Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke. (Acts 6:8-10)
If anyone ever thought that following Jesus would be a dreamy, lovely existence free from trouble, there should be enough already in the book of Acts to shatter those illusions.
By the time we reach chapter 6 readers are already aware that the start of the early church involved opposition from without and troubles from within. As we reach chapter 6, then, it should be no surprise to come across a spot of bother in the church. Thankfully, unlike the Ananias and Sapphira episode, no lives were lost in the resolving of the issue. Indeed the argument of the needs being met fairly was resolved in an inspired which brought to the fore others who could serve in the capacity for the development of the community.
From it emerged Stephen. The words used to describe are outstanding – a man full up of some good stuff – faith, the Holy Spirit, grace and power (vs 5 and 8). He evidently was not a simple pen-pusher in the administering of the needs of the people. Being so full up of the good stuff, the brother had to get involved in doing marvellous things for God and for the people. it’s worth noting that Stephen was in on the action even though he wasn’t an apostle – it just took a man full of God to get involved in God’s business.
In doing so, however, for any acclaim he might have received, he troubled the status quo and got into trouble himself as a result. What evidently particularly aggrieved those who opposed him was how they couldn’t outsmart him.
This is a word of warning and a word of encouragement. The word of warning again comes straight from Jesus Himself who said that those who followed Him would suffer for it. Persecution at any level is to be expected when people full of God go out to do the business of God and thus challenge the status quo.
The word of encouragement is that those who are full of God doing the business of God are assured of the presence and power of God to stand brave in the face of opposition. That assurance is ours and is not dependent on academic achievement, financial wellbeing, social acceptability or cultural popularity.
It is completely dependent on people availing themselves to be full of the Holy Spirit to do great things in Jesus’ name to the glory of God.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
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