Acts 7:1-16And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said:
“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. 7 ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
9 “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. 15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, 16 and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
I love Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. It’s a gem of simple, succinct, and Jesus-centered truth. I had not grown up in the Lutheran church, so I never had to memorize it-or I should say, “got to memorize it.” When I was on vicarage, I was assigned to teach 7th grade confirmation. That meant I was teaching the Small Catechism. And I made a deal with the students: Whatever I make you memorize, I will memorize too. It was one of the greatest deals I’ve ever made. I still recall 90% of it today.
One part I have down cold is Luther’s explanation to the Second Article of the Apostle’s Creed:
I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord,
who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death,
that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness,
just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.
[Full disclosure, I copied and pasted this from the catechism so that I would get the correct punctuation and avoid the necessity of correcting my typos as I typed from memory. Honest!]
I really appreciate Luther’s “so that…” in this explanation. Jesus is true God and true man. He did shed his blood to redeem me. I’ve been purchased and won. All this so that I would belong to him and live under King Jesus, serving him in eternal blessed joy.
I’m reminded of this when I read this account of Stephen’s defence. God would redeem his people, rescuing them from slavery in Egypt. And his people did worship him in the desert. It was a remarkable moment of exuberant praise.
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him. – Exodus 15:1-2
Worship is an essential way in which we respond to God’s goodness and grace. Because he has redeemed us, and we are his, we honor him by gathering with others and singing his praises. By this we also encourage one another, and build up the body of Christ. Worship the first response to God’s blessings. Praise comes spontaneously when we receive great gifts. We don’t have to think about standing and cheering when our team wins or our child gets an award. We just stand up and cheer, give our neighbor a high five, whistle and clap our hands.
God has brought us all out of slavery through Jesus’ death on the cross. That reality is sealed by Jesus’ resurrection. Our faith holds this dear. We live and move and have our being in him. His Holy Spirit comforts us and gives us courage along life’s way. God’s pours out his goodness on us each day. Jesus gives us abundant, eternal life, and it begins now.
But the best is yet to come, and all of eternity will lie before us in the life of the world to come. We will be caught up in wonder, love and praise. For we will see more fully the breadth of God’s grace and his praise will ring on our lips forever and ever. Worship – true worship – is not a forced compliance. It is the unstoppable expression of glory, honor, praise, and adoration from the redeemed of God to the God of our salvation. Let the praises ring!
David Bahn - Reflections 
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