The Harsh Truth

THE HARSH TRUTH

a prayer to open

Holy Spirit, come. Center my heart.

Fill my mind. Guide my steps.

“Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the LORD called out to him, ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.

“Then the LORD said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’

“So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected. . . . Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.

“Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.’ Moses was with our ancestors . . . when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.

“But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt. They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made. Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,

‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings

during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?

No, you carried your pagan gods . . .

and the images you made to worship them.

So I will send you into exile

as far away as Babylon.’

“Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses. Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.

“David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who actually built it. However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,

‘Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool.

Could you build me a temple as good as that?’

asks the LORD.

‘Could you build me such a resting place?

Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’

“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”

Imagine if someone were to lay before you all the ways you have rebelled against God—which is what Stephen did for the Jewish leaders. How would it feel to come face to face with all the times you idolized relationships, tangible things, or your own feelings; all the times you turned your back on God because something “better” came along that fulfilled an immediate need; or all the ways that, through selfish or reckless decisions, you undermined who he made you to be? This kind of truth is hard to hear and yet so necessary to hear in order to experience God’s transformation and fulfill our callings.

• Read this passage again. What word or phrase stands out to you? Sit quietly, reminding yourself that you are in God’s loving presence, and ask him to show you how that word or phrase connects to your life.
• Reflect on a time when someone pointed out a destructive or sinful behavior in you. How was the message delivered? How did you respond? Were you able to receive that truth in the moment? If not, why not? What would have made you more able to receive the truth about yourself?
• Is there anyone in your life right now who could benefit from hearing the truth about a destructive pattern, sinful behavior, or ungodly character lapse? What is your role to play? If you sense God’s gentle nudge to “be Stephen” for this person, how might you balance truth and grace in that conversation so their eyes might be opened?

Father, thank you that in a world in which everything seems relative, there is truth—an actual path that is good and right. When I look back and see the trail of rebellion in my life—and all the consequences that have resulted—I also can see how you have continued to pursue me, forgive me, and guide me back to you. Thank you for truth tellers in my life. Give me the humility to hear from them even if their words or attitudes are harsh. May the truth I share always be accompanied by grace. Amen.