The Stephen Trial – Like The Face Of An Angel

Over the last few days I’ve been bothered by the saga of Stephen in Acts 6 and 7.  It’s what led to this morning’s video entries and subsequently to what I’ve to share at this juncture.  I also hope as you make your way through it you’ll see how inextricably linked it is to our identity as political and spiritual beings as mentioned earlier this week.

There is plenty to write about concerning this episode in early church history and the first notable ‘martyr’.  For the time being I just want to dwell on one thing mentioned before Stephen launches into one of the most amazing speeches recorded in Scripture.

All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel. (Acts 6:15)

If you were to mention someone having the face of an angel today, more likely than not it might very well be linked to that of a cherubic chubby faced little one.  I don’t think it would take a biblical scholar to suggest that was not what was being recorded on Stephen’s face as he looked to mount his ‘defence’.

I also don’t it’s a flight into fantasy to suggest that what was noteworthy about Stephen’s look was that it pictured the serenity and authority of a messenger from God.  Serenity in the sense that as scriptures throughout the Bible are happy to proclaim, God gives peace to those whose minds are stayed on Him, whose confidence is in Him who are fully persuaded and convinced that they are His and He is theirs.  When it comes to those heavenly messengers whether it was Gabriel or someone else, there was something of their ‘countenance’ that suggested no doubt or quibble in their being of that which they were doing.  Likewise that level of certainty, that ‘blessed assurance’ if you will, marks out even believers so that they are not perturbed by their surroundings, but are content that the inner and divine reality far exceeds any circumstance that appears.

So in that sense, like an angel, Stephen’s face was not troubled, but in fact a face at peace in the reflection of the One who sent Him.  Then there is that authority factor and for that, the contextual bit is crucial.

I am not sure if there is another New Testament writer who iss more bothered about being full of the Holy Spirit than Luke.  Sure, it’s part of his depiction of the narrative, but the frequent references in the gospel account and through the life of the early church cannot be ignored.

Unlike certain charismaniac expressions of being filled with the Holy Spirit, more often than not, that filling soon gets you into trouble, whether directly or indirectly, immediately or eventually, the in-filling attracts opposition like a magnet attracts metal fillings.  Don’t take my word for it, from Jesus’ Spirit led journey into a confrontation with the devil, there are littered incidents where those filled with the Spirit are  emboldened and empowered to declare the great deeds of God in Jesus Christ, even to their own demise, as Stephen more than anyone should know.

Earlier on disciples were beaten for proclaiming Christ and when they returned to their brethren the prayer meeting asked God for more power to continue to declare Him who they knew to be the Risen Messiah in word and power.  That is to say, in the midst of great opposition, they asked God for power to carry on doing that which garnered the trouble in the first place.  In response to that prayer it is recorded that God gave them such power.  That in-filling of the Holy Spirit was not for insular benefit and showing off their spiritual credentials to others in the Body, or get another spiritual high after an ecstatic work-out, it was specifically designed to let the world know who Jesus is.

So we come to the angelically faced Stephen with serenity and authority and that authority is directly derived from his being a man filled with the Spirit.  That in-filling gave him boldness and power to declare that which God would have him outline to onlookers even to his own fatal detriment, because of that conviction and assurance that this was not an opportunity to ‘defend himself’ but once more to be uncompromising in the declaration of the reality of Jesus Christ and the historical precedent of the ‘stiff-neckedness’ of those who really should have known better.  With that level of boldness his fate is not surprising, but that could have only been accomplished by one truly sent by God, just like an angel.

Now all of that bugs me because of what I was alluding to earlier on this week about ‘person-centred counselling’.  It is the desire of the world around me to acclimatise to the liberal agenda that under the guise of tolerance and diversity wishes me to keep my ‘religious’ views private in all cases and be ‘professional’ in keeping issues of faith out of the work environment, especially when it comes to customer relations.

That view is actually endorsed and maintained by some elements of the mainstream Christian perspective.

And whilst this agenda goes sweetly by deluding people into thinking this is the way fairness, justice and liberty, it actually sets people up as their own gods and in so doing merely leads others down an undesirable road to ruin.

So am I meant to just co-operate with the status quo?  Am I to be a subversive and blatantly disregard the protocol of the work place in order to ‘proclaim’?  Before Stephen was brought before the religious elders, etc. he was carrying on his  regular and the assignment he had been given as the administrator for provisions to the hellenist widows, all done by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Whilst he did that he took every opportunity to declare Christ in action, but it’s not recorded that he went about doing anything overtly subversive.  It took trumped up charges to get him in front of the religious rulers.  That is to say, as with the initial qualifications for the deacons, these men were known for Spirit-filled lives evidenced with wisdom.

This is to encourage me and others to realise the culture we live in, which would like to give us the impression that it’s Christian-friendly or at least tolerant of the religion when the reality is that the underlying philosophy on which the culture is run, as with all others, pays scant attention to the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all things.  That’s why the ‘tolerance’ agenda would seek to repress that essential element of the Kingdom agenda being effectively proclaimed.  Spirit-filled people followers of Jesus are encouraged and empowered to walk that fine line between being unspotted from the world and yet prepared to give an explanation for the hope they have within them, even if that leads to greater opposition or rejection.

For this and so many other reasons, my heart’s desire is to develop that relationship with God that marks me out as one filled with the Spirit and wisdom and even under the most trying of circumstances,my countenance might take that of an angel serenely authoritative because greater is He that is in me …

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd