The sermon for December 26 was based on Matthew 23:34-39.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The church lays claim to the days around Christmas in an especially adamant way. First there is Christmas Eve, the Christmas Day, then St. Stephen's Day, they St. John's Day and then the Feast of the Holy Innocents. The 12 Days of Christmas begin with a blood bath. No sooner is the baby safely in the manger than we begin to commemorate those who will die in His name.

The first such martyr is, aptly enough, the first such martyr. St. Stephen was one of the deacons appointed by the Apostles to tend to the needs of the poor so that the Twelve could focus on administering the Means of Grace. Stephen was the first of Jesus' followers to be put to death for Jesus' sake. He is very, very far from being the last. Because the 26th of December is the day to commemorate the first of the Deacons to be murdered for the sake of the Gospel, it is also an occasion to celebrate the proper work of Deacons, which is to care for the poor. Throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth today is known as Boxing Day, the day when the Church opens the poor box to distribute its charity among the needy. This is an old tradition expressed perfectly in one of my favorite Christmas carols, Good King Wenceslas, who if you'll remember, took his page and an armload of hospitality out to one of his poor subjects on the Feast of Stephen.

So, on the day when we Christians pay particular attention to charity and kindness and compassion in the name of Jesus we are also reminded that in this fallen world no good deed goes unpunished. In today's Gospel, Jesus says very plainly that he is sending His friends out into a world that hates them and wants them dead. What happened to St. Stephen is exactly what Jesus had said would happen. This isn't what we want to hear. We want to hear more about the lowing cattle, the mild mother, the beautiful baby and the quaint shepherds. How can we reconcile today with yesterday, a question that is more on our minds than we might at first realize?

We are so enraptured with the idea of peace and gentleness as hallmarks of the Christian life that we forget that those qualities are almost never reciprocated. Jesus was the very definition of gentleness and virtue and look at what happened to Him! We are forewarned by no less than the Lord Himself that our peaceful love of our fellow men will inspire not more love in return but rather murderous outrage and violent hostility. But we refuse to believe it. We insist, like stubborn children, that if we are good and decent and open with people that they will be the same.

When they in turn ban our manger scenes, forbid our children to pray in school, tear the 10 Commandments out of our courtrooms, refuse to contribute to our charities and label our Gospel "hate speech", our neighbors are telling us that they despise our message and are none to kindly the messengers either. It is terrifying to some and heartbreaking to all of us, especially when it creates divisions within our families. We look at the reaction of the world, the pain and sorrow with which it threatens us, and we decide that, if its going to cause this much trouble and this much grief, the Gospel as we understand it must be defective. There must be something wrong with our doctrine if its going to inspire hatred and division. We turn our backs on the great mission of the Church Militant which is nothing other than to confess Christ clearly to the world while the world yet endures. We determine to leave such unjustifiable provocation to those "better equipped" or "higher up" than ourselves. The youth leave it to the adults. Adults leave it their elders. The elders leave it to the Pastors. Too many Pastors leave it the synod and the synod leaves it to the "people". The simple truth is that no one wants to confess Christ or even be free and generous with themselves if its going to mean getting crucified. That is work for the saints.

You may use different words than I have but you will have to agree that what I've said expresses how most of you feel. You'll cut the grass at Church and fold the bulletins and lead our bus trips but at the first sign of real sacrifice your gone. "We're just the little people" you say. "These grand and glorious, not mention painful and horrible deeds are way beyond us." "We're just spiritual peasants. Leave us alone." St. Peter says otherwise. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, (1 Peter 2:9) a CHOSEN people, a ROYAL priesthood.

Once we were indeed helpless impotent worthless serfs mucking about without purpose. But then Christ came to us. He was born in us at the font and we we're reborn into Him. He spoke Himself into our ears through the Words of Scripture and drew us into His mind and will. We share his Body and Blood. The royal blood of the King of Kings flows through us and in us. We are heirs to the eternal throne of Almighty God just as surely as is Jesus Himself. We have not deserved such a transformation nor have we done anything at all to effect it. But it has occurred.

We have a hard time thinking of ourselves as saints, but every faithful Christian is a saint, nonetheless. We have just as hard a time thinking of ourselves as members of a spiritual royal family but that is exactly what we are. Those of us who believe the Gospel, trust Jesus and look to God alone for everything are the Sons of God in this world and the next. We are no longer the poor man gathering fuel. We are, within our own stations and under the rule of God much more like Good King Wenceslas than we are ready to accept. We have a noble and royal obligation.

We, are obliged to be better to our neighbors than they are able to be to us. We have the strength of character in the person of the Holy Ghost and the full force of a noble lineage established in Baptism and sustained in Holy Communion. So here we stand, our faces shining like angels, with an armload of royal gifts, abundant grace far in excess of our own need, mercy and compassion more than we can consume, kindness and friendship to spare. As we stand here dumbfounded by our blessings the poor come into sight, the needy the unbelievers, the broken.

What are we do to? What is there to do? Our baser instincts are to run away and avoid getting entangled with the miserable of this world, some of whom are deserving and would be grateful but many of whom are wicked and would repay our good with evil. But Jesus is with us and in us and we are in Him and His lordly grace moves us to be better than we are. His is courageous blood and we find ours rising to the challenge of our times. He who sets aside his fear and doubt will find himself in the cheerful company of our Lord at all times and circumstances.

What is there left to do for wandering royalty such as ourselves, waiting for the end of day and the onset of the feast that never ends? There is nothing left for us but to set our hands to noble business of changing people's lives, of inviting them to the coming banquet and of graciously suffering the fools and foolishness of this world. There is nothing for such as ourselves to do but whatever good we find in need of doing. If our charity is well received so be it and give thanks. If not, so be it and praise God who makes even death pass swiftly into irrelevance.

That people could possibly think it a good idea to stone a man to death for giving money to the poor is more shocking than it should be considering what happens in this town alone every day. But do consider this, the man who held the cloaks of the murderers while they did their dreadful business with St. Stephen was the ambitious Pharisee who would one day become St. Paul. What effect do think St. Stephen's confession had on him? St. Paul was a man like the rest of us, a man like the one whose murder he oversaw. What inspiration do you think St. Paul might have draw from the example of St. Stephen as he himself was being stoned for the second time, or imprisoned or shipwrecked or poisoned or finally executed?

What part of St. Paul's legendary nobility and courage did God give him in the witness of St. Stephen's martyrdom? I don't know. A better question is this, how much nobility and courage will God give you through the witness of this first martyr and deacon? And who my fellow heirs will draw strength from the example Christ sets in you of Christian kindness in the face of monstrous ingratitude? I don't know the answer to that either but once your asking those kind of questions you are indisputably part of the royal priesthood and no question about it. Amen.

The Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Last Updated: 7/15/2008