Stories of martyrdom and near-martyrdom often galvanize us as a community and strengthen our resolve to work for justice in our world. But the story of Stephen has been used for purposes in the life of the church that do not always bend the arc of our work toward justice. How preachers frame the story, how preachers embed the story with our own subtle and not-so-subtle struggles with injustice can make all the difference.
Christian preachers often retell or frame the story of Stephen in a way that emphasizes how different Christians are from Jews. This frame for the story creates a false dichotomy, false differences, and false moral evaluations of bothChristians and Jews in the first and second centuries CE. Some of these false differences and evaluations include ideas that have little evidence in history.
For example, preachers sometimes assume that Jews were jealous of Christian momentum in terms of numbers of people joining the movement. In this view, the note in Acts 6:7 that some of the Jewish priests were joining the Christians is what infuriates the Jews in the synagogue (6:9–15). Furthermore, this view continues, because Stephen argued that those who accused him were uncircumcised in heart and ears, prophet-murderers and betrayers, and unfaithful to the law divinely given to them (7:51–53), the Jews killed him.
While Acts does try to create a distinction between Christ-followers and some of theJewish synagogue-goers (7:10), the martyrdom story of Stephen is only suggestive of a “virtuous victimized Christian” narrative. When preachers run with that suggestion, we ignore some key parts of the larger historical story of the earliest Jesus-followers. First and foremost, most of the earliest Jesus-followers were Jewish. Jesus was Jewish. The apostles were Jewish. Stephen was Jewish. Even those who joined the movement early on (like Paul) understood the movement as a way for “the nations” to worship the Judean God.
Since Acts was written at a time when churches were creating institutional structure, Acts tries to make distinctions, calling Jesus-followers Christians for the first time. Moreover, Acts is trying to emphasize the power of gentile Jesus-followers in contrast to Jewish Jesus-followers. Yet these distinctions between Christians and Jews were not clear and were not a simple either/or category in the first-century CE. Acts was likely written for a well-educated gentile Roman audience. Acts knows Jewish communities exist, but sees these communities as stigmatized within Roman politics. The Roman triumph over Jerusalem in 70 CE only fuels this view of Jews and Judaism within the empire.
At the beginning of this morning’s reading, we see the diversity within the community described in Acts. In 6:1, Luke tells us that the “Hellenists” were murmuring against the “Hebrews.” Their widows (chērai)—that is, the Hellenistic widows—were being overlooked (paratheōreō) in the daily (kathēmerios) aspects of ministry (diakonia). This framing of the needs of widows pits Hebrews against Hellenists in a way that preachers rarely examine before mimicking these divisions. Most preachers translate the dichotomy of Hebrew and Hellenist into Jews and Gentiles. This is not at all the case.
Not only were all of the apostles and most of the first disciples Jewish, but there were also thousands of Jewish people living in diaspora communities throughout the Roman Empire. Many of these communities spoke Greek as their first language, read the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) as their scriptures, and participated in the life of the cities in which they lived.
By the time Acts was written, there were hundreds of these kinds of diaspora groups throughout the Roman Empire. These groups were often contrasted with Jewish communities in Jerusalem, Galilee, and other parts of Roman Palestine who spoke Hebrew or Aramaic. These “Hebrews” were stereotyped as backwater bumpkins whose customs and practices were not nearly as refined or reasonable as those of their “Greek” or “Hellenist” Jewish siblings. This is the stereotype that Acts deploys throughout the narrative. With it, Acts shifts readers’ perceptions of Christians: Christians are connected to Judaism, but not the “Hebrew” kind, the Hellenistic kind.
Thus, when the Hellenistic widows need resources for their own ministry, Luke may be advocating for resources to remain in the power center of the burgeoning movement—Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome—rather than send resources to groups who have historically resisted imperial power.
So where does this put us with the story of Stephen? We can never, ever forget that all of our stories, all of our lives are framed by something unimaginable, something we can barely begin to comprehend: with the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, not only in history but in our lives and our world today. We are still in the Easter season, so the resurrection, even on a Sunday with readings that include violence and conflict, resurrection ethics need to be at the forefront of our preaching.
When we start to read this morning’s story through the lens of resurrection, through Christ’s abundant love present and alive in our world, we see empowered women (widows) working through their ethnic differences for the sake of eliminating hunger in their communities (6:1). We see a church community putting their resources, authority, and labor into the work of caring for those in need (6:2–7). We see Stephen, full of grace and power, standing up to false accusations while at the same time celebrating precisely the history and outpouring of Spirit on the ancestors he is accused of blaspheming (6:8–7:2a; 7:44–53). We see an angry mob, who could be any of us or our beloved ones, succumbing to violent impulses (7:54, 57–59). We hear a call to meet hatred with nonviolent resistance (7:55–56, 59–60). And we hear the possibility that every created one among us can be transformed.
Resurrection ethics change our individual lives, resurrection ethics change our communities, resurrection ethics change our world. God help us see resurrection, new life, new possibilities, new love, new presence of Christ among us!
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Holy Giver and Receiver of life, Your martyr, Stephen, shined with the light of your Holy Spirit. When his opponents took his life, he offered up his spirit to you, and prayed mercy for theirs. Make Stephen an example of faith and courage for all your followers, for the sake of the one who brought light and life to this world, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Stories of martyrdom and near-martyrdom often galvanize us as a community and strengthen our resolve to work for justice in our world. But the story of Stephen has been used for purposes in the life of the church that do not always bend the arc of our work toward justice. How preachers frame the story, how preachers embed the story with our own subtle and not-so-subtle struggles with injustice can make all the difference.
