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We have wonderful pictures in our story books of medieval knights riding
on
gallant steeds, wearing glistening armor and with banners waving, going off
on crusades against the Turks in the holy wars which began in the 11th Century. I’m
sure the Muslims do not have the same fond memories in their
story books about those same knights. History does reveal that after
the
Muslims took Jerusalem, the European nations pushed back in war.
Now,
we have radical Muslims who are again
fighting against Christians; killing people in the name of God. It
is
terribly perplexing to see this kind of behavior going on in the name of
any
religion! Yet within Christianity, over several years the Catholics
and the
Protestants in Ireland have been at war … often shooting, bombing, and
killing each other. What this says to me is:
There is an apparent difference between
those who are involved in “religion” and those who have a personal
relationship with God.
This
isn’t new however, when we take a look
in the Gospels we see it was the Jewish Temple Priest of Jerusalem who cried
out for the blood of Jesus. Then again in Acts chapters 6 and 7, Stephen
met the same kind of religious anger.
We need to re-read Stephen’s story to see if there is a word in this for
you
and me.
Acts 6
8And Stephen, full
of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
Acts
6
9 Then there arose
some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians,
Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. 10
And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he
spoke.
These
groups apparently engaged Stephen in
a civilized debate. Among them were men from the many synagogues in the
city of Jerusalem; each congregation reflecting the various nations where
Jews had been scattered. Among these is the synagogue of those from Cilicia,
the territory where the city of Tarsus is found. Is there a Saul of Tarsus
in this group? But the group was not able to defend itself against
the
words of Stephen, and the civilized debate degenerated into an angry
argument!
So
they hired men to lie about Stephen.
Acts 7
1Then
the high
priest said, "Are these things so?"
2
And he said, "Brethren and fathers, listen:
Notice
the number
of times that God sovereignly acts in blessing the nation of Israel.
The
God of glory
appeared to our father Abraham …
Acts
7
8 Then God gave
him the covenant of circumcision;
Acts
7
8 Jacob begot the
twelve patriarchs.
9 And the
patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt.
But God was with
him
Acts
7:
17
… the people
grew and multiplied in Egypt Acts 7
20 At this time
Moses was born
Acts
7
30 "And
when forty
years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire
in
a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.
Acts
7
36 He brought them
out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the
Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
Acts
7
38 The Angel …
spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the
living oracles to give to us,
39
whom our
fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back
to Egypt
40
saying to Aaron
'Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the
land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'
41 And they made a
calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol …
Acts
7:51
"You
stiff-necked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as
your fathers did, so do you.
Stephen
made his point.
What God had done in Israel was marvelous.
He called them to Himself as a people, He made a covenant with them through
Abraham and through Moses, He provided a promised land for them … yet at
every turn they had resisted the plan of God! And now that the Messiah
had
been given to them … they still were resisting!
These
Jews preferred ritual instead of relationship!
Isn’t
it strange that we humans prefer to
do things our way instead of God’s way? We prefer the status quo instead
of seeking positive changes in our lives. We prefer the old way
of
doing things when the new way is better. We cling to the comfortable
traditions of religion instead of the gracious, dynamic, presence of God!
These
Jews preferred ritual instead of
relationship.
Acts 7
54 When they heard
these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their
teeth.
55 But he, being
full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, andJesus
standing at the right hand of God,
56
and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man
standing at the right
hand of God!"
57
Then they cried
out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;
58 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.
59
And they stoned
Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit."
60
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.
What a tragic turn of events! The power of
God had been evident in Stephen’s life. The words he spoke were full of the
wisdom of the Holy Spirit. The sermon he preached was of God’s gracious
choice of Israel. And yet he died.
In the emotion of this moment … I want to
ask you to gather around this motionless, bruised and bloody body of
Stephen. Now, I want to ask where were
we standing in this crowd? Are we among the astonished disciples
of Christ? Are we among those angry faces who still have stones clutched in
their fists? Or are we merely holding the coats of those who have been
stoning Stephen?
It’s an important question to ask. Look
closely. Who is that person laying on the ground? The person laying
there
may be a neighbor that you dislike, perhaps he is a member of another
denomination or religion that isn’t to your liking; or it may be a Christian
who does things differently than you, or it could be a family member that
you are angry with at the moment ….
Our
place in this picture is determined by whether we are involved in a religion
… or if we have a loving relationship with God.
Someone
asked Jesus which was the most
important commandment and His reply centered on having a relationship with
God:
Luke 10
27
So he answered
and said, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with
all
your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your
neighbor as yourself.'"
A religious person doesn’t feel the need of
loving God in the depth of his heart, and therefore does not feel any
compulsion to love his neighbor. He obeys certain rules in order to satisfy
his religion, but his religion doesn’t need to affect his heart, soul,
strength, mind, or his neighbor! He can therefore attend services, sing
praises, give a few dollars in the offering, ask for God’s blessings, speak
about the wonders of God, and believe for good and positive things to happen
in his life … and not be concerned about what happens to people around him. It’s
all about him.
Its “my blessings, my peace, my joy, my
comfort, my supply … and if you get in my way of getting what I want … I’ll
blister your ears … or stone you to death.” If someone doesn’t agree with
him, he can easily pick up a stone and remove the irritation from his life. After
all, it’s a religion, not a relationship.
However, when we love God with all of our
heart, soul, strength, and mind … we have a desire to love our neighbor as
much as we love ourselves. That person laying there on the ground is
someone God loves …therefore he is someone I love, too.
Loving God makes a difference in how we
relate to other people. It’s that simple.
We have salvation, healing, miracles,
financial blessings, marital blessings, and more, so we can give those
blessings to others! The emphasis of Scripture is
“Give and it shall be given unto you.” The
blessings and benefits which Jesus has provided to us are for our
benefit and for the benefit of those we bless in His Name.
It
is notable that the separation of the
nations is based upon their ministry to others:
Matt 25
35
… I was hungry
and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger
and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and
you
visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
Whether it is helping someone who has less
than you, or helping a single mom, or helping a person who has physical
limitations, or bringing a child to church that needs to learn about Jesus,
or helping in the nursing home ministry, or the hospital ministry, in the
prison … love is shown by our ability to accept others, our kindness, our
giving! And not just giving a little off of the top … but giving of
yourself.
When
a plague was stopped, King David asked
for the land and the oxen to built an altar to the Lord and the owner
offered it to him free of charge, but David said,
2 Sam 24
24
I will not
sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."
There is a price to be paid for loving God
and loving your neighbor as yourself. It’s the price of love. But the
rewards for loving can change the world! We can stop throwing stones at one
another, and instead we can pick up the broken pieces of peoples lives and
begin helping them put life back together again. When we love God we
can
begin to love the unlovable, learn to turn the other cheek, forgive the
unforgivable, we can be kind, and gentle, and caring.
That is when we have a relationship
instead of a religion.
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