The Book of Acts: Turn Your World Upside DownSample

Today’s Devotional:

At first glance, it seems crazy that Stephen would be put to death over telling these Jewish leaders about the history of their people. He starts at Abraham and summarizes the highlights up to the temple of Solomon. I mean, let’s be honest, it’s pretty basic and a little boring! We teach the stories of Joseph and Moses to little kids. So where is the controversy?! Why does Stephen need to tell these iconic Old Testament stories in defense of his proclamation of Jesus? The nuance is in how Stephen tells these stories. Stephen roots his defense of Jesus in their shared religious history but accuses them of continuing in the Israelites’ pattern of disobedience, missing how God works, and persecuting the prophets.

Stephen roots his history lesson in Abraham but quickly focuses on the stories of Joseph and Moses. In doing so, he presents both of these massive heroes of the faith as rejected by the people they were leading. God was constantly intervening in their stories, but the people of God did not understand it and turned on the leaders. As you read chapter 7, look for all the aspects of conflict in the stories of Moses and Joseph. Stephen infers this is the same conflict that Jesus regularly encountered by the religious leaders.

Another critical theme in Stephen’s story is place. Read chapter 7 a second time and take note of all the places. Cities, regions, nations, and mountains (even a bush) are highlighted as places where God intervenes. The temple in Jerusalem acted as a crown jewel in this ancient, storied religion. Still, Stephen masterfully reminds his listeners that God has moved throughout history in various ways and many places. The God of Abraham is not confined to one system, region, or temple. God spoke and worked in all of these places. Stephen shows that religious leaders need to get outside of their box. They need to admit that Jesus is, in fact, the long-awaited “Righteous One” (that they murdered) and who is now at the right hand of the Father. They are stiff-necked, just like their ancestors who often missed the signs and got it wrong. When you read it like that, maybe Stephen’s speech was more controversial than we realize.

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Today’s devotional was written by Pastor Daniel Roach.

Questions to Consider:

• Are there places in your life you don’t expect God to speak into?
• How do you resist God?

Prayer:

Father, you are the God of all time and eternity. Help us to see beyond our modern-day expression of faith and the patterns we fall into. Speak to us when we don’t expect it, and we invite you into all the areas of our lives. Amen.