Like the face of an angel!

St. Stephen

His face was like the face of an angel!  This is the last sentence we read in Acts 6:8-15:

Stephen, filled with grace and power was working great wonders and signs among the people.  Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Celicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.  Then they instigated some men to say, “we have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.”  They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, accosted him, seized him, and brought him before the Sanhedrin.  They presented false witnesses who testified, “This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law:  For we have heard him claim that this Jesus, the Nazarean will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”  All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

So many things struck me about this reading. First was the POWER, GRACE and WISDOM Stephen possessed through his openness to the Holy Spirit.  Second was the pride, anger, envy, jealousy, fear and ego of those who opposed him.  Good versus evil, if you will.  I recognized through this reading that these negative feelings led to Stephen’s death and they can lead to our spiritual death if we allow them to take hold.  I also realized that while we may not experience persecution as Stephen did we do experience, what I’d like to call, mini persecutions on a daily basis.

Let’s unwrap this verse.  First, we see Stephen, who is a righteous man speaking Truth and making Jesus known in his community.  The “members of the Synagogue” who understood themselves to be the authority on “the law” were intimidated by Stephen’s power, grace and wisdom.  We are told that they couldn’t withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.  Basically, they couldn’t compete with him.  He was too knowledgeable and, I would guess, on fire with the peace and love of Christ.

I’m going to assume Stephen’s wisdom and Spirit was a blow to their egos.  They were too proud to acknowledge the Truth of what he spoke.  The “members” feared conversion and change.  They didn’t want anyone to upset their apple cart.  Their anger served to divert attention from this holy and righteous man of wisdom.  The envy and jealousy of the knowledge and peace Stephen possessed led them to break the commandments God imposed through Moses.  They seem so concerned about maintaining what Moses had handed down, yet they broke several commandments in the process.  How committed were they?  Committed to vices, maybe.  Committed to God, not so much!

There’s a clue in the reading that leads me to believe that the Sanhedrin knew Stephen wasn’t a real threat to them and that he was not blaspheming.  It’s the last sentence “…..looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”  There was that light we so often hear about.  The light we are supposed to be in this world.  Stephen was that light for his time.  He offered God the sacrifice of praise we hear about in the Psalms.  His praise of Jesus was indeed a sacrifice because it lead to his persecution.

I’m guessing the sight of Stephen’s face made the Sanhedrin’s intuition perk up.  Despite the charges against Stephen, at that moment the Sanhedrin must have realized that what they were taking part in was a farce.  It was all wrong and based on lies.   How could they NOT be moved by the face  of an angel?  They were making a huge mistake but they couldn’t turn back for fear….

Isn’t that what happens to us?  When we engage in gossip, we know it’s wrong but still engage.  Isn’t that what happens to us when pride hold us back from admitting we’re wrong?  We convince ourselves that we can just ignore the situation and it will go away.  Isn’t it so easy to allow our anger to lead us to desire revenge?  We contemplate ways of getting back at someone for hurting or disappointing us.  How about our commitment to relationships?  Do we find it easy to walk away instead of attempting to rebuild?

You make think these things are no big deal but look what happened in Jesus’ time when these vices/feelings were left unchecked.   It’s so important to take stock of what triggers our behaviors and feelings.  To really understand what causes us to react and why.  I believe it’s the first step toward healing our sinful souls. Think about the last time you were angry?  What triggered it? I would venture to guess it was fear. If we’re not careful, we can become completely irrational in our thinking.  Irrationality often leads to more sin.   As a result, we become the persecutors.  We are then no better than the Sanhedrin.

On the flip side, have you ever experienced a relationship where it seemed liked someone was constantly in competition with you.  Did you ever feel like someone was working extra hard to outdo you?  Have you ever felt left out of a group because you refuse to compromise your values and morals or because you’re not interested in participating in what society pegs as “fun” or “the norm?”  Do you ever get the sense that people make judgments about you without even knowing who you really are?  I’m sure we all have.  We have either been on the giving or receiving end of all this. In a sense, these are all persecutions, are they not?

Those who persecuted Stephen let their egos get the best of them.  When they couldn’t compete with his Spirit, they worked extra hard to kill it.  They became so irrational that they disregarded and broke all the rules and laws they claimed they were working so hard to protect.  Think about that – who do you identify with?  I think we all have a bit of persecutor and persecuted in us.  Unfortunately, I can identify with both.  So I have some work to do, do you?

Oftentimes, we can feel sad or lonely as a result of experiencing those “mini-persecutions” I mentioned.  In those moments, we should think of Stephen and how he was able to reflect the face of an angel despite the persecution.  God bless you!

(In my next post I hope to continue this theme and discuss what the Apostles experienced after the resurrection based on my viewing of the series AD on Easter Sunday. If you haven’t seen it, check it out on Netflix.com)