May 7th, 2011
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

It's Our Story

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Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, in You are laid up all the wonders of wisdom, truth, and holiness. Form me after Your heart.

Read ACTS 7:39-53

[39] “But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. [40] They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt-we don’t know what has happened to him!’ [41] That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made. [42] But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? [43] You have lifted up the shrine of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon. [44] “Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. [45] Having received the tabernacle, our fathers 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, [46] who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. [47] But it was Solomon who built the house for him. [48] “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: [49] “‘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? [50] Has not my hand made all these things?’ [51] “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! [52] Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him- [53] you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.”

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

How hard it is not to feel smug about the faults of others—that is, until you are able to clearly see your own!

Think Further

There are two ways we can read the history in the Bible. We can read it as their history: what the people of Israel did, the wrong turns and the tragic consequences. Or we can read it as our history: ways our predecessors in faith were dealt with by God, mistakes we are prone to and temptations we are likely to face. Sadly, over the centuries the Christian Church drifted towards the first view, promoting a hostility between Jew and Christian which culminated in genocide in the twentieth century.

As Stephen’s speech before the Sanhedrin reaches its climax, he addresses the audience with passionate, hard-hitting rhetoric (51-53). He is clearly recounting “our” history, echoing prophets like Moses and Amos (quoted in vs. 42,43) and emphasizing the twin themes we have seen in Jeremiah. First is the pervasive temptation to idolatry (41). Japanese businesses recently wanted to erect a statue of a bull in their financial district to bring them better fortune. The twist is they are copying one in the USA. Second, where the futility of idols is largely accepted, as it was among Jews after the exile, there is the temptation to pin God down in buildings and rituals. Places and forms for worship are helpful—God guides us to create them (44)—but the divine repertoire is far greater than we can imagine (49). Stephen understood Jesus’ message that the temple would not remain the focus for God’s people, and paid with his life for explaining that. Soon Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries would find people of other nations grafted by the Holy Spirit into their community of faith, sharing their ancestors and their history. Sadly, many of them would find that too hard to accept.

Apply

In what ways are you and your church warmly welcoming people of other nations and backgrounds into the community of faith? Pray never to be a hindrance to them.

Closing prayer

Lord, I can be so like ancient Israel. As You press in on me with new challenges, new calls, I push back against You. Help me, rather, to obey You.

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