Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the epistle lesson which was just read.
Today is St. Stephen, the first martyr day. On this day we remember the first martyr of the Christian faith, as it was recounted in our Epistle lesson. As we remember St. Stephen, we must look t the promises that God makes us. We must ask if the promises God makes are trustworthy or true. Here on this earth we face all sorts of promises, and many of them are just lies. Many of them never come true. Many are not worthwhile. Promises, promises, promises, and many of them mean nothing.
So let me ask you, what promises have been made to you, and what promises have you made to others? What things are promised to you in your life, in what can you count upon above all else? It always seems that we are trusting in some promise or another. With all of these promises being made, who do we trust, and whose promises are truthful and factual?
You see, the World is always making promises to us. Everywhere we turn, there is a promise of some kind.
Perhaps you have heard this promise: Everyone can achieve success and happiness if they want to. This is the promise that the world promises us on T.V. everyday. We see pictures of beautiful people who are successful and rich on every channel. American Idol teaches us that even someone unknown can become a number one hit. The world promises us that if we become successful we will be happy, and we believe this promise. We believe that if we have a lot of money, or at least a little bit more then everyone else, we will be happy as kid in a candy stand, and we believe this because we are greedy and covetous people. We see being rich as the ultimate good, and it has even been said, “even if money isn’t everything, it sure helps,” right?
This is a false promise though. Having money and success is not the ultimate good. In fact, Scripture teaches, Matthew 6 says “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” But we try don’t we, because we believe “the more money the merrier.”
And what about peace? There is always this sense that if we all band together and work hard, we can achieve peace in the world. I am sure we all know the famous saying, “Can’t we all just get along?” The world tells us the answer is yes, we just have to work hard enough at it.
You see, whether we consciously think about it, we have the general idea that we have certain rights, and promises made to us in the world. The promises that we believe every person deserves, and that we want for ourselves.
In all of these things that the world promises us, we have the same promise being made, we can accomplish what ever we wish, just so long as we work hard at it. We are promised the same thing that the little engine that could says. “I think I can I think I can.” If we think we can, and we work hard enough at it, we can achieve anything we want to.
But is this who God created us to be? Are we little more than people who are to do whatever it takes to get ahead of other people. How does the worlds promises measure up to Jesus saying in Matthew 5, Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth. Is this what Christ meant when he said Blessed are the Merciful? Or the Last will be first and the first will be last. Are we supposed to put our selves ahead? The answer is not what we want it to be. The answer is no. You see, the world’s promises are empty. The world’s promises are lies.
Some of the “churches of the world” make these same promises to us also.
We hear of Joel Osteen and Rick Warren, who in the eyes of the world are big leaders in the Christian church in America. These are the people that many people turn to for help. I am sure that you have seen their books on the store shelves. In Fort Wayne, you can see Joel Osteen’s smiling face on hundreds of books in the aisles. And what exactly does Mr. Osteen purport the Gospel to be? That Jesus wants you to be rich on Earth, and all you have to do is to go out and do it. If you believe hard enough, and work hard enough, Jesus will make you rich. Sounds really nice doesn’t it. Don’t we want to be rich, and successful. I mean if Jesus wants me to be, I am not going to argue with him am I?
But is this what Christ wants for us? Is this what the people of God are? Are they only a people who God especially chose to be wealthy in earthly goods? Is that the limit of God’s promise? If We are supposed to be rich, then why does Christ say “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for they will inherit the Kingdom of God? You see, these too are lies of the world, which even infiltrate some who claim to be the church.
Perhaps too, we can throw in the churches that say “All you have to do is choose Jesus, and he will make it ok.” I’m sure we all know some one who says, “Just say the believer’s prayer, and tell Jesus to come into your heart.” But if we believe this then aren’t we trusting in ourselves? Furthermore, aren’t we once again trusting that our help is in the promises of the World.
You see, despite all the promises made, the world and all who are in it are liars. Every person who has existed from Adam and Eve onward has been a liar. You are, I am, we all are low life liars, believing in our own illusions of grandeur rather then the promises of God. The book of Revelation tells us that that we liars are bound, that is we who trust in ourselves and our own works, straight for Hell. (Rev 21:8) And every human being is a liar, and a believer in the lies of others. All that is, except for one.
You see, There is one, who was born with out sin. One who was not making promises that he would not keep. One who was born of the Virgin Mary, as he promised through Isaiah, and who redeemed his people from all their sins, and this one is Jesus Christ. He is the one who ignored the promises of the world, and instead fulfilled the promises of God. He did so by obeying every command of God fully, something no other man could do. And having done so, he turned down earthly glory, instead trusting in God was glorified by God, being beaten, and nailed to a cross. You see, that is true glory, that is the true promise, that though your sins be a scarlet, he will wash them whiter than snow with his own blood. This is the promise of God, which destroys the promises of the world. And this promise is conveyed upon us in the baptismal font, where Christ’s blood covers us. This promise is present at the Altar, where God feeds us with Christ’s living body and blood. And in these promises, comes resurrection, where we will raised from the dead, just as after dying, Christ was raised on the third day. That is God’s promise to us, Life Eternal.
This does not mean that everything will be all wonderful and easy. We see today in our Epistle lesson what this promise entails. Not by his own will, but through the Holy Spirit, St. Stephen believed that Christ had died for his sins, and that in his baptism he had been washed and made a part of the Heavenly kingdom. But as a result, St. Stephen did not become a millionaire, or a carefree member of society. In fact, it is quite the opposite, Stephen was persecuted and put to death for the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ, while on Earth spoke of the same promise. In Matt 24:9 Jesus says that we are going to be persecuted and handed over to the authorities who will put us to death. This is one of the promises of the world. This is scary, but remember that Jesus also said, Blessed are the Persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You see, that is our promise, Persecution because in Christ we are made righteous, and because in Christ we receive the Kingdom of heaven. These promises are more glorious than any false promise that the world could give to us, these promises are from God.
And though we have those scary times of persecution promised to us and looming dark before our eyes, God has promised that he will be with us through them all.
Matthew says “when they arrest you (implied that they will), do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” You see Christ will be there with us to face all trials and temptations with us, to be our resurrection and our life. To bear us upon himself through the valley of the shadow of death, and into the eternal kingdom.
You see, in Baptism, we already have faced all trials, including death. We have already been killed with Christ upon the cross, our sins have been atoned for, and our punishment suffered. In baptism this has happened, and more so, we have been raised from this death, and brought into the glorious resurrection of our Lord, and now partake in the glories he has learned.
And if you still doubt this promise, know this, that at this altar here, you have received the fruits of this promise. At this altar you have received the living body and blood of our Lord, who was killed on the cross, but rose from the tomb. You receive the body and blood of our God, Jesus, who now lives and reigns in heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father. Though we do not understand how this can be, that bread and wine are body and blood, we know that it is Christ’s promise to us, and so we believe it, because his promises are trustworthy and true.
And now there is one last promise that God gives us, and it is one which Stephen himself is now experiencing. Heaven. Verse 55 and following show us this promise being fulfilled in Stephen’s life. “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
This is our promise, That Christ will receive our Spirits, and reveal himself to us, sitting at the right hand of God. You see, Jesus promises never to abandon us, and just as he fulfilled it with Stephen, he will fulfill it with us. He has promised, and has sealed that promise in his own blood.
So now when you hear promises being made about this or that this Election Stephen, know that God makes true promises, in Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, and that just as he kept them for Stephen, he too, will keep them for you. Amen
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, keep you in the one true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.
