Lord, incline my heart to savor and desire your Word, open my eyes and my heart to your Glory displayed, unite my soul to your Holy Spirit in Your truth, satisfy me in you. Lord, do these things out of your zealous desire that your Glory and Beauty be made known among your people.
In Christ’s name,
Amen
As the months of prayer and preparation have gone by, waiting on God’s timing for our move to Seattle, many verses have stuck out in my mind. Verses that provide encouragement, verses that humble my haughty mind, verses that sharpen my desires, and so on... but one that has been utilized for all of these has been Mark 10:29-30:
Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”
These last few days, I’ve been reading through Acts 7, looking at Stephen’s life and martyrdom. And I can’t help looking at this through the lens of Jesus’ words in Mark. What we find in this glance is the satisfied promise of God to a man who sacrificed all, yet could (and I believe would) say he never truly sacrificed a day in his life.
We know little of Stephen’s life before meeting him as a sharp-tongued proclaimer straight from the mold of the Apostles he sat under. We only know him briefly in his bold and accurate, incisive words spoken to the hypocritical religious leaders of the day. His surgical flaying of their hearts leads straight to his being rushed, thrown down, and stoned.
But how can we know that Stephen would say that he had never sacrificed a thing?
The inference from scripture is that we most often see the kind of boldness we see in Stephen, boldness for the sake and Glory of Jesus, borne out of great personal cost of following. I’m willing to assume that because we don’t hear about Stephen’s family or home that he qualifies as one who “left mother, father, sisters, brothers, and lands” for the sake of the Gospel. The immediate promise from Jesus is that “in this time” Stephen should receive 100x his sacrifice in blessing. So what did he gain? An immense brotherhood, one that sought to have no wants in and among themselves. A group that loved one another unconditionally, a family of thousands, held together by the incorruptible love of God. He gained the teaching of the great truths of the sufficiency of Christ and the preciously priceless Glory of God. Realities well worth greater than 100x what he left behind.
Next, Stephen gave up anonymity within this immense family. Anonymity is safe, and comfortable. I’m assuming here, again, that the church had already begun to develop a striata of those who are willing to stay in the unknown ranks. I think we can assume that there are many who came, gave up what they had, but then remained insulated and relatively quiet (especially compared to the boldness of some), and this safer. I assume this because among the thousands upon thousands of people added to the church, we really see few who are leading, serving the many. This is not a knock on the many, the church is built upon the reality of a multitude of individuals with different gifting and callings. But Stephen was called out and he took up that calling to leave an anonymous presence in the church to be recognized as one who was full of the Spirit, and of faith. His is the first name given among those established in the office of Deacon. He sacrificed a life in the church of provision and safety provided by anonymity for a life of bold service.
What did Stephen gain for this sacrifice?
According to Paul in 1 Timothy 3:13, those who serve the office of Deacon well gain a good standing for themselves and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. Anyone who struggles with the assurance of their faith will tell you that great confidence in assurance would be worth well over 100x the cost.
Then comes the ultimate sacrifice of Stephen, his physical life. Emboldened by his great assurance, and assured of the blessings to those who sacrifice for the sake of Jesus, Stephen was unwilling to keep quiet, unrelenting in his work. He boldly spoke truth to all, not stopping when encircled by the throng of leaders who came upon him. He refused to deny his teachings. He chose, rather, to stand fast in the truth, at the cost of his life. He went so far as to trade the last of his energy, not to fight, but to speak. He spoke of a vision of Jesus, ascended to the right hand of God. When he was knocked down and began to be stoned, he spoke, resigning his spirit to the presence of Christ. Exchanging temporal life on earth for eternal joy in the presence of God. Then, in his last breath, he sacrificed any desire for vengeance on his murders for grace: “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them.”
What did Stephen gain for the sacrifice of his life?
He gained the sure promise Jesus made in Mark 10, eternal life; eternal perfection in the presence of God. The immense value of a human life, exchanged for the incalculable value of eternal Glory. The exchange of vengeance desired for love. An act that seals the persevering faith of this brother, bearing witness for all of us who have come after to the completed sanctification of the transformed life. A sheep called home by its Great Shepherd.
Though he gave up everything, Stephen sacrificed nothing.
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