Fearful Of The Next Step

Acts 7:55-60  John 14:8

What do you do when the next step you need to take isn’t what you’d expected?

When walking Wainwright’s  “Coast to Coast” trail some years ago we reached a point on the way to the lovely Yorkshire town of Richmond, where the trail guide indicated that our way forward was over a little footbridge crossing a river.

 There was indeed a river but there was no longer a  footbridge, just some rather perilous looking stepping stones, whose shiny surfaces just about peeped over the top of some strong rushing water.

The crossing was only about 50 yards, but the danger was that we’d slip and fall, that we’d get soaking wet, that we’d cut ourselves or bang our heads, or that our backpacks would end up floating downstream whilst we were left stranded.

 In the end, neither I nor my companion had the courage to make the first move onto the stones, we stood silently for some minutes waiting to see if either of us was brave enough.

We weren’t,  and caught somewhere between cowardice and common sense, we retraced our steps by three miles and went round by the main road.

Our two readings this morning confront us with situations where the next step was not what was expected nor what was hoped for.

First we have Stephen, who began life as a modest disciple.

 One who waited at tables and made sure that widows were not excluded from the daily distribution of food. He must have been surprised by the way the Spirit got hold of him and transformed him from this into a keynote speaker, one who suddenly found the courage to stand up and be counted before any audience you care to mention.

He must have hoped that the result of this would be change and conversion in the lives of those he addressed, but instead he stirred up animosity and found himself on the receiving end of a death sentence.

His next step was his stoning – and at that moment of huge desperation – he was granted a vision of the glory of God.

Then we find the disciples trying so hard to understand the character of Jesus.

They had given up everything to be with him.

Their lives were caught up in his goodness. They were safe with Him and protected by Him. They had walked content in his footsteps, but now suddenly, there is talk of him going away, of him leaving them to it. How could they possibly cope with that.

A truth strikes me about all this.

 When we face loss or sudden change, we can turn tail and run away from the new circumstances or we can let Christ become more of a reality than before.

The deeper our worldly strife becomes, the sharper can become our perception of Jesus being the way the truth and the life.

He lays down his life for us to become the reliable stepping stones over which we make our important move.

This was the heart of Stephen’s vision and the heart of our Lord’s teaching to the disciples.

Jesus as the way – is not just a leader, an on hand guide to accompany us, he becomes the pathway, the stepping stones, his very character is the course we must take.

Jesus as the truth – is not just the bringer of teaching which will do us good and help us approach life in the right way – it is in his very character that the truth is revealed. What he was, what he did, not just what he said.

Jesus as the life – is not just someone who inspires us to do better, but he is the life force, the strength that enables us to continue forward.

Jesus brings us to the point in our lives where he is all we have left and we have the choice to turn tail or embrace. To embrace, is the only way to truly know him.

It was enough for Stephen, but he still had to die.

It was enough for the disciples but they still had to go through their own Good Friday experience.

But to them all, clinging on to the character of Jesus, gave them life as an eternal gift.

Faced with all this, would I have taken my life in my hands and crossed by the stepping stones.

Not likely, because there is in the end a difference between following Jesus way – and what would have been plain stupidity.

RH  20.4.08