HOMILY  --  SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2002

CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER

Come along with me to the dictionary and find the word HERO. 1. (in myth and legend) “a  person of great strength and courage, favored by the gods and in part descended from them.”   2.  “a person admired for courage, nobility or exploits”  3.  “one who dares take risks.”   

Let’s think about heroes and heroines whom we can identify.  Hero suggests sports figures, military leaders, fire fighters and police.  During the attacks on the Pentagon and the Trade Towers we heard about numerous heroic people.  We find heroes among the great explorers, or astronauts, from the lists of inventors and pioneers in every field of human endeavor.  As society becomes more jaded and cynical, we seem to have fewer heroes.  Joan of Arc was a heroine as was Helen of Troy.   Suuperman, the Lone Ranger, Batman, even Lassie were my childhood heroes, as was my Uncle Bob, a much-decorated officer in the Navy during World War II.  Lindberg was a hero, and we read about the Spirit of St. Louis crossing the Atlantic safely.  In fiction, or myth or legend, and in real life we have always been able to name our heroes and heroines.  The people I have named and the ones your mind jumps to all share qualities of courage and strength beyond average.  They stand out from the crowd.  They are noble even if from humble beginnings.  A fanatic fan of Abraham Lincoln during my school days, I still am and always try to visit his great statue at the Memorial whenever I am in Washington.  He may be the most heroic, real person I have ever tried to hold on to in my life.  George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Lord Nelson -- the list goes on throughout history.  

This morning the Book of Acts focuses on the story of St. Stephen, one of the first deacons in the early Church and a martyr.  I need to explain those two terms:  First  is DEACON.  Deacon really means SERVANT or helper.  From the earliest times the Church has ORDAINED clergypersons.  The bishop lays hands on their heads and declares them deacons.  Both Craig Swan and I were deacons, the first level of ordination.  

What had happened was this.  The leaders of the Christian Church were finding their work too much for them, more and more members were coming into the fellowship, and certain jobs like feeding the widows and helping children were not getting done.  There must have been some discussions, and the overworked leaders asked to have some good people found who could help them with what they said was “waiting on tables.”  In a way they were looking for a Church Service League to take on some very important responsibilities. 

Back to Stephen for a moment: We read of Stephen that he was ”full of grace and power, and he did great wonders and signs among the people.”   He soon proved to be even better than anyone had hoped.   He was so strong in his faith and so diligent in his work that some people were jealous of him and began to dislike him a lot.  When he spoke or preached, Stephen made people mad.  He told it like it was.  He offended people by frankly telling them that they were not obeying God’s Law.   He was brave, even when the people who hated him “became enraged and ground their teeth.”   He did not shrink from the threats and curses that came his way.  One day his enemies dragged him out of the city and threw stones and rocks at him until he was dead.  They took the law into their own hands and were clearly a really horrible group, terrorists.  St. Stephen, ever true to his wonderful character, asked God to forgive the murderers, just as Jesus had done when he was crucified:  “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing” were Jesus’ words.  Here is where we discover the definition of martyr.  To be a martyr you have to die, not of old age or disease but by being put to death for your beliefs.  Martyrs know that their deaths are worth it, no matter how sad or frightening or terrible they are.  A martyr like Jesus or Stephen believes so strongly in his or her convictions that the risk does not scare him or her away.  Martyrs possess rare character and witness spectacularly to truth, to faith, to their own sense of self. 

The Church School has been studying St. Stephen.   We know little about this important man.  Probably he was a Hellenistic Jew, that is, a person of Greek background who was raised in the traditional faith of Judaism.  He lived in Jerusalem or at least nearby, for he was readily available when the seven deacons were chosen by the elders to assist in the ministry of the Jerusalem Church.  We don’t know what he looked like, what he did for a living, or the extent of his education.   At some point in his life he was attracted to Christianity and converted to the faith.  As with so many of the heroes of Bible stories we know few details; we could not write a useful biography of Stephen.  Yet we believe he is very important to the story of Christianity, a major saint.  [We almost never celebrate his day because it comes on the day after Christmas.]  Churches are named for St. Stephen, like our partner church in the South End.  That church is especially well named, for it is a servant church with its ministry to poor and neglected people of all races. 

Let’s think about heroes more than martyrs.  What can we learn about a hero from the story of Stephen?   First of all a hero has to be tough but not hateful.  A hero’s life knows suffering because heroes take risks.  Heroes offend people by telling the truth and by standing up against bad ideas.  Above all, heroes are passionate.  We experienced something of a hero last week right here in this place.  Bishop Steven Charleston is not afraid to tell the truth, to poke holes in hot air balloons, or blow the dust off people and institutions that have grown ossified.  He is proud of his Native American heritage and wears its badges proudly, just as he wears the cross of Christ proudly.  He listens to people and to God, walking through life to a drumbeat that is not always popular.  He has the energy to tell it like it is, and the crusty sense that he is right.  We would all do well to translate our understanding from dead saints to the living ones, as we seek our hero in the spring of 2002.   If I am heading in the right direction, it must be obvious that a hero or heroine is exciting, challenging, loving, and filled with the Spirit of God.  Farewell to Superman, Batman, and even Joan of Arc, glorious as she was.  Hello to real live men and women like Bishop Charleston, Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King, and Anna Frank.  Hello to ourselves when we dare to follow the diminishing number of great examples.  Any one of us can be a hero.   AMEN. 

                                                                        The Rev. Richard H. Downes

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