May the Holy Spirit Guide our Words and Deeds
AM Psalm 105:1-22 • PM Psalm 105:23-45
Judges 14:1-19 • Acts 6:15-7:16 • John 4:27-42
Our readings from Judges and Acts for today tell of the deeds of Samson, the Old Testament folk hero, and Stephen, the first Christian martyr. We can infer from the account in Judges that Samson was a mean, sadistic, sex-greedy, fox-burning, cheating bully; but the author, maybe to justify Samson's status as a folk hero and suggest God's purpose in Samson's deeds, explains why Samson ordered his parents to get him a Philistine wife: “It was of the Lord that he sought an occasion against the Philistines” (KJV). Meanwhile, Samson kills a lion with his bare hands and later finds a bee's nest in the carcass and takes the honey for himself and his parents to eat. When he meets his bride, accompanied by thirty Philistine warriors, he bets them “thirty sheets and thirty changes of garment” that they cannot answer his riddle. After they take the bet, he tells them the riddle: “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness,” which makes no more sense as a riddle than “What have I got in my pocket,” because it relies on information known only to the riddler. The Philistine men then tell his wife that Samson has threatened to burn them if they can't answer the riddle, and they beg her to wheedle the answer out of him and tell it to them. She does, and when they answer the riddle correctly, he murders thirty other Philistine men and pays off the bet with the clothes of his victims. Strangely, the author introduces this murderous treachery by declaring, “And the spirit of the Lord came upon him.”
St. Luke, in his Acts of the Apostles, describes Stephen as an altogether different human being. After the ascent of Jesus into Heaven, the Apostles appoint Stephen, along with six other “men of honest report, full of the holy spirit,” to oversee fair food distribution to the widows in their growing community. Stephen, in addition to distributing food, “full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.”
When the leaders of the Jerusalem Synagogue wrongly charge Stephen with blasphemy, Stephen defends his acts and his faith in a long speech, reviewing the history of Judaism from the calling of Abraham through to the present. The council of the Synagogue, as they hear him speak, must be impressed, because they see “his face, as it had been the face of an angel”; and they must expect him to conclude by explaining how the life of Jesus brought to perfection the history of God working with his people for the sake of their salvation. Instead, Stephen simply blasts them, calling them “stiff-necked and uncircumcized in heart and ears,” and “betrayers and murderers.” Many there probably deserved these accusations and could never be persuaded, but many others must have been expecting this preacher with the face of an angel to change their minds and their lives; now, however, in the face of Stephen's condemnation, their minds harden, and the healing that might have happened in the Jewish community does not happen. At this point, St. Luke tells us, Stephen is “full of the Holy Ghost,” but, for all I admire Stephen's courage and devotion, I do not believe the Holy Spirit inspired his vituperation against his fellow Jews any more than I believe she inspired Samson”s bullying. For my part, I intend to follow Dan Robinson's advice in his Morning Reflection of July 20, 2022, not to use words to try to “wrestle people into submission,” but to hope and believe “that God [including the Holy Spirit] will continue to open all of our eyes and hearts.”
Written by John DuVal
John dedicates this Reflection to the memory of Max Sutton, poet and friend.