Acts 7:55-60 (NRSV)
Read Acts 7:55-60 on biblegateway.com
Verse 55But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Verse 56"Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" Verse 57But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Verse 58Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. Verse 59While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Verse 60Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.
Devotion
Stones. The first several lessons for this week feature stones. The stones in today’s lesson are used for killing Stephen. Death by stoning. Not sudden death, but death—stone by stone. He had enraged the authorities by his sermon! He had rehearsed the history of God’s chosen people whom he called “our ancestors.” He accused his listeners of “opposing the Holy Spirit” and of betraying the “Righteous One” who had been foretold. While they were raging at him, he was “filled with the Holy Spirit” and said “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” That’s when “they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him,” and as he was dying—stone by stone—he prayed! “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Among the approving spectators was Saul, who later became the great Saint Paul.
Prayer
O God, your very Breath is the Lord and Giver of my life. Thank you for your Word in Christ by whom I trust your forgiveness. Increase in me the power of your Spirit so that, like Stephen, I can forgive those whose words are stones that kill the human spirit. Amen.