Good Morning Friends,
Today is the Feast Day of Saint Stephen, the second day of Christmas. And I am drawn in the experience of remembering the story of Kierkegaard’s famous “The King & the Maiden” parable. I will leave it to you to look it up and read it if you are not familiar with it. Anyway, it has some obvious links to the Song of Solomon and also the story of the paradoxical event of the Incarnation and its significance for us this Christmas season. It shows what God had to do to meet us – become a lowly one of us. I imagine that to God; we are the ones now needing to extend the relationship. The method of entering into this relationship for Christ was leaving a glorious throne and becoming limited, for the Infinite became finite. And now today I would like to extend the story suggesting that our suffering of service can become a signature of Christ’s presence in us in sharing the message of the season. You see there is a connection between serving with conviction and sacrificing our pride and privilege. Even years after the fact, Paul could not forget the face of Stephen as he sat on trial before the Sanhedrin. Even now we might begin to connect the dots to the songs we sing in honor of those who have served faithfully. So, Do You Have The Face Of An Angel When You Serve?
Scripture: Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59 (NRSV)
Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Matthew 10:17-22 (NRSV)
Message: The only hymn about Stephen I am familiar with is Good King Wenceslas and I am sure there are many more, but I have not been exposed to them. It starts out as follows: “Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen, when the snow lay round about, deep, and crisp and even. “The song is a little odd for a Christmas Carol because in a way it connects death, service, and Christmas, which is not so odd really when one thinks about it but honestly it is not the way everyone celebrates the holidays. And really it is about Saint Wenceslas of Bohemia as much as it is about Stephen. However, I think it would be helpful to us in understanding the hymn and also the feast day to return to the Scriptures and the role of deacons and their connection to Christ. You see Stephen was a man ordained an anointed with the very first group of deacons in the early Church, perhaps within a year or two of the first Pentecost outpouring. The Church in Jerusalem was growing quickly. Jews and converts to Judaism had been believing in the Resurrected Jesus and being baptized from the very first day. The Apostles, all of whom were still in the Holy City, were overworked, because they were taking care of the secular role of the Church, especially feeding the poor, along with leading prayer in the Temple and preaching the Gospel. Exhausted, they looked for a solution, and, as they had found customary, the Holy Spirit answered in prophecy. They were to set aside seven men who had already performed some leadership roles to take over the tasks of care and hospitality. They soon were called “deacons,” after one of the Greek words for service. Of the seven named in Acts, Stephen and Philip were certainly the most prominent. If the deacons were ordained for service but quickly expanded their roles. We see Philip, for instance, going to Samaria and even on the road to Ethiopia, preaching and baptizing. Stephen preached the Gospel too but got a hostile reception, and when he persisted in arguing with fundamentalist Jews, he was killed. The postscript is that Paul, a member of the synagogue known as Saul to them agreed with the murder, and eventually extended the persecution of the Church beyond Jerusalem. And this happened before his vision of the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus. And, as we all know Saul, whose Roman name was Paul would go on to do great things in the name of Jesus. But the story of Paul, although interesting, is not the key connection between today’s feast and Saint Wenceslas. The connection is the service that Stephen was ordained in the first place to do. You see all Christians are called to a triple vocation which we hear about and affirm in our worship and confessions. We learn that we are to imitate Jesus Christ’s incarnation in the offices of prophet, priest, and servant leaders. The connection to Kierkegaard’s parable and Saint Stephen and King Wenceslas is the spiritually anointing in servant leadership that imitates Christ.
And So, Jesus Christ led by serving. So did Stephen. So did Wenceslas. So, should all of us, attracting humanity to a relationship with God and experiencing God in the process. For the thing is that in this dark world, we need to shine for Jesus Christ like Stephen’s face shined. We need to get off our thrones and be humble in service of those who hunger for a relationship with the divine. And to do this we like Stephen need to seek to be full of faith. We need to seek words of wisdom and faithfulness in the face of life, not being fair. We need to have a radiant relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that extends to others in love. Friends, Stephen has the distinction of being the first to ever sacrifice his life for the cause of the Risen Christ. His commitment to Christ was unwavering, and his devotion was unending in the face of real opposition. We would do well to mimic him for we all must die, and it would be hoped that our death as well as life counted for something good. And the amazing thing is that in the imitation there is a hope in each of us that in life and in death our actions would count for something good. Stephen was a man who wore many hats. He was a deacon, and evangelist but also a saint and a martyr who was more influential than most give him credit. His connection to the conversion of Paul turned the tide. How he died is one of the greatest witnesses ever given for it is filled with the Holy Spirit and the invisible working of God’s power manifested in an angelic face that shares the message of Christmas.
Pray on this the second day of Christmas that we unwrap our spiritual gifts. Pray the Spirit of our conviction and devotion is palatable. Pray
that we like Stephen have the confidence of believing we will someday be with Jesus. Pray we give ourselves to God to be used by God. Pray we serve in ministry to those vulnerable in need of support. Pray we are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom and continue to grow in grace. Pray we have a grace that extends beyond salvation to the gifts we have been given so we might accomplish great things for the kingdom of God. Pray we realize that those who present stumbling blocks to the work of Jesus are ignorant of what they do and need our prayers. Pray we learn to serve imitating the love of Christ.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 