Just Like You (Acts 7:55-60)

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC 5/18/14

Image courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library

How many of you have heard the Harry Chapin song, “Cats in the Cradle”?  It truly is a powerful song, one about a dad and his son.  The song starts out saying, “My child arrived just the other day, He came to the world in the usual way But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it, and as he grew
He'd say "I'm gonna be like you, Dad You know I'm gonna be like you"  The song continues with lyrics like this where the son wants to spend quality time with his father but  his father keeps talking about how busy he is and how he wish he could, but just can’t.  The song ends with the father later in his life, he is now in retirement and has time to spend with his son, and we once again hear a conversation that he has with his son, “I've long since retired, my son's moved away, I called him up just the other day, I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind", He said, "I'd love to, Dad, if I can find the time, You see my new job's a hassle and kids have the flu, But it's sure nice talking to you, Dad, It's been sure nice talking to you" And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me He'd grown up just like me My boy was just like me.”   This song is a painful and haunting song that teaches a powerful lesson;  the way in which  we live and act matters, because we have no idea who may be watching us. We have no idea in fact may be emulating us. The father in the song loved his son, but through his actions sent the message that work comes first, and we hear in the end of the song the pain of the father’s realization, that that message was passed on to his son. And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me, he’d grown up just like me, my boy was just like me.

            It is easy to forget that the way we live our lives matter.  Especially in this day in age where face to face conversation  seems to be becoming a thing of the past, where people feel as though the can hide behind a wall of social media and not truly interact with each other. And yet the truth is, more and more we are able to see more of each other’s actions and daily life. What used  to seem private is increasingly becoming more public. We can just look at Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers who made several racist remarks in a phone conversation with his mistress, and now the whole world has heard it, and he has faced the ramifications of his actions.  All of this reminds us of the fact that what we say and do maters, that what we do matters, because we never know who may be watching, learning, and emulating the way in which we live our life.

            And yet when we remember this, it can create in us a sort of inner struggle. We want to show our best, we want to be the best example we can be for others, and at the same time we don’t want to put on a show. We don’t want to be like the Pharisees who would pray in public so others would see them, and yet we want to teach others the importance of prayer by showing them how much it means to us. It almost feels like a catch 22, We want to live in a way in that others can learn from and be inspired by, and yet we don’t want to lives to be dictated by how others perceive us. The only answer to what seems like a paradox, is that our lives must be authentic. Others can learn and experience Christ through us, not because we are intentionally teaching them, but rather because that’s who we really are. It is as C.S. Lewis puts it, “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”

            As Christians, we often already have an understanding of living a good life, of living a proper life. However, far too this leads to a moralistic view of living. We live be a set of guidelines, a set of rules to follow, if we follow them we are good, if we don’t then we are bad, but is this truly the best way to lead an authentically Christian life. Does this really change the essence of who we are, does this help us to be truly authentic?  It surely is a help, but as Christians it is not the end all be all. As Paul explains we are not saved by the law, but the law points us toward our sin. The law points out our sin, it helps us to see the wrong that we are doing, but what makes us truly authentic in the ways we live our life. How can we go from leading a life in which we make decisions based upon what we are told is good and bad, and make those decisions simply because that is who we are.  How can we learn to live this authentic Christian lifestyle?  Well, just as the boy in the song did, we can learn from watching, studying, and emulating those who already live that way.

            And so as we begin to think of what example can we use to learn from, who has lived a holy and God centered life, the answer becomes quite obvious to us, it is an answer that even our young children could answer, who do we want to live like? Jesus, of course.  And yet when we say this we get a little nervous, a little uneasy, because though we know Jesus was fully human he was also fully divine, that is Jesus is God. How can we possible live like God?  And yet in our passage for today we see a shining example of an ordinary human, like you or me, who lived their life emulating Christ.

In our passage for today we read about Stephen. As the early church grew and more and more people were being baptized into this community, The disciples of Christ realized that they could no longer lead alone; they would need to appoint some new leaders. Stephen was one of the men appointed. Stephen is described of being full of faith and the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom and power, and yet Stephen was no different than you or I am. Stephen went amongst the people just as Jesus did, he helped those in need just as Jesus did, and he taught about the good news about Jesus Christ. While Stephen did many wonderful things, two things in particular are described in detail in the book of Acts.

