All Saints Day - We Live & Die By The Story
Sean Davidson
October 29, 2023

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
(Ephesians 4:11-12)

Know the Story

“And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.”
(Acts 6:8-10)

Stephen, one of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to the poor, is outkicking his coverage.

The twelve asked him to serve tables so that they could preach the Word of God, and here he is, working miracles and going toe to toe with Jews from the major synagogues of Jerusalem.

Like Stephen, we should always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us.

If Christianity is the story that governs our lives, we need to know the story.

“Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 1and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.””
(Acts 6:11-14)

Seizing Stephen, they drag him before the Sanhedrin, the same high council that condemned Jesus. On the fly, he delivers a full account of God’s covenant faithfulness and Israel’s disobedience.

Recounting God’s covenant faithfulness and Israel’s disobedience, Stephen concludes that his opponents are reliving the sins of their fathers.

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
(Acts 7:51-53)

Stephen’s opponents have heard the story. They have told the story, but they don’t know the story. They don’t understand it.

“The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
(1 Corinthians 1:18)

Stephen knew the story. Christian history is full of men and women like him. Men and women who knew the story. Saints who defended the Faith in the face of persecution, in the face of people who got the details twisted.

These men and women have preserved our heritage, continued Christ’s legacy, and kept the story going.

Live by the Story

Have you ever wondered how an obscure, marginal sect of Judaism became the dominant religious force in the Western world in a few centuries?

For two millennia, the lives of ordinary men and women have been transformed by the Story of Jesus and the Spirit of the living God.

Saints are made for a purpose.

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Stephen’s life looked different. The Spirit’s work didn’t just manifest in Stephen’s actions but even in his physical appearance.
“And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”
(Acts 6:15)

The men questioning Stephen have no excuse. They literally physically see the Spirit’s embodied presence in His life.

Why does Luke include this detail in the Story? Because Stephen isn’t the first person to be left glowing after an encounter with the living God.

“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.”
(Exodus 34:29-30)

Now, the Law of Moses has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ, and something new has happened, but the Jewish leaders don’t get it. They can see Stephen’s face shining, but they can’t recognize the reality of the Spirit.

“I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.”
(Matthew 12:6)

“By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, God condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
(Romans 8:3-4)

“And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
(2 Corinthians 3:17b-18)

The lives of the Saints should look different. That is to say that our lives should look different in comparison to the world around us.

This obscure, marginal sect of Judaism became the dominant religious force in the Western world in a few centuries because they lived like Jesus.

If you want to see this world transformed, you have to live by the story. And you don’t have to move across the world to do this. You can embody the way of Jesus where you live, work, and play.

But don’t just live by the Story. Die by the Story.

Die by the Story

“Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.””
(Acts 7:55-56)

At this point, the Sanhedrin had had enough. They can’t believe this heretic. When they killed Jesus, this same council went through an elaborate dance with Herod and Pilate to get Christ executed.

They’re done with the red tape and protocol now. After hearing Stephen, they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then, they cast him out of the city and stoned him.

Like so many of the Saints who have gone before us, Stephen died with a vision of His eternal Hope.

The truth is death is real. You ignore it. You can run from it. But in the end, death comes for us all.

Death is not a joke. It is your enemy. But take heart because our God has beaten death. Rising from the Grave, Christ made a true mockery of death. Trampling death by death.

We can die by the Story because death is not the end of our part in the Story. Christ offers us Resurrection life.

When we die by the Story, we die with eternal Hope.

““Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”
(Acts 7:59b-60)

Echoing Christ’s final words, Stephen died by the Story.

Surrendering His Spirit to Jesus, Stephen died with a cry of forgiveness on his lips.

Saints die with forgiveness. Don’t go to your grave holding grudges. Christ’s forgiveness has made it possible for us to have New Life. Embrace that reality and extend it to others.

Saint Stephen and all of the Saints that have come before us teach us that to follow Christ, we must know the Story, live by the Story, and die by the Story.

Knowing the story matters. If you want to preserve our heritage in the face of distraction and unprecedented cultural change, memorize what matters.