1 Peter 2:2-10
John 14:1-14
Acts 7:55-60

Title: And Saul Approved
Pastoral Issue: Columbine Mass Killing in US highschool

You think that being in the season of Easter we'd have moved beyond stories of killing ... stories of martyrdom. Isn't that what Lent was about? Wasn't Lent where we left Jesus dying on the cross and Easter where we saw him risen ... Christ is risen ... he is risen indeed. Isn't the horror of violence past?

Perhaps this why this morning we are surprised by the brutality of Stephen's death. Stephen the servant ... one of the seven who looked after of the widows. Stephen, the one with the gifts of care and the desire to feed the needy in the community. Stephen is stoned to death.

It seems so out of place to see this violence at this point in the Bible ... just as it seems so out of place to see violence in a predominantly white middle class highschool in Littleton ... and in a bread and butter rural town like Taber, Alberta ... shocking violence.

And how are we to respond as an Easter people to what has happened. What do we say to our children ... and especially our youth when they say ... "Could that happen in my school?"

Certainly many of us are trying to make sense of this tragic violence. And as expected many are entering into the old blame game ... its almost predictable ... on the left there are calls for gun control ... they seem to forget about the pipe bombs and propane tanks ... then on the right there is calls for more discipline and stronger laws ... they forget that not all these young men had criminal records ... and then others blame video games ... or the movies ... or the family ... perhaps there is merit to some of this blame ... perhaps not ... yet, when we see kids like our kids gunning down their classmates ... it makes one wonder about the human condition when we see all these murders ...

And certainly the early church must have wondered about Stephen being murdered ... For After seeing seeing the risen Christ, they were ecstatic ... death was not the end of Jesus ... A sense of boldness permeated the community ... they prayed for boldness and they received it ... and in that boldness Stephen served and preached ... and Stephen's sermon is indeed bold ... the one which enraged the people, is nothing short of blunt ... in one translation it is put this way

"And you continue, so bullheaded! Calluses on your hearts, flaps on your ears! Deliberately ignoring the Holy Spirit ..."

Stephens blunt preaching is certainly enough to make people upset ... certainly there would be no "nice sermon preacher" at the door for Stephen ... but Stephen knew that ... Peter had said the same thing the week before and took a beating for it ... but in this case no simple beating would be enough ... no cutting back on givings or not showing up to church for a few weeks would suffice ... these folks took him out back and murdered him ...

But why did they kill Stephen and not Peter? Why did Stephen's challenge of their faithfulness cause them to rise up in rage? Was it his message that that Jesus is the Messiah, the Lord, that caused their hate to burst into murderous action? Yet, Peter said the same things ... so what was it? The only thing many can point to is that Stephen was a foreigner ... a Greek ... someone from away ... someone who was different ...

And we know that being different is often enough ... it was enough in the case of Rena Burke ... murdered by young people because she was Indo-Canadian ... and it was enough for Isaiah Shoel. He was murdered because he was black. And we can think of other cases why people are murdered or abused for being different ... for being a minority ... for being a woman ... for being old and living alone ...

Certainly we as human beings have a great capacity for seeing others as less than human, especially if they are different from us ... some fellow Columbine Highschool students said that the young men became killers because they were constantly harassed by their classmates for being different. Certainly not cause for murder, but if you've been harassed at work, home or school, perhaps you understand feelings of rage ... and violent rage is the right word for the path that was chosen at Columbine, in Taber, ... the path of violent rage ...

And the choosing of paths is important in the face of abuse and harassment. For how we deal with evil ... the choices we make in the face of violence will shape who we are and how we act towards others. And most of us have experienced rage ... either at the abuse that we have experienced ourselves ... or by the abuse we see other's experience ... certainly many are outraged at what we are told is happening in Kosovo ... if ethnic cleansing is happening ... it is an outrage ... a great human evil ...

