St. Stephen, the First Deacon

So many people. So few laborers for this harvest of humanity.

Today, we remember Stephen who was among the seven who were selected to be the ones making the most immediate contact with the Hellenists, meeting the needs of the widowed and the orphaned, as the twelve apostles continued in their more "priestly" calling to spread the good news of Christ among the Gentiles. Stephen stands out because of his success at his ministry. His success led the Jewish temple leaders to be jealous of Stephen. And, much like with the story of Jesus, there were false accusations and trumped up charges brought against him. Stephen, being innocent and having the Holy Spirit with him, refutes the charges against him and admonishes the crowd and the temple leaders. Not only would he not shut up about Jesus Christ as the Messiah, he noted that the crowd at his trial were trying to suppress the Holy Spirit. His candor would cost him his life.

It's at the time of Stephen's stoning that we meet Saul, who would later be renamed Paul. He was holding the coats of those who were hurling the rocks at Stephen. A tacit participant in the attempt to silence those who were continuing in Christ's work.

I have to admit that when I realized that the story of Stephen and the six others was the beginning of the office of deacon in the church, I thought, "Well, that's one sure-fire way to get people to reject the role of deacon!" Anyone who has ever been in a leadership role of any kind can tell you what it's like to face rejection, stiff-necked people, and stoning (figuratively speaking for most of us!)

It's interesting that in the service for the ordination of a deacon, the work laid out for these special people is the work of a prophet. They are the hands-on folks who see the needs in the community and take it back to the Church for action. So, that leads to a question: does that mean that the stiff-necked people of our modern day the Stephens tend to meet are not the crowds, but the Church itself? When a Stephen returns with news of a community of people in the world needing care, compassion and welcome, how does the Church respond? I've known of two responses to my own deacon-like work to cracking open the doors of St. John's again to the LGBT community. There has been the response of indifference and quoting the Galatians passage (in Christ, there is no Jew or Greek, male or female, free or slave... and by extension straight or gay) as the reason we won't extend ourselves to the gay community. And there has been the response of gladly welcoming the community into our midst, and encouraging participation. The approaches that St. John's has shown toward the LGBT community, I think, speak more of the people in charge than of the congregation as a whole. But just as the Holy Spirit gave Stephen the words to keep speaking, even in the face of death, the spirit has continued to work its powers of persuasion and insistence on the decision makers of St. John's. The doors of our church have opened much wider in the last eight months, and it showed in our congregation on Christmas Eve: there were Jews and Jehovah's Witnesses. Transgender and gay. Piercings and mohawks. It was the true harvest of humanity... gathered likely for just the one service. But in that one service, they heard what is true: you are all welcome to be who you are and sit among us here.

Although the diaconate is a special order in the Church, the innocence and sincerity of mission that Stephen showed is one that I think any Christian can and should do. Because there is still a harvest of humanity out there that needs to be met where they are. Come, labor on.