Week 44 Sunday
Week 44 Sunday
The Marks of Those on the Way
Galatians 6:17; 1 Timothy 6:11-16
We turn now in our study of the Way to the marks of those on the Way. If the Way is the way—the way to do everything—what are some of the characteristics of those who follow the Way?
I am picking out the most Christianized person in the New Testament to study in him the marks of a Christian: Stephen. In Stephen, Christianity was simple, unaffected, unprofessionalized. It is significant that the most Christianized person in the New Testament was a layperson. The “leaders” were too conscious of being “leaders,” and in that consciousness lost some of the Christian spirit.
Stephen belonged, not to the “Twelve,” but to the “seven.” And yet before long, that word seven, spelled thus in Acts 6:3 (Moffatt), became “the Seven” in Acts 21:8 (Moffatt). Evidently, those men, by their life and character and contribution, turned a common noun into a proper noun. Any word or person getting into touch with Jesus is heightened, for Jesus turns all our common nouns into proper nouns. The word love gets into contact with him, and you have to spell it Love, it’s different now. Jesus turns the nobodies into the somebodies and the insignificant into the significant. Stephen too heightened everything he touched. He dignified the commonplace, took a job the apostles turned down as beneath them, and made it more significant than anything the apostles themselves were doing.
(1) The first mark, then, of the Christian is this: he was a man who made the insignificant the significant by the spirit he put into it. It is not what you do that counts, but how you do it, the spirit you put into it. You can do great things in a little way and little things in a great way. Stephen was great, not only in what he did but in how he did it. The spirit in which you do a thing is the aroma surrounding the deed and makes the deed smell good or bad. Stephen “served tables,” but he did it in such a way that table serving became sacramental; those tables became a veritable table of the Lord—the Lord’s Table—and around them people of all races ate the bread that became the Bread. Stephen was a deacon who became a beacon, a light to all the ages, especially on the commonplaces of life.
O Christ, if I have the little things to do today, help me to do them in a great way with a great spirit. Save me from pettiness lest my great deeds become petty in the process. For how I do a thing makes me in the doing. Help me to be Christian—always. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: “I bear branded on my body the owners stamp of the Lord Jesus” (Gal. 6:17 Moffatt).
Week 44 Monday
Basic Honesty and Grace and Power
2 Timothy 2:22-26
We saw yesterday that what matters is how you do the things you do. A sign along the railroad going through Chester, Pennsylvania, says, “What Chester makes, makes Chester.” Whatever the Christian makes, makes the Christian, especially the spirit in which we make it. In whatever spirit you work, that spirit works into you. You are born of the spirit in which you work.
(2) He was basically honest. Stephen was basically honest; a man “of honest report” (Acts 6:3 KJV). This is fundamental, for nothing can atone for a lack of basic honesty. No amount of “fancy virtues” or “fancy spirituality” can take the place of simple honesty of character. The ultimate question about anyone’s character is, Are there any circumstances under which that person will lie? If so, that person has a worm eating at the heart. Jesus said, “If . . . ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?” (Luke 16:11).
(3) He was “full of grace and power” (Acts 6:8 Moffatt). Note the combination, “grace and power.” But note that “grace” was first, and “power” the by-product of the “grace.” If you seek power first, you will not get it. For that means that you are the center; you want power. The probabilities are that you will want power to enhance yourself. You will probably put the word “spiritual” to the power, but down underneath is the desire to be at the center of the picture, the person greatly used of God. But if grace is first, then you are centered in God, not yourself. You long for and seek the unmerited favor of God. You are at God’s feet; you want only God. Then as a by-product of that fact, God can and does give you power. Those who seek power do not get it, but those who seek God first, last, and always get God and power. Then the power can be given; it will be used for kingdom ends and not for personal ends. God can give power only to surrendered souls who have come to an end of themselves. Any other kind of spiritual power is spiritual “powwow,” verbal instead of vital. Jesus said, “You shall receive power,” only when you become “my witnesses” (Acts 1:8)—not witnesses of yourself.
O Christ, I know that power is for the simple, surrendered will. I would make my will just that. For I know you cannot entrust power to unsurrendered wills. Take mine—fully. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: “I am alive as he is alive by the power of God” (2 Cor. 13:4 Moffatt).
Week 44 Tuesday
Full of the Spirit and of Wisdom
1 Timothy 4:12-16; 2 Timothy 1:14
We continue the study of the marks of a Christian: (4) Stephen was “full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3). The Christian has “the Spirit,” and “the Spirit” has the Christian. The prayer I find myself praying most is, “Lord, you’ve got me.” It runs as a refrain through my prayers. If so, that settles all. If we are on our own hands, we are like the five loaves and two fishes in the hands of the little boy, inadequate. But if we are in God’s hands, we are like those same loaves and fishes in the hands of Jesus, adequate for a multitude.
It isn’t enough to be full of the Spirit. We must be full of wisdom as well. Spirituality directed by wisdom is beneficial, but spirituality directed by ignorance is blighting. Some have the Spirit and no wisdom, and some have wisdom and no Spirit. Both alone are weak. Together they make the Christian.
