“You can bury the workmen, but the work will go on”
When Jon Lowry wrote these words, it was a testament to those great men and women of God who lived a life of service and sacrifice. Over the years, history has given us many amazing men and women of God who worked tirelessly for the Kingdom of God, and the history also gives us people who tried to bury this workmen, and they succeeded, they buried the workmen, but the work they started still goes on. And there’s nobody in God’s green earth who can bury the work they started. The Bible gives us people who were buried, but the fruit of their work is the reason we enjoy this fellowship and joy we have. There’s countless men and women, and the first recorded workman who was buried was Stephen.
Stephen was one of the seven men chosen to be responsible over the distribution of food to widows in the early church after a dispute arose and the apostles recognised they needed help. He was also “full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people”. Opposition arose, but the men who argued with Stephen were no match for the wisdom given him by the Holy Spirit. So, the men decided to falsely accuse Stephen, labelling him a blasphemer and having him arrested and stoned. Stephen was an apostle during the early days of the church. He was one of the appointed one, filled with the Spirit and knowledge and was called to serve the Lord. But the religious fanatics, were against the work he was doing and could not stand the thought of Stephen doing the work of the Lord. Now, Stephen was a workmen the enemy tried to bury, but the work still goes on. Stephen teaches us that the blood of the martyr is the seed of the church. Where Stephen fell, the church began to grow.
The stoning of Stephen was one of the most shocking incidents in the New Testament, a stark demonstration of the hatred Jerusalem’s religious authorities had for Jesus Christ and his followers. But more than that, it set the stage for the spread of Christianity to the rest of the known world. Because of this violent persecution, Christians began fleeing Jerusalem, and wherever they went, they took the gospel with them. They buried Stephen, but the work which began through Stephen, echoed throughout the continents. Every persecuted believer who went around the world, took this and went around the globe, bringing joy and peace to the lives of people. The enemy only saw a fallen workman, the enemy didn’t see his work spread like a fire across the nations.
Though the stones took a life, that fallen life saved countless others!