In
the Name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Grace
and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord
and Savior sanctify you in the truth, for His word is truth. Amen
The Fifth Sunday of Easter (2011)
Called
to be Faithful Servants of God
Acts 6:1-5
(ESV)
Now in these days when the disciples were
increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews
because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. [2] And the twelve summoned the full number
of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up
preaching the word of God to serve tables.
[3] Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute,
full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. [4] But we will devote ourselves to prayer
and to the ministry of the word."
[5] And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose
Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus,
and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of
Today
is Armed Forces day, a day in which we give thanks for the men and women who
serve in our nations military defending our nation against attack from foreign
enemies who would bring death and destruction upon us. These brave men and
women don’t have to do this, but they do so none-the-less because they are
patriots and they care about you; your freedom and your liberty. They toil to preserve
our way of life; and we, as Christian owe them immeasurable gratitude because
they defend our most sacred desire; to freely worship the Triune God, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, giving thanks for all that God has done to make us His
and save us from the fires of hell; that dreadful eternal, dungeon for those
who reject God and do Satan’s bidding.
Oh,
so much is lost to Satan, that great enemy of Christ, who never tires as he
battles Christ and His Church. In fact, there isn’t a single moment when he is
not thinking of some new scheme by which he can create chaos and havoc within
the Body of Christ. He attacks the church from without and from within, with
one goal in mind, to destroy the peace of the church and to disrupt its work.
This was so in the infant years of the church and it is so to this day.
Moreover, it will only end when the church militant becomes the church
triumphant on the Last Day.
However,
as harassed as we are by Satan’s hatred, God continues to protect and preserve
His church in every time of crisis. For every season God lifts up godly men,
equipping them for every need of the church to meet the challenges of the
church. He calls men of ordinary clay, fills them with the Holy Spirit, and
gives them grace, faith, wisdom, and courage to ready them for the task of
witnessing the Gospel to the world. When a crisis arose in the church at
The
Christians of the first century had such a deep loving concern for their
brethren in need that they shared their goods with one another. However, as the
church grew, so did the task of caring for the poor. It wasn’t long after its
inception that complaints were brought to the apostles that some of the needy
widows in the church were being neglected. The situation was serious and threatened
to divide the church. The apostles had been in charge of ministering to the
poor, and as the need for this service grew, it began to consume more and more
of their time, subtracting from the ministry of the Word. This situation could
not continue much longer without doing great harm to the life, peace, and work
of the church.
From
our text we see that the apostles proposed that the people select seven men
from among their rank to assume the duties of ministering to the poor. However,
these men had to exhibit certain qualities of the faith; they had to be, “men
of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (v. 3). Thus they should be trustworthy men, men who
possessed the gifts of the Holy Spirit in large measure, and men with the necessary
wisdom, judgment, and ability to carry out the tasks assigned them. Pleased
with the apostle’s proposal, the congregation led by the Spirit, selected seven
good men from their rank who fit the necessary qualities. Thus the church
established its first auxiliary office, a human office created to support the divine
office of the holy ministry in the service of the church.
The
first man elected was a disciple named Stephen who is described as, “a
man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (v. 5). Later he is described
as; “a
man full of grace and power” (Acts 6:8 ESV). Stephen possessed an
abundant quantity of the qualities of the office. He was a man who had the
confidence of his fellow believers, a man in whose life the power of the Holy
Spirit was evident, and a man who possessed the wisdom, the sanctified common
sense, and the ability to accomplish whatever work was assigned him. When the
need arises, God provides the man, and then leads the church to recognize him
as the man to fill the office. Later, events bear witness to God’s wisdom of
their choice, for Stephen proved himself a mighty witness for Christ and the
Gospel, and by the power of the Holy Spirit he, “was doing great wonders and
signs among the people” (Acts 6:8 ESV).
To
this day, God still provides and equips men to meet the needs of His church,
men of honest report, men of faith, power, and wisdom, men filled with the Holy
Spirit. The church needs such men so that, under God’s blessings, its peace may
be maintained, its work flourish, and the church prosper. Where offices are to
be filled in a congregation or in the church at large, or when a special
situation or some crisis arises, it is men like these the church should seek
and call to
be Faithful Servants of God.
Now,
by his own strength Stephen was just an ordinary man. However, filled with the grace
of God in Christ Jesus, Stephen became an uncompromising witness of the Gospel.
It is this same grace of God in Christ that rescues us from the darkness and
power of sin while bringing us into His Kingdom of Grace, making us His
children. It is this same grace of God in Christ Jesus that cleanses our souls of
sin, makes us a new creation in Christ, and equips us for a life of grateful
service to God; faithfully loving Him and the Savior who died for us. Redeemed
by Christ from sin’s power and curse and numbered among the children and saints
of God, the Christian will always bear witness to that grace of God in Christ that
saved us and Called us to be Faithful Servants of God.
