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December 26, 2018

From today’s reading…

…but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.

When they heard this, they were infuriated,

and they ground their teeth at him.”

One day we’re reading all the happy stuff that hits ya right in the feelz,  “Merry Christmas…Our savior is born…look at those sweet wise men…look at that bright star glowing in the night. Awwwwww.”

The next day it’s “Put your iPad down. It’s time to kill Stephen.”

I know, I know. It’s like…

Hey, Bible people, can you slow your roll? I’m still munchin’ on leftover deviled eggs and sippin’ my ‘special egg nog’—relax, I’m taking my statins and drinking red wine to counteract the cholesterol!—and hiding from work as I try to figure out this whole Alexa voice-control thing. (They’re spying on us. I know it. But man it’s cool how I can tell it to play Duran Duran at level 10 without getting off the sofa!) Can you at least wait until I take the Christmas tree down before you hit me with attacks on Christians and such? Geez. HEY ALEXA, CAN YOU BRING ME A BEER?”

But hey, isn’t that how life is?

It’s so great seeing all of you. Merry Christmas. Bye. Good night. Thank you for everything. Oh, okay. We’ll take the fudge home. No. I’ve had plenty of wine. Fine. Just pour it in the red Solo® cup. No sense in letting it spoil. Good thing Joey is 16 and has his license. See you soon. Bye.”

(Wake up the next day with a headache, stomach ache, stepping on Legos, which are hidden under the piles of crumpled wrapping paper and cardboard boxes like guerrilla fighters, on the way to the coffee pot then to the laptop where you login to your online banking—only while you wait for the coffee to finish brewing—where you are greeted with the huge credit card bill you amassed AGAIN (even though you said this year would be different) and you realize another Christmas has come and gone while nothing has changed…so now you’ll REALLY mean it when you work on your New Year’s GOALS, which you’ll start—oooohhhh, is that an after-Christmas sale at Kohl’s? And did that celebrity really check in to rehab again? And I can’t let that fool say that on Facebook without giving him my two cents. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP! Time for coffee and a shower. Gotta remember to work on my new goals when I get back…from the mall…and after the bowl game(s)—I mean, it’s our first bowl in five years…I can’t NOT watch it. After all, it’s still Christmas, don’t ya know? And I won’t drink too much. I’ll just finish that bottle of merlot we opened yesterday. It’s an expensive bottle and I’m not just going to pour it down the drain.)

We’re not even a quarter of the way into the Acts of the Apostles and we read about the first martyr for Christ.

Life comes at us faster than the credit card bills from Christmas.

As I write this on Dec 26, my daughter’s boyfriend’s family is planning the funeral for his grandfather who suffered a massive heart attack last week and never regained consciousness. That’s bad news, right?

On Christmas Eve they took him off life support. That’s terrible news, right?

On Christmas Day multiple people got the news that a match was found for the organs they needed because he was an organ donor. That’s multiple pieces of great news, right?

Life comes at us fast. Are you ready for what’s in store for you today? (Are you really?)

Stephen was killed for spreading the Good News. For speaking the Truth. For not backing down. For “working great wonders and signs among the people.”

In Matthew today we see that Jesus had anticipated this so Stephen knew what he was getting himself into.

You will be hated by all because of my name,

but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

For his faith Stephen was rewarded with seeing “the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Stephen knew what was important.

Stephen knew what mattered.

Stephen was immediately taken up to join the Son of Man and God in heaven, which is what awaits you if you’ll only…

Stay the course.Keep the faith.Endure.