Opening Prayer
Lord, our God, make us holy in life and blessed in death. Amen.
Text: Acts 6:8-15; 7:54-60
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel. … When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Devotion
Stephen is a wonderful example of how blessed they are who believe in Jesus. God’s Son came to the world, so that we might go to heaven. None of us doubts that Stephen is there. Just as certainly everyone who believes in Jesus will go there. By the same grace and faithfulness you and I will get there too. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mar 16:16). You will not have the same rank in glory as Stephen, who was the first martyr after the Lord’s Ascension, but you will receive the rank to which you belong, and not be envious. And it is more than glory simply to pass over the threshold into heaven’s blessed abode. Rejoice in this, think about it a lot, and do not complain that you suffer with the Lord a little while. God, who has determined how large a cup of suffering you shall drink in your life, has also determined the hour and manner of your death. And only He knows what is still waiting for you here. Only He knows how much you have yet to suffer, and what your last hour will be like. But let it be enough that He knows it. Don’t you worry about it. If it gets hard for you, then you will receive that much more strength and that much clearer a view of glory when it comes near to you, and – in a word, “then all your sin and need are past, and you are ever saved and free, and nothing know but gladness.”
God, who does not lie, promised us His Son. We have received Him. The same God has promised us eternal life. We shall just as surely receive it. We have gotten everything in the Son. Stephen went to heaven not because he could do miracles and great signs, but only by faith. In bliss he praises God for all His grace. But the fact that he received power to do miracles, and courage to testify even unto death, that is all included in the great gift, Jesus Christ. And when he eternally gives thanks for salvation, it is a song of praise because Jesus bought him with His blood.
Weren’t you also bought with the blood of the Lamb? Don’t you also have the same song of praise? Indeed, believing soul, you are saved and will soon see Jesus standing at Stephen’s side before the throne. The same Spirit that was in him is also in you. You also love your enemies, pray for those who do evil to you, and bless those who curse you. Such is Christ’s love that conquers the devil and death, and in this love we say at last: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!
Closing Prayer
Yes, Lord, let our faith be true and living, that we may rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulations (Rom 12:12), and active in love. Live in us, precious Lord Jesus, and let us die in You. Amen.
Hymn
My Sun, my Joy, my Gladness,
My Jesus, my heart’s Friend,
O how I long with sadness
To come to You, my Friend!
A lovely Christmas song
Within my heart I’m singing
And full of thanks I’m springing;
My faith make ever strong!
Alas, the world would keep me,
With begging, far from You;
Not fast enough I speed me,
Sweet Jesus, unto You.
Though stones lie ev’rywhere
And cause me oft to stumble,
I long with heart now humble,
To be with You fore’er.
Kingo: Min Sol, min Lyst, min Glæde L 154:1-2 tr. DeGarmeaux;
tune: Aus meines Herzens Grunde (ELH 105); alternate hymn: Jesus, Lover of my soul ELH 209:1