St. Stephen's Day; Christmas Day's Odd Follow-Up

               This weekend we celebrate St. Stephen’s Day, one of the first Deacons and the first martyr of the Christian faith.  I think it is fitting that the Church, after celebrating the rapturous joy of the birth of Jesus, remembers the first martyrdom of Christianity.  Christian spirituality is always playing with light and shadows; in order to be a bearer of light, it is always honest about the shadows and darkness in this world.  In Christianity neither joy or suffering are avoided; both are embraced and revered.

                

              Stephen was one of seven men chosen by the apostles to be in charge of administering the distribution of food and to aid in setting the table.  In the early church of the apostles it came to the community’s attention that the Greek-speaking widows were being neglected by the church.  Whether the offense was intentional or unintentional their cry came to the apostles’ attention, and the apostles brought the community together to come up with a solution.  The solution was the ordination of seven men who would administer the food and aid in setting the table for the Eucharist (meal).  Though the word “deacon” is not used as it is in later Scriptures, these seven are traditionally recognized as the first deacons.  What is important is we see the rites of Christian ordination being used for the first time:  “They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. (Acts 6:6).”  In churches who maintain the apostolic succession, this tradition of ordination still takes place.  So in the first part of Stephen’s story we see that he was ordained and set to administer and serve; he was a servant.  This, however, is not why he was executed.

              

         “Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. (Acts 6:8)”  We also learn that Stephen was a preacher and defender of the Christian faith in synagogues.  We read he was very talented in debating, which eventually led him to be brought in front of the Council of Priests on charges of blasphemy.  In front of the council, Stephen goes into a long speech reciting the history of the covenant with God and Israel.  He ends with:

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.  Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?  They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murders.  You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it. (Acts 7: 51-53)”

THAT did it.  Challenge the authority and you are bound to suffer the consequences; and he did.  He was dragged out of the city and stoned. 

“While they were stoning Stephen he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’  When he said this, he died. (Acts 7:59-60).” 

                

           There are a few reflections I have on St. Stephen. One is that he was a servant.  He did that job which the apostles thought themselves too important to do:   “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables.”  And though he took on the role of “least” among them, he became the greatest:  God honored him with being the first martyr.

          Second, you cannot separate Stephen’s servanthood from his faith, his very ardent and courageous faith.  I was reading “Unexpected Consequences” by Susan Watson-Epting (a book on the modern Episcopal Diaconate) and she told the story of someone being interviewed to be a deacon.  The question was asked, “What is the difference between Christian Charity and Social Service?” The young lady’s answer after a reflective pause, “Jesus.”  Stephen’s faith and his servant-role could not be separated. Third, and like unto the second, you cannot separate his ardent preaching and witness from his servanthood.  You cannot look only at his speech or only at his martyrdom…you will miss something of this man.  As a Deacon he was both a proclaimer of the Kingdom of God, and a servant to all in the community. 

         Lastly, I think it is important to reflect on Stephen’s Christian Witness of Forgiveness.  He ended his life with a vision: “’Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’”  And then Stephen, though demonized and brutally murdered, ended his life by forgiving others and interceding for them before God.  This witness is so different from what we see in religion today.   

        So today, as we eat leftovers, and come down from the Christmas “high” (though Christmas does continue for 12 days), let us remember another aspect of being Christian; it is not just about celebration (as we do for Christmas), but it is sometimes about witness, servanthood and suffering (as we see in the example of St. Stephen).  Life, like God, usually demands all of our humanity.           

On the Last Day of Advent

So we have arrived at the end of Advent.  The preparations are to be completed and now we are about to experience the “main event.”  The last day of Advent is usually overshadowed by being called Christmas Eve, even though it is not evening yet, and some of the readings of today are sometimes overshadowed. But I believe to neglect them would miss some last preparations for our celebrations tonight.

In Baruch we are given a magnanimous invitation: 

“Look towards the east, O Jerusalem, and see the joy that is coming to you from God…take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on the beauty of the glory from God.  Put on the robe of righteousness that comes from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting…For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with mercy and righteousness that come from him.  (Baruch 4:36-5:9)”   This is quite a different tone from the other books we have been reading during Advent. 

In the Gospel of Luke we actually hear of another birth taking place, not of our Lord.  We hear the “Song of Zechariah” as his son John is born:

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.  He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from old, that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.  Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, that we being rescued form the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, child (John), will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.  By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in to the way of peace. (Luke 1:68-79)”

And if again we skip just slightly ahead to tonight’s Daily Office reading, not the lectionary, we get Isaiah:

“Truth is lacking, and whoever turns from evil is despoiled.  The Lord saw it, and it displeased him there was no justice.  He saw that there was no one, and was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm brought him victory, and his righteousness upheld him…And he will come to Zion as Redeemer, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, says the Lord. 

And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouths of your children, or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now on and forever. (Isaiah 59: 15-21).

We are upon the Christmas Season and there will be plenty of sermons about the poverty of the Holy Family, and how that relates to social justice today.  Obviously, this is a good message, but for those who have been on the Advent journey: we have been there.  There will be talk on how we need to value every human life; that human dignity should be revered, and we should see in every child our Lord who was in that state.  Obviously this is a good message, but for those of us who have been on the Advent journey: we have been there.  Maybe it will be on God cares for the world and for human affairs...again...we have been there.  We have covered in great deal the call of the prophets and Jesus, and our need to repent.  So where do we go from here?

