Covered Ears

Whenever I read Acts, I am amazed how the Holy Spirit worked through the apostles and how different people's responses to the message of Gospel. Especially, the story of Stephen's persecution gives me deep thoughts. When Peter spread the gospel boldly at the first time right after Pentecost, lots of people responsed with deep rependent "When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37) However, when Stephen was testifying Jesus, people even did not want to hearit and stoned him to die. "At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him." (Act 7:57) Why did people respond totally opposite? Was that matter of difference of Peter and Stephen's messages? Was Peter better than Stephen? Was not Stephen in the Holy Spirit? No, not at all.
Both of them were fully in the Holy Spirit and the messages were both same about Jesus Christ, the Gospel. As I saw both, particularly Stephen was full of mercy and love of God toward those people who even stoned him to death. We can't judge or determin that only certain one was the work of God. It leads me to in deep thoughts about myself and people's hearts. I sometimes try to determine God's work through people's responses. If I do not see people's positive responses to God's work through me, I become either guilty that I am not filled by the Holy Spirit, or not well prepared in prayers. However, God keeps telling me that I do not have a right to even determine by people's response. If we see after Stephen's persecution, there were countless things happened by the Holy Spirit through the persecution, including Saul becoming Paul and so on. My eyes are so narrow that can't see further than an inch.
People who lived in two thousand years ago were very same as now people live in 21 century. Even though people looked better in some ways under civilization process in this modern world, it seems we are worse. Paul's describtion in 2 Timothy 3 about people shows well. "Peopel will be loversof themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-having a form of godliness but denying its power-Have nothing to do with then." It scares me deeply because it describes exactly who we are now in many ways. We do not cover our ears outside like what they did to Stephen, and we come to church on Sundays, and do stuff in form of godliness. However, do we believe in power of Holy Spirit? I am not saying that I am not one of us. I am one of us. I need to repent deeply that I have lived powerlessly as a christian. "Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison. Lord, please have mercy on us and open our ears!"