Stephen and James

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0:00 We're still going through the story of Scripture. This book I'm getting, we're almost, we're like really getting close here. And the thing I was thinking about today is like how interesting it is that Jesus accomplishes the cross, good Friday, and resurrection, and Easter morning, and the story keeps going. Like you would think, okay, we did it, but the story keeps going. So today we'll talk a little bit about how the story keeps going.

0:33 And we're going to be in Acts chapter 11, if you want to look there with me in Acts chapter 11. So much going on here. Actually, sometimes I think Acts is the most fun book. Like if people ask me what my favorite book to read is in the scriptures, it's Genesis. Genesis is my favorite book to read. So many things happen. But Acts might be in number two. I mean the gospels are great and that's what I've read the most.

1:05 But if people ask me what's the most fun to read, I usually tell them either Genesis or Acts. Acts is really crazy. We think Acts was written by Luke. We're pretty sure. Same guy that wrote Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles is the name of it. It's like one long story. And actually if you read Acts carefully, there's several times where the author writes in the first person plural, we. So we're pretty sure that the author of Acts, probably Luke, was actually with Paul on several of the missionary journeys

1:37 and recorded firsthand what he saw and knew. There's a specific part in the Acts where you read it, where it goes from we to they for a little bit. And then comes back to we. And so there's a section where Paul is in house arrest where we think Luke left Paul in house arrest and went back to find Mary the mother of Jesus and get the pre-story, right? Like he started out writing recording the Acts of the Apostles and then was like I need to get what happened before this.

2:08 So then he goes back and finds Mary and writes the account of Jesus based off of Mary and maybe also the other gospels like whatever tools they were using, the oral or written tradition. So Acts the Apostles are a really cool firsthand account and it's crazy that we have that you and I have published either this form or this form or even in this form that we have published a primary document that we read like it's crazy that our sacred texts are these primary documents written by people about events.

2:45 And there's a little story here in Acts chapter 11 that I think really gets at where we are in the section of the story of Jesus. So if you want to look there with me Acts chapter 11 starting at verse 19. The first sentence here is a real bummer. It says, now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Venetia

3:19 and Cyprus and Antioch speaking the word to no one except the Jews. The part that's a bummer there is they spread because of the persecution of Stephen. So many things right there in that first sentence just to get you oriented to these first followers of Jesus. Remember that Jesus miraculously rises from the dead is around for 40 days appears to 500 people and then ascends and tells the 11 plus the women and whoever else was with them at the last supper to go wait in the upper room for the Holy Spirit

3:52 about 40 days later then they wait for a period of time. Pentecost comes everybody's assembled and then what we just told the kids what we'll talk about in a couple of weeks the Holy Spirit comes right and Peter then preaches to the whole people assembled that have come from all over the place. Maybe some of them were there for Passover but came back maybe some of them stayed maybe some of them couldn't make the trip for Passover but came for Pentecost but it's Israelites from all over the region and he announces to them that they did it.

4:23 They killed the Messiah and 3000 people are converted and they say that he's the Messiah he's the liberating king and he's gone and God has not abandoned him to the grave neither will he let his body see decay but he will rise he will come back and return but he's the king now so they all wait this is what I'm trying to get to. They don't all live in Jerusalem but they're all in Jerusalem because of Pentecost and the news of the liberating king. Hey. The news of the liberating king means that they want to stay there they're going to wait for Jesus to come back.

4:59 And so they get to Jerusalem they recognize that Jesus is the Messiah the liberating king they've been waiting for they hear that he'll come back so then they camp out. So if you read through Acts chapter 2 and it says that the church that they held all things in common that they didn't have individual possessions that they lived in share food and study the apostles teaching they were just there they held everything in common. The closest example we can get for it is like a it's a long summer camp. If you've ever been to a summer camp you know where like the situation is not ideal you're living kind of in a bunk the only store you have is like the general store that they give you little stuff to buy things from but you're all in it together.

5:44 And so this summer camp is such a cool experience. I want you to see that that first church in Acts chapter 2 was not dealing with reality yet. And they had Stephen and Stephen was elected to replace Judas who had betrayed Jesus and he starts performing these miracles and teaching so then they arrest Stephen this is the real kicker for me. They arrest Stephen and stone him and if you were to go back and read in Acts chapter 6 they talk about the stoning of Stephen and it's brutal.

6:23 Anybody ever read how they stone people? I'm curious. Anybody ever read about it? I read about it once because they mention it so many times it's kind of like crucifixion they just say they crucified him but they don't explain how they crucified him because we talked about last week how they knew how crucifixions worked they'd seen a bunch of them so they didn't need an explanation of where the boards went where the nails went and what killed somebody. Same thing with stoning they didn't need an explanation of stoning but stoning is brutal the goal is to throw rocks at somebody until they die.

