Glamour

Acts 7:59-60 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

What can we learn here? Stephen forgives. He just finished preaching a sermon that literally went into the record books (and for good reason too) and his audience kills him for it. And how does Stephen respond? Stephen does not allow persecution, threat, hatred, or even violence get in the way of his attitude. These people were killing Stephen and he asked God not to hold it against them?

To be completely honest this seems so out of reach! I don’t know about you, but I get steamed when someone leaves dirty dishes in the sink. Stephen, on the other hand, keeps his cool while getting beaten to death with rocks! This just shows me how much I need to grow spiritually. My desire is to be so in tune with Jesus that I respond to things the way he responds, and think the way he thinks.

That is what Stephen does here. He responds to his persecutors much the same way that Jesus responded to his persecutors. Stephens words, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them,” are very comparable to Jesus’ words recorded in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

So where did Stephen come from? He seems to just emerge out of nowhere and take the world by storm! Interestingly, before Luke records Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 we see Stephen mentioned in Acts 6 as one of the seven table servants that are appointed to relieve some of the burden off the Apostles. Stephen served tables to widows. Not only did he serve tables, but read how Stephen’s peers described him, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit…” Long before Stephen spoke to the high priest and was martyred for his faith, Stephen was a servant and a godly man.  

We don’t read much about Stephen’s life before he was martyred. He loved Jesus. He had faith. He served. Only the last part of Stephen’s life is mentioned in scripture.

Most of our lives will never be written about in books. Most of us will not be famous throughout history. But you know what we can do? We can be faithful. We can serve. And if we continue growing spiritually maybe we will seize the opportunity to forgive someone who wrongs us…