This morning Pastor Bob preached an excellent sermon (as usual) and it was very convicting to me. He has been doing a series on Acts, and this week he was in Acts 7, which is Stephen's Speech to the Sanhedrin and The Stoning of Stephen. While I have read this passage before, I somehow have missed some pretty big things. Part of the reason this sermon was so convicting is that is it about me. Using context clues, it is pretty easy to see that Stephanie is the feminine form of Stephen, so it was about my namesake... or am I his namesake? I'm not sure how that works, but in any case, it was challenging to me to think about whether or not I live up to my name.
There are two main things that stuck out to me that I learned about Stephen today that I somehow had not realized before: 1) Stephen was bold and unashamed in his conviction. Essentially, he was a prophet proclaiming the truth (I know... how did I miss that before, right?). 2) Stephen was a type of Christ.
1) Throughout the sermon, Pastor Bob kept repeating this quote: "Following Christ will require bold conviction in the face of cold opposition." Stephen spoke the truth boldy, even when he knew he was going to die. If you read in chapter 6, you see that Stephen was one of the seven men chosen to serve the widows and make sure they were served food-- this doesn't strike me as the kind of positon for a fiery truth-spewing prophet to occupy. I kind of think of Stephen as having a gentle, caring spirit if he was given charge of the care of the widows. Yet when it really counted and he was facing the Sanhedrin, he sure gave them the what-for in a holy, truthful, and prophetic way.
Now, anyone who has known me for some amount of time knows that can be bold and assert myself and speak my mind. I don't really think I have the gift of prophecy, I see it more as wanting to be right and wanting to make sure everyone knows that I am right. But do I really say something when it counts? My dad is a relatively quiet guy, but when he speaks, people listen. By knowing when to speak and when to hold his tounge, his is given more respect and his tounge has more power. He doesn't really fly off the handle and explode very often (especially in public) so when he does, people PAY ATTENTION. Ironically (or perhaps not so ironically) my dad's name is also Steven...hmmm.
Am I quiet when I need to be quiet so that when I speak I am bold and people listen to me? Do I run my mouth when it doesn't matter, but keep quiet when there are important truths to be told, because deep down I am a coward? Stephen sure wasn't a coward.
2) Stephen was a type of Christ. There are many definitions of the word type, and I didn't learn this one until my college Bible classes. It doesn't necessarily mean that Stephen was a kind of Christ, as if there are several different varities of christs. This definition means that he was a model of Christ, or a symbol. Moses and Melchizedek were also types of Christ. Again, I ask myself, HOW DID I MISS THIS? Stephen and Christ served "the least of these", both were arrested, both were falsely accused of blasphemy, both were tried before the Sanhedrin, both had false witnesses at thier trials, both were killed for what they said, and both cried out to God to forgive thier killers. As Pastor Bob said "Was there anyone more like Christ than Stephen?"
Do people say that about me? "Boy that Stephanie... she sure reminds me of Christ. They are so alike!" I don't think so.
Where does God want me to have bold conviction in the face of cold opposition?
How can I be more like Christ?
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