6:59 If you get little pebbles then it's going to take a really long time and so they had two ways of doing it. One way they'd get you to a cliff puts you off the cliff so that you couldn't get up and run away then run down to the bottom of the cliff and drop rocks on you until you died. Bummer? The other way is they'd get the biggest rocks that they could lift up off the ground and go for your head and your lungs to knock you out so you couldn't run away. I'm saying brutal right?

7:33 This is the kicker for me. The people of God crucifies Jesus and his people 3,000 in the capital city gather hold all things in common take care of the widows and then they start trying to kill them. Brutal. Two things happen when that one it's like I just want us to think about it for a second.

8:10 What are they so angry about? Stephen is healing people. Of course Jesus was raising people from the dead. What are they so mad about? Why are they so violent? We just read past it. They stone Stephen. The story of the story of Stephen is amazing. It's a vision of heaven and as they're killing him he says, Lord, don't hold this sin against him.

8:41 Just as Jesus did as he hung on the cross. The brutal violence didn't wane his faith or reduce his witness. He still recognized Jesus as his liberating king even as he was being killed. So the violence didn't but then they go on being violent such that the little summer can't breaks up. So they leave Jerusalem. You know the famous line, you'll be my witnesses to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth that Jesus gives them before he ascends.

9:16 And we always talk about how Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth are at Pentecost. They may have been but they did not go willingly back to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. It's not like, oh we got the news liberating king. All right we're going out two by two to tell the whole world and convince them that Jesus is the king. No they held everything in common so we're going to stay right here. And then they flee for their life from the people of God who have started ripping people out of homes and stoning them to death. They run.

9:49 That's where we are in Acts chapter 11. You see, Acts is a crazy story, right? Okay, Acts chapter 11 verse 19. Now those who are scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch. Speaking the word to no one except the Jews. They're speaking the word to no one except the Jews because the Jews at least would get it. They could use shorthand, right? They could go, hey if they're Greek speaking Jew, hey we found out that this Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ.

10:27 Oh wow. Yeah you remember when Isaiah talked about the suffering servant that had a land led to the slaughter? Like that's what's happened. You remember when he said he would destroy the temple in three days and resurrect it. He was talking about himself as the temple. Oh wow. Yeah, he's the king of kings. I know we got to deal with Rome but he's coming back. They're using this as they're going. Like why did you stay at the summer camp so long? Oh we found out Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. They're telling the Jews as they go and they figure out where to settle and try and be safe.

11:00 But then some of them men from Cyprus and Cyrene who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also preaching the Lord Jesus. This is the crazy thing. It would have been normal for a Jew who had been a disciple of a rabbi to go, hey my rabbi's got the best teaching. I know he's gone but I'm carrying on his teaching. You should follow his teaching as well. Some people say when Jesus said take my yoke upon you and for it is easy and light that yoke is an interpretation of a rabbi's teaching.

11:32 That he's just telling people, hey take my teaching. It's a better way to live. So it would have been natural for a Jew fleeing the persecution of Jews to say, hey I found the right rabbi. Come and follow my way of the my rabbi. It's the best way to live. But what's crazy is these guys started going, hey if this guy is the king of kings he beats all others. The Greeks can come too. That's the great innovation of the way of Jesus. Go and make disciples of all nations. Go and make disciples we get. All nations is new. And so they're on their way back fleeing life and they start telling the Greeks as well as the Jews.

12:06 And this gets everybody's attention. Look. And the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. It would be crazy to be a Roman citizen and take up the faith of the Jews, a conquered nation on the wrong side of the desert who were still doing animal sacrifices. You're Rome man. You got the Olympus, you got the Caesar, you've conquered the known world. Why follow the God of the Israelites? Why say that his king is better than yours? All roads lead to Rome.

12:41 Oh only if the spirit inflames faith. I can't answer all the questions but I like Jesus better. My life is better. My heart changes. I've glimpsed love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. I like who I am better among these people. Something animates my life differently. And what they found is that as they announced the idea that Jesus of Nazareth was the liberating king, even to the Romans, that sometimes spirit, faith enamored.

13:14 And they came and wanted to be one of them and they had to start figuring out. So look they start to try and figure it out. And the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. And then the report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, the headquarters. And they sent Barnabas out there to Antioch and when he came he saw the grace of God. He was glad and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. He's like, okay great, this is legitimate. You guys aren't getting it wrong. You guys are getting it right.

