So this chapter begins with the Jewish leaders accusing Stephen of blasphemy, much like they did against Jesus. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Stephen speaks to the people and the Sanhedrin about the truth of Jesus. He connects the ministry of Jesus to the ancient Jewish patriarchs, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. At the same time, he admonishes the people for constantly rejecting the prophets and teachers God sends to them. Looking back at the centuries of exile and persecution the Jews endured, you’d think they’d be pretty good at recognizing the liberation and freedom that these prophets proclaimed.
However, let’s not be too quick to judge… how many times have we, in times of struggle and temptations big and small, chosen to find comfort in things that aren’t of God? Dealing with David’s deployment this past year has been one of the greatest struggles in my short life. More than once I missed him and worried about his safety to the point of physical pain. A lot of the times, it was really easy to just wallow in self-pity…I’m sad to say that that was my response more often than it should have been—kind of like the Israelites when they constantly cried to God. They thought He had forsaken them instead of remembering all of the times He saved them or sent them prophets. The best way I got through my sorrow was reaching out to my friends in Christ. They reminded me, usually without talking about God, that He would care for me and David, and that His will would be done. This realization seems overly simplistic and easy with my 20/20 hindsight, but trusting God really is that simple. Indeed it does take boldness (the theme of Acts!) and courage to reject the fear that the Devil throws towards us in our struggle to distract us from the peace that God will give us. A television preacher reminded me of this early this morning:
“I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the
imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but
rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your
testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but bear your share
of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.”
(2 Timothy 1:6-8)
So back to Acts. Stephen relates the history of the Jewish people to show Christ’s fulfillment of the early prophets but also to show that Jesus recreates their tradition of only worshipping God in the temple. My commentary points this out, which is interesting to think about. The Jews held Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem as the supreme place of worship because it contained the tablets of the law Moses received directly from God. So, the people must have wondered, if we’re not supposed to worship the Lord in the temple, what are we supposed to do? Well, how do we, the Church in 2009, worship God? In the Mass! In the Real Presence! Instead of relying on the law for salvation, Stephen encourages the people to move into a new phase of salvation history. The laws of God are still important to guide our morality and conduct, but the law of love, shown by Christ’s death on the cross, now rules. After Jesus died and rose, He loved us enough to stay with us in the Eucharist—both during Mass and in the tabernacle. Instead of relying on the law to purify us (which is what Saul believed so strongly before his conversion), we receive Jesus into our bodies and become a new tabernacle and temple for Him. The great temple in Jerusalem was eventually destroyed, leaving the Jews, again, without a place to worship. In the same way, our bodies can be destroyed, as Christ said, but spirits rooted in Him will never fade away.
2 comments:
This segment of Acts was really neat to read because I found myself having such an emotional connection to each of the stories.
First of all, I was so stirred by Stephen's martyrdom. Here was a man who truly tried to live as Christ did, even in his last words. Also, the opinion of the world was unimportant to him. He didn't care if he ticked a few people off, as long as they heard the truth. Sometimes I think we're too hard on our Protestant brothers and sisters. We often comment about how the way they worship and they witness turns people off, but how can any one of us doubt their faith. We have the real presence, but we are not using this gracious gift God gave to us (His Son for always) if we aren't more bold about it like our Protestant brothers and sisters or like Stephen.
Speaking of Evangelism, I always forget about Philip, but everytime I come back to him I smile. I really like this story for a few reasons. First, I like how open the eunich is to the truth. He seems to personify how we should be. He is humble in admitting his ignorance, and relies on his fellow man for help. He recognizes the truth, and is eager to embrace it. I also like that Philip really meets this guy where he is. He uses the scripture, their commonality, as a jumping off point to talk about Jesus. Witnessing doesn't have to be eloquent or flowery, or even loud. It can be a little chat in a chariot =) We should also adopt Philip's faith that when we open our mouth with the intention of proclaiming Jesus, God will give us the right words.
I've read the story of Paul's conversion so many times, but this time for some reason I just realized how tragic an event this is. I never thought of Paul as an ignorant man before, but he is as estranged from Jesus as a person can be. He says "Who are you, sir?" and his real tragedy isn't his persecution but his incredible emptiness. He was trying so hard to find meaning in life, and his life's mission was persecuting Christians. Maybe Paul's persecution of the Christian's was his "coping mechanism" to fill the void that can only be filled by Jesus.
I'm not quite as dramatic as Paul, but I find myself blocking Jesus out, sometimes intentionally. I see an opportunity to spend some extra time in prayer and I skip it to watch a movie or turn on the radio in my car, or take a nap, etc. These aren't bad things, but when I deliberately choose these things instead of Jesus, I'm elbowing Him out of the way in favor of easy "escapes." Someone once said, "If you don't have time to pray, you're too busy." We should take a lesson from Paul, and hope that we don't need to be blinded or de-saddled to realize we're missing Jesus.
The two things that really stuck out to me were Stephen's boldness and Philip's trust in the Holy Spirit. First, Stephen's boldness. I can't even imagine the courage it must have took to stand in front of the council and proclaim the word of God like he did. The amount of anger and hate that must have been directed towards Stephen and yet he stood strong in proclaiming the word of God. I can't help but think of times whenever I struggle in just doing or saying the right thing in front of my friends because I care too much about their opinions. Even in the face of great adversity Stephen stood strong and went against the grain and proclaimed the word of God with courage and zeal. Doing so unto death, truly showing what it means to be Christ-like.
While reading the story of Philip and the chariot the thing that stuck out to me was trust. The verses that I want to focus on are Acts 8:29-40. It starts off by saying how the Holy Spirit told him to go up and join the chariot. This made me think about the times in my life whenever I feel that nudge by the Holy Spirit in a certain direction but a lot of time I struggle in taking that path. Along with what Sheila said, a lot of times I find myself torn between spending more time with God and doing the things that I want to do like watch tv or play video games. I find myself running away from God's invite to a deeper relationship and instead seek comfort in worldly things (even though it really isn't the true comfort only God can provide). When I read this story of Philip it makes me realize the wrong directions in which I run at times and the direction that I should be running in. When the Spirit told Philip to go up and join the chariot he didn't turn and walk the other direction. Instead he RAN to the chariot with complete trust in the Holy Spirit. As a result a man was baptized and received the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ. By trusting in the direction in which the Holy Spirit guides us and by setting our hearts on that path, running with perseverance and courage, we too can reap the rewards that await us at the end of each road we travel in faith.
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