The Impact of Witness: The Story of the Stole
with Rev. Laura Sherwood
June 25, 2023
Learn the story of the stole that the first Deacons wore and why; Hear the story of a second stole given to Pastor Laura and how the witness of people of faith in our lives continues to impact us and the world.
The Scripture
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Acts 6:1-15
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Read the Full Text
The second scripture reading today tells the story of Stephen – a member of the community of believers that came together under the leadership of Jesus’ disciples after his death. In this part of Stephen’s story, we hear a significant part of the early Church’s story, too.
There’s a lot to unpack in these 15 verses. We know at this point in history, the early Church was in a period of formation accompanied by great growth and change while struggling to figuring out the best ways to live out their faith. I say “struggling” intentionally because members of the church did not always agree. We see this from the first verse of the Acts passage that puts us right in the middle of a Church conflict.
Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. (Acts 6:1)
Widows were among the most vulnerable in that society, many forced to beg on the streets for what they needed. Central to the early Church’s identity* was its belief in seeing each other as the whole body of Christ and making sure that everyone had what they needed by sharing their collective resources, with food as a top need. But the time and energy needed for the Church’s ministry of food distribution was taking away from the time and energy for the also-important ministries of teaching, preaching and prayer.
Finish reading
Like most problems, there was another issue within the greater conflict about these competing ministries. The early Church was made up of people from different backgrounds and cultures, represented in this story by group names indicating the 2 primary languages spoken among them.
We heard it in that first verse as well, the Hellenists, who mainly spoke Greek, complained against the Hebrews, who mainly spoke Aramaic, because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. So, it wasn’t just the issue of how to support 2 important ministries of the church 1) teaching and prayer along with 2) the distribution of food to those in need; it was also recognizing the injustice of who was, and who was not, getting the food in the first place.
The solution they worked out addressed both problems at the same time – First, the Church created a new leadership office, Deacon, endowed with the authority and standing it needed to focus on the sharing and distribution of resources, like food.
Second, they made sure that the first group of Deacons expanded representation from their entire membership. We know this because of the Greek names of the 7 Deacons who were chosen, bringing the start of equity to the collective power of church leadership.
Today’s reading goes on from the Church conflict and creation of the Deacons to talk about the first Deacon named – Stephen; his personal gifts and calling for ministry, how he was received and, ultimately rejected by his fellow believers. Stephen is known not only as one of the first Deacons of the Christian Church, but also as its first martyr.
Stephen was a deeply spiritual person, many verses describe the presence of the Holy Spirit within him, and he ministered that way. Unfortunately, a number of people in his own church were either threatened by his gifts or perhaps challenged too much by them. The long passage immediately following the verses we read this morning, recounts how Stephen handled their hostility which included threats to his life.
Instead of getting defensive, he talk to his fellow believers about the story of their shared faith, going back to Abraham and Joseph, to Moses and the 40 challenging years in the desert, up to the ministry of Jesus. He points out how their ancestors lived out their faith in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances, even threats to their own lives.
Their combined witness had clearly impacted Stephen and, I believe, helped give him the courage to stand up to those who tried to stop him from sharing the faith he held so dear and the ministry it called him to do. Even when his very life was threatened, Stephen continued to live out his faith as those before him had done and impacted those who witnessed these events and who, in turn, passed them down, so that now the impact of Stephen’s witness is part of the story of our faith.
As I read and reflected on Stephen’s story this week it got me thinking about all the stories of those in Church who have had a lasting impact on me and given me encouragement and strength as I seek to live out my faith.
And – ironically, or providentially? – those reflections led me to one of the lasting symbols of ministry that came from those early Deacons and that, today, is worn by almost all pastors – the stole.
As our scripture describes, the ministry of Deacons originated from the church’s practice of distributing food to those in need. At that time, as today, those who brought or served food, usually had a long cloth or towel with them, to help clean the table or area where food was placed. This long cloth became associated with Deacon’s ministry and became what we know now as a stole that was worn around the waist or neck of Deacons.
As we know, it also became common for Pastors to wear stoles. I have heard a number of explanations of their meaning for pastors specifically – including that they are a sign of church leadership and of the yoke of Christ that is taken on at ordination. But my favorite explanation came from a pastor in Indiana many years ago who connected the stole we wear to the story of the caring ministry of Deacons, that it is a reminder that we are called to serve people, both spiritually and practically.
(9am – at this service, we usually don’t wear stoles or robes for that matter, but I am wearing one today) I, like pastor Alex, and many others often wear a stole that reflects the color of the current Church season. Purple for Advent and Lent, Red for Pentecost, White and Gold for Christmas and Easter, and Green for all the time in-between, aka Ordinary Time. It is also common for pastors to have stoles with special designs that communicate other aspects of faith, like intertwined gold rings for a wedding stole, or rainbow colors, like several of my colleagues have, to convey the importance of inclusivity.
I recently saw the stole that this congregation gave to former Associate, Pastor Judy, after she recovered from her serious illness a couple of years – a stole that shows a beautiful blue sky, shining sun, and the green growth of God’s world. What a lovely way to show your appreciation for her!
The stole I’m wearing today was given to me when I graduated from seminary.
As you can see, it is composed of many different pieces of fabric. This stole was designed and made for me by my home church in Cincinnati, where I grew up and received the foundation of my faith. Without my knowing about it, they collected pieces of fabric from the membership over a period of months. During a worship service after graduation, they called me up and presented this stole to me as a surprise.
At first sight, I recognized the biggest piece of cloth at the neck – it was from matching skirts my mom and I had when I was 7 or 8 years old. After that, I caught a glimpse of my brother Tom’s marine uniform from when he served, and almost died, in the first Gulf War.
There was a story behind every piece of material. Along with the stole, I was also presented with a small binder. In it I found from each person, a small swatch of their fabric attached to a card in which they wrote the story behind it and a message of love and support to me. (Show the small binder of cards.)
Later that day, I read all the cards and stories of every person and their piece of fabric.
I re-read them all this week inspired by Stephen’s story and I realized that many of these people are now living in the fullness of Christ, but the way they lived out their faith impacted me as my faith was just developing. The way they witnessed to the ministry of Christ’s justice and equity for all people in my home church and the love and encouragement they gave to me personally continues to impact me today.
I have only been with you for a few months now – but I have already witnessed many such impactful acts of faith from and among you – from the ways you encourage your children and youth, to marching as a Church group in the Pride parade, to your ministries that provide food and shelter for the vulnerable of this community, and how you regularly lift one another up in prayer.
That’s what I’ve seen after only 3 months, I am sure that there are many more stories of faith you have witnessed here that continue to impact your faith. I am equally sure that each of you have impacted others – here and in all the spheres of your life – by the way you live out your faith.
That’s the way our faith works – every act of love, strength, and courage when we are gathered as God’s people impacts those around us, those in our communities and goes with us as we are sent out as God’s people – every day of our lives. Amen.