Stephen
was a fearless witness of that grace and a courageous defender of the Gospel. Soon
after he was elected, another crisis arose; the Gospel was under attack from
members of a local synagogue who engaged Stephen in a debate. However, they
were no match for his wisdom. Moreover, they couldn’t understand, “the
wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking” (Acts 6:10 ESV). Defeated
and angry, they brought him before the same Jewish council that had tried Christ.
Moreover, as in the trial of our Lord Jesus, haters of the Gospel brought forth
false witnesses to accuse Stephen of speaking against Moses, the Law, and the
temple. Stephen had spoken of a new order to take the place of the old, of a
greater One than Moses, and of a greater sacrifice than all the animals offered
on temple altars. He had also spoken of the superiority of Christ to all things
in the Old Testament dispensation. However, these false witnesses purposely distorted
His words to support their false claims.
Stephen
patiently listened to the testimony against him. He knew it was false, and he
knew he was facing the threat of a death if convicted, but there was no anger
or bitterness in him, nor did he feel fear. Instead, when the members of the
court looked at him, they saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.
Such was the power of faith within Stephen that although he teetered on the
edge of death, there was reflected in his face something of the light of heaven
and the glory of Christ on which that faith rested. Men were accusing him of being
a traitor and a blasphemer, yet they saw in him only the face of an angel.
What
faith! What courage! Stephen could stand strong and fearless in his witness for
the Gospel because his faith in Christ was strong. It was faith that made him
eloquent, bold, and Christ-like. It was faith that put the look of an angel on
his face. He had that faith of which John was to later write, “this
is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4 ESV).
Like
Stephen, there are times and situations in which we are called to defend the
Gospel against its enemies and to bear witness of Christ whom we confess as our
Savior and Lord. To our shame it must be said that we are often mute when we
ought to speak, timid when we ought to be bold and afraid when we ought to have
courage. In such times and situations we are to pray for the faith and courage
that God gave Stephen. The Holy Spirit is ready and willing to give us that
faith while providing us with the words to speak and the courage to speak them.
Turning to Christ, who for our sake endured the cross, we are made strong in
faith and bold to speak by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. Then, in
the presence of Christ’s enemies, like Stephen, our faces will also reflect the
glory of Christ who lives in us.
When
the high priest called on Stephen to answer the charges against him, he refused
to speak in his own defense. Instead, proclaimed the truth of God’s Word to the
court and all who could hear. Beginning with Abraham, he reviewed the glorious
history of the people of
That
was plain preaching; preaching that was meant to carry an appeal while leading
these men to acknowledge their sins, to repent, and to receive Christ as Lord;
the very One whom they had rejected and crucified. Stephen didn’t care what
they might do to him. His concern was to be a faithful witness for Christ and to
point his hearers to Christ that they might know Christ, turn to Him in
penitent faith, and find mercy and forgiveness in the Son of God.
These
Pharisees stood convicted of their guilt, yet they refused to repent. Rather
than contrite, they became furious. In the face of their fury and the threat of
death, God showed that Stephen had been called
by Him to be His faithful servant by granting him a vision of heaven and
the glory that would soon be his. When Stephen, with the light of heaven in his
face, told his enemies, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the
Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56 ESV), they
seized him, threw him out of the city, and stoned him to death.
Even
in death Stephen never wavered in his faith. As the stones rained upon him, he
prayed: “Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit” (Acts 7:59ESV). Then in the spirit of his Lord, the One who
had redeemed him and whom he had faithfully served, he prayed for those who
would kill him; “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60 ESV).
Seeking forgiveness for those who hated him was Stephen’s last act upon this
earth as he peacefully fell asleep to be received by Jesus into the very heaven
whose glory he had seen. Stephen is remembered by a grateful church to be the
first in a long train of Christian martyrs who remained faithful even unto
death.
Stephen’s
life as a Called, Faithful Servant of God
had come to an end. Yet even as he was being stoned a young Pharisee stood by, minding
the cloaks of those who threw the rocks. This young Pharisee stood, watching
the stoning, pleased with the outcome of the trial, and believing in his heart
that God’s will was being done. Years later though this same Holy Spirit who
filled Stephen’s heart with faith so strong that he would willing die rather
than succumb to a lie, would turn the heart of this would-be heartless Pharisee
so he, too, may see and come to worship the same Jesus that Stephen confessed.
Saul of Tarsus would be called to be a
Faithful Servant to God. Led by the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul became a
prolific witness for Christ and, oh yes, he too would meet a martyr’s death.
Stephen’s
story is told so that we might see how God calls
Faithful Servants into His service, equipping them to be witnesses for the
Gospel. We thank Him for these noble and faithful witnesses and for the
contribution they have made to the church. Since we, too, have been Called to be Faithful Servants of God. We
pray that He will endow us with His grace and direct our lives so we might rightly
proclaim the Gospel and be of true, godly, service to others. May men see the
reflection of Christ in us through our service to them. Amen.
May the Peace of God which
passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.