Hearts Bigger Than Hate

Hearts Bigger than Hate (The Stoning of Stephen)

Read:  Acts 6:8-15 and 7:54-60

This past week I visited Washington DC.  One of the evenings, my wife, Andra, and I visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. It is a beautiful larger than life statue of King looking out over the tidal pond towards the Jefferson Memorial, almost as if saying to the iconic statue of the author of the Declaration of Independence, “ALL men (people), truly are created equal!” 

As we observed the monument, I couldn’t help but notice that someone had taken a cup of coffee and thrown it on the statue.  Its location made the spill seem more than an accident, someone was trying to make a statement.  My initial reaction was anger.  Why would anyone do such to the memorial for a preacher who stood for peace, justice, equality and non-violence.  These are the ideals of America. What does this say about our country, our people?  There was the temptation to hate a person who would act with such disrespect, certainly to hate what they must have stood for.   

Then, I realized the great beauty of the moment.  If King could speak across time, he would have said, “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”  That is what he did time and again in the face of bombs, fists, racial slurs, and threats.  He simply tried to match people’s hate with the love of Jesus.  That is what God was calling me to in that moment, not to be filled with hate of any kind, only love.

King learned this way of love from the New Testament.  He saw it in people like Jesus, Paul, and a disciple named Stephen.  Stephen’s story is both tragic and beautiful.  He is considered the first martyr of the Church, after Jesus.  Although his only crime was serving others and teaching about the grace-filled love of Jesus, Stephen was deemed a threat to the customs and ways of the religious authorities and was charged with blasphemy.  This led to Stephen’s stoning just outside the city walls.  

As powerful as Stephen’s speech and defense was before the council (you can read this beginning in Acts 7:1), his greatest witness was his action in response to the unjust death sentence he received.  As he was about to be stoned, he looked up to Jesus and prayed, “Lord Jesus, accept my life! Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” In the end, his heart was not turned to hate, but rather to love.  His words and his teaching were not empty, they bore fruit in his actions. 

Both Stephen and Martin Luther King, Jr. remind us to have hearts greater than hate.  They both learned this from Jesus.  Whatever you hate in your heart, no matter how right or just you feel in your hate, let it go…for hate is not the way of the gospel, only love.  

Prayer:  Jesus, hate creeps up into my heart and mind so easily.  Sometimes I even justify it in righteousness.  Remove this sickness from my heart.  Even when others are cruel, help me to match their hate with love. Give me your grace, for I can’t do it on my own.  Remind me again and again that your love is the only thing that can heal broken hearts and a broken world.  Amen.