Commentary for May 22, 2011

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Acts 7:55-60
The contrast between Stephen — “the first Christian martyr” (if you don’t count Jesus)– and Saul is striking. Stephen is older, more experienced; Saul is a “young man.” Stephen is filled with the Spirit, while Saul is filled with rage and zeal for what he thought was right, like everyone else in the crowd that day. Stephen gets a straight-shot view through to heaven, where he can see Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Saul, of course, has yet to gain his spiritual eyes. He is blind to these details, even as he will become blind on the road to Damascus in just a little while.


Not to be missed are the visual and vocal cues connecting Stephen’s faith in God to that of Christ at his own execution. Stephen commits his spirit to Christ, as Christ had done in commending his spirit to God. Amazingly, Stephen prays– as did Jesus on the cross– a form of the “Father forgive them” prayer.


What kind of example do we have here from this outstanding deacon of the church, as well as from Christ himself? “Do not hold this sin against them,” Stephen prayed. We don’t usually want to let those who have sinned against us off that easily. Like the bumper sticker says, “I don’t get mad — I just get even!”


Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
This psalm text has connections both to the experience of Stephen (see above) and of Christ. Verse 5 is a poignant prayer: “Into your hand I commit my spirit….” Notice that the rest of the verse indicates a future that can already be claimed as present: “…you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”


Perhaps a part of living with the kind of vivid faith exemplified by Stephen and Jesus is the realization that God’s promises for the future actually reach to our present reality. As the psalmist says, “My times [past, present, and future] are in your hand….” 


1 Peter 2:2-10
Babies are sweet, aren’t they? Bring a newborn baby into any room, and there will be “coos” and “aahs” issued from every direction. We just love to hold them, cuddle them, smell them, and generally “make do” over the little ones!


But babies are a mess, too; let them get hungry, or wet, or dirty and the object of our affections is no longer quite so appealing. We’re soon looking for the momma or the daddy in order to hand them off. Nobody likes dealing with an upset baby!


All the more reason to see Peter’s analogy as an apt description of the necessity of nurturing new Christians in the faith. It is an exciting prospect to receive young members of the faith into our churches, through confirmation or “profession of faith.” We love to “coo and aah” over such events, and everybody in the congregation feels a bit like proud parents. But, then the messy work of growing these young converts sets in.


We might well want to put them aside — perhaps give them to the pastor or the Christian Ed person — or, better yet, the “youth director” — until their spiritual maturity has been accomplished. But, Peter says, it takes the hard work of building one stone at a time in order to see God’s house raised to fullness. “Babes in Christ” don’t automatically turn into “royal priests” overnight or automatically.


It takes a church — the whole church — to raise a Christian in his or her faith. 


John 14:1-14
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Easy for you to say, Jesus!

We have plenty of trouble all around us, everyday, don’t we? It’s pretty hard for us to see our way through, sometimes, when it seems the effluvia of life just keeps piling higher and higher. The disciples said as much on this day when Jesus sought to bestow on them a bit of the heavenly vision.

Jesus: “I am going to prepare a place for you…and you know the way to that place.”
Thomas: “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going; how can we know the way?”
Philip: “Yeah, Jesus, just show us the Father, then we’ll be satisfied.”

Oh, those crazy disciples — always asking Jesus for a little more of this and a bit more of that. As if Jesus himself might not be able to handle it and ought to just go ahead and call God in!

Of course, as Christ’s followers, all we ultimately get is him — just Jesus. “I am the Way…” he replied to Thomas. “You walk with me and follow me, and you’re going to end up just where you need to go” — that kind of thing. No other roadmaps or directional signs.

I like the way that Eugene Peterson puts it in The Way of Jesus: “To follow Jesus implies that we enter into a way of life that is given character and shape and direction by the one who calls us. To follow Jesus means picking up rhythms and ways of doing things that are often unsaid but always derivative from Jesus, formed by the influence of Jesus. To follow Jesus means that we can’t separate what Jesus is saying from what Jesus is doing and the way that he is doing it. To follow Jesus is as much, or maybe even more, about feet as it is about ears and eyes.” (p. 22).

So — let’s put some feet to it and keep following Jesus!

Sermon
by the Rev. Dr. Delmer L. Chilton