Jun 01, 2014

Acts 6:15-15

Last Sunday we noted two things about Stephen:

1. Stephen is incredibly relatable.

2. Stephen is a wonderful example.

Because it’s a reality that truth-rejectors will also reject truth-speakers, Acts 6 closes with Stephen being dragged before a hostile court by those who found his message offensive. In much the same way that Jesus was treated, Stephen is lied about, slandered against, and falsely accused when his only crime was that he refused to leave his faith at church.

Keep in mind, since it was Stephen’s faithfulness over the tasks God laid before him that led him into the darkest situation of his life, we come to a difficult reality… God sent Stephen into this situation for a reason. 

In Romans 8:28 we’re told that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” And in the life of Stephen we will see this promise ring true…

In the final verse of Acts 6 Luke tells us that as Stephen is standing before this hostile crowd  “all who sat in the council (which would also include these Freedmen and false witnesses in addition to the Sanhedrin) saw his face as the face of an angel.” 

Obviously, because no one in that room had ever seen an angel, we understand this phrase is used to describe Stephen’s countenance as being heavenly in nature. 

Which is interesting in and of itself. Matthew Henry points out that “such an undisturbed serenity, such an undaunted courage, and such an unaccountable mixture of mildness and majesty, there was in his countenance, that everyone said he looked like an angel enough surely to convince the Sadducees that there are angels, when they saw before their eyes an incarnate angel.” 

Last Sunday we examined the reason behind this occurrence (Stephen was being a glorious witness), but this morning I want to focus on the results of this occurrence (What God was communicating to those who witnessed Stephen’s countenance). 

As God’s man stands before this council, the prosecution is first allowed to build their case before Stephen’s permitted the chance to mount a defense (this will come in Acts 7); and yet, verse 15 makes it clear that, even before Stephen can utter a word, by this supernatural occurrence God mounts a defense for Stephen. 

In a sense, by allowing this heavenly countenance to manifest in Stephen’s life in this particular moment in time, God was intentionally affirming three important things about Stephen to all who were present: (1). Stephen’s character was impeccable. (2). Stephen’s Godliness was self-evident. (3). Stephen’s innocence was undeniable.

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Stephen’s face revealed an impeccable internal character.

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The 7th season of American Idol featured a woman named Brook White (she would end up placing 5th that season). When she debut on the show she not only became a fan favorite, but immediately struck a familiar chord among a particular subset of viewership. 

While neither the show nor Brook said anything about her religious affiliations, Mormons immediately began claiming she was one of their own. One blogger wrote, “She has the Mormon Glow,” referring to the belief that the faithful radiate the Holy Spirit. 

Though Idol would not confirm her religious affiliations and Brook was not allowed to discuss such matters, people had to wait till she left the show to see if they were correct. When pressed about the issue in an initial interview she remarked, "I didn't know I was setting off the Mormon radar.” It turned out her Mormon fans were right on the money.

After hearing of this story, Psychologists Nalini Ambady and Nicholas Rule wondered… Is there really such a thing as a “Mormon glow?” And if so, is there a root cause? 

They began their research by conducting an experiment where they cropped head shots of both “Mormons” and “non-Mormons” and then asked undergraduate volunteers whether they could tell the difference by simply looking at these faces. 

While “random guessing” with a large enough sample size would yield a 50% accuracy, their volunteers were able to accurately identify Mormons 60% of the time. (Which is about as accurate as the ability to tell if a person’s face looks envious or anxious.) 

After determining these weird nuances do exist, Ambady and Rule then ran another experiment to see if they could determine what exactly triggers this recognizable glow. This time they cropped the same photos beyond recognition in order to see if the judges would be able to identify Mormon’s from individual facial features. 

While photos that revealed only a person’s eyes, hair, noses or mouth failed to eclipse the 50% threshold, volunteers presented with photos that revealed no specific features but only a patch of skin actually succeeded in reaching this same 60% constant.

Nicolas Rule believes that “what the judges were primarily picking up in determining Mormon glow were actually cues of health in the skin.” Holy Spirit aside, because Mormons don't drink, smoke, refuse caffeine, and enjoy community support which relieves stress “Mormon Glow” occurs simply because Mormon’s are healthier. (Recent studies have shown that Mormons live up to 10 years longer than the average American.)

Though this study was fascinating in it’s own right, Ambady and Rule (along with others in this scientific field) began to wonder if the face revealed other interesting attributes beyond Mormonism or general health.

The next topic Ambady and Rule decided to test was whether or not “Gaydar” really existed (the non-cognitive ability to pick up on a person’s homosexual tendencies). After running the same experiment, their answer was a resounding Yes! They were able to show that people possess a natural ability to identify, by only facial recognition, lesbians (almost 70%) as well as gay men (around 65%). 

A similar study conducted at the University of St. Andrews later revealed that by just looking at a photo of a person’s face judges of both genders were able to tell whether or not a person was promiscuous (open to one-night stands).

