Stephen's Witness -- A Message for May 4, 2025

 

Friends, we are in the season between Easter and Pentecost, the season of the church year we call Eastertide. This year, our scriptural focus during this season will be on the birth of the Christian church. On the past two Sundays, we focused on Easter scriptural texts – the story of the women finding an empty tomb and the story of the Disciples walking to Emmaus with a resurrected Jesus, a resurrected Jesus they did not recognize. Today, we are going to skip ahead in the story.  

Before Jesus Ascended to Heaven, he told his disciples and friends it would become their job, their duty, to spread Jesus’ message to others. They would continue his work on earth and share the Good News with the world. And, this is what happened…instead of going quiet, and keeping the message to themselves, the Disciples preached and taught and healed. More and more people began to embrace the message of Christianity for themselves. And, what started out with a group of 12 people became a bigger and bigger group.

When the disciples were with Jesus, they lived together. They kept a common “purse” for all of their expenses. They ate together and lodged together and did everything in pairs. As the group became a bigger and bigger group, sharing everything became complicated. The first portion of Scripture we read this morning is about how the Disciples/Apostles decided to handle the administrative tasks of their calling when things started to become too much for 12 people.

Listen now to the word of God as we read from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 6:

Scripture Lesson Acts 6:1-7:2a, 44-60 

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 

Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 

and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 

They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Amen….

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. 

So, after the church became bigger, the logistics became more complicated. And feathers started to be ruffled by people who became upset because they believed the widows from their own cultural background were being neglected in favor of widows from another cultural background. 

It only takes a little bit of time before people start to squabble. We quickly divide ourselves into groups, and pick sides. Instead of everyone focusing on their shared work as Christian Jews, the Hebraic Christans and the Hellenistic Christians started bickering.

The Apostles decided to delegate. They chose seven trustworthy believers to become Deacons. The Apostles focused on what they did best, preaching and praying, and let the Deacons manage the day-to-day running of their growing Christian body. The Deacons made sure widows were receiving their fair share of the food. They settled disputes among believers. They faithfully served on behalf of the community so the Apostles could preach and pray.

The Christian faithful were becoming a bigger and bigger group. They were still part of the Jewish faith, but their sect of Judaism was attracting more followers, and more negative attention from Jewish people who didn’t embrace Jesus and his teachings.

Unfortunately, Stephen, one of the Deacons, was seized and brought before the Sanhedrin. The same fate that befell Jesus when he went before the Sanhedrin befell Stephen. They did not like what he had to say with deadly consequences. Let us prick up the reading as we turn to the Acts of the Apostles in verses eight of chapter six:

8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 

Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 

But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 

They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 

For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! 

“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 

After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 

who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

“However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

 

“‘Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
    Or where will my resting place be? 

Has not my hand made all these things?’

“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 

Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 

you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 

“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 

dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 

Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Sermon Stephen’s Witness

Sadly, Stephen was stoned to death. He is remembered as the first Christian Martyr. After his death, the Christian Jewish believers became more and more at risk. The verses that follow our reading, in chapter 8, say, “That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and made lamentation over him.”

Practicing Christianity became dangerous and deadly. The congregations that were growing under the leadership of the Apostles and the Deacons were scattered to the countryside of Judea and Samaria because it was too risky for the believers to remain in Jerusalem. The little squabbles over who was getting more or less food seemed minor when people’s lives were at risk for believing.

When Stephen was put to the test, he didn’t shy away from declaring his faith in the teachings of Jesus Christ. He remained steadfast to the very end. Even when he was being stoned, he told the crowd he could see Jesus waiting for him and standing at the right hand of God. He prayed for Jesus to receive his spirit and to forgive the people who were killing him. Stephen’s faith has been regarded as exemplary and an example for us all to follow.

God was present with Stephen when he was undergoing the worst trial of his life. God was present with the first Christians when their communities faced disagreements. God was present with the first Christains when they swiftly departed Jerusalem to hide out in the countryside after Christans faced arrest and prosecution for their beliefs. No matter what Christians experience, God is present with us.