13:46 Just hang out here and be faithful to the Lord. We're pretty sure he'll be back pretty soon. And he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord instead, fast purpose, for he was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. So much so that Barnabas look at verse 29. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. I love that Acts tells us all this. Barnabas is in Antioch, he's like, oh my gosh, we got so many Jews and Hellenists coming to follow the way of Jesus.

14:19 I need some help. I've heard about Saul. He's supposed to be really smart. He's been arguing in Damascus with all the people trying to make the case to Greeks and Jews that Jesus of Nazareth was the great liberating king. So Barnabas goes over to Damascus to find him. And when he found him, verse 26, he brought him to Antioch for a whole year. They met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians.

14:51 They started teaching him because they were trying to think about how do we live? If Jesus is king, how should we live? Can we still go to the Roman temples? Do we have to go? Should we be building our own temple? How should we handle the people we've enslaved? What is our relationship to our wives? Do you know that I heard that Paul, first called Saul, was the first person to put in writing that husbands should love their wives?

15:21 Did you know that? That until Paul wrote it down, it was just like, don't beat them. The idea that a husband would lay down his life for the wife, as Christ laid down his life for the church, was far over and above any expectation in the Roman world. So Paul and Barnabas are there teaching in Antioch because Christ is king, he is demonstrated for us the way to live.

15:54 Love isn't just do no harm, it's solidarity and self-sacrifice. It's standing with other people at your own expense. Hey husbands, love your wives. They're teaching things like this. This is why they come up with the name Christian because it's like, you can't be Christ, but you can be Christ-like. Yes, he was fully divine. This is why his resurrection counts as our resurrection. This is why his righteousness can be given to us, but he lives as a person fully submitted to the same spirit we just got on Pentecost.

16:25 That you got when you believed that was affirmed when you were baptized. We'll be Christians together. They come up with it for the first time. They're teaching things like solidarity and sacrifice. Love. They're healing people, right? And look down. Okay, now verse 27, now in these days prophets, okay, they start to collect an offering. Go down to verse 12, this is where I wanted to get to. Our chapter 12 verse 1 of Acts, about that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church and killed James.

17:03 The brother of John with a sword, remember? James and John, the sons of thunder? Killed one of them. With a sword, they're pretty sure this is the same way he killed John the Baptist, you know, with a sword we just chopped off his head. Herod laid violent hands on some of the followers and then got James and brother of John and killed him with a sword, verse 3. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.

17:35 This was during the days of the young love and bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was in prison, but earned his prayer was made for him to God by the church. What? This is what I got when I was reading through Acts this time, these chapters for us in the book, if you're reading along in the book, what stood out to me this time was how incredibly angry everybody was around the followers of Jesus.

18:09 And I can't figure, I mean, I think I can figure out why, but it is alarming if you take it seriously. They are very mad. They are killing these guys. They killed Jesus and thought it would take care of it and it didn't, so then they start killing more of them. The Israelites, the first persecutor of the church are the people of God. The people who are protecting the church from the church.

18:41 It's like a real bummer. I mean, so then I'm like, why are they so violent? And the answer is probably almost a cliche, you know? I think that they are probably just protecting their own power.

19:15 You know? They like being in charge. Herod likes being in charge. You don't hear much about the Sadducees, but the Sadducees, man, they run the temple and the Sadducees were helping to organize this stuff, because the Sadducees had the situation and the Pharisees out in the towns were helping them impose their situation to keep Rome off of them and keep the dollars going and the system going where they were the authority. And they like being in charge, man, they like the power, they like making the decisions, they like people having to listen to them.

19:50 They like knowing that they are right and everyone else is wrong. It just feels good to them. There's a thing with humanity where we really like power. It feels very close to divinity and boy, we would love to be God, you know? If we were God, everything would go. Just bad.

20:20 And this is what you see, man. They are killing people because they are grasping so tightly to being in control. It's holding on to the things that give them a feeling of power. It's a kicker that they were so focused on their power that they missed Jesus and his movement.

20:55 It's a bummer that the people who were stoning Stephen thought they were serving God and killed the first martyr of the church. I hope they figured it out later. As Stephen is saying, don't hold these sins against them. I hope that they went home and thought about what gives him the capacity to forgive as I am killing. And they came to faith. I hope they did. Also, I think the story persists that you might not make the same mistake.

21:38 You see, the places you have power are places where you are particularly vulnerable to your own grasping, clutching and blindness. The places where you are affirmed that you are right are particularly dangerous for you. I mean, they just are.