Rule concludes, “We all have a built in system set up whereby we can assess others’ health for mate selection and disease avoidance.” But he believes this system can also “be co-opted for social purposes as well - such as detecting religiosity, promiscuity, aggressiveness, competence, intelligence, trustworthiness, and sexual orientation.”

Here’s the kicker… While many see these type of “judgments” as being indicators of prejudice, everyone makes these internal judgments without even realizing it! 

In a experiment at the University of Pennsylvania, neuroscientist Ingrid Olson asked volunteers to determine whether pre-judged faces were beautiful or homely, but there was the interesting twist… Each face would be shown for only 13 milliseconds (well below the threshold of conscious awareness). 

Though the judges obviously believed they hadn't seen anything because the faces flashed by to quickly, when pressed to rate the attractiveness of the person anyway they found the judges assessment to be astonishingly accurate. 

In his book “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” author Malcolm Gladwell observes that “we live in a world that assumes that the quality of a decision is directly related to the time and effort that went into making it… We believe that we are always better off gathering as much information as possible and spending as much time as possible in deliberation. We really only trust conscious decision making. But there are moments, particularly in times of stress, when haste does not make waste, when our snap judgments and first impressions can offer a much better means of making sense of the world.” His book presents a simple reality… “Decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately.” 

Nicholas Rule believes that continuing research is proving that the subconscious mind not only makes these judgments instantly, but actually seems better quipped to make snap judgments more accurately than the conscious mind is able to do. In regards to the experiments he and Ambady conducted, Rule revealed that “the more we ask people to think about their choices before they made them, the worse the results. When people refuse to go with their gut, they fail.”

By enabling Stephen’s “heavenly countenance” to come shinning through, God was revealing to this council and his false accusers what really existed within him. Stephen glowed because of an inner purity and righteousness.

Once again Gladwell makes an interesting observation… “Anyone who has ever scanned the bookshelves of a new girlfriend or boyfriend- or peeked inside his or her medicine cabinet- understands this implicitly; you can learn as much - or more - from one glance at a private space as you can from hours of exposure to a public face.” 

Though Stephen’s public life was above reproach, these false witnesses were calling into question his internal character. And yet, in allowing Stephen’s inner countenance to come shinning through in such a public way, God was providing these accusers a glimpse into the “private space” of his life. All you had to do was take one look at Stephen and the impeccable nature of his character was on display for all to see.

Adam Clarke observed, “It appears that the light and power of God which dwelt in his soul shone through his face, and God gave them this proof of the falsity of the testimony which was now before them; for, as the face of Stephen now shone as the face of Moses did when he came down from the mount, it was the fullest proof that he had not spoken blasphemous words either against Moses or God, else this splendor of heaven had not rested upon him.”

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Stephen’s face demonstrated his Godliness.

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Have you ever noticed that the longer a married couple stays together the more they begin to look alike? Many have assumed this to be a coincidence of continued associations, but recently University of Michigan psychologists set out to see if there was any type of scientific explanation behind this interesting phenomenon. 

To do this they analyzed photographs of couples taken when they were newlyweds as compared to photographs of the same couples taken 25 years later. The results not only substantiated this phenomenon, but their research discovered that couples grow to look more like each other over time for two reasons:

1. A new study conducted by a team of French scientists has revealed that “men find women with whom they share certain facial features more attractive.” Basically, individuals pursue sexual partners that look like them in order to extend genetic traits. The belief is that couples end up looking alike over time because they initially started out with similar genetic features.

2. Because research has shown that people who live in close close contact with one another will naturally end up mimicking each other’s facial expressions over time, scientist believe the process becomes exacerbated among married couples since they already share similar physical qualities. For example, research has shown that the more a couple laughed together, the more likely it was for there to be an increase in the development of that couples physical similarities as it pertained to the effects of laughter of the face.

It would seem that not only do people attract people similar to them, but over time they will also end up naturally reflecting similar mannerisms and physical appearances of the company they keep.

By enabling Stephen’s “heavenly countenance” to come shinning through, God was actually providing an explanation for the origin of his Godly character… Stephen radiated God’s glory because he had spent a lot of time with God.

Don’t over look the significant lesson God was trying to communicate to these religious leaders… Here they were trying to become Godly (righteous) by the things they did for God, but Stephen was Godly (righteous) simply because he spent time with God. God was telling these men through the heavenly countenance of Stephen that the key to righteousness was not religion, but rather a relationship with Jesus. And this reality tells us a lot when it comes to how we become more Christ-like… The more you hang around Jesus the more your life will begin to reflect His.

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Stephen’s face affirmed his innocence.

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“Facial Perception” refers to an individual's understanding and interpretation of the face. As all married men understand, the ability to read human expression in order to identify emotional tendencies is of great social importance. (Harvard has a study online that will test how well you can read emotions. We included it in the links section of C316.tv)

For years, scientist who study facial expressions believed the face revealed only six primary emotions: happiness, surprise, anger, sadness, fear, and disgust. And yet, recent research from Ohio State University seems to indicate that now up to 20 different facial sentiments exist: happy, sad, fearful, angry, surprised, disgusted, happily surprised, happily disgusted, sadly fearful, sadly angry, sadly surprised, sadly disgusted, fearfully angry, fearfully surprised, fearfully disgusted, angrily surprised, angrily disgusted, disgustedly surprised, hatred, and awed.