The early church was made up of people just like us – people who sometimes disagreed with each other…people who sometimes became jealous of each other…people who didn’t always get everything right. But, they worked on it…they worked together to create solutions to improve their communities. When the Apostle’s became overwhelmed by the responsibilities of the Christian community, they appointed faithful people to be Deacons – The word Deacon started out meaning “food servers” – but over the years, the word Deacon evolved to mean both servant and minister. 

Almost two-thousand years after the first Deacons were called by the Apostles, Trinity has both Deacons and Elders serving our church. Like the first Deacons, our Deacons serve communion. They also oversee our congregation and care for the physical and sacred property of the church.  Our Elders have complimentary responsibilities – they also serve communion and supervise the spiritual affairs of our church.  When Trinity was founded, we inspired by the early church to call from within our congregation Spiritual role-models to help lead and inspire our congregation.

Let us continue to put our faith in the God who supports us as a congregation and as individual Christians. God is supports us as we endeavor to serve God and serve each other through the work of the church. Let us be brave like the first Apostles and Deacons – to preach, to pray, and to share the work of the church together. 

Amen. 

Emmaus Road -- A Message for April 27, 2025

  Last week, we celebrated Easter, the day we remember the greatest event in the history of humanity – in the history of the world. After being dead for three days, Jesus resurrected. The Savior of the world was killed on the cross by the cruel Roman government, and God decided that nothing could stop Jesus and his message, not even death. So, on Easter Sunday, when a group of Jesus’ woman followers went to the tomb to anoint and wrap his body for burial, instead of his body they found angels in the tomb….angels who told them Jesus was resurrected.

This morning, we pick up the story of the resurrection where we left off last Sunday. It is still Easter day, and the disciples who didn’t meet the angels in the tomb were confused about what the women told them.  They weren’t sure if they should believe that Jesus was resurrected. 

Let us read the story where we left off, at Luke chapter 24 verse 13:

Scripture Lesson Luke 24:13-35

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 

They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 

As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 

but they were kept from recognizing him.

He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. 

One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

“What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.  

The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 

but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 

In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 

but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 

Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 

Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 

But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 

and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 

.Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Sermon Emmaus Road

The first Easter events were confusing for Jesus’ friends. They watched Jesus die before their eyes in a shocking and horrible way – first he was tried, then he was tortured, and then he died a brutal death on the cross. They saw him die. They saw the soldier pierce his heart with a sword to make sure he was really dead. They knew that after he was taken off the cross, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea gathered his body and hastily prepared it for burial before the sun set.

When you witness something tragic, it sometimes feels like the sight you saw is seared on your eyes….Seared on our memories. The disciples stood by and waited for Jesus to die. They were powerless to stop it…to protect him. The horrible images of that event were probably all they could think about. They were probably feeling the early stages of post-traumatic stress and possibly believed they would never be able to adjust to regular life once again.

Then, a few days later, their female friends told the other disciples the tomb was empty. Angels told the women at the tomb Jesus was resurrected. But, the other disciples were grieving, sad, and both physically and mentally exhausted, so they dismissed the women for talking nonsense. 

Two of the disciples decided to leave the rest and walk to Emmaus. Emmaus was about 7 and a half miles away from Jerusalem. While they were walking, a man they didn’t know joined the men – Cleopas and another disciple. The stranger asked them what they were up to, and they explained to him the story of Jesus and his horrible death. They told him the “silly” women believed he was resurrected. When they arrived at Emmaus, the disciples invited the man for dinner and to spend the night at their accommodations. While they sat at the dinner table, the man broke the bread and their eyes were opened to who he was….Jesus had been with them all along – and he was indeed risen.

Cleopas and the other disciple rushed back to Jerusalem and told the others the women were correct – Jesus was risen. And, the disciples in Jerusalem told them they also now believed the women, since Simon had also had an encounter with the risen Jesus. 

I don’t know why, but the male disciples not instantly believing the women who went to the tomb bothers me more this year than normal. They dismissed the women and chalked it up to them talking “nonsense.” Maybe I have my own baggage from past experiences of being dismissed or accused of talking nonsense – we have all probably had experiences in our lives like this – perhaps we were not believed because we were female or young or old or not an obvious authority on a subject like a doctor or a nurse – we may have tried to tell someone something and that person dismissed us or ignored us or didn’t believe us, and they later discovered we were correct. Sometimes, people who do this to us don’t acknowledge we were right in the first place….they may act like they always knew the information we told them or they themselves figured it out on their own….it is frustrating.

