Help Me 211 Community Resources
Prayer Ministry
If you have a prayer request, please send it to pastordelawareheadwatersparish
SERMONS:
Pastor Peg posts her two most recent sermons on this page. If you are interested in reading more of her sermons you can go to pastorpeg.wordpress.com. Currently our sermon series is: Unknown Heroes and Heroines of the Bible. Enjoy.
Stephen the Believer
August 20 & 24, 2025 12 Sunday of Pentecost
Acts 6:1-15 Acts 7:54-60
The story of Stephen is one of the Texts of Terror of the Bible. These are stories about terrible things that happen to good people. You are NOT supposed to like them or be comfortable with them. But one of the strengths of the Bible is that it’s not a sugar-coated look at the history of the Israeli people or of human life. Many Bible’s stories show the good in people but many stories also show the dark heart of humanity.
I think it’s important for all of us to occasionally look at the difficult and horrifying stories because they help us to examine the evil that exists in the world. Plus, they give us a chance to examine ourselves, and our society, and how we react to the evil that surround us.
Stephen’s story starts out by telling us how the early church was trying to organize itself. There was a conflict between the Jews and the Gentiles as to the distribution of food and perhaps other items, like clothing, for those in need. To solve this problem, the leaders appoint seven men to be in charge of the distribution of goods. Stephan is one of them, in fact he heads the list as a man of faith who is filled with the Holy Spirit.
Now we can guess Stephan’s background because of elements in the story. The name Stephan is Greek, not Jewish. So, he probably was born to a Greek family who converted to the Jewish religion. This was not unusual, especially if your family was permanently based in Israel, but there was an issue about Greeks converting. Some of the stricter Jewish denominations believed that only if you were born Jewish, from a family of a tracible bloodline, could you be Jewish. Some denominations were more liberal and accepted converts into Judaism. The reason why scholars think that Stephan was Jewish is because when he’s accused of blasphemy he’s taken before the Jewish authorities. This could only have happened if he had been Jewish to begin with. Jewish authorities could not question or try non-Jews; under Roman Law they would get into huge trouble if they did.
The conversion of Jewish people, and Greeks, to the Christian church kept growing. Now there is a line in this story: Not least, a great many priests submitted themselves to the faith. That’s interesting because most people in authority aren’t going to bother about a new religion or cult until it starts to become socially powerful.
Here is a set of Fun Facts: Do you know that world-wide approximately 5,000 new religions are formed each year? And each year approximately 5,000 religions die out? Most of those new religions never get off the ground. Only about 1%, or 50, of new religions last longer than 1 year. And within five years only 1 of those new religions will have endured. And most of those one-religions-a-year, will have died out within one generation.
It takes a lot of cultural, social, and political acceptance for a religion to get going and last more than 25 years. A religion needs to be relevant to the people of its time, and then continue to be relevant for the generations that are to come. Christianity, for all of its follies and foibles of interpretation and practice, is relevant because it addresses how we can live our human condition with dignity, and create a better society that reflects an ideal of what the love of the universe can achieve.
But let’s get back to this priest conversion. The new church started moving into political territory. Jewish priest who dedicated themselves to leading Jewish communities in the faith are now saying: Hey, this Jesus Christ has a lot of theology going for him. He’s expressing what our religion can truly be, and how we can work with the rules to support each other in a better manner. And they’re probably taking this message to their congregation. There’s nothing wrong with this on the surface. I sometimes use writings from Buddhism that don’t conflict with Christianity. But if I start to question the theology or preach that some Christian practices aren’t good, that’s going to have my D.S. and Bishop questioning whether I should be in this pulpit.
So, they call Stephen out – but Stephan knows his stuff. He’s a knowledgeable, religious man guided by the Holy Spirit, and I’m sure that in his arguments he’s disputing the hypocrisy and unfair practices of Judaism and presenting the alternative Christian practices that the church is trying to implement.
So, the leaders fall back on accusing him of blasphemy. We heard him cursing Moses and God. Sound familiar? This is what the leaders did to Jesus: They accused him of blasphemy against the Temple and of sedition against Rome so that Pilate would have no choice but to crucify him according to Roman Law.
I’m sure that this was a very frightening event for Stephen. There was a certain point during that trial when he realized that no matter how much he protested, or tried to present his faith in a positive light, that no one was going to listen to him. They had made up their minds. They were afraid of the popularity of the new Christian religion; afraid that it was undermining their authorities; and afraid that their own power was being threatened. Plus, they were looking for a way to frighten the Christian church into behaving and retreating. Stephen realizes that he has no way out – and that he has become the sacrifice for his faith, as Jesus was the sacrifice for our sins.
