Loving God, you call us to love as Jesus loved and to forgive as Jesus forgave.  Yet, all we want is retribution.  Make us aware of the grace we have been given, and set us free to live in your Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    In the first reading today we heard about Stephen, who was stoned to death because of his faith in Jesus.  The part that we heard today was actually the end of the story, which begins back in Acts chapter 6.  And so, in order to fill in some of the details of the story, I’m curious what, if anything, you know about Stephen and why he was stoned to death. ...  He was chosen as a deacon – to help distribute food to those who were in need.  He spoke with great wisdom and power.  He was falsely accused of blasphemy, dragged before the council and then stoned to death.  He also gives a speech before the council that goes through the entire history of Israel.

    The part that we heard today, though, is significant for several reasons.  One of those reasons is the presence of a young man named Saul, who looks after people’s coats and approves of Stephen’s death.  This same young man later becomes Paul, who comes to believe in Jesus after an experience on the road to Damascus.  However, today’s reading is also significant because of how Stephen acts.

    “While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’” (Acts 7:59).  Does this sound familiar to you? – Perhaps something that was said by somebody else as they were dying? ... As Jesus hangs on the cross, he cries out with a loud voice: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk. 23:46).  Stephen is sounding an awful lot like Jesus!

    And then Stephen says something else just before he dies: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60).  Once again, does this sound familiar?... Again, it sounds an awful lot like Jesus on the cross.  “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk. 23:34).  Stephen is so full of the Holy Spirit that he speaks and acts with the mind of Christ.  Thus we see the promise fulfilled that is given in today’s gospel:

Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. (Jn. 14:12)

    If it were you who had been falsely accused and then stoned to death, would you be praying that God would forgive those who are stoning you?...  If you were the Sudanese woman who was recently sentenced to death for marrying a Christian man, would you be praying for the forgiveness of the judge and the others who had condemned you?...  My suspicion is that many of us would be angry rather than forgiving.  And so, is it even possible to love as Jesus loves and to forgive as Jesus forgives?...

    There is a website that is called “The Forgiveness Project” that tells the stories of people all over the world who have chosen forgiveness rather than hatred and anger (theforgivenessproject.com).  One of those stories is that of Wilma Derksen, whose daughter Candace was abducted and murdered in 1984.  Since she has been in the news here quite often, you have most likely heard at least part of her story.  However, you may not have heard the part about a man who showed up at her door the day Candace’s body was found.

    This man had also lost a child to murder.  At the same time he had lost his health, his ability to concentrate, his relationships, and his ability to work.  He had even lost all memory of his daughter because all he could think about was the murder and the trauma and the hatred that followed.  It was afer Wilma and Cliff Derksen heard this man’s story that they decided that they had to choose forgiveness.

    In doing so, their grief was not any less than that of anybody else who has lost a child.  In fact, they were accused of all kinds of things, including not loving their daughter.  It seems that other people simply couldn’t fathom how you could forgive somebody who had done such a horrible thing.  Still, it was forgiveness that enabled them to heal and to bring some good out of the loss of their daughter, rather than allowing hatred and anger to take hold of them and destroy them.

    While many of us might also find forgiveness like this very difficult, enemy love is really at the heart of Jesus’ life and teaching.  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt. 5:44).  “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12).  For Jesus washed the feet of the one who betrayed him and prayed for those who crucified him.  And yes – followers of Jesus (like Stephen) – have done the same.

    So why would Jesus ask us to do something that seems so counter-intuitive to us?  Why would Jesus ask us to show love even to those who do hateful things?  For one thing, we have been shown the way to our own healing, just as the Derksen’s discovered.  When we hold hatred and anger and unforgiveness in our hearts, it is actually ourselves that we are destroying.  As much as we might like to hold on to our “righteous” anger, it is actually being able to forgive that sets us free.

    At the same time, the direction to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us really gives us a glimpse into the heart of God.  The way Matthew puts it is that God “makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous” (Mt. 5:45).  In other words, God gives good things to all people, regardless of whether they curse God or worship God.  God offers forgiveness to all people, regardless of how hateful their actions have been.  And lest we think that this only applies to others, the Scriptures remind us that Christ died for us while we were still sinners and enemies of God (Rom. 5).

    Jesus practiced enemy love in order to restore relationships – and especially to restore our relationship with God.  At the same time, being in a right relationship with God always leads to restored relationships with other people, as well.

    The good news is that Jesus has already acted to restore our relationship with God.  It is because of his life, death and resurrection that the intimacy that is described in today’s gospel is possible for us.  To know Jesus is to know God.  To believe in Jesus is to believe in God.  To know Jesus is to know the way and the truth and the life.  And Jesus promises that those who believe in him will have the same intimacy with God as he did – not only in this life, but also in the life to come.  In this is pure promise – the kind of promise that sets us free to love and forgive just as we have been loved and forgiven.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Easter 5(A)                                    Acts 7:55-60
May 18, 2014                                John 14:1-14
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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