The consequences of Christmas

Sermon for St. Stephen

Acts 6-7  +  Matthew 23:34-39

Merry Christmas, everyone! And a very blessed Festival of St. Stephen to you as well. It’s because of St. Stephen’s day that there’s red on the altar today instead of the white of the Christmas season, because red is the color of martyrs, and St. Stephen was the first martyr of the Christian era. We’ve only celebrated this feast of St. Stephen a few times over the last 15 years, and maybe you’re still wondering, what does martyrdom have to do with Christmas? What does red have to do with white?

It’s very simple. White is the color of holiness and purity, and, therefore, white is the color of Christ and of Christmas, which celebrates Christ’s nativity, His birth. Red is the color of blood, and we use it in the Church to symbolize the shedding of a person’s blood to the point of death. And not just any death, but the death of one who died for his testimony about Christ, for his martyrdom. That’s what red has to do with white, what martyrdom has to do with Christmas. We rejoice at Jesus’ birth. We sing praise to God that the Christ was born for us. But we never, even for a moment, lose sight of the fact that Christmas has consequences, and no one exemplifies that for us better than St. Stephen.

What does a person do who believes that the Word (ho Logos) became flesh and made his dwelling among us? In other words, what does a person do who believes that Christmas is true? For Stephen, it meant devoting himself to the apostles’ teaching in Jerusalem and learning the Holy Scriptures better and better. It meant that his Old Testament Jewish faith made the seamless transition to a New Testament Christian faith as he was led to believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah, born of a virgin, just as Isaiah had prophesied, born in Bethlehem, just as Micah had prophesied, crucified, risen, ascended, and reigning, the one atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, the one Mediator between God and man, just as so many of the prophets had prophesied.

Stephen, as Acts tells us, was a man full of grace and power, full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. He was one of seven devout men who were chosen to be ministers, deacons in the Jerusalem church, to help with the distribution of food to the believing widows.

So Stephen’s vocation was not that of a layman. He, along with those other six men, was ordained into the office of deacon, and while he certainly devoted some of his time to the distribution of food as an assistant to the apostles, he also devoted time to preaching the Gospel, as we heard in today’s Epistle, as he testified among the people of Jerusalem in the temple. As a consequence of his faith in the Christ, born in Bethlehem, Stephen spoke publicly to everyone as he had opportunity. He spoke of Christ as the fulfillment of the Law. He spoke of faith in Christ as that alone which saves.

But just as Herod persecuted the babies of Bethlehem who dared to be born at Christmas time, the Jews in Jerusalem persecuted Stephen for confessing Christ. They challenged his witness of Christ. “He’s speaking against the temple! He’s speaking against Moses! He’s condemning good works!” None of that was true, of course. The Jews were perverting Stephen’s message. People pervert our message in the same way today. “Those Lutherans say that a person is saved by faith alone! They’re forbidding good works!” The first part is right, the second part is wrong. We don’t forbid good works. Neither did Stephen. Just look at all the good works Stephen did in the process of preaching salvation by faith alone in Christ! But we do teach, as Stephen taught, that no works are good apart from faith in Christ, and that faith alone – apart from works – is what makes us right with God. Where there is faith, faith in the Christ of Christmas, there are also fruits of faith, consequences of Christmas. But the fruits don’t save. Christ saves, through faith alone.

But these Jews would have none of it. They dragged Stephen off to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish court, and they falsely accused him and questioned him. Now, we didn’t even read most of chapter 7. Stephen retells a long portion of Old Testament and of God’s interactions with the people of Israel. And this theme repeats over and over: God gave our forefathers every gift of grace, every advantage, every opportunity, but they always ended up persecuting the very prophets who were sent to tell them the truth, to teach them to repent and put their faith in the true God. Jesus said the same thing in today’s Gospel: from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah. To the blood of Christ himself, murdered on a cross.

