It’s a curious arrangement: the day after Christians celebrate the birth of the Messiah, most commemorate the deacon Stephen, the first to die because of Jesus.
According to Acts of the Apostles, Stephen was filled with grace and power. Steeped in knowledge of the Jewish scriptures, he debated openly in Jerusalem with fellow Jews from various parts of the Roman Empire about the life, teachings, and identity of Jesus.
Some men made false charges of blasphemy about Stephen to the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish religious authority.
After hearing his testimony and witness to Jesus, the Sanhedrin adjudged him guilty and condemned him to death.
At that time, way before electric chairs, guillotines, and firing squads, capital punishment took the form of stoning the person to death, and so he died.
We hail Stephen as the first “martyr” (Greek for “witness”) to die, to give his life, for Jesus. Although his life was taken, Stephen had first chosen to give it away in service to his Master and the truth.
In the early years after the death of Jesus, many of his followers died similar deaths, giving their lives rather than betray their Lord and the truth. It was the era of martyrdom.
Over the centuries countless people have chosen to give their lives for God, although without becoming martyrs in the sense of being executed for their faith.
More often the gift of one’s life takes the form of years of generous, loving service of others, of a slow, patient, and persevering giving of possessions, time, freedom, and other assets and resources in the name of Jesus and fidelity to his teachings and example.
It’s a paradox in a way: The life worth living is a sacrificial life, for it is a life of giving and forgiving. It is a life of love.
Giving one’s life to save another’s often takes the form of a shockingly dramatic act of heroism, of extraordinary generosity—and rightly so. But, the slow, gradual, persevering giving of one’s life to save another’s also is heroic but less acclaimed.
Loving one’s innocent, helpless baby daughter or son is almost “doing what comes naturally”, although it’s not necessarily a universal pattern of behavior.
Loving one’s spouse usually is the root or the fruit of a good marriage, even though the love may wax or wane.
Loving all one’s extended family is often challenging and, alas, not always successful. Sometimes the price, the cost is too high!
Loving one’s nearby neighbor is more a matter of respect, correctness, and friendship; only sometimes does it seem to be a kind of love.
Loving the distant neighbor, fellow-citizen (or immigrant), foreigner—here’s where the notion of “love” hardly seems applicable!
Loving everybody, giving of one’s life for everybody or for anybody—that’s a bit much. Often, we consider it more stupid, senseless, or naïve than heroic!
When Stephen was dying, he prayed for his stoners, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
When Jesus was being nailed to the cross, he prayed for his executioners, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”
At the last supper, the Lord’s legacy to his followers was, “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Don’t get tired giving life. It’s the only really good way to live!
(Available in
Spanish translation)
27 December 2020