Acts 7:55-60                                                    5th Sunday of Easter

 Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Here’s an interesting tidbit for you, from our friend, David Thomas. St Stephen is the patron saint of stone masons, coffin makers, and headaches. Don’t tell me Christians don’t have a sense of humor. Patron saint of stones, coffins, and headaches! Headache indeed, when you’re being stoned to death.

 The idea that someone would be stoned to death for what they believe is hard for us to imagine. How cold to brutally murder someone with stones! Last night a dozen of us went to Wauchula to see the outdoor drama, The Story of Jesus. One of the best acted scenes, was the one in which Jesus intercedes on behalf of the woman caught in adultery. The crowd was ready to stone her for her sins, but Jesus said, “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.” And he reached out to the whimpering woman, curled up in a fetal position, saying “It’s okay. Where are your killers now? They’ve all gone away. Go and sin no more.”

 On the screen you see the entrance to Westminster Abbey in London, where statues of 20th Century martyrs stand and challenge us to the kind of courageous faith Stephen had, a “Take My Life” kind of faith, which would not compromise principle, even when their lives were at risk.

 In 1918, the Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia was killed by the Bolsheviks.

In 1928 Manche Masemola at age 16 was preparing for baptism and membership in the Anglican church of South Africa when she was killed by her parents for converting.

Maximilian Kolbe was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church after being killed by the Nazis in 1941.

 In 1941, Lucian Tapiede, an Anglican from Papua New Guinea, was killed during the Japanese invasion.

 Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor and theologian. killed by the Nazis in 1945.

 Esther John, a Presbyterian evangelist from Pakistan, was allegedly killed by a Muslim fanatic in 1960.

 One of the world's most famous civil rights activists, Martin Luther King, a Baptist minister, was assassinated in 1968, for asking that people of color be valued.

 In 1972, Wang Zhiming, pastor and evangelist, was killed during the Chinese cultural revolution.

 In 1977, Janani Luwum, Anglican Archbishop, was assassinated during the rule of Idi Amin, in Uganda.

 Oscar Romero was a Roman Catholic Archbishop in El Salvador, assassinated in 1980, while serving communion.

 The martyrs chosen by the Abbey represent religious persecution and oppression in each continents. "There has never been a time in Christian history when someone, somewhere, has not died rather than compromise with the powers of oppression, tyranny and unbelief,"

 Stephen, the first of Christian martyrs. The word martyr, comes from the Greek word meaning witness. Witness to the extreme. Keep talking about the Lord and the life Christ calls us to lead, even if people rise up to kill you. When you’re killed for your faith, your words and your example live on. Second century Church Father, Tertullian wrote that "The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians", implying that the death of the martyrs lives leads to the conversion of many more.

 But there’s more to Christian martyrdom than just a willingness to die for what you believe in. Suicide bombers are willing to die for their beliefs. But remember Christian martyrs are not killing others. They are loving others and spreading the news of God’s love. When that good news comes as a threat, then martyrs lose their lives, without fighting. We read now the story of Stephen’s stoning and how he gave up his life in similar fashion to Jesus. He did not resist their accusations. He did not fight back when they dragged him out of the city. He was talking to God, saying, “Lord, do not hold this against them.”
 

 ^NRS Acts 7:55 But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory
of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of [Humankind] standing at the right hand of God!"
⁵⁷ But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him.
⁵⁸ Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." ⁶⁰ Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.
 

 Stephen had been selected with six others to be a deacon, one who cared for the powerless and needy, in his day that meant mostly widows. Stephen is described in chapter 6 as a man full of faith and full of the Spirit. Later in the same chapter he is said to be full of grace and power, and able to perform wonders and signs. Those opposed to him could not stand the wisdom and Spirit with which he spoke. It is often true that those who speak the truth of love with power make those who love power nervous. It is also true that those who offer ministry to the powerless often find themselves offending the powerful with their perspective on life.

 Grant and Gail saw a wonderful bumper sticker the other day. It goes something like this, “When the power of love exceeds the love of power, then justice and peace will prevail on earth.” (This is similar to the William Ellery Channing quote “We look forward to the time when the power to love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.”)

 Stephen, a Greek-speaking Jew, who had become a Christian, was more progressive than the Aramaic speaking Hebrews. Stephen confronted the religious powers of his day, the Jewish council. He, like his Lord Jesus, recounted to them their own faith, but then challenged them to see more – to see that this Jesus, who had been crucified and raised from the dead, was the Righteous One. Stephen was working to transform the synagogue.

 They rose up against him, accused him of blasphemy, which justified in their minds his death. And yet he, filled with the Holy Spirit, seemed completely unafraid. He was not seeing their fury and the stones they are picking up to kill him, he was seeing the glory of God and Jesus standing beside. He prays to his Lord to receive his spirit and ask for God to forgive his killers’.

 This story raises three questions, which I will leave you to ponder:
 

 First:  Are we willing to speak God’s truth, even if doing so would put us in danger? Are there any leaders in this world who are still willing to speak the truth no matter what it costs? Or are all of us more committed to popularity and personal safety, than speaking the truth in love?

Second:  If we should be “persecuted for righteousness sake” as stated in the Beatitudes, as happened to Stephen, would we be so full of the Holy Spirit that we might see the glory of God, more than anger of our accusers, and would we want God to forgive them for persecuting us?

Finally, what does it take to be full of grace and truth, full of the Holy Spirit, able to live courageous lives of faithfulness?

 Now let me close with a story which you may have heard before. It is about the five Christian missionaries to Equador who were killed by the Waorani tribe, the Auca Indians. Missionary Jim Elliot’s widow Elisabeth, and Missionary Nate Saint’s sister, Rachel, went back to Equador to work with villagers who had killed their loved ones. Elisabeth Elliot took her three year old child with her. Stephen Saint, son of missionary Nate Saint, Stephen, a resident of Ocala, was baptized as a kid by Mincaye, the man who killed his father and later converted to the Christian faith. This is a beautiful story of courageous faith, faith willing to go to dangerous places, faith that sees the glory of God more than the anger of the accusers.

 God may not be calling you to Equador, but God is calling you to courageous faith. Will you speak the truth of God’s love, no matter the cost? And will you live with forgiveness in your heart for those who are threatened by the truth?