The Feast of St. Stephen, 2009
Text: Acts
The Rev. Jerry Kistler
St. Stephen’s Reformed Episcopal Church
“St. Stephen: The Joyful Martyr”
But what’s so important about
St. Stephen that we would celebrate his day? I mean, after all, he was only a
deacon! We call St. Stephen the Proto-martyr, the first martyr for Christ. And
in a day and age when “martyrdom” has take on a whole new meaning, it almost
seems improper to observe a martyr’s day the day after Christmas. Just when
family and friends have been gathered together to celebrate Christ’s birth, it
seem almost sacrilegious to dwell upon death. Here we are still basking in the
newness of life born to us in the babe in the manger, and suddenly we’re thrust
into a scene of murderous violence. It doesn’t seem to fit the message of
“peace on earth, goodwill towards men,” we hear so much of this time of year. To
speak of martyrs during these twelve days of Christ seems, well, almost
inappropriate.
The Church, though, in
defiance of all cultural expectations for keeping a merry Christmas, directs
her children to mark a death the day after Christ’s birth. For the fundamental
reason that the Good News of Christmas is that our Savior was born among us
sinners, who are all under the sentence of death, in order to die for our sins.
That’s why we’re observing St. Stephen’s Day today, lest any of us forget the real reason for the season. Why do you
think the last gift of the Wise Men was myrrh, an embalming ointment for
burial? Some gift to give to a newborn! It’s not just a meaningless detail of
the story. The impending death of this Infant when He grew to be a Man is the
only right basis of any true Christmas joy. Any “spirit of Christmas” that bids
us find our joy in anything other than the cross of
our Lord is not the Spirit of the true Christ of Christmas; it’s another
spirit.
The amazing thing about St.
Stephen is that he shows himself most filled with joy and the Holy Spirit, just
on the brink of his untimely death. Stephen’s eyes shined with pure joy as he
looked up and saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God. The book of Acts
says that those who looked upon Stephen saw his face as it had been the face of
an angel. And yet that face was about to be shattered beyond recognition by rocks
thrown from hateful hands. What an odd lesson God teaches us today: that our
great joy, our Christmas joy, lies in death – in the death of His Son, and in
our own death when we depart this life to be with Christ, which is a far, far
better thing than to live under the shadow and power of the curse. Death means
the final destruction of our Old Adam as we wait in hope for the resurrection
of the body.
The Apostle Paul – Saul the
Pharisee in his former life – willfully participated in the stoning of Stephen.
But after he was converted, the repentant Paul realized what a genuine blessing
Stephen had experienced in and through his cruel martyrdom. Paul would go on to
write how he longed to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, and how
he yearned also to share in Christ’s sufferings to fill up in his own body what
was lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of the Church. His great
confession became: To live is Christ, to die is gain.
Now all this talk about the
“joy of death” probably sounds still a bit incongruous to talk about here just
days after Christmas. It certainly doesn’t appeal to my own comfort-loving
flesh. I’d rather just keep on thinking about presents and laughter and lots of
good food. But to understand why the Apostle Paul teaches us that our death in
Christ is something to devoutly long for, we must recall all
that he witnessed in the martyrdom of St. Stephen. Paul looked at
Stephen, and like the rest, he saw the face of Stephen like a face of an angel.
Stephen’s face was like the face of an angel because Stephen was looking upon
the glorified Christ. Stephen’s face reflected the light and the glory of the
One he confessed as Lord and Savior. Jesus himself said that those who were
deemed worthy to attain to the age to come would be sons of God and equal to
the angels. And so, on the verge of his martyr’s departure form earthly life,
Stephen’s beatific destiny in Christ became manifest in his angelic face.
You see, ultimately we will all
reflect that which we now fix our gaze upon in our hearts. We show forth in our
lives that which we love and trust in above all things, that which we look to
before anything else. Sad to say, very often that which we are fixing our gaze
upon and looking to most is not the Lord Jesus Christ. No, it is almost always
ourselves that we are in some way or another looking to, attending to, and
fixing our self loving gaze upon.
But through St. Stephen, God
calls us today to turn away from ourselves and to fix our eyes on Jesus. In His
great love He has purchased us from the mastery of our old selves and has made
us His own. And in His great love He has done all that is necessary to save us,
as He said from the cross, “It is finished.”
The words Stephen spoke as he
was dying were a reflection of Jesus’ own words as He died: “Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do.” To us who look to Christ in faith, God
forgives us and no longer holds our sins against us. Rather, we poor sinners
are given to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus. We’re even given to
reflect that glory we behold by faith. We become brilliant with a righteousness
that is not our own, a righteousness that is ours by virtue of our union with
Jesus Christ the Righteous.
By the working of the Holy
Spirit, we, like St. Stephen, look unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith. And as we do that, the Bible teaches that we
are being transfigured into the likeness of Christ.
Is that what you’re looking
to? Are you turning your eyes heavenward and setting your gaze upon Christ to
fulfill all your hopes, all your longings for everlasting joy? We’ve been
reminded today that Christ is our new and true self, to whom we are joined by
His holy birth and our baptism into His death and resurrection. Paul say, “If
then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not
on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden
with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also
will appear with Him in glory.”
May God enable us, just as He
enabled St. Stephen, to look up and to long for Christ’s coming, whether it be
on the last day of our lives, or the Last Day of all days, and to entrust
ourselves to His promise, that one day He will change our corruptible bodies to
be like His glorious body by the power that enables Him to subdue all things to
Himself. +
(Much of the above is adapted from a sermon by the
Rev. Aaron Koch, who adapted his sermon from the Rev. Stephen Wiest)