As a consequence of Christmas, because Stephen believed that the Word had become flesh, he had to speak up – out of love for God, out of love for his fellow Israelites who were steeped in sin and impenitence and unbelief, and out of faithfulness to his preaching office: You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.

Sometimes – sometimes, when people hear the hard truth about their sin, they repent of it. They realize the horrible crimes they’ve committed against God and are crushed with sorrow, like the people of Jerusalem to whom Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost. But sometimes – I’d have to say most of the time — the preaching of the Law produces anger. “Who do you think you are? How dare you call me a sinner! How dare you judge me!” Sometimes it produces absolute rage, as it did in the case of the Sanhedrin with Stephen. When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.

And then, both to strengthen his servant Stephen and to further enrage the Sanhedrin, Jesus, now seated at the right hand of God, gave Stephen a vision, a vision that assured him: the Son of Man, the Word made flesh, has indeed risen from the dead and is ruling over all things in heaven, in the heaven that is prepared to receive you now, Stephen. Don’t be afraid!

And, as a consequence of Christmas, he wasn’t afraid, because the Word had become flesh, our human brother, and had taken Stephen’s sins and ours to the cross and paid for them there and had opened heaven’s doors to all who believe in Him. Even as they dragged Stephen out and began to stone him to death, Stephen prayed two perfect prayers, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” and “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

How could they hate Stephen so? How could they think they were serving God by stoning this man to death? That’s one of the consequences of Christmas. The light came into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. The message of Christmas – that God has come into the world as man, that man’s works cannot save, that salvation is found in Christ alone – that message stings the pride of men. That message divides people. Do not think I have come to bring peace to the world, Jesus told his disciples. Not peace, but a sword. God sends prophets and teachers and wise men, and the world persecutes and mocks and kills them.

It must be this way, as a consequence of Christmas, as a consequence of mankind’s rejection of the Christ. The majority of the world will always be unwilling to receive the Christ of Christmas. They’ll tolerate a tiny little baby and the cute story of some shepherds and wise men. But they won’t tolerate it when we claim that that baby is the Almighty God in whom alone is salvation.

But see how confidently Stephen faced his death! See what love still flowed from his lips! How could Stephen pray for those who hated him so and who hated his Savior, too? That was a consequence of Christmas. Because Christ was not born to save good men, but the most wicked of men. The Lord Jesus also prayed for those who nailed him to the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And the grace of the Lord Jesus spilled over into Stephen’s heart, praying for the deliverance of his enemies, praying that they might be brought to repentance and faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sins, just as he had been. And we know that at least one of those wicked men who were present there that day was delivered, as Saul would eventually be converted and forgiven all his sins, including his role in the death of Stephen.

Then Stephen fell asleep. What beautiful words the Scriptures now use to describe the death of the saints. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said. “If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” If we remain steadfast in the truth of Christmas, if we follow in the footsteps and the witness of St. Stephen, then, as a consequence, death becomes a sleep for us, too.

Don’t be fooled with the rest of the world into believing that Christmas is about snowy white fields and picture postcard manger scenes. Red is mixed with white at Christmas, as blood is mixed with snow. Christmas has consequences, and if you would celebrate Christmas rightly, then you must know the consequences and be prepared for them. Truly, Stephen shows us the consequences of Christmas, not just with his willingness to die for Christ, but with his faith, his humble service, his love for God and for men, his patience, peace, boldness, courage, confidence in the face of death, and mercy in the face of persecution – those are the consequences in the believer. The shedding of blood at the hands of an angry world – that is the very real consequence for the believer. If you believe the Christmas story and live your faith, if you are baptized and live according to your Baptism, then you are marked for death, just as Stephen was.

But, you know what the name “Stephen” means? It’s the Greek word for “crown.” How fitting! Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. That, too, is the consequence of Christmas, and God’s gift to you who believe. A blessed Feast of St. Stephen to you all, and a very Merry Christmas! Amen.