Acts 7:17-43
March 17, 2002
Heeding the Warning of Unbelief
Ben and Carol Stowell live beside a dirt road in New Hampshire that becomes impassible during mud season, that time of year when the snows melt and the dirt roads become a sea of muck and mire. For eight years, people came knocking at their door at all hours, asking to be towed out. Stowell finally posted a sign: "Mud! Pass at your own risk! If you pass, the following charge will apply: To use the phone-$5; to be towed out-$25; to have me come out and say, `I TOLD YOU SO'-free of charge!"
There are many times when warnings are issued, when danger is sounded and we smile and politely ignore the warnings, often to our own peril. The dangers encountered may be simple inconveniences or have deadly consequences. Often we just don’t realize what lies ahead.
This past week media picked up on an unfortunate reminder of our human inability to heed even the most clear warnings. The Florida flight school where two 9/11 hijackers trained received belated, formal notification this week that the Immigration and Naturalization Service had approved the student visas for Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi. Atta and Al-Shehhi trained at Huffman in Venice, FL, in July 2000, and were aboard separate flights that struck the towers of the World Trade Center. The two initially entered the United States on visitor's visas but applied for an M-1 student visa, given to immigrants attending technical schools in the United States.
From this side of the horrible events we think the red flags should have attracted notice. So when such obvious evidence is not heeded, how much more do we miss the warnings signs when the situation we face seems far less dangerous. We think that when warnings come, we are quick to listen and respond, but that is not our natural response.
In our passage this morning, Stephen is warning his hearers not to repeat the same sins of the past, of ignoring the warnings God gives his people. But rather than listening, the Jewish leaders clung to the hope that the Law of God would make them acceptable to God, that the Temple ensured their success.
As Stephen presented the gospel, declared that Christ fulfilled the Law of God and ended and the temple practice, he was charged with blasphemy. He answers the charge by recalling their common history, of how God’s people repeatedly miss the warnings, misplaced their trust in that which can not deliver and miss God’s grace. As Stephen was charged with blaspheming Moses, he now, focus on the one whom God used to deliver them from Egypt and give them the Law they loved so much. In so doing, he makes it clear that the problem is not God’s messenger, but God’s people. It is not that he had harsh words for Moses who was faithful to God, but his critique was for the people who claim to follow God’s leaders. READ Acts 7:17-43
Stephen’s audience were angered by the gospel, for they concluded that such talk of God’s sovereign grace was demeaning to God’s Law, was irreverent to God’s Temple. If God’s wrath is turned aside by the death of Christ, then what usefulness is there to God’s Law and Temple? The problem was that they miss understood the usefulness of the law and temple. So they were shocked when God’s provision to them came from such an unlikely place and came to an unlikable people.
God’s warning comes to an unlikely place 7:17-22
Stephen’s audience found it hard to believe that God is free to act when and where He will, that he is not somehow bound by our preconceptions. Already he reminded them how God called Abraham out of pagan Mesopotamia, how God rescued Israel from extinction by means of their arch enemies, the Egyptians, during the time of Joseph. While the famine in the Promise Land raged on, they found kindness at the hands of a power which did not worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Stephen continues to unsettling the comfortable feeling that we possess God, like a chained dog, trained to do our bidding. But God is not a gelded ox.
Stephen then reviews the events which transpired after Joseph brought his father and brothers down to Egypt to be protected from famine in the Promised Land. While in Egypt, they grew. Prosperity came from the place they least expected. But soon that place of safe harbor became a hostile land. The political climate changed. The new Pharaoh in Egypt, fearful of the increasing size and power of Israel, forced the Jews to expose their infants in an effort to keep them from becoming even greater.
It was into this turbulent time that their deliverer was born. Moses, protected by his father for only so long, was eventually exposed. But just as God was with Joseph, so God secures the safety of this special child in the most perplexing places. The Pharaoh who designed the death of God’s people was the means of their rescue.
This family, who sought the extinction of the Jews, provided Moses with the education that would shape him as a leader. Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.
Some may sneer at godless wisdom, complete with superstitions and false deities, we should remember the context of Stephen’s defense. As we saw last week, the wisdom spoken of here is important. Wisdom was a prerequisite for Stephen’s responsibilities. Wisdom was a hallmark of Joseph in Pharaoh’s court which preserved God’s people, wisdom was a characteristic of Jesus in Luke 2. But what is so unsettling for us is that wisdom is coming not from the place we expect. Not from the Law or Temple of God, but from the sworn enemies of God.
What is more, the promise to Abraham is reiterated in an unlikely place
Just as God called Abraham in pagan Ur, now God repeats that promise on foreign soil. Again, flying the face of the belief that God boxed in the temple, any land is holy where God is found. We don’t possess God. He possesses us.
As Stephen speaks to his fathers and brothers, fellow-heirs of God’s promise, recipients of the covenant, what should we learn? Where are you in this assembly? It is too easy to imagine you are Stephen facing the onslaught of infidels. You and I are far too kind to ourselves and demeaning of others.
