St. Stephen, Deacon and Martyr
It is interesting…
Sometimes the church moves so slowly that it seems it takes “forever” for it to act…
And at other times, it moves so swiftly it is difficult to catch your breath and to even be aware of your bearings…
I could have sworn that a little more than 24 hours ago – I was talking about the birth of a savior, who came to save, redeem and free us from our sin.
That was then, this is now.
The church has moved on. We have shifted gears. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow…
Tonight we celebrate the death of St. Stephen, deacon and Martyr in the life of the very early church.
The celebration of St. Stephen actually precedes the celebration of Christmas. It was a date that was celebrated first, Christmas came later…
So, we actually hop in our time machine and fast forward a few decades in time.
After Jesus died, it took a while for his followers to settle down and get organized, and the process was no easier then, than it ever has been since.
Apparently there were problems galore of an organizational nature.
One of the earliest conflicts had to do with how to take care of the poor, especially the widows who could not support themselves.
The Apostle’s (those sent out by Jesus) decided to appoint a group of men to handle this side of things, on their behalf. One of the guys appointed, was “a very young man” by the name of Stephen.
Unfortunately, his career was a short one which is why he was remembered so early on – in the life of the fledgling church.
Jesus was actually the one, who had got Stephen concerned about the poor in the first place.
His official title was deacon. Stephen was set apart with six other men for service to the widows and the poor. At the time of their appointment – there were apostles and deacons. There was no clergy, yet!
In addition to doing what he could for the poor, Stephen also did what he could to spread the word about Jesus. He healed, he preached and he talked about how his own life had been changed, and it wasn’t long before the Jewish authorities called him in – to defend his preaching, as best he could.
As far as the religious authorities were concerned – this young kid was another bad apple – and these followers of the Christ needed to be dealt with – swiftly…once and for all.
Perhaps they wanted to make an example of him. Perhaps they wanted to show others that such preaching and teaching would not be tolerated. Perhaps they just wanted to eradicate and “snuff-out” this whole Jesus group – one guy – at a time.
Stephen does this big long anti-Jewish speech.
They have always been an ornery lot – going back to Moses and beyond. They never listened. They always bickered and rebelled. There was never a saint or a prophet that they didn’t have it in for… They were hard-hearted and stubborn. And when it came to Jesus…they were really at their worst. They neither knew nor understood that they had killed God’s messenger, his Messiah.
They were obviously enraged by the rhetoric and to apparently prove him right – they plugged up their ears – so they didn’t have to listen to anymore.
And then, irony of ironies they decided to silence him once and for all – by taking him out and stoning him to death! So much for the treatment of God’s messengers…
Stoning someone to death, even somebody as young, strong and healthy as Stephen isn’t easy. You don’t get the job done with the first forty or fifty rocks…even when the man falls to the ground.
Accuracy has a big part to play. It is a long hot – time consuming business. To get the best shots off – they needed to strip to the waist…meaning someone had to hold and watch over their clothing.
The guy they got – was an arch-conservative Jew by the name of Saul –of Tarsus, who gladly assisted with the demise of Stephen. It was a scene that would never be forgotten by the early church. It became etched in the corporate memory.
Stephen was the first person to shed blood for the new faith he loved more than life itself. His memory has always been a blessing for the church. We remember, but unfortunately – We never forget.