Homily for January 1, 2012

Our Parish's feast day, St. Stephen, fell on the Monday after Christmas. This year we exercised the option of celebrating it on the Sunday following Christmas which was January 1. My homily from that celebration follows:

Today we are celebrating the life and example of our patron saint, Stephen. His name means crown. Rather poetically fitting since he was the first to receive the martyr=s crown, having been killed by a crowed who were opposed to his preaching.

In our first lesson, Jeremiah speaks against the people of Jerusalem and the Temple. The people are sinning against God and and the prophet warns them that God will destroy them if they do not amend their ways.

Jeremiah's story is much like Stephen's. He speaks to the crowds and is rushed by them because they don't like his message. They plan to kill him but Jeremiah does manage to get away.

The story we heard form Acts, is part of a larger passage that recounts the progress of the Jerusalem community which includes a lengthy narrative regarding Stephen.

Stephen's defense is not a response to the charges made against him but takes the form of a discourse that reviews the fortunes of God's word to Israel and leads to a prophetic declaration: a plea for the hearing of that word as announced by Christ and now possessed by the Christian community. The charges that Stephen depreciated the importance of the temple and the Mosaic Law and elevated Jesus to a stature above Moses (Acts 6:13 14) were in fact true. Before the Sanhedrin, no defense against them was possible. Luke's account of Stephen's martyrdom and its aftermath shows how the major impetus behind the Christian movement passed from Jerusalem, where the temple and the law prevailed, to Antioch in Syria, where these influences were less pressing.

In today's Gospel we hear Jesus lamenting over the sins of Jerusalem. He remembers that the inhabitants (over many generations) have killed the prophets and turned their backs on God's messengers. Much as they did Jesus himself and the early Christian evangelists like Stephen.

Stephen was one of the first deacons of the Christian church. They were called and set aside to take charge of the charitable works of the church for its members. Because the Apostles were becoming overwhelmed by the size of the growing community, they asked the members to elect several individuals to help in the ministry of caring for the widows and orphans of the membership. Stephen's service went way beyond this basic commissioning. He was known as a great preacher and as a miracle worker.

If we are to follow this legacy of our patron in our lives of Christian service, we must become people who are engaged in the larger life of our community as well as the life of our parish. It means being of service to each other and to those outside our numbers. Caring for and helping out our neighbors. . .

Whether that means people who are sick or just having a hard time we are to help out with our time, talent and treasure. Most importantly it’s about caring and doing what can be done to help.

Stephen also gave us the example of being involved in the preaching ministry and from that starting point the ministry of deacons has grown to include the work at the Eucharist that we are most used to seeing. Once again, for us this it is a legacy. A legacy of dedication to worshiping God and doing so with great liturgy!

Although every community has room to grow in living its unique calling as a community of Christians, we need to take today to celebrate the great things that are getting done: the many charitable things we do for the people around us and the many ways we care for each other. Also, the growth and we are making in our prayer together, in music, and all the other parts of the service.

Today let us celebrate our patron and allow his example to call us forward into even greater examples of the Christian Life!