A Meditation for the Feast of St. Stephen
Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our Father in heaven and from Jesus Christ our Lord—
Beloved Saints in Christ,
It happens fast, doesn’t it? The Christmas season is off to a fast start. We were gathered Friday singing the carols of the Church and then again up until midnight under the light of candles with a mind on our Lord’s birth in Bethlehem…coming as a light to lighten the Gentiles. As we gathered again yesterday morning, we heard the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Word of God was made flesh and made His dwelling among us. God became one of us to take upon our sin that by His death we might be freed from those sins and live eternally with Him in His kingdom which shall have no end.
As we gather this morning, we see that the world has moved on. There were plenty of trees by the road. The radio in your car that was likely set to a station that has been playing Christmas music for months was suddenly “back to normal” this morning. Instead of the likes of “Angels We have Heard on High” and “What Child is This?” you were met with Journey and Katy Perry. But for us, the season has just begun.
Yet on this, the Second Day of Christmas, we’re no longer in the shepherd’s field. We’re not by the manger looking over the shoulder of Mary. And we’re not quite to the arrival of the Magi. Instead, we meet St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. In only the matter of one day, we’ve left the house with baby Jesus, and blood is being shed. What was for a moment a peaceful and silent night has turned again to the chaos and evil of the world that only seeks to shed the blood of God’s own. It happened fast, didn’t it? It’s probably not quite what you were expecting.
I imagine St. Stephen had that same mind as well. Everything happened fast for him, too. In the beginning of Acts 6, seven had been chosen to serve to assist in the daily distribution. Stephen was among those seven chosen. Then our portion of the text from Acts begins.
Stephen was already doing great signs and wonders, but there were those who rose up to dispute with him, but they could not overcome him in the debate. Stephen was too wise in the ways of the Scriptures. And just like we saw with Jesus, when the opponents couldn’t win the debate, the result wasn’t for them to follow in the way of the truth, it was to conspire against him. And so they did. They lied about him and accused him of blasphemy. They seized him and dragged him in front of the council. One by one they brought false witness against him…just like they did against Jesus. It happened for him so fast! He had only just been chosen to serve!
Then our text skips nearly fifty verses of the Scriptures. Although they are skipped in the lectionary, they are important nonetheless. For in those verses, Stephen lays out for them the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He tells the story of Joseph and Egypt…of Moses and the Exodus. He brings to their mind the wilderness and tells them plainly that as their fathers did, so do they. They are in active resistance to the Holy Spirit. He tells them that what was happening and about to happen again has been going on from days of old. They have always killed the prophets and messengers of the Word.
But still, their eyes were closed, and they became enraged…so much so that they were gnashing their teeth at him. And when Stephen confessed to seeing the Lord Jesus glorified at and seated in power, they screamed out loud and rushed at him. They threw him out of the city and stoned him to death. It happened fast.
Now, I’ll admit that celebrating the Feast of St. Stephen on its regular day wasn’t the most comfortable thing to settle on. It would have been much more “Christmas-y” to go into the temple with Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus to meet Simeon and Anna as is typical on the First Sunday after Christmas instead of hearing the account of the first Christian martyr. It would make sense to spread the joy to the world throughout the twelve days since the Lord is come rather than focusing on blood and death.
But historically that’s not how the season begins. It begins instead with the martyrdom of Stephen. Tomorrow is the Feast of St. John. And while he’s the only apostle to have died in a “good old age,” he was no stranger to persecution as he was not only exiled but put into a boiling cauldron of oil. Then the next day is when the Church remembers the slaughter of the baby boys of Judea.
What we expect isn’t the way things come to pass. It reminds me of Moses’ return to Egypt. The savior of God’s people was present to bring the people out of bondage. But what happened next? It’s not salvation for the people. It’s instead harder labor as Pharaoh stopped supplying straw for the bricks. When the savior Moses came, things appeared to get worse. But little did God’s people know that salvation was coming whether they recognized it or not.
In the same way, it seems strange to begin Christmas with a martyr. But one of the early Church fathers, Tertullian, rightly said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” As a direct result of Stephen’s death, the Church was scattered throughout all Judea and Samaria. The very thing the enemies were trying to stop with the stoning of Stephen, namely the Gospel, actually spread in the scattering of the Church. The enemy can try as he might and may even sometimes look to be winning, but God is bringing His salvation forth to all the nations through what looks like even the worst of circumstances.
For a few decades now, there has been a big deal made about a “war on Christmas.” It comes up all the time. First, it happened because employees of stores couldn’t say “Merry Christmas.” They had to say, “Happy Holidays.” Then it showed back up when people weren’t allowed to sell “Christmas trees.” They had to sell “holiday trees.” It seemed innocent enough. But what started as a simple semantics was revealed in full last year when we were told by our overlords that celebrating Christmas at all would bring death to thousands of people. It’s no surprise that kind of rhetoric has reared its ugly head again. Notice it didn’t happen around Halloween or even Thanksgiving. It didn’t surround the Jewish holiday of Chanukah which was only a few weeks ago. It had to be Christmas.
See, ultimately the war isn’t on Christmas at all. It’s against Christ and His body, the Church. It always has been. Perhaps that’s why there are these three seemingly out of place feast days back to back to back. Each has to do with the world…the enemies of Christ… attempting to stop the Word of Christ from going forth. And if the Word were merely a sound going out, well, you could plug up your ears and act as if nothing is happening. But the Word is far more than a simple sound. The Word is Jesus Christ Himself who became flesh and made His dwelling among us.
And that’s what stirs the enemies of Jesus to the most anger. Winning isn’t as simple as silencing a mere sound. Jesus became flesh and stood in their midst. They couldn’t avoid Him. And Stephen, in like manner, did the same thing. While they were accusing him and bearing false witness against him, he stood with the Word, and they killed him for it.
In a way, nothing has changed on either side. The world still tries to eliminate the Word going to endless lengths to do so. This year, like last year, it’s scaring you with death. What will it be next year? It won’t take much. Christmas falls on a Sunday, so in all likelihood, many will take care of it themselves and close their churches that day justifying their decision saying, “We love Jesus, but Christmas is time for family!”
Yet from the side of Christ and the Church, there’s no cowering in fear. The Word continues to go forth. It cannot be stopped. For even as Jesus was silenced upon the cross in death, He rose again from the dead. He spoke once again and breathed out His Spirit upon His apostles. They carried the banner forward and their disciples after them.
The banner is ours to carry today in the face of a still hostile world. How are we to fight? Just like Stephen. Just like Jesus. With the Holy Scriptures…the Word of God…which is the sword of the Spirit. It doesn’t seem like much of a weapon, but it’s the only thing that can change the hearts and minds of the enemies of God. And if it doesn’t…well…the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.
In the end, we trust like Stephen trusted, that even if we become martyrs ourselves, there is a resurrection from the dead. It’ll happen faster than anything we could imagine. And in that day, no more will sin and sorrows grow nor thorns infest the ground: Christ will come to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found, and in so doing will make all things new…even the bodies of those slain for the sake of the Gospel…even you. In the name of the Father and of the ƚ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus now and forever. Amen.