The account says that in the discussions “they could not meet the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke” (Acts 6:10 Moffatt). Note that the translator felt he must put the word spirit as Spirit. You could not tell where Stephen’s spirit ended and the Holy Spirit began. They were blended. That is the Christian privilege; we can have all our powers heightened by the Spirit. A plus is added to life. There is “something more” added to all we say and do.
(5) He was made by a task too difficult for him: The race question arose for the first time, and the church had to face it and solve it. They solved it by generosity, “If you think the Grecian widows are neglected, we turn it over to the Greeks to manage.” Every one of the Seven had a Greek name except Stephen. When it came to him, the reaction was, “Well, he belongs to everybody; he has transcended race.” So they chose him with the Greeks, for he was universalized. The choosing of a nearly all-Greek group threw the responsibility into the hands of those supposedly wronged, and that put it up to the Greeks to do better and make no distinction. They settled it by generosity. The difficulty of his task made Stephen. Always get a task you can’t do, one that is beyond your powers. That throws you back on divine grace.
O Christ, do not give me tasks equal to my powers, but give me powers equal to my tasks. For I want to be stretched by things too great for me. I want to grow through the greatness of my tasks, but I shall need grace for the growing. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: “My qualifications come from God” (2 Cor. 3:6 Moffatt).
Week 44 Wednesday
Stephen Bridged Gaps
Acts 20:31-35; 1 Thessalonians 2:9-12
We pursue our study of the marks of a Christian. (6) Stephen bridged the gap between the secular and the sacred. The apostles felt they should not “drop preaching the word of God and attend to meals. . . . We will continue to devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:2, 4 Moffatt). It sounded spiritual. That tradition has continued until today. But it introduced into Christianity a dualism between the secular and the sacred, a disastrous dualism. It did several things: It made spirituality function in terms of spiritual life instead of in the total life, material as well as spiritual. It made ministers the ministers of a vague spirituality instead of a vital, whole-life impact. It also made for unreality. If ministers weren’t “spiritual,” they had to act like it, so they put on spiritual tones and spiritual dress. And the laypeople? They dealt with “secondary” things—the material—and therefore lived a secondary life. It took the sense of mission out of the laity, and life sagged. They were not in a first-rate calling, so they didn’t have to lead a first-rate life. This has driven a disastrous wedge into Western civilization. It must be withdrawn. All life must take on the sense of the sacred, and all callings divine callings. Holiness must get back its original thought, wholeness. Holiness is wholeness.
This dualism was not in Jesus. He preached and taught and healed and fed, all as part of one impact of the kingdom. But Jesus was a layperson and had the lay mind; life was all of one piece. The apostles missed their step at this place and moved out of the line of succession of Jesus. The “apostolic succession” therefore is not the Christian succession; it is the apostolic succession, and they missed their step. Paul got back into the line of Jesus, so he could say, “These hands of mine provided everything for my own needs and for my companions” (Acts 20:34 Moffatt). His work as a tentmaker was a part of his Christian calling. He mended the seamless robe of Jesus that the apostles had torn asunder. Stephen was in the line of succession of Jesus. He made his spirituality function in terms material. His interpretation of the Christian gospel was in life terms instead of lip terms. His Christianity walked—and what a walk!
O Christ, I too would make my Christianity walk. I would make it function in terms material, for I cannot live except in terms material, for I am embodied. Help me, then, to live a life in terms of life—of all life. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: Today all my tasks shall be sacramental; the sordid shall become the sacred by being done “unto God.”
Week 44 Thursday
Making the Secular into the Sacred
1 Thessalonians 4:7-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 10-11
We saw that Stephen did everything in a sacred way. But while he gave himself to serving tables, he wasn’t swamped by the job. He did not become so immersed in it that he had no time or heart for evangelism. The fact is that he became more evangelistic than the apostles, who were supposed to do nothing but evangelize. The longest recorded sermon in the New Testament was given, not by any of the apostles, but by a layperson: Stephen (see Acts 7). And the only person in the New Testament called an evangelist was a member of “the Seven,” “Philip the evangelist” (Acts 21:8 Moffatt). Stephen too would have earned that title had he not precipitated such a crisis by his preaching, a crisis that brought on his early death. Philip had such a mighty revival in Samaria that two apostles were sent down to regularize it. Laypeople produced the revivals that the ministers could not produce, but could regularize!
(7) So the next mark of the Christian is: Stephen did serve tables, but served them so well and efficiently that he had time and disposition for evangelism. Stephen combined the qualities of both Martha and Mary. In the house of the Christian soul, Mary and Martha should be one. All Martha is weak, and all Mary is weak, but a combination is very strong and very effective. Our greatest need is laypeople on fire with evangelism.
(8) He was so positive that he aroused opposition. Stephen stood for something, and so some stood against him. The business of many Christians is the inglorious business of keeping their heads stuck in. Result? There isn’t an idea in those stuck-in heads worth getting excited about. They become the dull and then the null.
