Hear the Last Word on Witness
Good Morning Friends,
In his daily Mass this Monday, and I think in anticipation of the celebration of the Ascension and Pentecost, Pope Francis recounted the death of St. Stephen, the Church’s first martyr, explaining that being a Christian means giving witness. The Pope stated “We are a people who follow Jesus Christ and bear witness – who want to bear witness to Jesus Christ – and sometimes this witness leads to laying down our lives.” As I meditate on this I think, ok, a good dose of persecution might be healthy, but how do we know if we are suffering for the gospel of just suffering. Friends, if everyone was radical for Jesus would we be moved to love those who persecute? So today in meditation I encourage you to engage a gaze into heaven and honestly evaluate how far we have come and how far we have to go. Friends, I encourage you to drink the
water from a deep well, and as a backdrop on the story of the Stoning of Stephen, Hear the Last Word on Witness.
Scripture: When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.
Acts 7:54-60 (NRSV)
And I will grant my two witnesses authority to prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days, wearing sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes; anyone who wants to harm them must be killed in this manner. They have authority to shut the sky, so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is prophetically
called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days members of the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb; and the inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to the inhabitants of the earth. But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and those who saw them were terrified. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud while their enemies watched them.
Revelation 11:3-12 (NRSV)
He said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
Zechariah 4:6 (NRSV)
Message: Martyrdom is the translation of a Greek word that also means witness. The powerful word we speak to God is what we call prayer. The awesome word God speaks to humankind is what we call prophecy. But the often weak and ineffective word we speak to others about what God has done for us is what we call witness. With so much at stake we have to wonder if our witness can make a difference. Thankfully we find an affirmative answer in the story of Stephen but also in the last word on witness in the last book in the Bible. Notice that Stephen was killed in a manner similar to that of Jesus. He encountered jealous leaders trying to get rid of him, and had false witnesses and a rushed judgment when he warned the people that they were resisting the Holy Spirit. This story is played out in Revelation as well. So too there is a struggle between God and the devil in modern day martyrdom. The devil cannot stand seeing the sanctity of a church or the sanctity of a person, without trying to do something. Friends, I think of the Messianic Jews in Jerusalem persecuted even today and I think about prophecy and their witness and rejoice that the spirit moves them to face this challenge. Friends, if the power of the Holy Spirit had not fallen at Pentecost, if there had not been persecution, the Christian faith would be a little sect of Judaism at best, which we no doubt would never have heard about. We are sitting here this morning because of the effective and faithful witness of the early church made possible through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Do I have a Witness?
Pray we add power to our prayers that witness to the need for Christ in our lives and prophecy of His return. Pray we let the Holy Spirit lead us in ways the glorify God. Pray our witness bears fruit. Pray we realize that because wicked men are enemies of God, those who speak out boldly for God and against evil will suffer. Pray when we suffer according to the will of God, we entrust our souls to the faithful Creator to show His love to those who persecute us. Pray that all those who suffer for Christ be assured of His faithful presence and support in their suffering and His acceptance in heaven after death. Pray for Messianic Jews who are persecuted. Pray for a time when their numbers in the streets of Jerusalem reaches 144,000. Pray in the hour of our death that we be a fitting climax to the faith of the Spirit within us. Pray we walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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