Knees. Knees are funny looking, some are knobby, some stick out, and some even have dimples. Knees are made up of bones, tendons, ligaments and cartilage. Knees facilitate motion, make it easier to walk, and possible to hop, skip and run. Knees allow us to bend down and to squat. If your knee is ever rendered immobile by a cast or brace, you realize how much more difficult any type of movement is.
As a little child I associated knees with something else. I grew up in a church with “kneelers.” These were little cushioned benches that pulled down from the pew in front of you and made it easier for you to kneel through parts of the service. I learned to associate knees with kneeling in prayer.
As an adult I associated knees with an altar call. The minister would, at some point in the service, invite people to come down front for prayer. People would rise from their seats and walk down front, and there they would drop to their knees at an altar, sometimes praying alone, and sometimes praying with others. Knees and prayer are associated.
As I was reading in Acts this past week, I read about the martyrdom of Stephen. At the very moment Stephen’s life was taken from him, he dropped to his knees. “While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep.” [Acts 7]
Stephen prayed forgiveness on those who were killing him. Standing there watching and agreeing to Stephen’s death was a man named Saul, Saul of Tarsus, the man who would later become Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles. Stephen’s prayer for forgiveness went in two directions. It went to the throne of God, and it went to the ears and possibly the hearts of his listeners.
We aren’t told what effect it had on Paul’s heart, but I am convinced that later when Paul looked back on his life and saw his persecution of the church, including his assent to Stephen’s martyrdom, he also heard Stephen’s words of forgiveness. I know God heard.
