Good
Morning to you All,
Acts 7:59; “And as they were
stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Today is the Feast of Stephen, the
one from King Wenceslas. This is the day
that we commemorate the martyrdom of Stephen.
It is church tradition to commemorate the death of the martyrs with a
day to remember them. Stephen is first because he was the first to be martyred;
that is he was killed because of his faith.
He was stoned by a group of Jewish leaders who, after hearing his
testimony of faith, became enraged. They
took him out of the city and stoned him.
His dying words were for mercy on his murderers. He called out, “Lord do not hold this sin
against them.”
The one
thing about the stoning of Stephen that always intrigues is the insertion of
the comment how the men who stoned Stephen had laid their garments at the feet
of Saul. This is the Saul who later
would breathe fire in his attempt to stamp out the “blasphemous” new group of
Christians. He went from city to city
with writs from the High Priest to seek out these men who were confessing that
Jesus was the Son of God and bring them back to Jerusalem. There they would be “dealt with”. No one was as determined to destroy this
“Jesus cult” as Saul was. This was the
Saul who would later become Paul; the man who would author one half of the New
Testament.
The thing
that I want us to take away from this story is that no one is ever beyond
hope. Paul was just about the worst
person in the world. He was actively and
violently seeking to destroy the church.
Yet Jesus called Paul and saved him.
Just like He wants to call you and save you. It doesn’t matter what is in your past. Jesus still wants you to hear his words of
forgiveness. It doesn’t matter if you
are a woman who had an abortion or a spouse who destroyed your marriage. It doesn’t matter if you and a family member had
a huge fight and you said and did things which were wrong. There is no sin that will keep you from God’s
grace.
Many times
the media will act like there is something that is unforgivable. Nothing is unforgivable. To say that there is will be an attempt to
limit God’s mercy and God’s mercy has no limit.
So if you feel the guilt of “unforgivability”, that is the devil
speaking and not God’s Word of mercy.
God’s mercy is beyond any limits that anyone tries to place on it. This is the certainty that we place our hope
on. God will free us from the pain of
sin and the pain of guilt. He forgives
us. This is to allow us to leave the
guilt of sin behind us. You are totally
lovable to God. He sent his Son to die
for you. He did this because he loves
you completely and entirely. God loves
you for you and that love will never die.
Father of
mercy, too often we feel completely worthless and beyond hope. Yet your mercy and forgiveness is always
there to bring us back to you. Guard us
by your Spirit and strengthen our faith.
Be with those who are especially guilty at this time. Guide them to know your grace and feel the
gift of your wondrous love. In Jesus’
precious name we pray, amen
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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