May 14, Fifth Sunday of Easter

In theory, I like the idea of being close to God, intimate to the point of speaking regularly with God—and receiving clear directives. Whenever I was confused about something, I could just ask God and get clarity on the matter. I’d never have to wonder about what my next step should be. God would lead me and guide me and maybe even use me to get an important message across to other people.

It sounds divine! Except that in the Bible, an intimate relationship with God usually sends people’s lives into chaos. It makes them widely unpopular as messengers; it sends them to the margins of society. It also quite often gets them killed.

This Sunday’s reading from Acts picks up Stephen’s story at an odd point. All we have at first is an unidentified man who is filled with the Holy Spirit, peers into heaven, and catches a glimpse of God and Christ. For some reason this is the last thing the people around him want to hear, and it has the effect of turning them into an angry mob. They rush after this holy man with intent to kill him. Then we learn that the man being stoned is named Stephen, and in the midst of the attack he prays for God to receive his spirit—and to forgive his killers. Then he dies almost peacefully, though his is clearly a violent end.