What should I say?

Sovereign Lord, maker of heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them,[1] please give me the words I need to answer these men.  Your son Jesus said that you would speak through us by your Holy Spirit when we need to bear witness to rulers.[2]  I need your help now.

Nothing.  No voice dictating words for me to use.  What should I do?

Well, I do have some ideas to start with.  Maybe God will help me as I get going.  They’re accusing me of speaking against the temple and the law.  They say that Jesus changed the customs – well of course he did!  Just as Abraham did.  Just as Moses did.  And he was far greater than them!

History is a good place to start, then.  Abraham.  No temple then.  No law of Moses either.  Just a man and his God.

“Brothers and fathers, hear me.  The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ ”[3]

Will they notice that God spoke to Abraham before he was ever in Canaan?  I suppose that’s up to them.  But I do need to point out that Abraham didn’t get any immediate inheritance in that land: he had to wait.  Maybe I should say that he’s still waiting – no, that will be obvious to anyone who thinks about it.

“Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran.  And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.  Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.”[4]

 

No land actually given, just a promise.  Now for the next few generations, while they still had no land.  Then the family going into Egypt…

“And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years.  ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ ”[5]

Ah, yes.  Circumcision comes next.  Another part of the promise, yet it came before the law of Moses:

“And he gave him the covenant of circumcision.  And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.”[6]

Do I need to point out that circumcision came before the law?  I don’t think so – they can work it out easily enough, and highlighting it will just get their backs up so that they stop listening.

Instead, it’s time to talk about our nation’s ongoing habit of attacking righteous people, people God loves:

“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favour and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.”[7]

Some of the men over there are smirking – probably because of how I pronounced “household”.  I keep forgetting to use their pronunciations of some words – after all, they’re so awkward – and they’re always quick to mock us Greek-speakers for such things and treat us as if we aren’t Jews at all.[8] I need to mention that the patriarchs are my ancestors too, not just the ancestors of the Pharisees.

“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph.  He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive.”[9]

…and that’s the perfect way to introduce Moses.  This is going surprisingly well, even if God isn’t helping me.

“At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight.  And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.  And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.”[10]

That’s amazing – it was exactly the right thing to say then.  It shows a foreigner helping by looking after Moses.  Foreign education for Moses as well, yet it didn’t take him away from God.  I hadn’t quite thought of all that before I started saying it.

Maybe God is helping me after all.  Hmm.

Oh, what a silly thing to think!  Of course God is helping.  It’s exactly the same way as he’s helped me with talking to these people before.  I start talking, and God guides what I say.  It really is amazing…

But you can think about that later, Stephen – for now, concentrate on what you’re saying!

Put in another example of righteous men being persecuted or ignored.  Just a subtle one.  Moses?  Yes, that’ll work.

“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.  And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.  He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.”[11]

Come to think of it, that group over there don’t seem to be understanding either.  I think I need to remind them of exactly what happened, and how our people rejected Moses’ leadership and judgement – although he was obviously being just.  It’s a very close parallel with what they did to Jesus too.  They’ve rejected his judgements as well, and won’t let him help them.

“And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarrelling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers.  Why do you wrong each other?’  But the man who was wronging his neighbour thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?  Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ”[12]

So much for their honouring of Moses, both then and now!  I could talk about their complaints against Moses during the plagues too, but… No.  Instead, point out again that God chose Moses to save his people.

Thank you for your help, heavenly father.

“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.  When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ ”[13]

God was still doing his work outside Israel.  And he was still giving instructions outside the Law of Moses too.  Time to emphasise that the earth near some random bush a long way outside Israel was holy.  No stone-built temple, just a bush growing in the dirt – but God was there.

“And Moses trembled and did not dare to look.  Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.  I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them.  And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’ ”[14]

Here I can really lean on the rejection of God’s servants.  But… could this be dangerous if I make it as strong as it should be?  Would they attack me?  Jesus was killed, but they haven’t killed any of his followers yet.  Am I safe?  Stop worrying, Stephen: you’re here to give God’s message… and you should probably add a few more places where our people have rejected God’s servants as you proceed.  That will give the honest ones more to think about.

“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ – this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.  This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.”[15]

And here’s the perfect opportunity to make a point about “the prophet”.  This is unfolding amazingly!  How could I ever have doubted that God was leading me?  I can see a few more steps now.  More about rejecting God, and Moses too.  Mention their choice of the golden calf rather than God.

There’s no question that the men who brought me here hate me – sitting smugly over there, with looks of anticipation on their faces.  They charged me and told lies about what I said: there’s no doubt that they would dearly love to kill me.  But if I’m careful, I can make the rest of what I say fairly harmless, or obscure enough that the judges will think I’m just someone with an academic interest in religion whom they can lock up for a while.  Someone who talks, but isn’t too dangerous.  I don’t want to get locked up, but it’s better than getting killed.

Yet… is that good enough?  Am I really being a witness to Jesus if I carefully avoid any confrontation about him?  Jesus didn’t do that himself, and what he told us was, “Take up your cross and follow me.”

So I don’t really have a choice: if the confrontation comes, I’ll have to follow through with it, whatever the result may be.  If I want to be like him, that’s the only way to go – and I do.

Our father in heaven, please help me to be brave.

On with our history, then…

 

[1] Modelled on the apostles’ prayer in Acts 4:24
[2] Matthew 10:18-20
[3] Acts 7:2-3
[4] Acts 7:4-5
[5] Acts 7:6-7
[6] Acts 7:8
[7] Acts 7:9-10
[8] Stephen is a Greek name and he was chosen to help with the care of Greek-speaking widows among the believers (Acts 6:1-5).  He was probably a Jew whose parents spoke Greek and may not have separated themselves from the Romans and other foreigners in Israel as much as other Jews did.
[9] Acts 7:17-19
[10] Acts 7:20-22
[11] Acts 7:23-25
[12] Acts 7:26-28
[13] Acts 7:30-32
[14] Acts 7:32-34
[15] Acts 7:35-36