After a few events of disciples having experiences with the risen Christ, they were more ready to believe Jesus was truly alive once again…he was resurrected. And, then they started telling the story…they told the other disciples…Thomas notoriously didn’t believe it until he saw Jesus for himself. They told Jesus’ friends. They told the people who previously came to see and hear Jesus. They told the story.

In this morning’s reading, the people who told the story were Cleopas and the disciple he walked to Emmaus alongside. They told the story of their Emmaus Road encounter with Jesus, and that they now believed in the Resurrection. Everything Jesus had told them, everything Jesus had done previously, now was even more valid, more true, more real.

This summer, we are going to practice telling people what we believe – we are going to practice telling people the story of our faith….our testimony. We will each have the opportunity to give a two to three minute explanation of why we believe in Jesus, why we believe in God, or why we became part of Trinity church. Did we have an Emmaus Road experience, where we were journeying in one direction and then Jesus interrupted us? Did we have something happen in our lives and then our eyes were opened to the Christian faith? Is our faith in God something that we always had and never doubted? Or, did we start out as Christians and then have a series of events that took us away from our faith and somehow we found it once again?

Cleopas and his Disciple friend were excited to tell their other friends about their encounter with the Risen Jesus. Matthew says that as soon as Jesus vanished from their Emmaus room, they got up and returned at once to Jerusalem to tell the others. They were delighted to share the Good News. 

Sometimes, we are a bit more timid to share the Good News. There used to be an etiquette taboo that instructed us never to bring up religion or politics at dinner parties. Most of us don’t find ourselves at dinner parties with regularity, but we have extended the rule to the rest of our lives – to be polite, we don’t bring up religion or politics unless we are sure we are in a safe place to discuss them, like a church Sunday morning class or a meeting of our political party. We assume that to be polite, we shouldn’t discuss our faith unless we are talking to someone who is already in the same camp we are in, another Christian. 

So, this summer we are going to have the opportunity to practice sharing our stories of faith….we will have the opportunity to share our story with each other and hear the stories of our brothers and sisters in Christ. And, my hope, is that by us practicing telling our stories in the safe environment of our church home, of Trinity, we will also feel more comfortable sharing the story of our faith when we are out in the world. That we will become braver….that we will remember the lives of the first Christian followers of God, who boldly told the story of their faith to people who had trouble believing them…to people who couldn’t imagine how anyone could rise from the dead…to people who would punish them or exclude them or persecute them for believing something that contradicted their listener’s religious views and faith traditions.

Jesus rose from the dead. Then he appeared to his friends. And, they bravely told other people the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection and the Good News of the Christian faith. They bravely told people that God is real, God is love, and Jesus came to tell us our sins and mistakes are forgiven and we are invited to live better lives inspired by our faith. The first disciples were so excited about their relationship with Jesus and their shared faith that they risked everything to tell other people about it. Let us work to be brave like them, and share the story of our faith with each other and with the people we meet out in the world. 

Amen. 

Empty Tomb -- An Easter Message 2025

 This morning, we focus on the greatest story ever told. God is more powerful and more wonderful than we can understand. On the first Easter morning, God’s love stopped the powerful Roman Empire’s cruelty in its tracks….God’s love overcame it all.

Listen to the Easter story as it if found in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel of Luke:

Scripture Reading: Luke 24: 1-12

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 

but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 

In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 

‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 

Then they remembered his words.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 

It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 

But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 

Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

AMEN.

Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Message Empty Tomb

Let us pray: Almighty God, you are the source of all light. You divinely separated light from darkness so that we may have the beauty of the light of day. Dear Lord, illuminate this day and enlighten us as we seek to know you through your word. May we be led by your light so our hearts may be opened to your word. Amen

Christ the Lord is Risen today: Alleluia Amen!!

