A very merry second day of Christmas to you all, and a happy Feast of Saint Stephen/Boxing Day! While Boxing Day is not a well-known tradition for most of us, its origins remind us of our Anglican heritage. Though the roots of Boxing Day are debated, it is likely tied to wealthy families in the United Kingdom giving their household staff the day off and gifts on December 26, as a way to thank them for working on Christmas Day. It is also a day when leftovers from the Christmas feast would be boxed up and shared with those in need, in the spirit of Saint Stephen, deacon and martyr.
What we know about Stephen comes to us via Luke the Evangelist. Luke wrote The Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament and included the story of the selection and commissioning of the first deacons, including Stephen. Read excerpts from Stephen’s story in Lesser Feasts and Fasts, the calendar of Episcopal saints and holy days:
Very probably a Hellenistic Jew, Stephen was one of the “seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3), who were chosen by the apostles to relieve them of the administrative burden of “serving tables and caring for the widows.” By this appointment to assist the apostles, Stephen, the first named of those the New Testament calls “The Seven,” became the first to do what the church traditionally considers to be the work and ministry of a deacon.
It is apparent that Stephen’s activities involved more than simply “serving tables,” however, for the Acts of the Apostles speaks of his preaching and performing many miracles. These activities led him into conflict with some of the local authorities, who accused him of blasphemy, and brought him before the Sanhedrin. His powerful sermon before the Council is recorded in the seventh chapter of Acts. According to this account, his denunciations of the Sanhedrin so enraged its members that, without a trial, they dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death. Stephen is traditionally regarded as the very first Christian martyr.
Perhaps by now you are humming “Good King Wenceslas went out, on the Feast of Stephen…” in your head as you try to remember what else you know about Stephen and Boxing Day. Written by John Mason Neale in the 1850s, the carol is much more popular across the pond, but it has plenty of fans in this country too.
The character of Wenceslas is based on a 10th century Bohemian monarch, who looks out his castle window on December 26 and notices a poor man gathering firewood in the cold. The king feels compassion for the man and asks his servant to help him pack up some food and other essentials and the two of them traipse through snow and ice until they reach the man’s home.
The last line of the carol is the most poignant:
Therefore Christian men be sure, wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.
This seems a most appropriate message for a day when we commemorate one of the first deacons in the church. It also reminds me of the Howard W. Thurman poem we use as our final blessing each Christmas:
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.
I hope each of us might look out from our windows and see what we might be able to contribute to “the work of Christmas” this season. Merry Christmas, St. Alban’s! And Happy Boxing Day!
Yours in Christ,
Carmen
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