Tuesday, April 16, 2024
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Stephen and Saul
Now Saul was consenting to Stephen’s execution.
The road I took to get here was dry, and dangerous. I don’t expect to come that way again.
“Saul, what should we do with this deacon of the Christians? He doesn’t listen to us when we tell him to SHUT UP!”
I heard their complaints with one ear only. The crowd filled up my senses, and in the hot air of the desert village I felt dizzy. Thirsty.
“Could you get me something to drink?”
But they brought vinegar, not water. I had no idea why. The woman in charge, Mary I think her name was, took back the brine and brought fresh water. I poured some of it over my head, and the rest, I drank. I listened to the debate.
You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit! You are just like your ancestors.
What he said was true, if not kind. The Holy Spirit had no place in gatherings of Pharisees and priests, and all the common folks followed right along. Were they afraid? Were they convinced? Were they just another mob listening to the loudest voice?
I feel like a man without a country. Not convinced of anything anymore. Something is going on inside me. Jesus was nothing more than a wanna-be messiah, but something is singing just outside my ears.
You received the law as transmitted by angels, but you did not observe it.
The law is all we’ve had for hundreds of years. Isn’t that enough? Certainly it’s true that we often fail to observe the laws we hold in our hands. Adam and Eve started this disobedience and selfishness. But we follow with nary a whisper. Is there any other way to live?
When they heard Stephen they were infuriated and ground their teeth at him. But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and said to them, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
The people, the elders and the scribes are screaming at Stephen now. At last they pounce on him, grab his arms and pull him out of the city to a hill, the hill where I’m standing at the top. Did they pick this hill to impress me?
The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.
The pile of soiled cloaks covers my sandals, cover my feet, and I take a step back. Of course the think I’m part of this execution; why wouldn’t they? But I only listen, as before, with one ear.
As they were stoning Stephen he called out, “Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Stephen obviously thinks of Jesus as more than just a man who was killed on the cross. In a moment I remember how Jesus forgave his killers on Golgotha. No one expected that. And no one deserved it.
Stephen fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
His words move me. The music builds inside my head, drowning out the blood-screams of the killers. I really have no idea what is happening to me.
Holy Spirit, come!
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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