To Die For!
Dr. Jim Wilson, April 20, 2008 I didn’t expect the question. The nervous shuffling and clever one-liners suggested others were also caught off guard. The seminar carried the title, “Pastor as Spiritual Leader.” The question posed by the instructor asked, “What are you willing to die for?” Would that not make you a bit nervous? It did me, as I believe it well should. Ed gave each of us a note card and told us to go off somewhere and ponder the question for about thirty minutes. That was a tough thirty minutes which has lasted off and on for the past six years. “What am I willing to die for?” As we left the room, Ed called our attention to a statement projected on the screen. The statement was meant to provoke our thinking. It read, “Until you know what you are willing to die for, you won’t know what you are willing to live for.” Stephen knew both. He was absolutely clear about what he was willing to die for and what he was willing to live for. The two were one in the same---his belief in the Gospel and trust in God’s salvation coming in Jesus Christ. His was a costly faith. As Luke tells in our text, Stephen is the first martyr of the Christian Church. To understand how someone like Stephen could elicit such a violent response, we need to turn back to Chapter 6 of Acts, where Luke introduces us to Stephen. Stephen was one of seven men of good standing selected to assist the work of the apostles by serving tables where the widows were provided meals. While this may sound like a rather menial task to us, for the early church this was a deeply spiritual service. In fact, it was a commissioned ministry. Stephen is consistently described as a man “full of faith and the Holy Spirit,” and “full of wisdom and the Spirit.” But not long after being commissioned for ministry Stephen comes under the jealous eyes of certain members of he synagogue community. Jealousy leads to discontent which leads to trumped up charges of blasphemy toward God and Moses and of predicting the destruction of the Temple the most sacred place for Jewish religious practice. Stephen is brought before the religious authorities to answer these charges His answer takes the form of a sermon that traces the story of Israel’s relationship with God, beginning with God’s call of Abraham, through the story of Jacob and his sons, the Exodus with Moses, and to David and the building of Solomon’s Temple. He spares no criticism. He joins the historic prophetic critique of the Temple and its practices, arguing that God cannot be confined to a building or place. He reminds the crowd that God met Abraham and Moses beyond Palestine. And then concludes by maintaining that the present generation is merely the latest incarnation of a “stiff-necked” people who have consistently denied God’s promise, broken God’s law, and killed God’s messengers, most recently Jesus. And we think the Reverend Jeremiah Wright is offensive!! Well, that kind of preaching is bound to get you in a whole bunch of trouble. And it did. The crowd became enraged, literally boiling over with anger. And at this very moment, Stephen receives a vision which he was only too glad to share. He saw the heavens open, revealing the Son of Man standing at the right and of God. When he tells of his vision, the crowd can no longer contain themselves. They cover their ears and rush toward him, grabbing him, and then dragging him outside the city, where they begin to stone him. As the stones are flying, Stephen kneels down and in actions so reminiscent of Jesus, prays---first a prayer of committal, “Lord, receive my spirit,” and then a prayer of forgiveness, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” With his prayer offered, he dies. He dies a martyr, a man of faith. Stephen also dies a victorious death, a death in which he is vindicated by God. He dies freely and faithfully as a witness to the truth of the Gospel. Because he does, his death proved to have redemptive power. Luke tells us that among those who witnessed Stephen’s death is a young Pharisee named Saul, one who was an ardent persecutor of the Church. While he is said to have approved of Stephen’s death, one has to conclude that it had a transforming impact on his life. Not all that long after Saul witnessed Stephen’s death, he encountered the Risen Lord on the Road to Damascus and was himself converted. He became Paul, the great apostle of the Church and missionary to the Gentiles. So, how do we, you and I, answer this probing question, “What are willing to die for?” It forces us to ponder: What do we hold most dear? What is most significant in our lives? What do we value most highly? Would we answer be our family?--- would we die for a spouse, our children, our parents? Or would we answer our faith, our belief in Jesus Christ? Would we answer our political beliefs?---our country? Democracy? Freedom? What would our answer be? Or would our answer be, “Nothing. There is nothing for which I am willing to die.” Christianity, it is said, grew through the blood of the martyrs. People saw the witness, the commitment, the willingness to die rather than renounce the faith, and were moved. History is replete with countless stories of such faithfulness. A few years ago, Pope John Paul II paid tribute to Christian martyrs of the 20th Century in a solemn service held in Rome’s Coliseum. Anglicans, Lutherans, Orthodox, and Pentecostals joined the Pope in prayers for these faithful ones. John Paul mentioned those who had died in Nazi prison camps, like Pastor Paul Schneider and Dietrich Bonhoeffer and countless pastors and laity from the Confessing Church in Germany. He spoke of Patriarch Tikhon and thousands of faithful Orthodox clergy and laity killed by the communists after the Russian Revolution. He lifted up Archbishop Oscar Romero murdered as he celebrated mass in El Salvador; thousands of Armenian Christians killed during World War I along many unknown faithful dying in the present day in China, India, Iraq and Iran simply because they are Christians. We must never forget the untold numbers for whom the question, “What are you willing to die for?” has been and is now very real. It is not likely that you or I will face death, at least physical death, for witnessing to our faith. Yet, I would maintain the question remains in a variety of ways. For instance, we face it in the decisions we make in the board rooms and the classrooms that impact the lives of others as we choose between acceptance or integrity. We face it when we must decide between going along or speaking the truth as we know it, whether we give into peer pressure or say “No, that is not right.” We face it when we must choose between taking the easy way or upholding moral commitments and ethical standards. We face it when we decide between doing the hard work of discipling our children rather than copping out, between tending to our marriage or simply getting by. Yes, you and I face the question in some form each day. The decisions we make speak to what we value, what is important, and yes, what we are willing to die for. Hopefully, what we decide reveals us to be faithful, living for that which is worthwhile. I would like to stand here this morning and tell you I have it all figured out, that I know without question or hesitation what I would die for. I would like to say without equivocation, I would die for my faith, my family, my country. But in all honesty, I have to say, I am still working on my answer. Each time I get on an airplane, I think about that fateful day in September of 2001 and the “What ifs” play in my mind. What if a group of terrorists take over the plane. What if they point a gun at my head, or worse at Char or Mary Beth, and ask, “Are you a Christian?” How would I answer? How would you answer? I believe I am further along than when I first encountered the question some six years ago, but I still have work to do. In the meantime I pray for the grace to be faithful. What about you? Where are you in your answer? Maybe what needs to happen is for the conversation to continue among us that the Spirit may be at work. Thanks be to God! Amen! |
