The Stoning of Stephen

I've been stewing on Acts 7 for a while now. At first glance, it's a fairly unassuming chapter due to most of it being dedicated to Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin. However, if you look a little deeper, you see some things that may catch your heart a bit.

Now, remember back in Chapter 6 that Stephen had been falsley accused of speaking against the Law and the Temple. Verse 15 said that everyone in the room saw that Stephen's face was like the face of an angel. My best guess is that in that very moment, the Holy Spirit was filling Stephen with the strength he would need to answer the question that followed.

Acts 7:1 - Then the high priest asked him, "Are these charges true?"

An interesting side note here is that the high priest asking the question (according to most scholars and theologians) was Caiaphas, who was the very priest that set the wheels in motion for Jesus to be betrayed and ultimately killed. How ironic that he also presides over the making of the first Christian martyr?!

At this moment, Stephen could have done what you see much of on television these days. He could have gone the tried and true "no these accusations are purely false and I will prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are" route, but instead, God had a different plan for him. God had Stephen give the Sanhedrin a history lesson.

Reading through Verses 2-50, you will find a cliff notes version of the happenings between God and His chosen people from the time of Abraham all the way up to Solomon. One would think that this was to remind them of the amazing things God had done for them, but if you read it carefully you notice the common theme: Rejection of God's teachings and persecution of anyone who would bring them back to the forefront. This culminates with Stephen basically going postal on the Sanhedrin in Verses 51-53:

Acts 7:51-53 - "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers; You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet that your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And how you have betrayed and murdered him - you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it."

Those words cost Stephen his life at the hands of the Sanhedrin. They stoned him to death for his beliefs. They stoned him to death for being an activist for his faith. They stoned him to death for stepping on their time honored laws, traditions, doctrines, and theologies. They stoned him to death for making them look bad in public. This event began the persecution of the church that spread and scattered it througout Judea and Samaria.

Now, while we don't see people physically stoned by others for their words and deeds in the church today, we see something very similar going on spiritually, emotionally, and mentally which is almost worse in some ways.

We have become too comfortable with our surroundings, trappings, traditions, methodologies, doctrines, practices, etc... This issue is not just with one certain age group either! It comes from people of ALL ages who don't want to compromise what they want in order to possibly do kingdom work. When someone comes along and challenges our positions on things that we are comfortable with, we lash out at them verbally to their face, and behind their back. We passive-aggressively undermine their position by gossipping about them and turning small things into giant issues. We choose to say "We've NEVER done it that way before", or "We've ALWAYS done it that way" in the hopes that whatever it is will be left alone. The sad part? This is NOT what God sent Jesus here to die for.

A life of Worship is not a life based on the trappings of traditional or modern practices. It is not a life based on the age of a person or their personal doctrines and agendas. It is a life that is totally surrendered to Him all day, every day, in every way. It is a life that reflects the love of Jesus to others just as the moon reflects the sun. It is a life that causes change just by simply being ready to serve God in whatever way He calls us to each and every time.

Instead of organizing petitions to save the Communion table or the carpet, we should be organizing food and clothing drives to help those less fortunate than ourselves.

Instead of complaining to others about musical style, we should be open to the idea that what is being played and sung may bring others to Christ much in the same way that our favorite musical style did for us.

God calls us to have an authentic worship relationship with Him in order that He might use us to bring someone else into that same relationship.

We are to lovingly rebuke, forgive, and educate instead of harshly rejecting, persecuting, and driving away.

We can only do these things if we choose to surrender ourselves completely to the purpose and plan that God has for us as followers of the teachings of Jesus.

Proclaim Christ, Teach of Christ, Serve Christ. Love God, Love People. Live True. Whatever you want to call it, it's a life of Worship!

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Ok, so I haven't put anything out there for a post in a while...  Stuff has been so crazy lately, what with trying to balance a full time church position, a part time school bus route, and a growing family at home.  However, something happened this week that made me stop and take notice of how short and strange life really is.

The local and national headlines are currently running a story about Dr. George Tiller, who was a local abortion provider here in Wichita.  I say "was" because he was shot and killed Sunday morning while ushering at his church.  

Here's a little history on him:  Dr. Tiller had been in the headlines back in 1991 during Wichita's "Summer of Mercy".  There were hints and allegations at that time that Dr. Tiller had been performing abortions on young girls that did not have the proper permissions given by parents or guardians.  There were also some allegations of illegal late term abortions happening as well.  The Attorney General of Kansas was leveling these accusations, and had launched several investigations into what was really going on.  When pro-life advocates caught wind of this, they started major protests against Tiller and his facility.  During those protests, many citizens, church members, and ministers were arrested due to their protests being on private property, which is illegal.  Dr. Tiller was also forced into a high security lifestyle, including armed guards and a bulletproof vest when out in public due to many bodily harm and death threats leveled at him during this time.

Dr. Tiller referenced this in an interview given to one of the local news stations, when he matter-of-factly stated that what he was doing was legal, moral, and ethical.  His basis for this rationale was the experience he had as a doctor in taking care of women who were dying from "back ally" abortions that had been performed by unlicensed medical practitioners.  He felt that he was saving more lives by performing abortions in a safe and sanitary medical environment.

As a pro-life advocate this rationale is understandable, but not supportable.  Those women could have chosen to go through the birth process and then given the children up for adoption versus having any abortion of any type.  Life begins at conception when the DNA from the mother and father combine to form a completely new and unique DNA.  Regardless of "viability", this is a new life created that deserves an opportunity to grow and have a chance at life.  Abortion is, in my opinion (and I believe in God's eyes), murder.

Dr. Tiller had been on trial over the past year, and had been put there by two former Attorney Generals that had been disgraced and mired in scandal themselves.  Whether or not those issues played a hand in Dr. Tiller being acquitted of 19 felony counts is unknown, but the fact remains that he was acquitted and allowed to resume his life.

Now back to what happened to him on Sunday.  A man in his lat 50's walked into Reformation Luthren Church on Sunday, stepped up to Dr. Tiller as he was ushering, and shot him in the temple which killed him instantly.  One might say that this was poetic justice, but it was in fact murder.  

Romans 12:18-19 says - If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.

If we are to live Worship as a lifestyle, we cannot take sides in something like this.  While we may not approve of Dr. Tiller's actions when he was alive, we also cannot count his death as "justifiable homicide" either.  We are called by God to obey the laws where we live.  That is BIBLICAL.  Currently in America, abortion is legal but murder is not.  While our ethical standards may cause us to abhor Dr. Tiller's profession and the trail of physical, spiritual, and emotional baggage the women carry post-abortion, we cannot justify "an eye for an eye" due to what the passage in Romans 12 says.

I urge you to pray for the Tiller family.  His wife watched it happen from the choir loft, and his daughter watched it happen from the congregation.  I urge you to pray for those who were in the congregation that day.  I urge you to pray for the man who killed him.  I urge you to pray for the young ladies that will be walking into the clinic when it opens again next Monday.

I also urge you to remember that the next moment is never promised to us.  All God promises is to sustain us in THIS moment at THIS time.  Let's worship Him for each and every one of those we are given, as they are a gift!