First, just like Jesus, Stephen spoke the truth. When I say this I’m not talking about the polite manners that we as Southerners have been taught, don’t lie and tell the truth. While this is certainly a good thing, when I say Stephen spoke the truth, I mean that he saw injustice in the world and he named it. He saw a people who were once again ignoring God in their presence, and he calls them on it. Stephen spoke the truth, Stephen was a prophet. While we often think of prophets as people who predict the future, a prophet is simply one who speaks the word of God.  Stephen is arrested on false accounts of blasphemy and instead of defending himself he tells a story. He tells the story of the Israelites and how and multiple steps throughout their history they had rejected the prophets who lead them, from Abraham, to Moses, to David, and Stephen proclaims to them once again that they are once again rejecting the movement of the Holy Spirit, that this new movement called Christianity is spirit led and yet like their ancestors they reject it.

            Stephen does the difficult thing; Stephen speaks the truth even knowing what fate waits for him if he does. Stephen emulates the life of Christ and speaks the truth, speaks the good news of God and rejects injustice, and speaks it in spite of the consequences. We can truly learn from Stephen’s courage.  Prophets are not a thing of the past, but some of us are called to be prophets, and all of us are called to speak out against injustice. We are called to look around in the world around us and see the injustice ahead.  We are called to bring awareness to the fact that on average black convicts receive longer sentences than white convicts who commit the same crime.  We are called to speak to the fact that on average women are paid 77 cents to the dollar that men receive for the exact same position. We look in our community and see the great poverty and we must call out the fact that 400 Americans, 400 Americans have more money than half of all Americans combined. When we see injustice in our community and in our world we must speak out in truth; yet this can be a quite terrifying experience. It is something that haunts and frightens me, what will happen if, what will become of me, and yet if we are emulating Stephen we see that those are not the right questions to ask. We are called to speak the truth, whatever may befall us.

            And yet we are called to speak the truth with love.  Too often when Christians speak the truth it is spoken with condemnation, in harsh ways, and even with hate.  We see injustice and instead of speaking out in a way that calls for reform, that even calls to draw the people causing the injustice away from their sins and towards Christ, we simply reject them. We cast them off as sinners, we say they are heathens, and that they don’t deserve love or forgiveness. Recently I was reading an article about a horrible incident in which an 8 year old boy in Richmond was killed trying to protect his sister from being raped.  Now rightfully so this type of incident causes in us outrage, pain, and sadness and yet I experienced just as must shock when I read some of the comments on the articles of people, some even professing Christians who said that they want to personally be the one who flips the switch on the murderer, or that lethal injection was too kind, or even that they hope the person burns in hell.  We must speak out against injustice, but we must speak it in love.  For after Stephen finishes he speak, he himself is taken away and stoned, and yet in the midst of being killed he cries, “Lord do not hold this sin against them.” If it sounds familiar it should because it echoes the very words of Jesus on the cross, “Father forgive for they know not what they are doing.” In the midst of death, Stephen prays for his murderers forgiveness. How can someone act in that way, unless that was authentically them? In that moment Stephen didn’t weigh the good and bad, he didn’t consult the law to figure out what the right thing to do was, Stephen lived a life emulating Christ, and in that moment Christ was revealed through him. As Christians this is what we are striving for, that our hearts are aligned with Christ’s, that in our darkest hour we may love as Christ loves. That each day we may emulate the life of Christ, that we speak the truth in love, that we may live the truth in love, that we may learn from the examples of the saints who have gone before us, and that maybe, just maybe, someone may learn to live like Christ through us.

            For there is one aspect of this story that is rarely mentioned. That one of the members observing the stoning of  Stephen was a young man named Saul. Saul, who would later become the horrible Jewish who he himself dragged Christians from their homes and stoned them. Saul the great persecutor of Christians, but also Saul the man who on the road to Damascus was struck blind. Who in that moment had Christ appear to him and who at that moment was converted to the very religion he persecuted. Saul who then changed his name to Paul and became of the greatest leaders of the early church, who helped to share the gospel with Gentiles, and whose letters account for the majority of our New Testament.  This great leader tells of his conversion later in Acts, and while the experience on the road to Damascus can be understood as the defining moment of his conversion, guess what event he talks about as being formative in his life. That’s right, the stoning of Stephen.  Like the father in “Cats in the cradle” we don’t always know who is watching us, we don’t know what impact we can have on someone’s life. Stephen’s great act of prophecy and compassion played a profound role in the life of one of the greatest Christian leaders; and it is all because Stephen lived an authentic Christ-like life. So the question is who’s watching you, and what are they learning.  Are you living a life striving to emulate the love and compassion of Christ? Is that how you live when no one is watching, it is part of your very being so that what people see is the true you. Others are watching and emulating us even when we aren’t aware of it; are we showing a Christ-like life?  Does it make us proud or give us chills when that person tells us I want to be just like you.