The Feast of Stephen
26/12/14 05:19
Regular students fo the bible discover all sorts of twists and turns in the stories of our people. In the sixth and seventh chapters of the Acts of the Apostles the story of Stephen is one of those with all kinds of interesting nuances. The story begins with a bit of conflict. The early church had two factions: Hebrews and Hellenists. The Hebrews came from Jewish origins and spoke Hebrew. The Hellenists spoke Greek and traced their roots to those who had come to the area as part of occupying forces and armies. Even though many generations earlier the Hebrews had come into the region as settlers, they considered themselves to be the indigenous people of the region and the Hellenists to be settlers who had come into their land and taken it from them. Both groups contributed members to the early Christian movement.
One of the arguments that developed was among the distribution of welfare funds. In those days, support of widows came from special offerings taken by the synagogues, called “alms.” Alms were cash donations that were in turn invested in food that was distributed to widows. Some of the Hellenists felt that their widows were getting the short end of the distribution. The twelve apostles who were leading the Christian church in Jerusalem convened a meeting to discuss the situation. You can tell from the few brief sentences describing the situation that the arguments over the distribution of alms were seen by them as a distraction. Their solution was to have the people select seven additional leaders to take care of the distribution so that the 12 could devote themselves to praying and teaching. We have similar divisions of labor among clergy in contemporary churches as well.
Steven was one of the seven selected. We assume that he came from the Hellenistic side of the community because he has a Greek name instead of one with a Hebrew origin. He was apparently very good at his job. The bible says he did great signs and wonders.
Although he was selected to do they work of administering alms, Steven is most remembered for his preaching. The synagogue leaders got upset with what he was saying and charged him with blasphemy. Their charges were that his preaching about Jesus was not consistent with respectful teaching about Moses and the law. Most of the 7th chapter of the book of Acts contains Stephen’s testimony at his trial, often called his sermon. He makes a quick survey of the history of Israel and gives his interpretation of how this history and how again and again religious leaders fail to heed the words of prophets.
His sermon earned him a conviction and he was killed by stoning, thus becoming what Christians believe is the first martyr for the faith.
Called to free up the 12 for their preaching, he gives a sermon that gets him stoned.
Today is the traditional day set aside for remembering Stephen. The day after Christmas is known as “The Feast of Stephen.” Many know of it only because of the Christmas Carol: “Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen, when the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even.” The carol goes on to tell the story of a king who braves the harsh winter weather to bring gifts to the poor. The storm is so severe that his page nearly becomes lost in the blizzard, but he is able to follow his king’s footsteps to safety. Wenceslas is also considered to be a saint and a martyr in some parts of the church. Pope Pius II is said to have walked ten miles barefoot in the ice and snow as a demonstration of his personal piety.
Whatever the actual history, the church has a longstanding tradition of recognizing the second day of Christmas, December 26, as a day of giving to the poor. In parts of the United Kingdom a tradition of delivering boxes of food and other presents to those in need evolved into a recognized holiday, known as boxing day. Boxing day is the first workday following Christmas, so does not always land on December 26. When Christmas is on a Saturday, for example, Boxing Day is observed on Monday rather than Sunday. The Boxing Day tradition evolved into a time for employers to give gifts to their employees in recognition of their year’s work. That tradition evolved into the tradition of giving Christmas bonuses to employees.
Some cynics attribute the giving of St. Stephens Day or Boxing Day gifts to the excesses of the wealthy on Christmas Day. Essentially they claim that the wealthy so over indulge in their Christmas celebrations that they are burdened with leftovers, which in turn are distributed to those who are less fortunate - a sort of “thrift store” approach that includes not only the donation of clothes and furniture but food as well.
It is clear that traditions of giving are associated with the observance of Christmas throughout the history of the Christian church. And not all of the gifts are given on Christmas Day. In many parts of the world, the giving of gifts is reserved for Epiphany Day - January 6 - which is the day of the observance of the arrival of the magi - wise men from the east reported in the Gospel of Matthew.
In modern times, however, The Feast of Stephen, or Boxing Day, or whatever one calls it has gained an entirely different meaning. It has become a day for shopping to take advantage of post-holiday sales and go on an end of the year shopping binge. Merchants, with an eye on the end of the year bottom line, discount prices to move inventory and increase income. In Australia, Canada, South Africa and other former British colonies Boxing Day is comparable to the post-Thanksgiving Black Friday in the United States. In many of those places, Boxing Day has expanded to Boxing Week, a time when merchants encourage extra shopping between Christmas and New Years.
