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Happy Boxing Day.

‘Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the feast of Stephen’. Today is that feast– with or without snow crisp and even – when we remember Stephen, one of seven chosen to become the first deacons in the earliest days of the church.ÌýÌý To assist the apostles in the work of ministry – serving at table, caring for widows.

In a gripping couple of chapters in the New Testament - Acts of the Apostles chapters 6 and 7 - we learn how this work brought him into conflict with the authorities. They accused him of blasphemy. Ultimately he gets stoned and killed: we remember him as the church’s first martyr.

But I want to reflect not just on the what but the how. How Stephen reacted to opposition, how he held firm to his convictions, how he even prayed for his persecutors in the face of death. These exact same virtues are seen in a young girl, found in the concentration camp at Ravensbruck at the end of World War Two. Attached to her body on a piece of wrapping paper was this prayer. I invite you to echo her words if you dare:

O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember only the suffering they inflicted upon us: remember the fruits we have borne because of this suffering – our fellowship, our loyalty to one another, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown from this trouble. When our persecutors come to be judged by You, let all of these fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness. Amen.

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