Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Acts 7:54-60
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  May 13, 2018

There were 3,066 documented Christian martyrs in 2017. Those are just the ones we know about. This report is from “Open Doors,” a global ministry that serves the persecuted Church. In total, in the 50 countries analyzed by the organization, some 250 million Christians suffer some form of violence, ranging from hostility or discrimination to extreme persecution and murder. The report reveals that one out of every three people in the world live in a country without religious freedom. And it may seem unthinkable in 2018, but there are still countries in which widespread persecution of Christians is legal, even government-sanctioned. In Pakistan, the “anti-blasphemy law” has become a tool for the constant oppression of Christians. In Somalia, a converted Christian can be killed by his or her own family without repercussion. In Afghanistan, Christianity has almost been wiped out. At the top of the list is North Korea, where the simple act of having a Bible puts an entire family in danger. Thousands of Christians fill concentration camps and many hundreds go missing because Kim Jong-un considers Christians enemies of the state.

It may be hard to relate to the reality of Christian martyrdom as we sit here on Mother’s day looking forward to brunch and a day of family fun. But that doesn’t make it any less real. As we take a look at Stephen, the Christian Church’s very first martyr today, I pray that you grow, not only in awareness of Christian martyrdom, but also in your own calling to be a living martyr.

Stephen was the first martyr of the Christian Church. He is called the “Protomartyr”, even the “Perfect Martyr”. It’s easy to see why when you read Acts 6 and 7. Stephen was the first deacon chosen to take care of alms distribution and the care of widows in the early church. Luke calls him, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” (Act 6:5) Stephen soon started to preach and attracted the jealous attention of Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. They arrest him on some rather dubious charges of speaking against the law of Moses and bring him before the 70-seat Jewish Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. The high priest asks Stephen, whose face Luke describes at this point as angelic (Acts 6:15), if the charges against him are true, prompting Stephen to launch into a defense of the Gospel. It is a bold defense and as we heard in our lesson, they weren’t too pleased. I believe the words Luke used were, “they were furious and gnashed their teeth”. (Not only a bad dental habit but an extreme expression of offense and hatred.) That’s where I’ll pick up in verse 55 and just listen to the details Luke gives us of Stephen specifically. Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed up into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 He said, “Look, I see heaven opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they screamed at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and rushed at him with one purpose in mind. 58 They threw him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses laid their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” After he said this, he fell asleep.

Talk about the perfect martyr, right? Almost too perfect. Do you know what I mean? The characterization of Stephen’s seemingly perfect witness doesn’t reflect the sometimes hesitant, halting nature of my testimony. His angelic face in the midst of false accusation doesn’t match the grimace I wear when someone judges me unfairly. His miraculous sight of Jesus standing at the right hand of God is different than what my eyes see in times of trouble. His dying words of forgiveness are often far from my thoughts about those who wrong me. His peaceful sleep in death is not like the fearful, agonizing reality of those whose final days I have witnessed. It can be hard to relate to Stephen. He’s called “perfect”. Who of us would claim that title? He’s a “martyr” and, well, we’re still breathing.

Today, in America, there is some adversity for Christians, but none of us are under the threat of death or anything close to that. We aren’t arrested and dragged away to dungeons, we aren’t stoned at the city limits, or shot in front of our families. We don’t have the temptation of death to stop us from worshipping Christ. And that fact alone can make it difficult to feel connected to someone like Stephen or to our dear brothers and sisters who are martyred every day in other countries of the world.  

But the truth is that we’re more alike than you may think. Our temptation, our goal, and even the title of “martyr” are things we all have in common. How can I say that we are martyrs? Well, when you think about it, death isn’t what makes a martyr a martyr. Those who become martyrs are only brought into that predicament because of how they have lived. In fact, the Greek word, μάρτυρας, from which we get our English word “martyr” does not have a determined connection to death. It simply means “witness”. One who is a witness of Christ is a martyr. And we are all, in this sense, living martyrs. The question asked of each one of us, isn’t would you be willing to die for Christ, but are you willing to live for him? This is why Stephen died. He gave a clear and faithful witness to Christ. He didn’t die and become a martyr. He was a martyr, a witness, every day of his life and that’s why they put him to death.

