June 15, 2012
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Twist In the Tale

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Opening Prayer

Loving Lord, here I am before You. I’m an empty vessel needing to be filled, an aching soul needing to be healed.

Read Acts 7:35-53

[35] “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. [36] He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness. [37] “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’ [38] He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us. [39] “But our ancestors 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 reveled in what their own hands had made. [42] But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel? [43] You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon. [44] “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. [45] 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, [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 a house for him. [48] “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. 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! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! [52] 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- [53] you who have received the law that was given 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.

Reflect

“God made us in his image and we have returned the favor” (Voltaire, 1694-1778). Unfortunately, that’s often true.

The theme of rejection grows stronger. The people long for Egypt, they build a calf to worship in place of God (40, 41), they replace the tabernacle with the temple (47-50). At one level the temple is a fitting focus for the worship of God, but from the start dangers are evident. It will confine God, seeing him as static rather than dynamic, and will undermine Israel’s role as a pilgrim people (2 Sam. 7:5-11a). This suggests a fatal flaw in Israel’s thinking throughout the generations. The golden calf, the construction of the temple, the rejection of the prophets—each in its own way demonstrates the desire to control God. We want a God we can accommodate to our way of thinking rather than the all-powerful Creator of the universe. We create a god in our own image; one that will not make inconvenient demands of us.

The time has come for Stephen to apply the ancient story to the present situation. The ultimate rejection has taken place in the crucifixion of the One whom God had sent (52). There are overtones of Peter (Acts 2:23,36) and of Jesus himself (Matt 21:33-46). The crucifixion took place in a specific historical, geographical and social context, but it is the culmination of the historic rebellion of Israel and of the human race (Rom. 5:12-14). Stephen reinterprets the story to convict the Jewish leaders of his time, but the same story convicts us all, albeit in different ways.

Stephen’s defense to the charge is to argue that it is not he but the leaders who have really betrayed God’s purposes. That has been the point of the long retelling of Israel’s story. However, because this is a story common to all humanity we can reinterpret it so that our contemporaries see a different reality.

Apply

Recall the people you thought about yesterday. Pray for them and ask for the opportunity to speak to them wisely and sensitively about Christ.

Closing prayer

Lord, sometimes I cling to a vision of You as I want You to be, and fulfilling Your promises according to my vision. Forgive me and renew me.

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