A pastoral resource for Christians in exile

Barry J. Robinson

When they heard these things they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

  A few years ago, a friend of ours, a priest of the American Episcopalian Church, wrote to let us know that he would soon be leaving his parish and quite possibly the priesthood under duress. He had been a priest for many years and had served his parishes faithfully. A few years previous to this his bishop had asked him to accept a post in a large, prosperous parish in a mid-western U.S. state.

  The country was in a panic following 9/11 and the Bush administration was advancing its propaganda for an invasion of Iraq. Like many Americans, our friend was opposed to this military policy and began to speak out against the war from the pulpit. It was like throwing a match in a pool of gasoline. Some influential parishioners accused him of being a traitor to his country, of using the pulpit to advance his own political views and worse. The assassination of the Dixie Chicks scenario Episcopalian style.

  Our friend refused to back down, refused to apologize for his views and for using the pulpit to address the administration's policy. It wasn't long before people were leaving, withholding their finances and bringing enormous pressure on the priest to leave. It was then that the bishop was brought in to deal with the crisis. He met with the priest to ascertain exactly what he had said. Then he met with the parish's leaders to hear their complaints.

  When the bishop finally met with the priest to come up with a solution, he said, "Have you ever considered giving bus tours of the Holy Land? They are really popular with our people these days."

  "In other words," said the priest, "stay away from politics if I want a future in this parish."

  "Not quite," said the bishop. "Stay away from that particular brand of politics if you want a future in the priesthood. It is not a particularly wise strategy these days and the diocese cannot afford to have this parish in trouble. Stick to talking about Jesus and his teachings and I'm sure things will calm down. It's not too late to turn things around if you'll just change your tune."

  "But what if that is the tune Jesus wants me to play?" asked the priest.

  "Then I'd suggest you have another career goal in mind," said the bishop.

  This week's reading from the Book of Acts comes with an ADULT CONTENT warning attached to it. "The following story contains acts of graphic violence and may be too intense for some listeners." It's quite a switch from the readings for the past few Sundays, which have focused on Peter's sermon on the Day of Pentecost. That sermon, you will recall, had a very "positive" effect on all who heard it. The pews got filled up in a hurry and the church treasurer started looking very happy.

  But when it came to the ministry of Stephen, apparently just an ordinary layman and new convert to the faith, the effect was just the opposite. Not that Stephen wasn't a great preacher. Just the opposite. In fact, it was Stephen's charisma and power of persuasion that drew the attention of just about everybody in Jerusalem. He was the golden-haired boy who could do no wrong. People were astounded by the grace and wisdom that came out of his mouth. He looked like the new star-preacher of the church and when his opponents stood up to argue with him, says Luke,

  Stephen had been captured by the Spirit of Jesus himself and empowered by that Spirit with a gift that reached into people's hearts with a message that you just knew was the real thing. The place was rockin' with talk about him.

  It made some people fit to be tied. This particular group, the ones who couldn't manage to best Stephen in a debate, were called the "Freedmen", an interesting term to say the least when you consider what happened next. These members of the synagogue who happened to be visiting from their home in various Greek provinces began to start a smear campaign against Stephen with the temple authorities in Jerusalem. It's the way it is with some religious people, isn't it? All it boils down to is "politics". But the kind of politics I mean here is: "me getting my way so that you don't get yours". These proud religious people, who were so offended by not being able to "win" an argument with Stephen and who were probably so envious of the influence Stephen had with the crowds in Jerusalem, decided to take Stephen down. They did it the way small-minded, essentially proud people always do: character assassination. If all else fails, start some rumours about your opponent that will surely attract some notice.

  Well, the rumours did just that and before you knew it, Stephen found himself standing in front of a hearing before the high-priest himself on charges of blasphemy. The rumours were specifically that Stephen had been preaching against the law and the prophets of Israel and threatening to do away with them. It is an interesting charge when you stop to consider that this is precisely the kind of charge Jesus' adversaries brought against him.

  Well, in spite of all his natural gifts and wisdom, Stephen was not exactly tactful. The fifty-three verses that follow constitute the longest running speech in the entire New Testament. Stephen not only refutes the false accusations made against him, he turns the inquiry about him into a long, documented indictment of Israel's long-standing failure to obey God dating back to Moses himself. In essence, what Stephen says to these religious professionals is, "You have your nerve questioning me about my faithfulness to the tradition. Look at you and your record!"

  Of course, Stephen was right and everybody there knew he was right. The prophets had railed against such a failure throughout the history of Israel and what happened to Jesus of Nazareth was just another example of how hard-hearted and stiff-necked people could be. Judgment begins with God's own house, Stephen reminded his accusers, and his passionate defense is a classic example of one of our own who had the courageous determination to tell our own history honestly. The problem with it is that in doing so Stephen sealed his own fate. If he had recanted, cast himself on the mercy of the court and offered to run tours of the holy sites instead, they just might have let him off the hook. But Stephen was too honest for his own good. And the response of the powers that be was immediate.

When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.

  Today's Easter text is a sobering reminder to every last person in religious communities. People who are good at ministry do not always end up successful. Commitment to Christ can just as easily lead to public stoning as it can to a big promotion. What we have in this week's text, which ends this long and important story in Acts, is the story of Stephen's beatific vision, another reminder in a long list of reminders in this Good Book of ours that those who preach faithfully from it often end up on the losing side. Luke tells it to give courage to the new and struggling church in the face of growing and insurmountable persecution.

  William Sloan Coffin Jr., former chaplain of Yale University, Williams College and senior minister of Riverside Presbyterian Church once said,

In almost every church there are gentle cowards who think their gentleness offsets their cowardice. It doesn't. Compassion frequently demands confrontation, as all those twentieth-century movements illustrate. The primary reason I suspect their views failed to prevail is because churches vastly prefer charity, which in no way affects the status quo, to justice, which immediately leads to political confrontation. Fellow pastors, be as pastoral as possible but never surrender ethical initiative!

[ Home ] [ Up ]