The one who believes in me will do the works that I do

Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me … Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. In other words: the measuring stick for belief in God is the extent to which we do for others, what it is that Jesus did for us. Why? Because Jesus is the measuring stick: you know the way to God, Jesus says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” I am the only truth, for I am God who is before all things, who makes all things, and who will bring all things to completion. I am also the only way to that truth, because I have become like you, flesh and blood, facing temptation, hunger, sadness, and joy, and I have joined every human being to my flesh and to my Spirit.

So wherever I go, I will take you with me. And I am going to the Father when I have accomplished his work here! And finally, I am the life because I will suffer your sins, your betrayals and abandonment of God, I will suffer your final betrayal of putting me to death and repeating that over and over again with your sin, but I will not let you go because you are mine and I love you. So I will take you with me to God, our Father, when I rise and am raised from the dead. From death to life you will go with me. 

It sounds so idyllic doesn’t it? By his death and resurrection you and I are forgiven our sins. We’re set free from death and despair at the thought that this life is all there is. And yet as Peter and James learn at Jesus' transfiguration, our lives are not about a constant contemplation of this. They demand we go down from that state of spiritual ecstacy and into a world that is still waiting for Jesus to return. A world still broken by every kind of evil we could imagine.

So we hear Stephen’s story this morning: “Then they dragged [Stephen] out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he said this, he died.” Not my will, Father, but yours be done. 

"Lord, do not hold this sin against them" are the final words of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, in our reading from Acts this morning. As he was being stoned to death, he knelt and prayed for his murderers, mirroring Jesus' prayer on the cross, "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34). “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do.” Here we see Stephen live out this teaching of Jesus: forgiveness, mercy, and love for enemies, not merely in light of them making him really angry, but because they descend upon him to smash him to death with stones. Imagine that. Imagine that level or emotional, moral, and spiritual maturity: to pray for your enemies, your very killers, in the face of your own death. 

Stephen’s act of grace is stunning because it is an immediate extension of grace to those harming him. It’s Stephen letting go of his own life and trusting that God has him, so that he does not need to seek divine or civil vengeance. Throughout history, Stephen's request - "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" - has been understood as a direct imitation of Jesus' prayer on the cross.

St. Augustine even argues that, "If Stephen had not prayed, the church would not have had Paul.” The very person overseeing the execution (Saul) eventually became the greatest apostle (Paul) because Stephen chose to pray for his murderers instead of condemning them. Stephen’s prayer, Augustine said, was accepted by God demonstrating that intercessory prayer for enemies can reach even those who seem most hostile to God.

How fundamentally bizarre given how our politicians, our podcast talk show hosts, our own religious and cultural leaders so often act and call us to act in the wake of just being disagreed with, let alone being imprisoned, threatened, even killed. Forgive them, they know not what they do Jesus says. Then Stephen repeats. Would you do the same in a similar situation? 

“Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me, Jesus says, will also do the works that I do.” To win over those who cannot see, or believe, who doubt, who despair, who lash out, it is not condemnation but forgiveness that stops a sinner in their tracks. For Paul is not halted by condemnation but by God’s willingness to speak the truth while forgiving: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.”

Stephen’s act of praying for his enemies, of asking God to forgive them, of seeking that even those who betrayed him - Stephen’s act of embodying Jesus Christ - fulfilled Jesus’s own words: “the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.” From Stephen to Saul, to Paul, to me, to you, to those whom you are willing to pray for, forgive, offer life to instead of condescension. “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.” AMEN