How do you feel when you hear stories of martyrdom? How do you feel when I say that ther has been an average of over 3000 martyrs a year since the year 2000? How do you feel when you hear about Stephen who is pulverized into a corpse for the same faith we gather to proclaim today? They are inspiring, right?  Certainly. But what they inspire isn’t just devotion and piety, but often a sort of latent guilt within the heart. Because we know that we often choose our life over witnessing for Christ. We run into carnal relationships instead of god-fearing singleness, we choose to prosper in business by dulling Christian sensitivities. We choose to let the minor truths of God’s Word be treated lightly so that we can enjoy a night of heavy drinking and gossip. We often look forward to sinning and live to self. The reason that some part of us is bothered by stories of martyrdom is because they remind us that people are willing to die for the faith we often take for granted. That’s what hurts. It is eternally detrimental to be lulled into a comfortable, nominal Christian faith, where we can be called Christian, but not actually live for Christ. And it is disheartening for our brothers and sisters who give up their lives for Christ, only to see us living in blissful ignorance of their suffering.

But it is important to remember that martyrs are still human. They aren’t better or worse Christians, not in an ultimate sense. Even Stephen put his pants on one leg at a time. (Actually, they didn’t wear pants at that time, but you get the point.) Stephen was a sinner too. We only see his highlight reel, but there were times of failure and struggle in his life just as there are for all of us. But what made him strong in the end was the same truth that we hold dear.

Jesus lived for us. Every second he lived, he lived for us. Every thought, every action was for us. He gave up power and prestige. He gave up respect, he gave up stability, he gave up a wife and a family. He gave up his life, and not just on the cross. Every moment of 33 years he gave to us.  He stands at the right hand of God to welcome you into heaven because even though we haven’t always lived for him, he lived for us. Even though we sometimes choose life over Christ. He chose us over life.

How do the Church’s martyrs face death so resolutely? How did Stephen lay down in peaceful sleep as the stones were thrown? The answer is that they had already died a long time ago. By the time a Christian martyr is confronted with death, they have already died a thousand deaths by living for God. When Jesus says, “take up your cross and follow me,” he means, in your everyday life. Take up the cross, not just in death, but in life. Which is an interesting thing to say, if you think about it. We have adopted a rather sanitized view of the cross. It’s the thing we wear around our necks, or what we display in our homes, it’s the centerpiece here in our sanctuary. But the cross is still fundamentally a symbol of death. Jesus’ call to take up our cross, then, is nothing less than a call to martyrdom. It a call to be living martyrs. We who follow Jesus have been called on to die to ourselves, each day.

The Apostle Paul, the one who oversaw Stephen’s stoning, would come to understand this well He writes in Romans 6:5-11 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him…The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

My friends, I almost feel odd saying this, but I pray that we can die. I pray that we all die to ourselves, that by our lives we may be worthy to be called living martyrs. Each day, drown the old Adam in confession and repentance. Kill the coward who is afraid to witness of Christ. Execute your worldly ambitions. Put to the faithless practical temptation that says you don’t have time for devotion and prayer. Shoot down any selfish desire that arises in your heart and live for Christ. Live to be a martyr, a witness of the forgiving, selfless love of God.

If “Open Doors” research is correct, each month: 255 Christians are killed, 104 are abducted, 180 Christian women are raped, sexually assaulted or forced into marriage, 66 churches are attacked and 160 Christians are detained without trial and imprisoned. Each month. The apostle Paul said, “when one part [of the body] suffers, the whole body suffers with it.” (1 Cor. 12:26) These believers need to know they’re not alone and that the worldwide body of Christ suffers with them. Pray to God for them. Write letters to persecuted families. Learn more about WELS international ministries, especially our efforts in Pakistan and China. Let me know if you’d like help getting involved. But even as you suffer with them, do not be discouraged, and do not be ashamed. As Peter wrote, “Rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you…if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear his name.” (1 Peter 4:13,14,16)

Amen.