Stephen
I met Stephen one evening at dinner as I sat down at his table. The table had been moderately filled, but almost as soon as I sat down with my other intern friend, everyone got up to go. So, we tried to strike up some conversation with Stephen. But the conversation was going nowhere quickly. Open questions were answered with one-word answers and it was clear he was not very interested in a discussion.
Stephen looked and looks a little bit like Jesus. He has long flowing hair, perhaps a bit lighter than I would expect of the Lord Himself. Stephen wore an old ball-cap and a t-shirt which certainly grabbed your attention. It said something to the effect of: “Get Jesus, or you will go to hell!” I asked where he got his shirt, and he mentioned a thrift store in a poorer town nearby, and then noted that I probably would not know the town—since I was an uppity white person (my interpretation).
I then asked Stephen about his spiritual journey, and found it to be similar to others at the mission. He had some addictions, found Christ and somehow was led to Bro B Mission—an explicitly evangelical mission. But even this last series of questions was short and to the point. As the other intern and I sat with him, I began to talk with my friend, knowing that Stephen was starting to feel a bit cornered. The conversation had dissolved.
I preached that night, and Stephen was there. It was the first time I had seen him at the Wednesday night services. I introduced the text from Isaiah 50, and began my introduction about how we were going through the Servant Songs found in Isaiah and how they pointed to Christ even though they were written some 800 years before Christ was born. As I was speaking, Stephen blurted out, “How am I supposed to find that?!”
Now, this was not the first time I had preached on Isaiah at the mission. The first time, I made a point to tell the men that it was in the middle of the Bible in the Old Testament, and since there was no uniform ‘pew Bible,’ I did not have a page number. But even so, the first time I had made that introduction it seemed the men knew how to get there on their own. So I had taken those directions for granted this time. It turned out Stephen had a New Testament, but no Old Testament. One of the other men got up to get him a complete Bible and find the text. We passed that hurdle, and so I continued on in my message.
In this sermon, I lifted Christ up high as a humiliated Servant who did not turn back from His task of bringing salvation to us, and was therefore not ashamed. During the message, every time I would look at Stephen, he had a schoolboy grin as it seemed he was thoroughly enjoying the message.
When I preach, I try to keep in mind the fact that Christ is really and truly in the midst of those who gather to meet Him, and am reminded that it is Him I must seek to please. The fact that Stephen has some features reminiscent of my image of Jesus, as well as the fact that Jesus claims to be found in the poor, brought home the point that it is Jesus that must be lifted up and pleased in the preaching of the Word. It was an imperfect sermon, imperfectly preached, but I came away with the thought: “I think the Lord Jesus was pleased.” Thanks Stephen.
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