tomorrow's sermon/the stoning of stephen

So the Lectionary passage from Acts tomorrow is pretty much a downer. Stephen gets stoned, the dead kind, rocks thrown. Art can't even soften this story.

Yet, just when a person thinks the anger and violence of the moment wins....one like Stephen prays, "Receive me Lord, and forgive these people." Stephen transforms the rocks of hatred into rocks of refuge even as he is dying.

Good old Saul is watching. He approves of Stephen's death. It will take one more chapter in Acts for Saul's world to turn upside down. Seems Stephen's prayer gets the best of Saul. The light and life Stephen prays for catches up to Saul and is so bright that he can't see anything but God's love and power. Today Stephen is stoned to death. In another chapter Saul will become Paul.