The apostles tried to make giving to support the poor into a specialized ministry and it turned into the ministry of proclamation. In our time we take a season of giving and turn it into a season of getting.
We remain confused.
Fortunately Christmas is a season. We’ve still got ten of our 12 days of Christmas to remind ourselves of the real meaning of the season.
One of the arguments that developed was among the distribution of welfare funds. In those days, support of widows came from special offerings taken by the synagogues, called “alms.” Alms were cash donations that were in turn invested in food that was distributed to widows. Some of the Hellenists felt that their widows were getting the short end of the distribution. The twelve apostles who were leading the Christian church in Jerusalem convened a meeting to discuss the situation. You can tell from the few brief sentences describing the situation that the arguments over the distribution of alms were seen by them as a distraction. Their solution was to have the people select seven additional leaders to take care of the distribution so that the 12 could devote themselves to praying and teaching. We have similar divisions of labor among clergy in contemporary churches as well.
Steven was one of the seven selected. We assume that he came from the Hellenistic side of the community because he has a Greek name instead of one with a Hebrew origin. He was apparently very good at his job. The bible says he did great signs and wonders.
Although he was selected to do they work of administering alms, Steven is most remembered for his preaching. The synagogue leaders got upset with what he was saying and charged him with blasphemy. Their charges were that his preaching about Jesus was not consistent with respectful teaching about Moses and the law. Most of the 7th chapter of the book of Acts contains Stephen’s testimony at his trial, often called his sermon. He makes a quick survey of the history of Israel and gives his interpretation of how this history and how again and again religious leaders fail to heed the words of prophets.
His sermon earned him a conviction and he was killed by stoning, thus becoming what Christians believe is the first martyr for the faith.
Called to free up the 12 for their preaching, he gives a sermon that gets him stoned.
Today is the traditional day set aside for remembering Stephen. The day after Christmas is known as “The Feast of Stephen.” Many know of it only because of the Christmas Carol: “Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen, when the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even.” The carol goes on to tell the story of a king who braves the harsh winter weather to bring gifts to the poor. The storm is so severe that his page nearly becomes lost in the blizzard, but he is able to follow his king’s footsteps to safety. Wenceslas is also considered to be a saint and a martyr in some parts of the church. Pope Pius II is said to have walked ten miles barefoot in the ice and snow as a demonstration of his personal piety.
Whatever the actual history, the church has a longstanding tradition of recognizing the second day of Christmas, December 26, as a day of giving to the poor. In parts of the United Kingdom a tradition of delivering boxes of food and other presents to those in need evolved into a recognized holiday, known as boxing day. Boxing day is the first workday following Christmas, so does not always land on December 26. When Christmas is on a Saturday, for example, Boxing Day is observed on Monday rather than Sunday. The Boxing Day tradition evolved into a time for employers to give gifts to their employees in recognition of their year’s work. That tradition evolved into the tradition of giving Christmas bonuses to employees.
Some cynics attribute the giving of St. Stephens Day or Boxing Day gifts to the excesses of the wealthy on Christmas Day. Essentially they claim that the wealthy so over indulge in their Christmas celebrations that they are burdened with leftovers, which in turn are distributed to those who are less fortunate - a sort of “thrift store” approach that includes not only the donation of clothes and furniture but food as well.
It is clear that traditions of giving are associated with the observance of Christmas throughout the history of the Christian church. And not all of the gifts are given on Christmas Day. In many parts of the world, the giving of gifts is reserved for Epiphany Day - January 6 - which is the day of the observance of the arrival of the magi - wise men from the east reported in the Gospel of Matthew.
In modern times, however, The Feast of Stephen, or Boxing Day, or whatever one calls it has gained an entirely different meaning. It has become a day for shopping to take advantage of post-holiday sales and go on an end of the year shopping binge. Merchants, with an eye on the end of the year bottom line, discount prices to move inventory and increase income. In Australia, Canada, South Africa and other former British colonies Boxing Day is comparable to the post-Thanksgiving Black Friday in the United States. In many of those places, Boxing Day has expanded to Boxing Week, a time when merchants encourage extra shopping between Christmas and New Years.
The apostles tried to make giving to support the poor into a specialized ministry and it turned into the ministry of proclamation. In our time we take a season of giving and turn it into a season of getting.
We remain confused.
Fortunately Christmas is a season. We’ve still got ten of our 12 days of Christmas to remind ourselves of the real meaning of the season.