​Legacy of Grace (II) - Pastor David Tsai

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. (Acts 7:55)
Stephen preaches a powerful sermon in Acts chapter seven, where he recalls the great record of God’s presence and promises in the life of Israel. He recalls the presence of God in and through the great ancestors of the faith: they hold stories of identity, the trauma of exile, belonging, and pain. God’s presence traveled through time through specific people in specific places. Stephen knows where he is situated in the great story of God and God’s faithfulness to God’s own people. God’s grace has abounded time and time again.
As we near the end of Stephen’s life, we see that God has been with him in his every beginning, middle and ending. With gritty grace, Stephen tells the truth about their hearts. To those that cannot stand God’s grace and Good News spreading, he calls them “stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart” (Acts 7:51) and recalls how their ancestors always resisted the Holy Spirit. The Spirit always grants this grace whenever we are missing the mark and miss another’s heart.
They drag Stephen a second time and they’re about to stone him. Stephen was the first (recorded) martyr in Acts. It’s a beautiful and brutal scene: brutal because this mob has the traces of an angry and aggressive lynching mob; but beautiful because in the midst of this chaos, Stephen gazes at heaven and the Trinity is present right there, in and around him. He beholds God the Father. The Son is standing at the right hand of the Father, witnessing Stephen’s suffering. The Spirit is within Stephen to help him see the glory of God. The gaze of grace is beholding Jesus’ face.
Don’t let the sensational and supernatural aspect of this story intimidate you about your own story. God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit know their place in the story of your life and are actively working in and through you. Your story is no less meaningful and it’s made up of one thousand moments where Christ comes after you in the chaos that is your life: be it the carpool line heading to work, rush hour traffic, a deadline to meet, a therapy session to attend, a wayward child or friend. Grace in the ordinary.
Author, speaker, retreat leader Paula D’Arcy wrote: “God comes to you disguised as your life.” This story was the end of Stephen’s life, but don’t miss this legacy of grace in everyday life. I want to share Tongua Williams’ benediction with you: “Where you are in your life is where God is and where God is, is where you are.” You have all the grace you need.