Ourselves? Could we be in danger from evil and hate? Aren't we basically good people? Certainly when we read the story of Stephen we empathize with him ... good Stephen ... it is easy to identify with him ... up to a point ... we seeStephen who feeds the widows ... we see Stephen who boldly proclaims the Good News ... and we feel shock in seeing Stephen condemned ... we feel an outrage in seeing him drug out of church ... and murdered for his message ... we feel a sense of outrage at seeing him abused ... but then he does something that makes it difficult to identify with him ... he forgives them ... he says, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Now that is where the rubber hits the road ...

Lord, do not hold this sin against them ??? ...

Lord do not hold this sin of the Serbian government against them?

Lord do not hold this sins against that boy in Taber ...

That's the hard part for us, isn't it ... not holding this sin against them ... but then don't we pray ... Forgive us from our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us?

And was it not Jesus who said to those who killed him ... "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."

That is the way of Jesus ... that is the way of life ... that is who we are called to be ... we are called to be a people who's approach is one of bold forgiveness ... to be a people who challenge evil ... but also a people who are willing to ask God to not give up on those who fall prey to ways of evil ... Isn't that what we want for our children ... that they will come to know the way of Jesus ... rather than fall into evil and hate themselves ... and haven't many of us here experienced the grace of God ... we who know that God did not give up on us ... that God did not hold our sins against us? Isn't that the way of Jesus that we have been called to live?

Yet, in living in the way of Jesus is not easy ... a choice needs to be made ... often we don't like to make choices. We like to keep all our options open ... to keep an open mind to all the options ... But with the Christian way, a choice is required. For Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also.

This is not multiple choice offer here ... this is THE way. No one comes to God except through Jesus.

Now lets not get into the debate about whether non-Christians are saved are not ... certainly too many have gone to the flames of Christian led persecutions in our deciding who is in or who is out ... let's focus on what this means for us Christians ... the choice we Christians need to make and remake ...

Isn't that the question we are faced with? Is Jesus the way? And if we say "Yes" then are we willing to ask how we can better follow him? Isn't that the question that rules our lives and provides us with meaning, hope and purpose?

And Isn't that the source of Stephen's willingness to serve ... not only the widows in his community ... but his service to others who have not yet heard the Good News of Jesus Christ ... For that is what Stephen is doing.

As hard as it is for them to hear it, he is telling them about Jesus ... He is boldly proclaiming that in see the love of Jesus you see God ... and Stephen knows the truth that must be shared ... and in response to the love of Jesus he will give his life ... Stephen has entered so deeply in the way of life, that he has handed his entire spirit over to God through Jesus ... he gives his life because there are those who do not yet know the truth ... people like Saul ...

Look to this other person in our story this morning ... look at the one on the sidelines ... Saul ... I haven't mentioned him yet have I ... the sermon's titled after him isn't it. Some might wonder who this young man named Saul with rock in hand ...we know the story ... this Saul would one day, on his travels to root out Christians and have them imprisoned or killed, would encounter the risen Christ, would exchange his rocks for a pen ... and write profound words about the way and love of God ... he would exchange his mission of death for a mission of life and ultimately Paul too would give his life so that others would know the truth and love of Jesus ...

And so it is with us, in the face of the ways of war, rage and hate. Will we choose the way of Jesus? Will we help our children choose the way of Jesus? Or will they fall prey to another way ... for certainly there are many ways that are competing for our children's souls ... you just need to turn on the TV to see them. Drugs, violence, sports, fame, power, wealth ... success ... many doors of death will be opened to our children, unless we show them the way to God's household ...

For we've all been invited into the household of a loving God ...

Yet, even with this invitation, there is evil and death that threaten our loyalties and our children ... we do know the Good News ... we do have a guidebook and source of wisdom that will help us see God's way ... that is the Bible ... and we do have the Holy Spirit and blessings of God to guide us if we ask ... and we do have a world wide community of others who share their insight and experience with us ... we need only pick up a book or listen to a tape or pick up the phone ... we need only share with others in the care of the needy ... God gives us lots of help in learning the way, we need only follow ...

For God is with us in our struggles to live a fully human and holy life as we follow Jesus ... Christ says to us do not let your hearts be troubled ... Jesus walks with us on the way and his Spirit gives us peace and courage to live bold and blessed lives ... Thanks be to God.