What do you think of Stephen’s situation?

Stephen did it all right. Do you remember his story? He was named as the very first choice servants for the brand new church in Jerusalem, and in just weeks, also became the very first martyr for Jesus Christ. What do you think of Stephen’s situation?

Stephen’s Story

When you think of people who had it all together, certainly Stephen would come to mind. He was not perfect, of course, since no one is; however, he did get the allocates from Dr. Luke, the author of Acts. When the apostles needed help in the early church with the Hellenistic widows, Luke explains that they went about choosing choice servants for this job. Stephen was the first one chosen. Here is Luke’s description:

“Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. (Acts 6:3-6)

The requirements to be chosen were 1) a good reputation, and 2) full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. When Luke records who is chosen, he names first our man Stephen and describes him as “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit.” No doubt, these are great compliments.

James, the writer of the Book of James and the first pastor of the church at Jerusalem, emphasized authentic Christianity. He said that a true authentic Christian was known for two things:

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27)

Using this rubric to evaluate the faith of Stephen, we would say that Stephen passed. He served widows in and around Jerusalem, plus he was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.

But that is not all. Luke continues to describe him in these words:

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. (Acts 6:8-10)

Again, Luke describes him as “full of faith and power” and explained he performed “great wonders and signs among the people.” These are incredible traits. In the power of the Holy Spirit, God used Stephen in mighty ways. Even as he spoke the gospel to Greek-speaking Jews in synagogues, those who opposed the message of Jesus could not “resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.”

In every way, this is an incredible story. If you are like me, I would expect that God rewarded Stephen with health, wealth, and popularity. He was full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit, and full of the Spirit’s power.

Yet, that is not what happened. Instead, Stephen was accused of heresy and drug before the Sanhedrin to answer for his message. When asked about it, Stephen presented the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. They were so angry that they put their hands on their ears, began hollering, ran at him, drug him out into the street, and stoned him. Here is how Luke describes the scene:

When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 6:54-60)

Stephen dies. And, why? Because he was a model follower of Jesus Christ.

 

Stephen’s story is not what you would expect.

Who would anticipate this outcome? A truly authentic Christian who serves, shares the gospel with others, and is full of the Holy Spirit, and what does he get? He gets framed by the Jews and stoned. All he did was good. All he got was bad.

In some circles of Christianity, this simply makes no sense at all. Some Christians teach that God will always bless them on earth if they are full of faith and live purely. Yet, the exact opposite happened for our good man Stephen.

Plus, do you not kind of wish it were the case? Do we not want the good guy to win all the time? Does it not seem like he should get rewarded for all the goodness he shared and for the goodness he lived?

What do you think Stephen would say to us?

If it were possible to talk with Stephen, I believe he would say it was all worth it. Think about what happened here:

1. God allowed him to see into heaven where Jesus was standing on the right hand side of God;
2. Stephen, in an act of complete mercy, asks God to not charge this sin against these people.
3. And, Stephen spoke the full gospel message, demonstrated Christ’s love and mercy, and demonstrated a settled belief in God before Saul – who would later after his own salvation become the Apostle Paul.

Crazy, isn’t it?

Were we able to get to Stephen and ask him his thoughts, I doubt he would have said, “If I had only three more days on earth…” or “I really miss preparing the food for the food distribution…” or “I think God should have given me a different ending…”

I don’t think he would have said any of those things. Instead, he would recognize that God allowed him to suffer for the gospel’s sake. Yet, in his own death and faithfulness, he was a great example before Saul and many others.

This demonstrates again that our role in any situation is to be faithful to our Lord as we trust Him. We allow God to determine the outcome. And, even when things seem different or harder than what we imagined, we recognize with the Apostle Paul that once we are in heaven, our situation will seem as a light and momentary struggle. While in it, may we be loyal to the One Who is the Loyal One, and may God receive the glory. Whether by life or by death, may God receive the glory.