingdom. But in Acts 7:54, 56 it records that when Stephen spoke, although they were also cut to the heart, this time they gnashed at him with their teeth. Being unable to withstand his words, they stopped their ears, cast him out and stoned him into silence at last. Or so they thought.

Three things are recorded of Stephen's death. First, that he was granted a vision of Jesus Christ standing, not sitting, at the right hand of power; standing, I believe, on his behalf, for "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." (Psalm 116:15). Second, he prays at the last, "Lord, receive my spirit"; and finally, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." We see the Lord's own words from the cross mirrored in Stephen's (Luke 23:34, 46). What better words might a saint of God pray as this world passes away and the Kingdom of God comes clearly into focus? The Council thought they had silenced the testimony of this follower of Jesus, and they used the event as an occasion to begin a widespread persecution of the Church at the hands of Saul. Acts 8:3 "As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every home and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison." But the wisdom of men is foolishness before God. Their plans for silencing the testimony resulted in a scattering of the disciples throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1). Where there had been one voice crying aloud, now there were hundreds proclaiming the faithful witness of Jesus Christ. Such is the power of the blood of the martyrs.

But now, what of us? What have we done when confronted by this rock of offense, Jesus Christ? His words cut to our heart, it is impossible to ignore them. And when we hear them, we can only have one of two reactions. Either we will cry out "Men and brethren, what must we do to be saved?"; or we will stop up our ears and seek to still the voice which speaks to us. Oh, we may not cast stones at the prophetic voice as the Sanhedrin did, but we will rationalize our lives into a position where we can still retain a semblance of Christianity while remaining comfortably in control of ourselves. Stephen's words resound in rebuke at us if that is our course....Stiff-necked! Uncircumcised in heart! Resistors of the Holy Spirit! His words will haunt us into the courts of eternity. May we therefore never be ashamed of the gospel. As Paul said in Romans 1:16, "it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes..." May we choose rather to commit ourselves, whatever the cost, to proclaiming the testimony of our Lord. We live in a world which has their fingers in their ears and is in desperate need of our message. But do not doubt for a minute that the price of martyrdom may be required from our hands in this godless age! If not our lives, then perhaps our livelihood, our reputation, our circle of friends. If it comes let us not fear it, for the Son of God will stand for us on that day as He did for Stephen.