SPEAKER_00: There's a kind of faith that is comfortable, and then there's a kind of faith that costs you something.
SPEAKER_00: And today the church puts before us a man who lived the second kind, Stephen.
SPEAKER_00: The reading says something striking.
SPEAKER_00: Stephen filled with the grace and power was working great wonders and signs among the people.
SPEAKER_00: Everything's going well.
SPEAKER_00: He's effective, he's respected.
SPEAKER_00: God is clearly working through this man.
SPEAKER_00: And then everything turns.
SPEAKER_00: Debate, opposition, lies, accusation, false witnesses, the same pattern we saw with Jesus now being played out in life in his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the lesson.
SPEAKER_00: When your faith is real, it will eventually be resisted.
SPEAKER_00: Not always violently, not always publicly, but at some point, if you're truly living the gospel, if you're speaking truth, if you're standing firm, refusing to compromise, you will face opposition.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because people truth unsettles people.
SPEAKER_00: But what is most powerful in this reading is not the accusations, it's Stephen's face.
SPEAKER_00: They looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: He's being falsely accused, dragged before the authorities, his life is beginning to unravel, and yet peace.
SPEAKER_00: Not anxiety, not anger, not defensiveness, peace.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because he's not fighting for himself.
SPEAKER_00: He's rooted in someone greater.
SPEAKER_00: Now take that and let's go to the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: The crowd goes looking for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Sounds like a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: People searching for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus doesn't affirm them.
SPEAKER_00: He confronts them.
SPEAKER_00: He says, You're looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you're not looking for me, you're looking for what I can give you.
SPEAKER_00: That's a hard line.
SPEAKER_00: But it's an honest one.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're real for a moment, how many of us approach God in that way?
SPEAKER_00: We come to him when we need something.
SPEAKER_00: We pray when we when something is wrong.
SPEAKER_00: We we seek him when life gets difficult.
SPEAKER_00: But when things are stable, comfortable, predictable, we drift.
SPEAKER_00: Because we weren't really seeking him.
SPEAKER_00: We were seeking what he provides.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus redirects everything with one line.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Do not work for food that perishes, or for the food that endures for eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
SPEAKER_00: That's the complete shift from temporary to eternal, from comfort to conversion, from using God to believing in him and trusting in him.
SPEAKER_00: And then they ask the question What can we do to accomplish the works of God?
SPEAKER_00: Give us a list.
SPEAKER_00: Give us a system.
SPEAKER_00: Tell me what do I got to do?
SPEAKER_00: One, two, three.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus answers in a way they didn't expect.
SPEAKER_00: He says, This is the work of God that you believe in the one he sent.
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
SPEAKER_00: Not first doing, believing, trusting, surrendering.
SPEAKER_00: And that's where Stephen connects the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Stephen didn't just believe when it was easy, he believed when it cost him everything.
SPEAKER_00: And because of that, his face was at peace while everything around him was falling apart.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the question as we start this new week.
SPEAKER_00: Why are you seeking Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Is it for what he can fix, what he can give you, what he can improve for you, or is it for him?
SPEAKER_00: Because if you seek him for what he gives, your faith will collapse when those things are taken away, or when they never come.
SPEAKER_00: But if you seek him for who he is, then even in the middle of trials, even in the middle of confusion and suffering, you will stand and you will stand firm.
SPEAKER_00: You may not have the face of an angel, but you will have something just as powerful, a peace that the world cannot understand.
SPEAKER_00: So, my brothers and sisters, today don't just look for what God can do for you.
SPEAKER_00: Look for him.
SPEAKER_00: Believe in him, stay with him, pray to him, and let that faith begin to change everything.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.