Christian preachers often retell or frame the story of Stephen in a way that emphasizes how different Christians are from Jews. This frame for the story creates a false dichotomy, false differences, and false moral evaluations of both Christians and Jews in the first and second centuries CE. Some of these false differences and evaluations include ideas that have little evidence in history.
For example, preachers sometimes assume that Jews were jealous of Christian momentum in terms of numbers of people joining the movement. In this view, the note in Acts 6:7 that some of the Jewish priests were joining the Christians is what infuriates the Jews in the synagogue (6:9–15). Furthermore, this view continues, because Stephen argued that those who accused him were uncircumcised in heart and ears, prophet-murderers and betrayers, and unfaithful to the law divinely given to them (7:51–53), the Jews killed him.
While Acts does try to create a distinction between Christ-followers and some of the Jewish synagogue-goers (7:10), the martyrdom story of Stephen is only suggestive of a “virtuous victimized Christian” narrative. When preachers run with that suggestion, we ignore some key parts of the larger historical story of the earliest Jesus-followers. First and foremost, most of the earliest Jesus-followers were Jewish. Jesus was Jewish. The apostles were Jewish. Stephen was Jewish. Even those who joined the movement early on (like Paul) understood the movement as a way for “the nations” to worship the Judean God.
Since Acts was written at a time when churches were creating institutional structure, Acts tries to make distinctions, calling Jesus-followers Christians for the first time. Moreover, Acts is trying to emphasize the power of gentile Jesus-followers in contrast to Jewish Jesus-followers. Yet these distinctions between Christians and Jews were not clear and were not a simple either/or category in the first-century CE. Acts was likely written for a well-educated gentile Roman audience. Acts knows Jewish communities exist, but sees these communities as stigmatized within Roman politics. The Roman triumph over Jerusalem in 70 CE only fuels this view of Jews and Judaism within the empire.
At the beginning of this morning’s reading, we see the diversity within the community described in Acts. In 6:1, Luke tells us that the “Hellenists” were murmuring against the “Hebrews.” Their widows (chērai)—that is, the Hellenistic widows—were being overlooked (paratheōreō) in the daily (kathēmerios) aspects of ministry (diakonia). This framing of the needs of widows pits Hebrews against Hellenists in a way that preachers rarely examine before mimicking these divisions. Most preachers translate the dichotomy of Hebrew and Hellenist into Jews and Gentiles. This is not at all the case.
Not only were all of the apostles and most of the first disciples Jewish, but there were also thousands of Jewish people living in diaspora communities throughout the Roman Empire. Many of these communities spoke Greek as their first language, read the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) as their scriptures, and participated in the life of the cities in which they lived.
By the time Acts was written, there were hundreds of these kinds of diaspora groups throughout the Roman Empire. These groups were often contrasted with Jewish communities in Jerusalem, Galilee, and other parts of Roman Palestine who spoke Hebrew or Aramaic. These “Hebrews” were stereotyped as backwater bumpkins whose customs and practices were not nearly as refined or reasonable as those of their “Greek” or “Hellenist” Jewish siblings. This is the stereotype that Acts deploys throughout the narrative. With it, Acts shifts readers’ perceptions of Christians: Christians are connected to Judaism, but not the “Hebrew” kind, the Hellenistic kind.
Thus, when the Hellenistic widows need resources for their own ministry, Luke may be advocating for resources to remain in the power center of the burgeoning movement—Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome—rather than send resources to groups who have historically resisted imperial power.
So where does this put us with the story of Stephen? We can never, ever forget that all of our stories, all of our lives are framed by something unimaginable, something we can barely begin to comprehend: with the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, not only in history but in our lives and our world today. We are still in the Easter season, so the resurrection, even on a Sunday with readings that include violence and conflict, resurrection ethics need to be at the forefront of our preaching.
When we start to read this morning’s story through the lens of resurrection, through Christ’s abundant love present and alive in our world, we see empowered women (widows) working through their ethnic differences for the sake of eliminating hunger in their communities (6:1). We see a church community putting their resources, authority, and labor into the work of caring for those in need (6:2–7). We see Stephen, full of grace and power, standing up to false accusations while at the same time celebrating precisely the history and outpouring of Spirit on the ancestors he is accused of blaspheming (6:8–7:2a; 7:44–53). We see an angry mob, who could be any of us or our beloved ones, succumbing to violent impulses (7:54, 57–59). We hear a call to meet hatred with nonviolent resistance (7:55–56, 59–60). And we hear the possibility that every created one among us can be transformed.
Resurrection ethics change our individual lives, resurrection ethics change our communities, resurrection ethics change our world. God help us see resurrection, new life, new possibilities, new love, new presence of Christ among us!
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Holy Giver and Receiver of life,
Your martyr, Stephen, shined with the light of your Holy Spirit. When his opponents took his life, he offered up his spirit to you, and prayed mercy for theirs. Make Stephen an example of faith and courage for all your followers, for
the sake of the one who brought light and life to this world, Jesus Christ. Amen.
HYMNS
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus ELW 392, H82 460, 461, NCH 257
Lord, you give the great commission ELW 579, H82 528
Praise, praise! You are my rock ELW 862
CHORAL
Praise to the Lord, Hugo Distler