Today's Scripture

Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me. Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me. You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love. 

Acts 7:55-60 – This is the story of Stephen, an earlier follower of Christ who is persecuted for it.  Here, Stephen has a vision of the risen Christ in heaven as he is struck down by his persecutors.

But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died. 

THIS IS HOLY WISDOM, HOLY WORD.  THANKS BE TO GOD. 

"Conversion"

For today’s sermon, Rob and Bethany had a dialogue about some of the themes in the scripture passages.

Let’s begin with a theme that appears in both passages.  What does it mean to commend spirit to God?

Bethany:  This line is familiar to many of us because, according to Luke’s Gospel, these are the final words Jesus speaks before he died on the cross.  “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”  We hear similar words from Stephen before his death, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  It is a meaningful image that, after holding our spirits in our human bodies during our earthly lives, we offer our spirits back to God when we die.  Our spirits are never apart from God.  To quote Paul, neither death nor life will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

I do think we miss something important, though, if we relegate this statement only to the end of our earthly lives.  What might it mean to commend one’s spirit to God here and now, not waiting until the end of our lives?  When Jesus uttered these words on the cross, he was quoting the Psalm that we heard today.  And when the Psalmist says that he commends his spirit to God, he is not at the end of his life.  He, we assume, is in the prime of his life, and he realizes that it is God who is his refuge.  It is God who is his rock and fortress.  He commits his spirit to God as an acknowledgement that God has redeemed him, that God loves him abundantly, and that he can trust in God always. 

When we commend our spirit to God in both death and in life, it is something of a release.  In death, we release our spirits from our human bodies into eternal life.  In life we release ourselves from having to journey through life alone.  We committing to walking through life with God.  This can be wonderfully freeing.  We don’t have to face life’s challenges by ourselves!  We don’t have to be strong and take courage alone.  In commending our spirit to God, we open our hearts and souls to receive God’s grace and God’s love.

Commending our spirit to God can also be a challenge, for it will likely move us outside our comfort zones.  It commits us to following God’s call, even when that call is unexpected or unfamiliar.  This is a hard one for me, to release some control of my lives and to be willing and open to journeying with God, wherever that may lead.  This is still a work in progress!

As I talk, I realize that there is an element of surrender involved in both of the passages we heard this morning.  The concept of surrender, however, can be a little tricky.  When is surrender a sign of strength vs. weakness?

Rob:  Surrender is a sign of strength when it preserves the greater good.  It is a sign of weakness or is a misguided response when it means giving in to injustice or wrongdoing and leads to greater harm.  It is weak when it means sacrificing integrity and there’s no benefit from doing so.

I might ask when is surrender a sign of faithfulness and when is it the excusing of abuse.

Jesus says in that fateful moment in the garden when we wants the cup of suffering to pass from his lips, “but not my will, yours.”  In his last moments he says, “Into your hands I commend my spirit,” similar to the words you heard from Stephen which I’ve always taken as words for all of life not just at death.  These are signs of strength because they maintain integrity at all cost and choose not to participate in perpetuating cycles of violence. 

Other traditions too place surrender at the heart.  Our Buddhist friends, do they not, say in some form it is our attachment to what is not that is the cause of suffering, our desire for something we do not have.  And so, the first step is acknowledging what is, being honest about reality which is a form of surrender.  Islam, the word itself means submission, submission to God.

We can accept these as tenets, but in real life, how do we say to the victim of abuse or exploitation or injustice to surrender to the reality you are in?  It is particularly dangerous for those who enjoy advantage in this society to tell others they should surrender, or be patient, or be calm, when doing so simply perpetuates their mistreatment.  Should Ahmaud Arbery and his family be expected to surrender to their reality?

Of course not, which brings us back to Jesus.  Jesus models what it means to submit not to any power, but to the will of God, with whom Jesus was intimately familiar, not to the will of every tyrant or huckster, and in fact standing up to those types is exactly how you submit to the will of God.  Christians often understand Jesus’ crucifixion as belonging to a greater plan, born out by the resurrection, but Jesus’ sacrifice on the altar of injustice is precisely the reason we do not need to perpetuate such sacrifices.

Stephen says not to hold the sin against his killers, why not hold their sin against them?  Is this license for abuse?

Bethany:  At the heart of this question is the issue of forgiveness, which could be an entire sermon series by itself.  I don’t know if I can do it justice in a just a few minutes, I will mention a couple things.

As your questions notes, forgiveness is complicated.  And hard.  And sometimes seemingly unfair.  Why should we forgive these Stephen’s killers when they might just abuse again?  When I think about forgiveness, I often think of the story of the prodigal son.  The younger son demands his inheritance, messes everything up, and then is unconditionally forgiven by his father. The other son, who has done nothing wrong, stews in envy.  And I can’t say that I blame him!  Forgiveness is complicated, and often brings up more questions than answers. 