During the mob frenzy he gives his soul to God and declares that he sees heaven wide open and the Son of Man standing at God’s side! Perhaps he did. Many people in times of stress have reported seeing angels and Jesus. He even prays for forgiveness for the people who are killing him. Stephen then dies, becoming the first Christian Martyr.
This story doesn’t stop with Stephen and has repeated itself throughout history. This is the story of the women, and men, during the witch trials of Europe and America, falsely accused and put to death. This is the story of African-Americans who were lynched during the era of Jim Crow. This is the story of the people who marched for equality in Selma, across that bridge into fire hoses and police dogs. This is the story of people who hold green cards and are legal citizens who are being detained because their names are Latino or Middle Eastern.
The hard question that this story asks us is where are we going to stand and what are we going to say when injustice is happening right in front of us? The story makes me question if I could die for a cause of faith or justice that I believe in.
One person who was there was Saul, a young Jewish scholar, from a good family. He didn’t say anything or throw any stones; he just held the cloaks of those who did. But he decided at that moment to become the greatest persecutor of the new church until – Glory to God – Jesus intervened and struck him down on the Road to Damascus, before he could continue his bloody suppression of Christians.
John F. Kennedy once said: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. If we do nothing about the inhumanity and injustice in our midst, then we are consenting to it happening. This is true in law: Silence gives consent is a legal concept that goes back to the middle-ages.
I’d like to think that I have the courage and the faith to defend the rights of justice, equality, and dignity that I believe are God given to us all. I’d like to think that if someone belittles justice or uses a racial, misogynistic, or homophobic slur in front of me that I will draw on my faith to speak up against it in a loving way. I have done it before, but I have never been in a life-threatening situation. Maybe when that happens, I will be found wanting. None of us know until we get there.
But, like Stephan, I do believe in the continuation of life through Jesus Christ. I do believe that it is worth it to stand up to bullies and to stand on your faith. So, I admire and pray for all those martyrs that have gone before and lived their beliefs. I admire and pray for the Christians who are standing up to oppression and risking their lives today. And I pray that I will not be found wanting when, and if, the time comes.
If we live the truth and love of Christ; if we act with kindness and dignity to all; and if we hold up justice for all in God’s name; then we will honor all those who have gone before, and who are acting now. And with them we will be a people who by our actions are building God’s Kingdom.
The Four Faithful Friends
August 17, 2025 10th Sunday in Pentecost
1 Peter 2:21-25 Luke 5:17-26.
Early in Jesus’ ministry, he started to travel around Galilee preaching and healing. Gradually his reputation as a holy man and healer increased until we get to this point where Pharisees and religion teachers were coming from villages in Galilee and Judea, even as far away as Jerusalem, to check him out. So, in this story, he’s in a house, having a discussion session with the local people, and four men arrive carrying their friend on a stretcher because he’s paralyzed.
I want you to think about this person for a minute. The Bible doesn’t tell us why he’s paralyzed; it could have been for any number of reasons. He could have had an accident to his spine or neck, or had an illness like polio, or even had an autoimmune disease. But this isn’t a child; this person is an adult, and it is quite possible that he was a functioning adult at one point.
He has Four Friends. And, although I’m now getting into the realm of supposition and maybe even fiction, I want you to imagine that this person is from this town, that Jesus is now in, who grew up with those four friends. They were The Gang. The kids who hung out together and played tag and other kinds of games when they were kids. They went to the local Synagogue and learned their Torah lessons and attended each other’s Bar Mitzvahs. Probably some of them are even married and have children.
But at some point, one of the Five Friends had something happen to him, and now he’s paralyzed. And that is a wound on the other four’s hearts. I imagine that those four didn’t desert their one friend who was restricted in his movements. They probably helped him out as much as they could. If he had parents who were older, they probably helped to support them. If he had a wife and kids, they probably looked after the kids when they could.
And I can easily imagine that when Jesus came to the town they thought: Hey, this Jesus is supposed to be a great healer. We’ve heard about him healing lepers and casting out demons, maybe he can do something for our friend. Now I don’t know what the conversation was. Did they debate among themselves before they decided to take him? Did the friend have no hope and say to them: Don’t bother? Did they say: Look, what have you got to lose? It’s no trouble for us to do this for you. They got him into that bedroll on that stretcher and carried him across town because he was their friend, and they loved him. They were willing to make the effort and take the risk for love.
