God’s co:mission recognizes that there will always be opposition to the mission.

This week, we are looking at a story that is recorded for us in the book of Acts that reveals a pivot point in the lives of these early followers of Jesus as they engaged in the co:mission that they had been given. Yesterday, we saw a man named Stephen respond to the charge that he was advocating the destruction of the temple and the Jewish religious system by explaining that he had not demeaned and disrespected God and God’s word. Instead, it was the Jewish people who had demeaned and disrespected God throughout their history. Today, we will see Stephen change the subject to address the charge that he was advocating the rejection and destruction of the temple and the Jewish religious system in verse 44:

"Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. "And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. "David found favor in God's sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. "But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. "However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says: 'HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, AND EARTH IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF MY FEET; WHAT KIND OF HOUSE WILL YOU BUILD FOR ME?' says the Lord, 'OR WHAT PLACE IS THERE FOR MY REPOSE? 'WAS IT NOT MY HAND WHICH MADE ALL THESE THINGS?'

Stephen reminds the council that the Jewish people had the Law and a place for God’s presence to be present with them throughout their history. The Law and the tabernacle, which was the place where God’s presence was present among the people, and where the Jewish sacrificial system of worship occurred, was with the Jewish people after their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. The Law and the Tabernacle accompanied Joshua and the Jewish people into the Promised Land until the time of King David. King David planned and King Solomon built the Temple.

Stephen then quotes from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Bible called the book of Isaiah to remind the council that the Law and the Temple was not what made the Jewish people right with God. Instead it was the Law and the Temple that revealed what was wrong with the Jewish people. You see, the Jewish people were so focused on the Temple and a set of rituals that they forgot that God cannot and was not confined to the temple. The Jewish people were so focused on what happened in the Temple that they missed that a relationship with God is not based on what was done in the Temple. Stephen then hammers this point as he concludes his sermon in verses 51-53:

"You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. "Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it."

Here we see Stephen expose the problem for the council to see- “you are doing just as your father did”. Throughout the history of the Jewish people, God repeatedly sent rescuers to rescue and deliver the Jewish people from selfishness and rebellion. God sent Joseph; God sent Moses; God sent prophets like Amos and Isaiah. Finally, God sent His Son Jesus into humanity in order to reveal Himself and provide an opportunity for all of humanity to be rescued from selfishness and rebellion.

And throughout their history, the Jewish people had responded to the rescuers that God had sent by resisting, rejecting, and opposing them. And this very council who had arrested, tried, convicted and killed Jesus were following in their footsteps. And the rejection and opposition only revealed the reality that they were stubborn, hard hearted and not living in a right relationship with God. We see how the council responded to Stephen’s sermon and defense as the story concludes:

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" Having said this, he fell asleep.

The council responded in a violent rage that resulted in the execution of Stephen. Luke explains that Stephen, who had been influenced and controlled by the Holy Spirit throughout his trial, was equipped and empowered to respond to the anger and rage that he experienced by reflecting and revealing Christ up to the very point of his death. And it is here that we are introduced to a young religious zealot who was devoted to protecting the Jewish religious system at any cost; a man named Saul.

Next week, we will hear more about him. We will hear more about him because this story marked a turning point for these early followers of Jesus. This story marked a turning point for this new community of believers called the church. And it is in this story that Luke reveals for us a timeless and sobering truth when it comes to the co:mission we have been given. And that timeless truth is this: God’s co:mission recognizes that there will always be opposition to the mission.

Throughout human history, there has always been opposition to God and to His kingdom. If you do not think that is the case, just consider this. After Genesis 3, the Bible is the story of His response to the opposition and rebellion that He faced from those who He created to live in relationship with Him and one another. The Bible is the story of God’s mission of rescue towards selfish and rebellious humanity.

Throughout the pages of the Bible, we see opposition to that mission. And, until Jesus returns, the harsh reality is that there always will be opposition to that mission. You see, the question is not “are we going to experience opposition?” The question is “how are we going to respond to the opposition we experience?”

So, how are we going to respond to the opposition we experience?