Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr
We have just one TV in our house, and it’s in the basement. So, when we are out of town and staying at a hotel, one of our favorite things to do at the end of the evening is to “flip through the channels” to see what is on TV these days. On rare occasions, we will come upon a good movie. Most of the time, we’re pretty amazed at the junk that passes for content on TV. In that category, I place televangelists and especially the ones that preach “the prosperity gospel.” Perhaps you have run across them too when you are flipping through the channels—folks like Joel Osteen and Paula White. These folks preach that Jesus suffered and died not on behalf of excessive love and incomprehensible grace that saves us from our sins but, instead, in order to alleviate illness and financial difficulty in our personal lives. If we have faith—and, importantly, manifest that faith by adopting a positive attitude and (especially) by making financial donations to their churches—Jesus will bless us with wealth and security. Both Osteen and White are terrifically wealthy. Apparently, the prosperity gospel works—at least for those who preach it.
But there’s a problem. And we run right into it today with the readings before us.
First reading: Stephen has been working great wonders and signs after having become convicted of the good news of Jesus. Many people have been transformed by his ministry. Others have become infuriated by the wisdom and spirit with which he spoke. He was preaching the good news—of the love and grace of God for all of us and especially for the weak, the vulnerable, and the poor. He knew very well that by preaching this gospel, he was putting himself in danger. He might have wavered. He might have changed course and preached some other gospel—something like—Jesus loves the well-heeled! But he couldn’t. He knew that rewriting the gospel would only make his ministry meaningless. Or worse. So, instead, he looked up to heaven, saw the glory of God with Jesus by his side. And he remained faithful. And he was stoned to death by those who could not bear the true good news that Jesus came to preach.
Second reading: From the Psalms. God is our rock, our fortress. That is just how it is. We don’t persuade God to be our security. God just is. We make are generous to others because God is immeasurably generous to us. We don’t deserve God’s grace. But God gives it to us anyway. And so we give to others who are weak, vulnerable, suffering. There’s no transaction here. We’re not purchasing God’s security. God gives it to us because God is God.
Third reading: Jesus is really clear. If we are going to follow him, then we must take seriously the very real possibility that we will end up as he did—hated, reviled, unjustly tried and punished, crucified. Now and again, Jesus’s word can be confounding. Not in today’s reading. He puts it straight to us. If you preach this gospel—the real gospel that is about loving God, your neighbor, and even your enemy and is about taking care of the stranger, the widow, the orphan, and the poor—then “You will be hated by all.”
Folks can preach a prosperity gospel. But not in Jesus’s name. As we continue to reflect on the radical event that we just celebrated—the in-breaking of God into our broken world—may we remember Stephen, may we hear the Psalmist, may we listen to Jesus. Ours is the cross. Especially on behalf of the least among us.
Amen.
- Sue Trollinger