When I look at these readings what I get is something to the effect of: “Behold! The Lord our God is acting!  God is moving!  God is keeping God’s promises and is initiating our redemption.”  On the Last Day of Advent, the message is turning from “Repent!” to “Behold!”  We see God is moving in history.  That the climactic event of The Resurrection, which was caused by Jesus’ execution, which was caused by his teachings and life, which was initiated by John the Baptist’s Ministry, which was initiated by his birth in Gospel in Luke, which has its ties back through salvation history to the Covenant with Abraham…this all is initiated by God.  We see God has moved this story along; and in faith, we know God is moving!

“He saw that there was no one, and was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm brought him victory, and his righteousness upheld him.”

Tonight and tomorrow as many of celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, I think it is important to remember not so much the poor and marginalized for tonight (can you believe I am saying this?); but remember that we worship a God who is good; who initiates; who acts despite us; who acts as “prime mover” in the universe, the world and our lives.  The poor you will always have with you, but on this night, with the poor, with the marginalized, with our friends, with our family, with all humanity let us “Behold!”  God is about to act; with Advent-eyes are we ready for it?

The Baptismal Covenant and the Gospel of the Deacon

^{This weekend we have the infamous Matthew 25:31-45.  This Gospel is one my favorites as it addresses my ontological understanding of myself as a Christian and my calling to be a Deacon.  In other words it is the reading that I feel most defines my calling:
 
31} “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³ and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴ Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸ And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹ And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,^[a] you did it to me.’ ⁴¹ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

So “Sermons from a Postulant,” are sermons from one who has been approved by the Bishop to pursue Holy Orders for a particular office (Deacon or Priest).  The office I am being called to is that of a Deacon in the Church (Episcopal).  This reading epitomizes my ontological understanding of my vocation and my role as a baptized Christian.  It is in this Gospel we clearly see a message that transcends cultural and historical boundaries; we hear a very clear message: Christ is found in other people, God is found in other people…when we serve the least of among us we serve Christ himself.  When we neglect, abuse, mistreat these people we do the same to our Lord.  The opportunity to serve God in very real way is shown in this Gospel, and it lies and reinforces the core of our Baptismal Covenant as Episcopalians and the vocation of Deacon in the Church.

In our Baptismal Covenant we are asked several questions that deal with this issue of seeking and serving Christ in other persons, and respecting the dignity of all human beings.  These questions are:

Celebrant: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

People [of the Covenant]: I will with God’s help.

Celebrant: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

People [of the Covenant]: I will with God’s help.

In both our Scripture and our Tradition we are called as the people of God to ensure the dignity of all human beings in service to Jesus Christ.  There can be no separation in being faithful to God and working to meet the needs of others.  You cannot “love Jesus” and neglect your neighbor. 

One way to live out this love and faithfulness is to maintain the dignity of every human being regardless of the judgements of human systems.  The Gospel mentions the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger (?!?!), the naked, the sick, and those in prison.  This is NOT a metaphor; this is the searing-hot command from Christ and the Spirit.  And who else has lost their value and dignity because of human judgements, actions, and systems?  When you seek and serve Christ in Muslims, migrants, porn stars, the mentally-ill, the drug addicts, the prostitutes (both male and female), the homeless…you serve Christ Himself.  This IS the very radical “up-ending” of the Kingdom of God. 

In my examination and vows Scripture and our Baptismal Covenant is echoed:

“My brother, every Christian is called to follow Jesus Christ, serving God the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit.  God now calls you to a special ministry of servanthood directly under your bishop.  In the name of Jesus Christ, you are to serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick and the lonely…You are to make Christ and his redemptive love known, by your word and example, to those among whom you live, and work, and worship.  You are to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world…At all times, your life and teaching are to show Christ’s people that in serving the helpless they are serving Christ himself.”

Certain questions are then asked that are unique to the Deacon including:

Bishop: Will you look for Christ in all others, being ready to help and serve those in need?
Answer: I will.

Bishop:  Will you in all things seek not your glory but the glory of the Lord Christ?
Answer: I will.

I can only understand my Ordination Examination and Vows through this Gospel lens.  The vestments don’t matter (gasp), the processions don’t matter, dare I say the buildings and the liturgy they are all subordinate to this one particular task:  That my people continue in the redemptive work of the Messiah by showing love and mercy to the least of these; by taking the radical act of loving all persons regardless of their worldly status; by being a constant loving presence in this fast-paced cold and isolated world.  By treating the stranger and the neglected as our brothers and sisters and friends.  In this way we will help save the world.  In this way we will meet our Lord in the flesh on earth, and make his love known…and in the process by giving to others, we will receive more than we could have hoped or imagined.

It is not pretty work…if it were, well, we wouldn’t need a Savior would we?

I call on all of us as people of the Covenant, to serve our Lord directly...by seeking out those who are the least among us, and love them.  “Truly I tell you, just as you did to the least of those who are members of my family, you did it to me.”