Text: Acts 6:56, John 14:1-14

Theme: “Do You See Him?”

Date: April 19/20, 2008; Easter 5

Place: Immanuel, Altamont, IL

This week you are going to need to keep your bulletin handy as we are going to be doing something a little bit different. Instead of focusing on one of the readings and making one point out of that reading, we are going to spend time with each of the readings. There are parts of each of the readings that I would like to talk about for just a short bit. Of course, it would have to be a short bit since there is always a time limit when it comes to a sermon. We can spend more time on each of the readings in Bible class and in personal study.

            I would like to begin with the first readings. This is a familiar reading for many people. It is the story of the stoning of Stephen. It is in this account that we are introduced to a man who would become very important to the Christian Church. This man is called Saul. Saul was a Pharisee. This event, the stoning of Stephen, would set him on a path that no one would have guessed.

            We are told at the end of the account of the stoning, “And Saul was there giving approval to his death.” (Acts 8:1 NIV) From this point on, Saul would become a fanatic in trying to stop the spread of the Christian faith. He would go from house to house, trying to find Christians. He was instrumental in the persecution of Christianity.

            What is amazing about this is that God was truly still in charge. Yes, Satan was working his worst. He was having Christians arrested and jailed by Saul. He was having Christians put to death because they were holding onto Jesus as their Lord and Savior instead of following Judaism. It seemed as though it was the hay day of Satan. It was a dark time. People were having to hide for fear that they would be persecuted by Saul and all the others who were opposed to Christianity.

            And yet God still had a plan. God was still in control. Often it seems as though God has no clue what is going on. We want Him to step in and act in a way that we think is best. I would imagine that there were many Christians praying that God would stop the persecution. They didn’t want their friends or family arrested. And yet, it continued on. Where was God? What was His plan in the middle of this?

            What is amazing is that instead of stopping the spread of Christianity, the persecution of Saul and the others actually helped to spread the faith. Up until this point, the Christians were content to stay in Jerusalem. They were living there in relative peace. They didn’t have much to worry about. They met together regularly. Their numbers were increasing. And they were content to leave well enough alone.

            Except that they had forgotten something very important. Jesus had told them that they were to be His witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea and all the world. In the peace that they had at the time, they stopped sharing the message in Jerusalem. They forgot that they were to reach out from that point. What got them moving? What made them reach out to Samaria, Galilee and the rest of the Roman world? It was the persecution that began that day with the stoning of Stephen. Once their peace was shattered by the threat of jail or death, they began to flee Jerusalem. They began to go to other towns and villages. They began to spread the message of life and hope to Samaria, Galilee and any other place that they went for refuge from the persecution.

            God had a greater plan. That is something that we must remember. While we think that things are going terrible. We need to trust in the Lord. We need to keep hold of the faith that we have been given and follow His will in our lives. Too often when things get difficult, we begin to doubt the Lord. We wonder where He is. We wonder why He would allow us to go through these times. But we must remember that He has plan that reaches beyond the moment, a plan that is much more complex than our simple minds can understand.

            I cannot answer the question as to why you have cancer or why your family is breaking up. But I can answer the question of what you should do about it. You should trust in the Lord. You should look to Him for guidance and strength. Even as you think that things are terrible, you can find that there is some good that comes from it. You faith is strengthened. You trust in the Lord is refined. You are moved from your lazy, lifeless faith to one that follows the Lord, trusts in Him and calls upon Him daily. Sometimes we need that kick in the pants to get us moving. Never forget that in all things, God works good for those who love Him, who follow Him with their whole heart.

            Another thought on the stoning of Stephen. Take a look at the faith of that man. While he was being tried, he proclaimed loudly and clearly the message of life and hope found only in Jesus Christ. He could have toned it down. He could have watered down the message in order to get himself off. He could have turned away from the faith and he would have been alive. But He didn’t. He stood firm in that faith. He knew it could lead to his death, but he still trusted only in Jesus as his Savior. Even while they started to stone him, he called on the name of the Lord. He forgave those who were stoning him. And then, looking up to heaven, he said, “Behold I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56 ESV) Even in his death, he proclaims that Jesus is Lord.

            What a witness that is! We could learn something from Stephen. Hold firm to that faith you have received in all things. No matter what happens, remember to trust in the Lord your God. As you live in that faith, even as you die in that faith, you will receive that life given by your Lord Jesus Christ. Will we be persecuted for our faith? If you read through the Gospel of Matthew and the book of Revelation, you can only come to the conclusion that the time is coming that it will be more and more difficult to remain a Christian. Jesus tells us that it will become a terrible time to proclaim the name of the Lord. If that time comes to you, pray that you will be like Stephen, that you will remain in the faith and proclaim the name of Jesus Christ with your dying breath.