Well, they get to the house, and it’s surrounded by people listening to Jesus. Now I’m sure that the important people, like the local Rabbis and Pharisees are inside and everyone else is sitting in the courtyard. It’s probably packed, and the four friends just can’t get through. But these friends love their buddy who’s paralyzed, and they’re The Gang; they’ve been through stuff together. They raided the neighbor’s orchard that one night when they were kids – and didn’t get caught. They’ve played practical jokes, and studied together, and helped each other out all their lives. They are not going to let a crowd get in their way. So, they think of a plan and go around the back of the house, and climb onto the roof.
Now this isn’t like taking the roof off of one of our houses. Most houses back then had simple boards that stretched across the beams which were covered over with matting. Roofs were actually used as another living room or bedroom area, especially in summer when it was really hot. The Four Friends climb up to the top of the house. I can just imagine what it must have been like. Jesus is there having a discussion with the elders about points from the Torah and they hear footsteps on the roof. Probably no one thinks about that, but then light starts to shine in through the ceiling as the matting is rolled away. And then all of a sudden the boards of the roof get taken up. Now everyone has stopped and is looking up at the ceiling. And then this bedroll is lowered down by rope into room right in front of Jesus.
It says in the Gospel that Jesus is impressed by their bold belief. And he says: Friend, I forgive your sins.
Why forgive sins? Well, in the first century people really believed that a lot of misfortune in your life was caused by sins that you committed. If you did something bad, then God was going to punish you for it, and illness was one of those punishment vehicles. Now today we don’t believe that, but I really think that psychologically, because people believed this, that the first step that Jesus had to take to heal people was to let them know that their sins were forgiven. This way they could go onto the next step of accepting the healing power that Jesus had. If they didn’t feel forgiven, then they wouldn’t be able to believe that they were worthy of healing, so they wouldn’t be healed.
And you know – human nature hasn’t changed. We do this to ourselves in the 21st century. We list in our heads, and feel in our hearts, all the bad things that we’ve done. And then we use them to say that we are not a good person. I don’t deserve that job because I’m not good enough. I don’t deserve that relationship because I’m not a good person. I can’t follow my dream because I’m not worthy of it. The wonderful thing about Christianity is the process of forgiveness. To know that Jesus made the sacrifice of himself, so that we don’t have to sacrifice ourselves, to the slavery of being forever caught up in our own mistakes.
Of course, this statement of forgiveness is an issue for the Rabbis and the Pharisees who are present. The Jewish system of forgiveness depended on making a specific blood sacrifice, to God, at the Temple, in Jerusalem. There was a system of evaluating your sins and deciding what the equivalency of pigeons, lambs, cattle, etc. . . . that you needed to sacrifice in order to erase your sins with God. This is why they say: Only God can forgive sins. A regular person, even a holy person like Jesus, does not have the power of God. Jesus’ pronouncement runs completely counter to what they believe.
And then Jesus gives his counter argument: Which is easier, to forgive someone or to tell them to get up and walk? Because you can sincerely say to anyone, I forgive you for what you did to me, and they will be forgiven. But to tell someone who is paralyzed to get up and walk, that’s harder; it’s not something that people are going to be able to do. But the impossible is what Jesus does. He turns to the man and says: Get up and walk, and the guy does it.
What did he believe? Did he believe that he was forgiven, so he could accept Jesus’ healing power? I think he did. When we believe that we are forgiven for our mistakes, and our hearts and minds are healed so that we know we are good people, we know that we can do things that might be impossible. We can have that good job, and that wonderful relationship, and we can follow our dreams. We can get up and walk.
But I think that Jesus was impressed by more than just the belief of the Five Friends. I think that he was impressed by their great love.
You know this story has a bit of evangelism in it. Those Four Friends loved their friend so much that they were going to take him to Jesus no matter what. They weren’t going to let a crowd or a roof stand in their way. That’s why they’re the heroes of this story. Sometimes we have to be like that with our love. Sometimes we have to love our friends so hard and let them know that they are deserving of healing and joy. Sometimes we need to tell people who are in dark places that God still loves them, and that they are forgiven for whatever they did, and that they can ask Jesus to help them get up and keep on walking.
So for yourself, ask God for forgiveness and remember that Jesus is the door through which we receive that forgiveness and also heart and mind healing so that we can believe that are worthy to live well. And for those who you love, be the person who reminds them that they are worthy of God’s love, so that they can be healed in heart and mind and live well too. If we can do that, we’ll be picking ourselves up and walking towards God’s Kingdom.