Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Who Are You Willing to Pray For?

A lot of times in our lives, especially as Christians, we find ourselves encountering people who may be in times of trouble, and some who will actively ask “If you could please pray for me?”  Usually we count these folks among our friends, close acquaintences, or co-workers.  But would you pray for a stranger?  Would you pray for someone who hurt you?  Could you pray for an inmate?

Today’s (May 2, 2017) scripture reading is Acts 7:51-8:1

Stephen said to the people, the elders and the scribes: ‘You stubborn people, with your pagan hearts and pagan ears. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Can you name a single prophet your ancestors never persecuted? In the past they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, and now you have become his betrayers, his murderers. You who had the Law brought to you by angels are the very ones who have not kept it.’

  They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.

  But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. ‘I can see heaven thrown open’ he said ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and said aloud, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’; and with these words he fell asleep. Saul entirely approved of the killing.”

Now, previously I’ve talked about Jesus’ famous prayer “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  This is one of his final words before dying on the cross for our sins, and this act calls for us as God’s children to unilateral forgiveness. But this is Jesus Christ, the Son of God we are talking about.  Forgiveness is what He does; it’s easy for him…right?

What about Stephen?  We see here Stephen standing up to the people of the day, despite the fact that they CLEARLY didn’t want to hear it, and was stoned to death for his witnessing the Glory of God.  That is to say he was brutally murdered, bludgeoned to death with rocks.  Not “a rock”…rocks, this took a while.  You can imagine the pain he was experiencing, even as he called for the Lord to not hold their sin against them.

Where I work right now, we have over a thousand inmates, all of whom have been accused, some found guilty and convicted of some pretty hard crimes.  We are talking murder, robbery, abuse, sexual assault of children and so forth.  Could you pray for them?  Could you stand there and ask God not to hold their sins against them?  Could you look at the man convicted of sexually assaulting a child and say “I forgive you.” And stand as his advocate before the throne of God?

It’s hard.  We have anger for that kind of thing; we have an intolerance of these heinous crimes.  Imagine the worst crime committed by someone against you, whether it is an actual criminal offense or rather a social infraction; now imagine forgiving them.  But that’s what God calls us to do.  Stephen’s example is proof that we as mere mortals can do this.  We can forgive, we should forgive, and further we SHOULD pray for those who have sinned against us.

Your prayer doesn’t have to be complicated; it can be just as simple as Stephen’s.  If you want to get into more detail, you can, that’s well within your right.

Now that doesn’t mean you are wiping the slate clean before the throne.  We can forgive, but a priest, absolves sins. 

“Absolve: to set (someone) free from an obligation or the consequences of guilt”

“Forgive: to cease to feel resentment against (an offender)”

Merriam Webster Dictionary

Our forgiveness, while not wiping the slate clean before the throne of God, does go a long way to make a case for someone with Christ.  Further, it releases our own hearts from the burden of resentment.  You know what it’s like to carry a grudge against someone, how that weighs on you.  What if Stephen, or Christ, had decided to hold grudges rather than crosses? 

So please know this, if you carry something on your heart, at least know that I forgive you.  I can’t set it right, but I can stand there and say “Lord, Heavenly Father, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, please do not hold this person’s sin against them.”