            I want to shift the focus a little bit now. Look at the Gospel reading. If we have time, we will come back to the epistle reading. This reading from John 14 is a powerful reading for many different reasons. It is a reading that we are familiar with at times of funerals. Jesus tells us that He will go and prepare a place for us in heaven. One thing to note about this place that Jesus talks about is that He tells us that in the Father’s house are many rooms. For us today, this doesn’t have the same impact as it would for the people in Jesus’ day.

            You see we all live in houses that are pretty permanent. Even our mobile homes are generally put down on a permanent foundation. But many in Jesus’ day didn’t have a place of permanence. They lived very transitory lives. They moved from place to place. Their houses were not always a place they could call permanent. But Jesus is telling them that they have a permanent place. That was the Father’s house.

And it wasn’t just a house with a few rooms. Many of the houses in Jesus’ day were single room houses. It didn’t matter how many people lived there, there was only one room. It served as the kitchen, the bedroom and the family room. There weren’t a lot of houses that had more than one room. For Jesus to tell them that they had a place with the Father in which each and every one of them had their own room in a permanent house, it was an exciting and wonderful thing! They could rejoice at this wonderful news. It is like growing up with several brothers and sisters and then being told that that you would have your own room, a place that you would not have to share with anyone else. I know, it is worldly way of looking at things, but it helps to make sense of what Jesus is saying.

Jesus goes to prepare a place for each and every one of us. When that place is done, He will come back and get us. Now, this is talking about two different events. The first event is why we use it at funerals. It is talking about the time that Jesus will come for us personally. He knows each one of us. He has gone to heaven to personally prepare a place for us in His Father’s house. We can be certain that He will come back and take us to be with Him in heaven. But we don’t know when that will be. It is so hard to figure that one out. In fact, He doesn’t want us to know the day.

Neither does He want us to know the day of the second event – that is His second coming. He will come again. When He does, all who are still alive will never have to die. The dead in Christ will rise first, as we are told many different times in Scripture. Then we who are still alive, and there will be those who are left alive, will be change, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. We will not have to face that physical death> That in itself will be a joyous time. But we don’t know when that will be any more than we know when our own personal day of death will occur.

So what do we do while we wait? We get a hint of that in the last verses of our Gospel reading. Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12 ESV) We will go about the business of Jesus Christ. What is that business? Doing the very same thing that He did – the sharing of the message that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Yet we have an even stronger message to proclaim. We proclaim that Jesus has come, that He suffered for our sins, that He died upon the cross and then rose again on the third day. We find ourselves doing exactly what Stephen was doing on the day when he was stoned. We share the message of life and hope with those that we come in contact with. We are told that is the task that each and every one of us is to be on.

The most amazing thing that happens as we share that message is that there will be times when someone is saved. The Holy Spirit will use you and the words you say or the life that you live and will convert a person. He will take a person from being a lost and condemned sinner to being a saved saint who is on the way to heaven. It is absolutely amazing to see the change in a person. It is as though a new person is made out of the old one. And you know something, that is exactly what Scripture tells us must happen. The old man must be put to death and a new man must come forth. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. That is the work that He does as we go about doing that which the Lord has given us to do – the sharing of the Gospel in every situation that we find ourselves.

And then there is one last thing I would like to share with you. It is found in the last couple verses of our Gospel reading. Jesus says, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14 ESV) On the first glance, the heart leaps with joy. Whatever I want? Jesus will do it? He will give me anything that lies upon my heart? And the mind goes wild. Think about it! Thousands, millions of dollars! Health for those that we really love. Life for those who have died. We can get anything we want, as long as we pray in Jesus’ name.

But wait a minute, is that what Jesus is really saying? All I have to do is utter His name at the end of a prayer and He will have to do it? No that is not what is meant by that passage. To pray in Jesus’ name is more than to utter His name at the end of a prayer. To pray in His name is to have your heart, your life and your mind set firmly on what He desires. It calls for a change of heart and life within us. It calls for setting aside the personal, sinful desires and saying, “Jesus, whatever You want, I want. If it is Your will, if it is what You truly desire, then that is what I desire. My heart, my life, my desires are firmly set according to Your will.” That is what it means to ask in Jesus’ name. It is not about doing what your sinful heart wants but it is about doing what your forgiven and changed heart wants – which is following the will and the desires of the Lord.

There are many other things that could be said at this point but let these stand as they are. The last thing we hold onto from this gospel reading is the words of Jesus that tells us, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father expect through me.” (John 14:6 ESV) Salvation is found in one place – the place that Stephen was proclaiming, the place that the other disciples proclaimed, the place that we hold onto – that one place is found in Jesus Christ alone. Only through Him can salvation be given. In all that you do, all that you desire, let that be what guides and leads you.

Amen.