22:08 You will get blinded to the reality in front of you. The places where you can have control and make, this is why Jesus talks about money so much. I had a friend whom I really respect who is very smart who told me that money is the only, this is how you know he's smart. He just used this word. He said money is the only fungible form of power. I said, andy-fungible.

22:38 What does that even mean? He said, fungible is like a transactional accumulating, passing around. Money is power. You can accumulate it and use it to get what you want. You can store it and feel safe. You can lord it over someone else to get them to do what you want. Right? Money is this like fungible form of power. This is why Jesus says you can't serve money and God.

23:09 So perhaps for us, the place where we are most vulnerable is our dollars. This is why we give so generously. People in the church are the best givers. I was surprised by that when I started raising money. Now, if you're trying to raise money for stuff besides the church, it can be frustrating because the Christians are very generous to their church, but then hard to give. But they are. They give more money per capita.

23:41 The people, Christians give more money. We give more money because it undercuts our sense of power to remind ourselves that all is God's and we return back to God who has given us anyway. But of course, money is not the only place where you have power. At work, in your home, in particular relationships, even culturally, as you move about. You might have more power than the people next to you. You might have more prestige.

24:11 You might have more access than the people around you. The invitation is to consider the danger there. And also, I said it's funny the story continues. Remember that Jesus accomplishes the death and resurrection and then the story goes on. One of the things that was so interesting to me, in undergraduate, I studied the different world religions. One of the ones that was really interesting to me was Buddhism because I had friends who thought they were Buddhist, and so I liked reading about Buddhism and starting to understand it.

24:48 One of the things that's most interesting about Buddhism, this goal to achieve Nirvana, if you ask people what Nirvana is, the correct answer is we don't know because nobody knows what Nirvana is. It's escape from the cycle of samsara. But when you achieve Nirvana, you just disappear. You're done. Out. Of the cycle of life, death, birth, rebirth, death, life. You're just gone. What's so interesting to me is that Jesus leaves, and when he leaves, he says,

25:21 Hey guys, keep doing the thing and I'll send you the spirit. Then he sends the spirit, and Peter preaches, and 3000 new people believe they get the spirit, and then they all stick around. And then they get persecuted, and they leave, and they start telling other people, and then in Antioch, they all stick around. And Jesus decides uniquely and weirdly to operate the church through people, to leverage your little places of power. Isn't that interesting?

25:53 That he leaves you amongst money, and justice, and injustice. That he leaves you around prosperity, and suffering. He doesn't take you out of it once you're saved. He leaves you in the minefield. I wonder why.

26:23 Right after this, it says that Herod killed James with the sword, and everybody liked it, so he's like, Cool, I'll do it again, man. Let's get Peter. And then he puts Peter amongst all the power he can. When you read the story of Peter, he's like sleeping between two guards, and then there's sentries outside the door, and he's chained. He's like, Hold on to Peter, because Peter's the ringleader. They loved when I, let's see how crazy they go when I take care of Peter. Right? Let's exercise all the power we got to get what we want.

26:58 Then of course the angels come and free Peter, and Jesus liberates Peter, because Jesus will leave you amongst the power of the world, even equip you with the power of the world, but don't be fooled like little Herod. To suppose that you can out power the God, that with your money you can control, with your prestige, you can laud yourself with your accomplishments,

27:28 you can impress. God leaves you amongst the power in order that he might leverage your power, not because your power, but because his is so much greater. So even Jesus, right? They take Jesus out and he, they, death. They look, it looks like they won. Kill him. He's all the way dead. And the power of God supersedes all other powers in the world.

28:00 When's the day? Jesus is raised. You, like Barnabas and Saul, are this unique little agent of the reign of God, with a particular matrix of opportunity, weaknesses and strengths,

28:31 injustice and justice, power and poverty. You have all these things acting inside your unique little matrix of the agent of God. And as you move around, you have the opportunity to leverage all of it for the reign of God. When you read the story of the Acts of the Apostles, this is what happens. Such that they leverage both their suffering and their strengths for the reign of God.

29:07 Because they know whatever power the world exerts on them, the power of Jesus is stronger. Whatever power they hold in their hands is a free gift from the God, allowing them to operate. They leverage for his greater gain. Both of these things, suffering and strength, richness and poverty, leveraged for the reign of God. And it builds the church, has sustained the church to get it down to you and die. And so the invitation for you is that your story goes on after Easter. You have weaknesses and strength, power and opportunity.

29:41 Let God work through you for his reign in the world. Okay? Let's pray that he might. Hey Lord, thank you for this room of little Christians. Teach us what faithfulness looks like, humility and proper power. That we like Saul and Barnabas before us might be agents of your reign in the world.

30:16 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.