Rejection and Our Constant Need
Acts 7:1-53
As today’s reading is a little longer, I have included a
link to the text so that you can easily access it online. Please don’t skip
this part. The idea of this blog is to get your head into the Word every day!
Have you ever had one of those conversations where you
thought of really great stuff to say after you walked away? Or maybe you’re one
of those people for whom words come quickly and easily, falling from your lips
like leaves from a tree. Only later you replay the conversation and wish you
could “unspeak” those words, but now it’s too late. We all land in both of
those categories from time to time wishing we had said something or wishing we
could unsay something. Either way, it’s no fun. Today we find Stephen given the
opportunity to speak to those who want to end him or at the very least shut him
up. But I doubt if he regrets a single words, even though it ends badly for
him.
In just a few short paragraphs Stephen clearly outlines the
Old Testament narrative for a group of guys who already knew it very well. He
speaks of the patriarchs upon whose testimony Stephen’s accusers stand. He tells
of Abraham who first received the promise from God that He was building a
mighty nation from Abraham’s seed. God promises Abraham that his people would
someday dwell in power on land that Abraham didn’t even own. Stephen recounts
the story of Joseph who was rejected by his own brothers and then of Moses who
led the people from captivity in Egypt. Moses too is rejected by his people but
still faithfully serves God and carries out the mission that God sets before
him. This theme of rejection by God’s people culminates in the final few verses
for today.
51“You stiff-necked people,
uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your
fathers did, so do you.
52Which of the prophets did your
fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the
coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,
53you who received the law as
delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
Now it’s personal. Stephen isn’t talking about Abraham,
Joseph, or Moses; men who were long since dead. No, now he’s talking about the
people in his audience. They too are "rejecters" just like their ancestors. But
they aren’t rejecting mere men. They are rejecting the Holy Spirit Himself. His
words are clear and the challenge is plain. What will they do with that
challenge? (We’ll get into that tomorrow. It’s not pretty.) Stephen’s boldness
must be admired. The theme of rejection runs strong throughout his message and
the crowd should have seen it coming but their arrogance probably doesn’t allow
that. By the time he speaks those last few sentences they are firmly in the
palm of his hand and the conviction hits them in the mouth.
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