What is more likely is that you and I are the judges, so certain that we possess God right where we want him, safely confined to the Law, so easily measured and determined so that we can be sure we are right and all others wrong. We love to have God in the temple, so that when we need him we can visit him. What is more, he belongs to us and those who agree with us.
We can so easily dismiss those we are certain are wrong. Their statements flow from unbelieving hearts, so what wisdom do they have for me? I’ll read just books by Christian authors, see movies produced by people with my values, and spend time with people that will only affirm what I know is right and true. But God uses unlikely places and people to teach God’s people. This does not demean the authority of God’s Word. Remember Stephen is not throwing out the Law. Rather with confidence in God’s Word, we need not live in fear of our world.
But not only does God’s provision for God’s people come to an unlikely place, God sends a warning to an unlikable people. The story of Moses shatters that false conception that God’s people always recognizes God’s work. Just as God’s people in Israel 2000 years ago missed God’s own Son, just as over 3000 years ago God’s people fought against God’s deliverer, Moses, what must we conclude today? God’s warning still comes not only to an unlikely place, but often to a rather unlikable people, you and I!
God’s warning comes to an unlikable people 7:23-41
Even God’s people reject God’s reconciliation 23-29
Stephen reviews the events of the middle portion of Moses life, showing how easy it is for God’s own people to reject God’s reconciliation. Stephen highlights a familiar story not just to provide a simple moral, but to point to Christ. If what happened to Moses, happened to Christ, then we are just like the people of old.
In v23, Moses wished to visit his people. The word “visit” is used throughout Luke and Acts to speak of God comforting his people. The word is not a friendly call on one’s grandmother, but points to attention showered on a people loved by God. In Luke 1:68 Zechariah says that the Lord God of Israel is to be blessed for his has visited and redeemed his people. The word again is used by the crowd at Nain after seeing Jesus raise the widow’s son, as they proclaim: “A great prophet is among us. God has visited his people!”
Notice what this visitation looks like. Stephen recounts Exodus 2 where an Egyptian beat an Israelite. Moses comes to the aid of his brother Jew, rescues him by killing the Egyptian.
While we may conclude that Moses was clearly acting not at God’s behest, in the context of Stephen’s speech, his actions are portrayed as noble. Moses’ action was but an evidence that God’s salvation had come. Moses was sure that his fellow Israelites would welcome him with open arms. But, Stephen adds, “they did not understand.”
The next day he sees an argument between two Jews. Verse 26 tells us he desired to reconcile them, create peace between them. When Moses rescued his people from the Egyptians he did so with an iron fist, killing the offender. But now confronting his own people he uses a much softer glove, calling on them to reconciliation, they are brothers, they should not wrong one another.
This gentle but firm warning is like the story of an old Quaker who discovered a burglar in his home late one night. The thief was emptying the contents of the Quaker's safe into a sack. The Quaker tiptoed out, got his shotgun, and tiptoed back. Standing only a few feet from the burglar, he announced his presence. "Friend," he said calmly, "I would not harm thee for the world, but thou art standing where I am about to shoot."
How did God’s own people respond to Moses’ aid? The offender pushed him aside (v27), saying “who made your a ruler and a judge over us?” The hearers know the obvious answer is that God made him ruler and redeemer. Standing before him was the one who was there to deliver them from bondage to Pharaoh. But rather than be corrected, he became enraged at the reproof.
It was unthinkable for Stephen’s audience to imagine that they would push aside Moses’ offer of reconciliation. But they did push aside Christ’s offer of peace with God. But are we any different?
We may talk about the lawlessness of society, of people who lack not only common decency, but trample upon God’s Word, ignore his commands. We can easily list off on both hands the kind of people who reject God as ruler and judge. But how do we respond to God’s law when it is placed on us? Christ’s work of reconciliation has ramifications in our relationships. So as Christ calls us to respond to one another in peace, to forgive wrongs done or offenses given, to repent when we have sinned – how quickly would we respond with those same words?
The Israelite’s response to Moses, pushing him aside, rejecting his God’s given authority is no different than the Jews’ response to Jesus. What’s the difference then when you hear God’s Word proclaimed, and you quietly ignore it? When lovingly confronted by sin, how quickly do we brush aside the Law, all the while claiming we live in obedience to God?
Even God’s people reject God’s redemption 30-36
Not only do we shove aside God’s reconciliation, we also reject God’s redemption, too. Stephen turns the clock ahead forty years, as Moses returns from Midian, having been called by God to rescue his people. The leader the people rejected is the very one God made both ruler and redeemer.
With this Stephen once again shows his Christ centered reading of the Old Testament. Rather than just a rehash of old stories to make a point, his sermon begins to expose to his audience how Christ was at work among God’s people in the person of Moses. As the people rejected Moses then, why are they so shocked to be accused of rejecting Christ now?
Moses is the redeemer, a title Luke uses of God’s work in Luke 1:68 we saw earlier, that God visits and redeems his people. The disciples on the road to Emmaus expressed this when they spoken unknowingly to Jesus, saying that they had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel.
