About 10 years ago, I started walking with a woman through the grief experience of the death of her husband.  She was, of course, deeply upset at the death of her husband.  They had no children.  She now lived in her own home on a very small pension.  When she said, “I have $10 left for the month,” she meant she had only $10 to her name.  Her parents and all her siblings were dead.  She had one niece who lived in Florida.  She had a couple of friends from her church but otherwise she felt very much alone and very isolated.  I would visit with her from time to time until her death a few years ago.  During our time together, she would often wonder aloud, “If I died, would anyone even know?  Would anyone even care?  Do I matter?”

          The last question is a universal question, “Do I matter?”  It is a question as to whether are of value and where does that value come from?  We are asking do we add value to the lives of others?  “Do I matter?” is a question that asks am I invisible or does anyone see me?

          The question of “Do I matter?” is part of the theme to our story today from the Book of Acts, the acts of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. The story focuses primarily on the person of Stephen, a man we know nothing about prior to the Book of Acts and we never hear about again after his death.  I think through Stephen’s life we might be able to answer the widow’s question, “Do I matter?”

          We are first introduced to Stephen in the sixth chapter of the Book of Acts.  A problem emerged in the early Christian church, perhaps the first problem the church faced.  The problem was very simply that the Hebrew speaking widows of the church were receiving food assistance from the church but the Greek speaking widows of the church were not receiving assistance.  The Greek widows were being neglected.  That open neglect was a problem because it was causing a division within the church. Jesus’ Apostles acted quickly to correct the problem by calling upon the church to select seven men to manage the food distribution.  The men selected were to be recognized as having the Holy Spirit and wisdom within them. These seven men would be the first Deacons of the Christian church.  We are told the seven men selected were Stephen, Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas.  These men all had Greek names suggesting Greek speaking men were being put in charge of ensure neither the Hebrew nor the Greek speaking widows were neglected.

          Stephen came to our notice because Stephen came to the notice of the early church members.  The criteria for being selected to manage food distribution was not “Choose the strongest people, or the cleverest people, or best organized people.”  The criteria were to select people who have the Holy Spirit and wisdom.  The first name on the list was Stephen.  This means that early Christians believed Stephen mattered.  Stephen mattered because the people saw that Stephen was allowing himself to be used by the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.  Following the selection of Stephen and the other men, the apostles formally appointed the men as Deacons and Luke wrote, “7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly” (Acts 6:7a).  Stephen, used of the Holy Spirit, helped manage food distribution which made the church stronger.  As the church healed its division and became stronger, more people were drawn to the church and its message of hope and salvation through Jesus Christ.

          Now, that might have been the end of the story of Stephen.  It certainly was the end of the story as we know it for five of the seven Deacons because we never hear again about Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas.  The history of these five men is that were empowered by the Holy Spirit and faithfully managed the distribution of food for the early church and in doing so contributed to the strength of the early Christian church.

          But for two of the original Deacons, Stephen and Philip, there is more to say.  We will talk a bit more about Philip next week but today, I would like us to continue to focus our exploration of Stephen.

          So, as we know from our prior studies of Scripture that a triumph for the Christian Church often brings about hostility from the world. We see this pattern of triumph and hostility all throughout the New Testament and if we look at the way the world responds to the church today, we see the same thing.  There is hostility toward the church whenever the church no matter whether it preserves or falters.  So as the early Christian Church grew, Luke reported, “9 Opposition [to the church] arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen” (Acts 6:9).  Jewish histories point to there being 480 synagogues in Jerusalem at the time of the Apostles.  One of these synagogues was formed by people called Freedmen.  Freemen were descendants of Jews who had been taken from Jerusalem as slaves to distant lands when the Romans conquered Jerusalem in 63 BC.  By AD 20, the Romans allowed the descendants of these captives to return to Jerusalem. Those descendants then established their own synagogue, the Synagogue of the Freedmen.  It is probable that the men of this synagogue were Greek speakers, not Hebrew.  The men of the synagogue were upset with the growing Christian Church, particularly with the work of a Greek-speaking Deacon, named Stephen, and sought to oppose the teachings of the early church.  These freedmen challenged Stephen, perhaps one of their own, and argued with Stephen against the teaching and his adherence to the teachings of Jesus as Savior, “10 But they [the men of the synagogue] could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him [Stephen] as he spoke” (Acts 6:10).

          So, we see again those two important aspects to the life of Stephen. First, he had the Holy Spirit present in his life and second the Spirit gave Stephen wisdom.  As we talked two weeks ago, Stephen had the Holy Spirit because Stephen had committed his life to God through Jesus.  Commitment precedes the receipt of the Holy Spirit. Receipt of the Holy Spirit precedes receipt of spiritual gifts.  Here, Stephen received the Holy Spirit and then the spiritual gift of wisdom.  Such Spiritually gifted wisdom is described as coming from heaven and is “17 first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). This gift was recognized by the early church and by those who opposed the early church, namely the members of the Synagogue of Freedmen.  That wisdom strengthened the church, first in the distribution of food to the widows and secondly in defense of the church.

          The synagogue members then had a problem, what do about Stephen and the early church?  The men then relied upon wisdom of humanity which Scripture says is motivated by bitter envy and selfish ambition.  “15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice” (James 3:15-16).  And so, the members of the synagogue arranged for some men to lie about things Stephen said concerning Moses and God.  With false testimony at the ready, the synagogue members physically dragged Stephen before the Sanhedrin, Israel’s best and brightest, to accuse Stephen of crimes against God.  This sort of human invention of false witnesses and false charges that bring people to face penalties under the law is found throughout Scripture and is evident in the way things are still done today.

          Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin.  Accused, alone, and abused.  But Luke added an observation about the proceedings with which we should spend a few moments of time.  Luke wrote, “15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his [Stephen’s] face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15).  It is a curious statement to make by saying that Stephen’s face was like that of an angel.  What was the significance of that statement then and how might we see it today?

          First, some may recall that when we studied angels in our Bible study we found that Biblically all angels are adult males or are represented as multi-winged, sometime multi-headed beasts that were scary and fierce in appearance.  Biblically, angels are not feminine, childlike, or extraordinarily gentle in appearance as most artwork and figurines of today would suggest.  I don’t think Luke meant for his readers to believe that Stephen looked like an angelic beast.  So that leaves us with the idea that Stephen looked like an angel who appeared as an adult male, which Stephen was.

Luke who wrote the book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke gave us insight into angels.  In Luke’s descriptions of the angels who encountered Zechariah in the Temple, Mary – Jesus’ mother, the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem, and with inference at the resurrection of Jesus we would see that Luke suggests angels, messengers from God, have the appearance of courage and confidence.  The arrival of an angel may be frightening but their way and appearance is to give calmness to the faithful.  The angels display the glory of God, a shining of the divine into the mortal world. The term face of an angel used by Luke suggests that Stephen’s appearance then was as though he had light about him that displayed courage, confidence, and calmness while accusations of fake crimes were presented by false witnesses whose faces no doubt expressed the darkness of theatrical outrage at everything Stephen said. Stephen was unmoved and unwavering. Stephen’s face showed no hint of human distress or concern because Stephen, being the messenger of God, was doing and saying exactly what was required.  Stephen knew his life was not his own.  His life had been given to God and therefore, was a life that mattered. Stephen’s life mattered because he knew God and was being used to strengthen God’s church. 

          I think Luke’s observation that Stephen’s face was like that of an angel was placed in the middle of Stephen’s story as a means of conveying to Luke’s audience who now includes you and me a high point we can expect of Christian commitment.  Stephen was a committed Christian, who had the presence of the Holy Spirit within him. Other Christians could see and sense the fullness of the Holy Spirit within Stephen’s life.

          With the presence of the Holy Spirit, Stephen was gifted with Godly wisdom, pure and unmotivated by prejudice.  That gift too could be seen not only by Christians but also by those opposed to Christ. Stephen used that gift of wisdom to heal divisions within the early Church and to bridge divisions with those who had honest questions of the Christian faith journey.  Because of the presence and gift of the Holy Spirit, Stephen had a calm demeanor that stayed that way even when it became clear that he faced severe persecution.  As the pressure upon Stephen increased by the false accusations, his face never showed it. In fact, as the pressure upon Stephen increased, his face appeared less human and more heavenly.

          What does this story then mean to us?  I think there are a few lessons.  First, if we want the life God intends for us, we must first commit our lives to Him.  It sounds like an obvious first step, but I have met too many people who want God to change their life without any commitment to Him first.  Second, once we have committed our life to God, then God’s Holy Spirit will take up residence within us.  We are at the point, fully human with a divine spirit within us to strengthen and guide our behaviors.  Third, with the Holy Spirit, comes spiritual gifts given primarily for us in strengthening the witness of the church of Jesus Christ in this world. All Christians are gifted to strengthen the church.  Fourth, the more we use our gifts, the more the presence of the Holy Spirit becomes within us.  Perhaps said another way, the more we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us, the more we too will have a face that looks like the face of an angel.  Fifth, when we are committed to Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, gifted by the Holy Spirit, and employing those gifts to strength the church, we can be supremely assured that we matter.  We can be assured that we matter a great deal to God. We can then be assured that our life spent outworking our faith will be noticed within the church and will be noticed by God who will upon our calling home will greet us with the words, “Well done thy good and faithful servant.”

          I think back on these lessons in reflection of the widow I mentioned at the beginning of this message with the question, “Do I matter?”  She had no children, few friends, almost no family, no wealth, no influence over politics or policies.  Yet, I can tell you she mattered.  Why am I so sure?  She was a committed Christian.  She had the Holy Spirit within her.  She had been gifted by the Holy Spirit and she was using her gift to strengthen the church.  How did she do that?  As I mentioned, she was a greeter at her church, a local contemporary church of some size.  She was often the first person members and visitors saw as they entered the building. She was there to hand people a bulletin but more than that she was there to welcome people to be part of Christ. She was particularly gifted in welcoming those who struggled with health issues, those with physical handicaps, and young children.  These people were happy and looked forward to seeing this woman on Sunday mornings because she helped them understand that they mattered.  These people loved coming to church because they felt loved the moment they entered the building.  To these people, this widow had a face like that of an angel.  She mattered.

          Don’t wonder if you matter?  Commit to Christ.  Receive the Holy Spirit.  Accept the gifts given.  Use your gifts to strengthen the church.  Do not undervalue anything you are gifted to do whether it is to help with the distribution of food, greeting those coming to church, writing cards and notes of encouragement, being a musician in the church, teaching others, keeping the church running, and the list goes on.  God values that you are using his gift as though you were using for him.  When we learn and apply these lessons, we are moving toward displaying ourselves with confidence, courage, and calmness because we know our life is not our own.  Our life is in God’s hands, and we matter to Him.  Amen and Amen.