For me, at its core, forgiveness is about being a disciple of Jesus.  Jesus taught over and over again about the importance of forgiveness.  In Luke’s Gospel, before he commends his spirit to God, Jesus says while on the cross, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  In our text today, in the last moments of Stephen’s life, he is still doing his best to follow Jesus, by offering forgiveness to his killers.  And that is what we are called to do as well 

Lest there be times when forgiveness seems just too difficult, I am reminded of something I read by Methodist pastor Timothy Hare.  He said, “Forgiveness is not an act of individual heroism.  It is, rather, an act of God.”  Perhaps what we might do, says Hare, is to “look upon our enemies through the loving eyes of God and find ourselves more deeply aligned with God’s heart.” 

This does not mean that we must always stay in relationship with someone.  There are times when it is necessary to end a relationship for our own health and safety.  Forgiveness might look very different then.  But, again, forgiveness is not about me acting by myself.  It is an act of God. And so often, it can also be a beautiful reminder of God’s amazing grace and abundant love.

We should note that Saul (later Paul) plays a role in this passage.  When I think of Saul, I can’t help but think of his conversion experience.  What does conversion mean for you?

Rob:  The next line in the Acts passage is, “And Saul approved of their killing him,” meaning Stephen.  This Saul is the same one who becomes Paul the greatest Apostle of the faith, the one whom a dear friend and colleague of mine loves to say made Jesus…Christ.  It was Paul who spread the faith beyond the Jewish community, and Paul who approved of the stoning of Stephen.  I wonder is if the seeds of his conversion were not planted in his witness and participation in this heinous act of violence.  I wonder if he overheard Stephen’s words and they touched him in some powerful way.  Have you ever woken up to the cruelty or self-destructiveness to your own behavior and in that moment decided to seek a greater path?

In the book of Acts, Paul’s conversion is sudden, a blinding light finding him on the road.   I know of people who have had dramatic conversion moments.  I know many more who have not.  Their conversion was more incremental.  Interestingly, in his own letters Paul never mentions that stark moment of conversion.  In reality, conversion is both marked by sudden epiphany and incremental, slow moving, disciplined change, maybe more like a sunrise than a sudden beam of light.  I think conversion is a daily practice, always seeking to evolve into a more loving and compassionate souls and societies.  We are not only converted as individuals.

How does the Spirit give you strength?

Bethany:  How much time do you have?  Spirit is everything.  I sometimes feel like a broken record reminding people of the interconnectedness of Spirit and breath, but that is such an important part of my own faith journey.  So many times, throughout each and every day, I simply stop, and breathe, and remember that Spirit is flowing through me always. 

I will admit that I have not dealt particularly well with this shelter in place time.  I have especially struggled in the last couple of weeks.  For a planner like me, all of the unknowns of this time are wearing on me more and more, and I have found myself incredibly anxious lately.  What has calmed me and grounded me during my anxious times has been Spirit.  When I remember to breathe – when I remember my connectedness to Spirit and the divine – I can carry on.  When I don’t remember, things get a little dicey.  Just ask my family! 

When I am grounded and centered in Spirit, I am reminded of what the Psalmist wrote, that I can seek refuge in God.  That God is a rock of refuge for me and a strong fortress.  And that gives me strength. 

I am certainly inspired by the confidence and trust that the Psalmist shows in God.  What does trusting God look like in your life?

Rob:  This question is ripe with possibilities for misstep.  I don’t think it means you get to simply go your whole life without a care in the world because that can be deeply irresponsible to our calling to love our neighbor.  And, I don’t think it means you should think nothing bad will ever happen to you or your loved ones because that theology will fail you.  I do think, however, it garners a certain liberation from the fear of what will happen to you.  I think it means learning to trust in doing what is good not because of external outcomes but because of the deep affirmation that comes from integrity.  I think it comes from letting go of control once you’ve done the best you can, even as you strive to do better.

In the end, it goes back to the discernment piece.  It’s not assuming whatever you do is fine because you trust, but learning ever more to discern what is right or acceptable, good or helpful.  Another way of saying learning to distinguishing the voice of God from the voice of so many others.  The trust is that there is a wisdom, a strength, and a courage available to us that we can access and then cultivating our ability to do so.  This is why how we order our time is so important.  I’m one who believes contemplation is an important path to this wisdom, which is not the alternative to action but action’s companion and action’s rudder.  Thus, the excessive busyness of our culture, which we laud as productive, is really a short-circuit in the process of learning to access and trust in God.