How can God’s people, those who profess faith in Christ for salvation, reject his redemption?
Certainly if you, knowing the work of Christ accomplished 2000 years ago can be yours today by simply trusting that your sins were nailed to that tree, that his perfect record may be yours, and you want nothing to do with that – then you are in the same boat as those Israelites. But there is a more dangerous position to be in. Remember, those Israelites eventually followed Moses out of Egypt, into the desert. They saw the signs and wonders God did through Moses, they followed but they never entered the rest of the Promised Land, because they did not believe.
This rejection of God’s revelation, while all the while claiming adherence to God’s Word is much like the story in the U.S. Navel Institute Proceedings, the magazine of the Naval Institute, as told by Frank Koch: Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities. Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported,
"Light, bearing on the starboard bow."
"Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out.
"Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.
The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: 'We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.'"
Back came the signal, "Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees."
The captain said, "Send: "I'm a captain, change course 20 degrees.'"
"I'm a seaman second-class," came the reply. "You had better change course 20 degrees."
By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, "Send: 'I'm a battleship. Change course 20 degrees.'"
Back came the flashing light, "I'm a lighthouse." We changed course. (Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm, 1991, p153.)
Even God’s people reject God’s revelation 37-41
While the Jewish leaders accused Stephen of speaking against the Law of Moses, he then points out that historically it is the people who do not listen to God. In v27 he quotes from Deut. 18, that God would raise up a prophet. Moses self consciously recognizes that one is coming who is to be listened to, one greater than he will come. Weeks ago we saw how Peter made use of this same passage in Acts 3:22 to claim that Jesus is the final revelation from God.
Moses received living oracles, God’s Word – but the response of God’s people was to refuse to obey. The very Law the Sanhedrin claimed was so vital in God’s acceptance of them, Stephen reminds them was constantly rejected by God’s people.
Their rejection of God’s law is summarized by the simple statement: “in their hearts they turned to Egypt.” In the wilderness the people murmured at him, mutinied against him, refused to obey his orders and at times were ready to stone him to death. They rejected the land of milk and honey and wanted to return to the leeks and garlic of Egypt.
The warning Stephen sounds to the Sanhedrin is one we need to hear as well. While we may conform our lives to God’s Law, as we should, if we forget that what is of the greatest importance is not our standing before God’s Law, but our standing in Christ. When left to our own devises we will bend and twist the law to suit our own desires whenever it suits us. The painful picture Stephen paints is one which has been true since the Fall. We will shift blame, make excuses, justify our every sin. We will follow, but all the while wish we were someplace else. The first step is to give up the pretense of our personal obedience. Only then will we recognize our need. But we have to heed the warnings. We must see the need to respond.
The town’s people were used to the warnings and this Spring was no different. The winter snows were heavy and it was a fact of life in this industrial nineteenth century town that the Conemaugh and Stony Creek Rivers would overflow their banks. The muddy street became swollen, the people, ignoring the danger, scurried to their second floors, that afternoon, carrying with them anything they had to keep dry. For the people of Johnstown, it was life as usual. The warnings were ignored. But life would soon never be the same as 14 miles up river, above the city, the South Fork Fishing and Hunt Club frantically tried to stem disaster. Engineers before inspected the dam and pronounced it unsafe, suggesting that the town be moved. But the dam had held water for some fifty years, there was no reason for alarm now. Reports had been sent time and again and the warning unheeded. Efforts were made to secure the dam which was already beginning to crest the earthen wall. Spillage flows were quickly dug, additional soil was added to the top. But overflow was not the chief concern. The walls began to buckle. The club’s engineer, John Parke rode to the nearest town to get a message to the residents down below in Johnstown to evacuate. The message was never sent, the warnings went unheeded. Soon water was rising too fast to counter and by 3 that afternoon, the earthen dam could not hold back the pressure and burst.
Within the hour, a body of water which engineers at the time estimated moved into the valley with the force of Niagara Falls, rolled into Johnstown with 14 miles of accumulated debris, which included houses, barns, animals and people, dead and alive. Those who saw it coming described it as a rolling hill of debris about 40 feet high and a half a mile wide. But most only heard the thunderous rumble as it swept into the city to add Johnstown to a wake. In a few short hours, the city was destroyed and 2,209 people became the victims of the worst man-made disaster until September 11th. The warnings were never heeded, the messengers ignored.
Stephen warned those who should have known, those who had the sign of the covenant upon them, those who were trained... but those who became complacent.
This morning as we are about to celebrate a baptism, I want to issue a warning of complacency to those who each and every week hear God’s Word proclaimed, who profess faith and who go on their way. The caution is sounded – do not reject God’s reconciliation, redemption, revelation. Some of you here have received the covenantal sign of baptism, but have yet to own the promise of God’s work in Christ. The waters of baptism are but a warning, the first visible sign to call you to repentance. The water is but a warning, a reminder of God’s blessing to those who respond in faith, claiming Christ as their own.
