Isaiah 63:7-9          Steadfast Love

Acts 7:2a, 51-60    Stephen

Matthew 2:13-23    The Escape to Egypt

                                 Massacre of the Innocents

Back when I was about 11 years old my parents decided I should take piano lessons. I walked down to see Mrs. Wolf at the end of the block on Minnehaha Avenue in St. Paul, where she gave me heartfelt instruction in the Bartok method. But during Christmas I wanted to play Christmas music. So I tried the carol we just sang, "Good King Wenceslas." I never quite got it down then and didn’t try again until I resumed taking lessons and reached the point this year where I could work on the Easy Adult Version of "Good King Wenceslas." If I’m lucky I get all the notes right.

Good King Wenceslas. Why do we sing about him at Christmas? Wenceslas was the King of Bohemia in the 10th century. He was a good, Christian king who reigned only a few years, but the Czech people remember him. The crown of Wenceslas became a symbol of Czech Independence. If you visit Prague you will most surely walk to Wenceslas Square and see his statute. Here people gathered in the Prague Spring of 1968 and later in the time when democracy finally came back to Czechoslovakia and the poet Havel was elected president.

Back in 1853 an English Anglican priest named John Mason Neale wanted to write a children’s song to teach generosity. He decided to use the example of King Wenceslas performing an act of generosity on the day after Christmas. This is when St. Stephen’s Day is celebrated in the Christian church.

Why would we celebrate St. Stephen the day after Christmas? Who was St. Stephen? In our Epistle Lesson this morning we read about Stephen. Back in the first days of the Christian Church the disciples had a problem. They wanted to preach and pray, but also needed good people to help the poor widows of their community. So, they chose seven men to serve in this way. Traditionally we think of them as the first Deacons. Our Board of Deacons and Deaconesses follows in this tradition. Part of their role is caring for the sick and shut-in members of our church.

Stephen was one of these first deacons. He was faithful and fearless. But some people were offended by him and became so angry that they took him out and stoned him to death. Stephen is the first martyr of the Christian faith. On this day we give thanks for his service and his bold witness.

Perhaps that is where the connection to Good King Wenceslas comes in. You see Wenceslas was also murdered for trying to bring Christianity to his country. He was also a person who sought to serve his fellow human beings. He was good, honest, and strongly principled. He was known for his generosity and care for the poor.

What better man to celebrate on this Feast of Stephen? We learn from him and Stephen some important Christmas lessons:

1. Generosity.

At Christmas time each of us seeks to perform some act of generosity. This year our Mission and Outreach Committee did especially significant work in distributing gifts and food to all sorts of needy people in our community and county. Like Good King Wenceslas they traveled:

"Through the rude wind’s wild lament

And the bitter weather."

Like the page who followed the footsteps of his master King Wenceslas through the wintry blast our modern day "saints" were out even on the coldest morning of our winter to bring good cheer to needy people. They were following in the footsteps of our master, the one whom we call Jesus the Christ. As we seek to embody the Christmas spirit, we are fortified by following "in his steps." What would Jesus do? We know don’t we? That is why our folks did what they did.

2. The second theme for this day is martyrdom.

Not something particularly pleasant to think of on this lovely second day of Christmas. Far from the cute baby. Of course we know that Jesus grew from a cute baby, to a questioning adolescent, to a challenging yet compassionate preacher and teacher. Because he challenged so deeply he was martyred on the cross. Then one of his followers followed a similar fate ----- only by stoning. Today we have the horrible story of the massacre of the innocents in our Gospel Lesson. Bad King Herod, in contrast to Good King Wenceslas, was so fearful of losing his power that he had all children in Bethlehem under 2 years of age killed. It makes me think of the children of our day who have suffered because of war and hate in the Middle East, those left without parents in Africa because of AIDS, those "ethnically cleansed" in places like Darfur.

Yes, we realize that the world into which Jesus came was not one of "heavenly peace" and neither is our world. We know that we must leave this church to confront problems both in our community and distant parts of the world. At 1:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve I stood with about twenty other people at the Highground as we remembered soldiers of our state killed in the Iraq conflict. Tears were shed. And we prayed for peace.

In such a world we remember Good King Wenceslas. Like him we trudge through the wintry storms ---- both literal and figurative. Like him we seek to reach out to our brothers and sisters in need. And like him we know that our very lives may be at stake.

Amen.