(9) As they lied about him before the Sanhedrin, “his face shone like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15 Moffatt). Stephen had the power to turn lies into light. Even their lies became useful; they broke into light as they fell upon him. That is mastery, a power to make lies serve. The person who stands for something will have a shining face, in spite of all. The person who stands for nothing has nothing on the face, becomes nothing.
O Christ, help me to stand for something, no matter the cost. Help me to get used to the sight of my own blood. For only as I bleed can I bless. Take out of me all dodging of issues, all the cowardliness that makes no issues. Help me to have the mark of courage. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: Today I shall stand for something. My opinions shall become convictions.
Week 44 Friday
The Christian in the Crisis
Ephesians 6:10-20
We saw yesterday that Stephen had a shining face in the midst of calumny. Nietzsche wrote, “In order that I might learn to believe in their Saviour . . . his disciples ought to look saved-like [redeemed].”* Stephen looked redeemed at the place where redemption counted, at the place of persecution.
(10) To resist Stephen was to resist the Holy Spirit. “You are always resisting the holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51 Moffatt). Stephen was the kind of man who, when you resisted him, you resisted the Holy Spirit. Very often, to resist is not to resist the Holy Spirit, but the spirit of egotism, the spirit of stubborn pride, the spirit of petty opinions. But Stephen was so merged with the Spirit that their interests were one, and hence their oppositions were one.
(11) He was a man who looked above trouble and saw the glory of God. “They were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed up at heaven and saw the glory of God” (Acts 7:54-55 Moffatt). Had we been there, we perhaps would have seen trouble and not the glory of God. He saw the glory of God as the big thing, the all-important thing, and the trouble as the little thing, the incidental. His eyes were in focus; the throne was at the center and the trouble on the margin. The Way is the way of perspective; the Big is big, and the little is little.
(12) They couldn’t rush him off his feet into their attitudes. The account says, “With a loud shriek they shut their ears and rushed at him like one man” (Acts 7:57 Moffatt). They rushed at him like one man, but they couldn’t rush him off his feet into their attitudes. He kept his own. He kept his own spirit because he let Jesus keep it for him, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” (v. 59). And he did; he kept it intact, unspoiled, uncorrupted by what they did. He didn’t allow the other people’s conduct to determine his. He worked from his own principles, not from their pressures. The tragedy of opposition is that we often take our opponent’s weapons and fight with them instead of our own. If we use hate, we become hateful. We are born of that which we give out. Stephen gave out love and was born of love.
O Christ, I come to you to ask you to keep my spirit intact. Help me not to be rushed off my feet into unchristian attitudes and acts. For when I do, then my opponents have won, have won me to their method and spirit. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and keep it intact. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: “Leave me not speechless for the truth” (Ps. 119:43 Moffatt).
*Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra (New York: Macmillan, 1896), 125.
Week 44 Saturday
The Supreme Mark—Forgiveness of Injuries
Luke 23:32-43
We come now to the last mark of the Christian as seen in Stephen: (13) He forgave his enemies at the very moment of the injury. “Then he knelt down and cried aloud, ‘Lord, let not this sin stand against them!’ ” (Acts 7:60 Moffatt). His last word was them. Instead of a thought of himself in self-pity, his last and dominant word was them. In his hour of pain, thinking of “them” was his deepest concern. That is Christianity in action. Here the high-water mark of morality came to its highest. Outside of the Master upon the cross, crying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” here is the most magnificent Christian spirit ever recorded. To forgive your enemies is the authentic Christian spirit at its best. The crushed violet perfumes the heel that crushes it.
A father held his only little boy in his arms and watched him die. The doctor had made a mistake in giving the boy an inoculation when the boy was allergic to it. The father put the dead child down, put his arm on the doctor’s shoulder, and said, “Doc, I feel terribly sorry for you.” And he prayed a prayer for him, forgave him then and there! Then the father dedicated himself to helping young people through college.
But the reply is made, “What good does it do? The last word is with force, for at the end was not Stephen under the stones? Didn’t the stones win?” Apparently, but only apparently, for look at the sequel. The young man Saul standing there “was consenting to his death” (Acts 8:1). This was so for a time, and then something rose within Saul that didn’t approve of the murder, nor of Saul. That face, that prayer of Stephen; he could not forget them! They haunted him! He kicked against the goads. Then on the Damascus Road, Jesus met Saul; he fell blinded, was radically changed, and became the greatest Christian of the centuries. Stephen, in his fall, raised Saul up. Which won, stones or spirit? The stones are now scattered on a Palestinian roadside. The spirit of Stephen marches deathless through the ages. The spirit wins. The Christian spirit always wins. Bury it, and the third day it will rise again. Stone it and you scatter it through the earth.
O Christ, I follow you, the deathless. This Way is the way around, over, through everything, including death. I am so grateful, for I have hold of something that nothing can hold. It conquers everything. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: “Never think, ‘I will treat him as he treated me. I will pay back the man for what he did’ ” (Prov. 24:29 Moffatt).