Easter 5 A May 14th 2017 Things of stones and rocks.

I find the readings for this week to be so sad.  Firstly the Gospel reading is one that is so often read at funerals… and the first reading is the stoning of St. Stephen.  SO much darkness, and yet these stories are there to encourage us.

Speaking about darkness; I want to talk about St. Stephen.

From Acts 7:55 - 58 “But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him.

 Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.”

Who were the people that stoned Stephen?  Who are the people who were so offended at a man filled with the Holy Spirit – a man with a vision of Heaven?

Stephen had just been speaking to the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the supreme court of Israel, made up of 70 men and the high priest. These were the respectable people and the religious people and they stoned a man of God, filled with the Holy Spirit.

I point this out as a warning to each of us who strive to be respectable people of God.  Have you ever stoned a person of God, filled with the Holy Spirit?

Do you have a position of authority or hold any power in a volunteer organization?  If you do, you are in danger of stoning people who God has ordained.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the power of encouragement and how it is so lacking in our organisations… maybe it is even an Australian weakness with our ‘Tall poppy’ syndrome and how we much prefer to hold each other down.  Encouragement is the opposite of stoning.

I saw a cartoon recently from www.lunarbaboon.com which showed a man and boy watching a superhero show and then the boy saying, “I wish I had super powers”.  Then the man obviously thought about this and pointed out a man wearing a very ugly hat.  He says to the boy, “watch this” and greets the man, “Hey! Your hat is awesome and you’re awesome for wearing it”   The man stutters a thank you and goes on his way with his whole demeanor changed to confident and happy.  The man then says to the boy, “We all have powers”.

In spite of everything, St. Stephen was not discouraged.  How is this possible?

St. Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit and he had a vision of Heaven.  These are two things we need to be able to persist through the hard times.

 There is a theme of Rocks and stones running through the readings and we read from the Psalm 31:1- 2 “In you, O LORD, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me.

Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.”

Jesus is described in the second reading as the cornerstone:

From 1 Peter 2:6-8 “For it stands in scripture: "See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."

To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner," and "A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”

If Jesus is the cornerstone, we are encouraged to join with him to be part of His building.  If we truly do join with him we, like him, become a refuge and a safe place for people’s hearts…. And we will encourage and not stone….  Encourage and not exclude.

In this we move from individual stones to whole buildings.  Then in the Gospel Jesus speaks about many dwelling places that there are in Heaven… John 14:1-6 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.  And you know the way to the place where I am going."

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?"

 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The way to a place of safety and refuge is Jesus, and the ONLY way to the father is through Jesus.  THIS is the stumbling stone to those of the Sanhedrin and this will certainly be a stumbling stone to many in our generation.

While there are many good people, much excellent wisdom and philosophy, and amazing good works done apart from religion and Christianity, there is ONLY one way to the Father (GOD) and that is through the person of Jesus.

The Jews thought they could reach the Father through the law and rituals.  Many modern people think that you can get to the Father through being a “good person”, but this is not what Jesus says.  Reading the whole Bible in context however, we notice how God seeks out those who are earnestly seeking him and He reveals himself to them.  It is then still up to them however, to accept that Jesus is the way….    This is what happened with St. Paul, and others in the New Testament.

John 14:11 “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; ..”

The unity of Jesus the son with the Father is declared here, but still not always understood…. But in the same way, “what you do to the least of these, you do to me”. 

How we treat each other is so central to the Bible and so crucial to the message.  It is a message of Good News, because it declares that LOVE is the way of God. 

There is sadness in the world. There is darkness, exclusion and injustice, but these are not the way of God’s world.  This world will pass away, but God is eternal and has given us an eternal hope to cling to – no- Make that an eternal ROCK to stand firm upon.