Text: Acts 6-7
Date: St. Stephen, Martyr + Christmas I X 12/26/10
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI
It may seem strange, even odd, that on only the second day of our joyful celebration of Christmas the liturgical calendar seems to want to dampen our spirits with three days marking the histories of the deaths, today the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr both in will and in deed, then tomorrow St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, a martyr only in will and not in deed as it is said he died a natural death in Ephesus ages 98 years, and finally The Holy Innocents, those baby boys in the region of Bethlehem who were murdered by Herod’s forces as he tried to wipe out the threatened rival called the newborn King of the Jews, martyrs all in deed though not will. However, as with the Church’s commemoration of all the saints, these days are said to be the actual day of their deaths, or, better, their “heavenly birthdays,” all of which, of course, preceded the Church’s choice of the twenty-fifth December for the celebration of the incarnation and birth of Christ. Yet whether by happenstance or some other plan this fact does call us to remember that the true celebration of Christmas, much less of any part or doctrine of the Christian Gospel, must be done in faith. Such faith needs to be confessed before one another and the world. And the record of the New Testament and the saints and martyrs teach us that such confession of faith will always be an offense and challenge to the world of people who do not accept salvation as a gift of God but prefer to attempt to be saved, if at all, by the accumulation of their own good works. Continue reading “Stephen, Full of Grace and Power”