What do you think Stephen’s “heavenly countenance” revealed? Here this guy stands before the most powerful men in Israel. You can imagine how intimidating this must have been. These men, who’ve showed no ethic in how they treated Jesus and who’ve already demonstrated a similar animus towards Christians, hold his fate in their hands.

Consider the flood of emotions Stephen had to have been experiencing as one false witness after another enters the room only to lie, twist his words, and spread false testimony against him… Fear, surprise, disgust, even anger would have only been natural. 

And yet, this “heavenly countenance" reveals something otherworldly… Instead of freaking out or growing defensive, Stephen was more than cool, calm, and collected, he demonstrated an inner peace that surpassed understanding. And this supernatural peace should have validated his innocence.

Question: How was it that Stephen was able to demonstrate such peace in the presence of much hostility and uncertainty? I think (aside from the reality Stephen was innocent of any wrong doing) there are two additional explanations:

1. Stephen trusted God. He knew the opinions of these men and the judgments of this council mattered not! He recognized that his reputation before God as his ultimate Judge carried far more weight. Because Stephen was confident God has sent him into this dark situation for a reason, Stephen had nothing to fear and not a reason to worry. He could demonstrate peace regardless of the outcome, because he knew that God would defend his reputation and work all things for the good.

2. Stephen relied on the Holy Spirit. Please understand, Stephen’s reaction to the situation he faced was not natural which is why it garnered so much attention from the people who were present. But also realize, because it was not natural is gave witness of the supernatural impact God had made in his life. 

In Galatians 5:22 Paul explains the origin of these type of Godly attributes, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Then he admonishes all of us, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

This peace was not something that originated within Stephen. It was a gift God had given him through the filling of the Holy Spirit. I hope you understand, Stephen was only able to demonstrate incredible peace in the face of extraordinary circumstances for one reason and one reason alone… He was walking in the Spirit.

In facing similar hardships, Paul would write in Philippians 4:4-7, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

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This morning may you consider this fundamental question… Beyond your words or deeds, what message does your face communicate to the world around you? 

Stephen’s heavenly countenance affirmed his internal character… 

It revealed a genuine Christ-likeness born from his relationship with Jesus…

And in this supernatural peace he demonstrated the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Before we close there is one more observation I’d like to make concerning the results of Stephen’s heavenly countenance, because we haven’t addressed the WHY.

One of the fundamental accusations directed at Stephen centered upon this notion that the Gospel message (New Covenant) stood in direct opposition to Moses and the Law. The idea that righteousness with God could be found by grace through faith in Jesus’ sacrificial atonement apart from obedience to the Law, was a complete affront to their entire way of thinking. These religiously pious men took grave offense to this notion, because it was seen as heretical and blasphemous.

And yet, the case can be made that by demonstrating this heavenly glow through Stephen God was in actually revealing his approval in this New Covenant in the same way He had originally demonstrated his approval of the Old Covenant. 

I believe that it’s more than a coincidence that what we see happening in the face of Stephen bore striking similarities to what occurred with Moses in Exodus 34. 

After spending some 80 days in the presence of God as he was receiving the Law, we’re told that “when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.” This “shinning face” was God’s way of affirming Moses and approving this original covenant with Israel. 

This means that in much the same way that this supernatural manifestation served to validate to the people that Moses had not created the Law, but that the Law had been given by God, these religious leaders should have recognized the same realities concerning the New Covenant being demonstrated through Stephen’s glowing face. 

One commentator put it this way, “You see what God's saying? God's saying both of those were mine. In Exodus 34 the glory of God on the face of Moses. And as he came down from the mountain with the glory of God what did he have in his arm? The old covenant. And Stephen there has proclaimed the new covenant and God puts on his face the glow of God and what is God saying? I approve of Moses. I approve of Stephen. Don't you see this is fulfillment.”

Here’s the interesting reality concerning this story… God sent Stephen into this dark world with the specific intention of demonstrating His favor in this New Covenant by allowing these religious leaders the opportunity to see a miracle that had never occurred since the days of Moses. 

Which means that aside from demonstrating His approval of Stephen, this man’s heavenly countenance shining out into the darkness was God’s way of revealing Himself to these men! God sent Stephen to shine a light so that these men might no longer abide in darkness. 

Do you realize that this is the fundamental reason God has called, commissioned, and sent you to whatever world you find yourself no matter how dark and depressing? Do you realize that your job in that world, as it were with Stephen, is to reveal God to the lost by not only being faithful in what you do and in your boldness to stand for the truth, but also through your very countenance? 

Do you realize that when people encounter you (work, neighborhood, ball field, school, church, the drive through) they should in effect see and encounter Jesus… That there should be something about your very countenance the screams of heaven! 

It’s been said that you might be the only Bible a person ever reads… If this is the case what message is your life communicating to the world around you?