On the first Easter, the impossible happened. Jesus, a human man brutally killed by his Roman executioners, rose from the dead. He had been dead three days…three days in a temperate climate….smells and decomposition would have set in. Today the high temperature in Jerusalem is predicted to climb to 77 degrees fahrenheit…three days at 77 degrees is long enough for unpleasant changes. Jesus was in the tomb for three days….and then the impossible happened.

The women came early in the morning to the tomb where Jesus had been laid to rest on Friday. They had a duty to perform – in their society, women prepared bodies for burial. They wanted to anoint his body with perfume and oils and rewrap it in linen burial cloths. They loved Jesus and wanted to send him off following their traditional burial practices. They were devastated by his death, and the preparation of the body was the last kindness they could extend to him.   

When they arrived at the tomb, the women probably thought their eyes were deceiving them. Instead of Jesus’s body, they found an empty tomb. They would have been horrified. A series of conflicting thoughts would have rushed through their minds: His body was stolen. His body was taken by the Romans for further assaults. His body was stolen so that the religious authorities could display it and mock them. They would never be able to bury him and lay him to rest following their traditions. The women’s despair and sadness would have deepened.

And, then two angels appeared. The women were astonished. They bowed before the angels. They probably cowered, because angels are described into scripture as being frightening looking. And the angels told the women  Jesus wasn’t there not because his body was stolen, but because he had risen from the dead! And, the angels reminded the women of the prophecies about the resurrection of the messiah…and Jesus’s own words predicting his resurrection. He was risen. 

The women rushed out of the tomb to tell the others the news. And, I love how Luke described the reaction of the men and the other disciples – Luke says; “But, they did not believe the women because their words seemed to them like nonsense.” This was not the first time that the excited words of multiple women talking all at once sounded like nonsense to a group of men. 

Peter rushed to the tomb to check it out for himself. He wondered what happened….did Jesus rise like the angels told the women? 

We know the rest of the story. Jesus began making appearances to his friends. First to Mary Magdalene. Then to disciples walking to Emmaus. Then to the disciples gathered in the upper room. Then to others. Jesus made regular appearances during the first season of Easter…he appeared for forty days ... .and then he left them and ascended to heaven.

Christianity would not exist without the Easter story. If the Messiah had died on the cross on Good Friday, but then didn’t resurrect, Jesus would be regarded as a wise teacher. A wise teacher to the Jewish people. He may have been remembered by a few faithful people. He may have become a footnote in Josephesus’ history of the Jewish people. But, for the Jewish followers of God, other things happened during their Roman occupation that would be remembered with more detail….the destruction of the Temple happened in the first century. The Jewish people were cast out of the Holy Land in the first century. The diaspora changed the history of the Jewish people forever. So, if the resurrection of Jesus had not occurred, Jesus and his teachings could have become an afterthought, or a footnote, or forgotten.

But, on that first Easter morning, something amazing happened. The man who was dead, who was crucified, died, and was buried, after a descent into the land of the dead, was raised from death to life. On the third day he rose from the dead. Jesus came to tell us that the Romans didn’t get the last word. The anxious priests and religious authorities didn’t get the last word. People who make mistakes and sin and mess up didn’t get the last word. God got the last word. God wanted us to know that God’s plan for the people of the world is the the plan that is taking place…nothing we do to each other, nothing we do to ourselves, nothing we do to Jesus is able to stop God and God’s plan. 

And, God’s plan is love. God so loved the world that God gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in God will have eternal life, will have a blessed life, with God. God loves us. God loves us no matter what mistakes we make. And, Jesus’s resurrections is the ultimate symbol of God’s love. No matter how awful we are, God loves us. God forgives us. And God wants the best for us. 

In response to God’s love, we are called to love each other. And, not just the people in this room….not just the people in our families…not just the people in our communities….not just the people in our country….but we are called to love the people of the world, no matter what our tribe or affiliations. And, we are called to lived out that love in our attitudes and actions. We are called to care for each other. Look out for each other….to be generous to each other and on behalf of each other. And, to make sure each of us take action to improve the lives of other people, especially the people who don’t have enough of what they need. 

Let work to respond to the love we receive from God with love. Today and always. Amen.