A Shining Lamp - Stephen

The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

Acts 7:54-55

During the Nazi occupation of Denmark, King Christian X was horrified to see a Nazi flag flying over a Danish public building. He immediately called the German commandant and demanded that the flag be taken down at once. The commandant refused.

“Then a soldier will go and take it down!” promised the king.

“He will be shot,” the commandant threatened.

“I think not,” the king replied, “for I shall be the soldier.”

Within minutes the Nazis took the flag down.

Nothing prompts change like a man’s courage in the face of potential personal loss. Stephen had that kind of courage.

Stephen was an outspoken believer at a time when being a Christian could cost a man everything, including his life. That’s exactly what happened to Stephen, whom Jewish religious leaders stoned to death for his “blasphemy.”

Though the religious leaders in Jerusalem hoped that persecuting Christians would put a stop to this new religious movement, exactly the opposite happened. Because Stephen willingly died for what he believed in, he contributed greatly to the spread of the gospel message. Stephen’s violent death touched off a firestorm of brutal persecution against the first-generation believers, many of whom fled Jerusalem for the surrounding areas, taking the Good News with them.

But there was more.

At the scene of Stephen’s murder stood a young Pharisee named Saul—the same Saul that God miraculously converted, renamed Paul, and sent to preach to the non-Jewish world. Stephen’s courage and faith in the face of death apparently made a lasting impression on Paul, whose bold preaching would change the world forever (see Acts 22:19-20).

Someone once said, “I would not give much for your religion unless it can be seen. Lamps do not talk, but they do shine.” Is your lamp shining today?