Word of Salvation – Vol. 34 No. 35 – September 1989

 

The Cost Of Discipleship

 

Sermon by Rev. M. C. De Graaf on Acts 7:51-56 (Read 7:23-8:1)

Reading: Acts 6:8 – 7:22

Singing: BoW H. 207; BoW H. 17 Ps. 78, 409, 492

 

Brothers and Sisters,

In John 12:23 & 24 Jesus notes that if He is to be glorified He must first die.  He says:
            “…unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies
             it remains only a single seed; but if it dies
             it produces many seeds”.

He goes on from there and applies that truth also to His disciples.  He says:
            “the man who loves his life will lose it,
             while the man who hates his life (in Matthew it says:
            “the man who loses his life for my sake”) will find it!”

In the end He says:
            “Whoever serves me, must follow me!”

For many of us, of course, that “serving” and that “following” is a fairly tame affair.  It involves little more than “having” to go to church! or “having” to give a small portion of our wages to the work of the church.

For many people the Jesus-idea of “discipleship” and “followership” simply equals their local church membership and perhaps devotions at home.  But that’s basically it!

This morning in Acts 7 we are reminded that this has not always been true for everyone through the history of the church.

For many, their being a disciple of Jesus has truly meant following Him to the end; truly meant giving up all things, perhaps even their own lives for the service of the King of Life.  That message comes through clearly in what we read about Stephen.  And when I say that, I’m not just talking about the obvious, the fact that he was stoned to death for his faith!  It can also be seen in what he says in this sermon before he is put to death.  After all it is in both of those things that we are once again challenged with the typical Acts questions: Where are our hearts?  And what are our priorities?

That is something, of course, that Stephen would have known about.  We first hear about him at the beginning of chapter 6, when he was appointed, along with Philip and five others, to be a deacon among the less fortunate and often neglected Greek-speaking Jewish Christians.  Their task was to overcome old deeply rooted Jewish prejudices and to make sure that no member of the new community (the Body of Christ) was being neglected.  They were to make sure that everyone experienced Christian love not just in words but also in very practical down-to-earth ways!!

It seems likely (from what is said here in chapter 7 and about Philip in chapter 8) that the deacons were also involved in strengthening the spiritual welfare of the people.  They were also preachers, and evangelists, and defenders of the faith!!

As is true for anyone who is willing to stand-up and speak out and act out their faith – this made the deacons vulnerable… at the end of chapter 6 we are told that it was not long before people stirred up dissent against Stephen.  As with Jesus, false witnesses were produced, and he was dragged before the Jewish Supreme court (the Sanhedrin) charged with the serious crime of undermining the very foundations of the Jewish religion.  According to the witnesses, he had attacked –
            (a)  “the Temple” – which many saw as the source
                        of salvation and the door to God and
            (b)  “the Law” – which Moses had given to them
                        so that they would know how they should live.

The false witnesses accused Stephen (and therefore also the other Christians) of plotting to do away with both of these things; the first through destruction and the second through subversion.

As I’ve said, in the Jewish mind these were serious charges.  It’s interesting to see what Stephen does with them.  He doesn’t ignore them as the Lamb of God had done in a similar situation, nor does he directly deny them.  Rather he preaches a long sermon, in which, in some ways he seems to be saying, basically, that the charges are no longer relevant!!

Let me explain what I mean.  There are several different themes that run through the sermon.  For instance,

• there is the theme which deals with the hardness of the Israelites’ hearts,
• another theme speaks about the way the Israelites had always persecuted the holy men of God. In some ways Jesus was just one among many!!
• another theme deals with the faithfulness of the early followers of God.

But the most important theme, the one which all of these earlier ones point to, the one which is at the heart of the sermon deals with how God operates on this earth, and how we are to respond to that operation of God!!

–  Abraham didn’t worship God in a particular place.

–  And when Solomon built the temple it was made clear that God was not restricted to that place.

–  As Isaiah said:
            “Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool.
              What kind of house will you build me?” Says the Lord.

Things like temples, and worship patterns are only a means to an end.  They are only pointers to the one who stands at the centre: God Himself, the creator and provider and judge of all things!  The Jews have continually missed that vital point.

Either:

• they have simply ignored the pointers that God has provided (as they did in the wilderness) and gone off and chased other gods. Or:
• they have taken the pointers, the Law, and the temple, and the sacrifices etc., and they have made them a means to themselves. They spend all their energy defending the temple instead of God!

In either case they are forgetting who their God is and they are ignoring the work of His Spirit in their lives.

Stephen illustrates that last point by noting the many prophets that the Israelites had put to death over the centuries.

Even the Son of God himself the One who most clearly pointed to who God was and what He wanted – even that Son was nailed to the tree because it was a truth they couldn’t accept.  They much preferred to go through the rituals and the forms.  “Leave our hearts out of this!  What right does he have to say that we must worship Him in Spirit and in truth???”

It is as if they were saying: God is fine in His place, as long as He doesn’t ask too much.  When Stephen brought that message home, he also paid the ultimate price.

We’ve spoken before about his death so we won’t do that now, except to note the great courage that the Spirit can give, and the great price that following the King can exact!

In many ways these chapters are asking us if we are willing to pay that price.  Or, are other things more important in our lives?  As I said in the beginning, chapter 7 asks those priority questions in two ways:

Most obviously through the death of Stephen.  We may not face that kind of extreme persecution, but are we willing to stand and be counted also in times of lesser challenges?  The way of God does not only need to be proclaimed in the Sanhedrins of this world, but also…
            – in the work places
            – in the classrooms
            – in the entertainment areas.

Are we willing to proclaim our King with courage?  Or are our roots so deep in this world that we become too afraid to stand up and be counted??

Secondly, those questions of priority can also be seen in Stephen’s sermon.  Are we more obsessed with the forms of worship and the means rather than whom we are actually worshipping???  Do we still see God or do we just see the church, and the organ, and the minister?  If that’s so, then it doesn’t take long before our worship becomes dead and meaningless!

We become easily side-tracked on side issues!!

It doesn’t take long before our vision is narrowed down to the way of least work and least resistance: –

• it’s much easier to discuss the kinds of clothes people wear to church, rather than where their hearts are;
• it’s much easier to discuss a minister’s preaching style, rather than apply the Word in our own lives.
• as Harry Burggraaf pointed out in his article on the Tyranny of Trivia (T&S June), we all much rather prefer to discuss and argue about such things as:
  – dirty cups in the kitchen or
  – marks on the wall or
  – how an overhead projector is used
  – what kinds of songs are sung or
  – how clearly the reader reads.

That’s not to say these things don’t need to be discussed occasionally.  But they have a way of pushing aside the things of the heart and the priorities of the Kingdom.

We are told that Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father!!

We may not have such incredible visions but through the Word and the power of the Spirit we are also called to have our eyes fixed on Jesus.  If we don’t, then our eyes can only be on the petty things of this world.  Then we haven’t a hope of catching the vision of the Kingdom to which we have been called!!

Amen