On the Feast of Stephen

Proper23A, October 12, 2014, Sullivan Park Care Center, by Sr Annette Fricke, OP

                Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen.  That is the first line of a popular Christmas song that I learned in my childhood.  Over the past week, one of my friends in Minnesota requested a list from which she could pick out Advent and Christmas songs or hymns to sing for a fundraiser with a holiday theme.  This is the one I picked because of a particular verse.  For those of you who are not familiar with this song or have forgotten much of it like I had, it is about a king who spies a poor man gathering wood for warmth in the middle of the winter.  He asks his page about him—where he lives and what is his dwelling.  The page answers that he lives at the foot of a mountain by the forest fence and a place called St Agnes’ fountain.  The king calls for wine and bread to take to him, assuring that he has food, not just warmth.  The king leads the way followed closely by the page, encouraging him along the way, as the journey is a good piece away and it is quite cold out with snow and ice as mentioned in verse 1.  But the best verse is one I don’t recall hearing before and what makes it a great choice for singing.  It goes like this: Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing; ye who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing. Yes, this was a real king, but I cannot verify the story to be historical.  However, that being said, this song talks about the initiative of a king who sees to it that a poor man gets what he needs to sustain himself in the bitter cold in the shadow of a mountain.  This story is quite similar to the one in the gospel text which also tells the story of a king who is even more widely generous with his resources.  Many of you may know Luke’s version which is a bit different in theology and what is emphasized.  Luke’s is a wedding feast whereas this is more specifically a wedding banquet for the son.  Tacked on to the end of this story is a curious little paragraph about a man who comes to the banquet improperly attired and we wonder just what that means in relation to the rest of this biblical passage. 

            I have always liked this particular friend from the first time I met her.  She was in my Systematic Theology class with Fr. Kevin.  Fr. Kevin died of cancer just a couple of years after I left the seminary.  This friend was always gracious and kind apart from the fact that she had a fabulous voice that came from such a small-framed person.  She would have made a far better cantor than I.  The quality I appreciated most was expressed when she helped me by giving me her notes from class.  I found it difficult to even write for exams due to having broken my wrist within a year.  She remains that person.  She asks her friends for different things, her friends respond, she never once tells others she doesn't like our ideas, but takes in silently each person’s contribution.  I don’t know about you, but I could not ask for a better friend than that.  Wisdom and respect is shared on both ends.  There is no “one upmanship,” we are equals with different gifts and we share as equals. She is a perfect example of the message of the King Wenceslas’ song.

            So what does this parable mean?  We are to go out.  If we are not able to go out physically, we are to go out of our comfort zone.  The page in the song actually does both.  He initially likes the idea of following in the king’s footsteps until he feels the bitter cold and the physical strain.  I have watched people struggle with doing the necessary exercise to remain strong enough to not be dependent on the aides physically.  Motivation can wane; both emotionally and physically.  As we age, we begin to question the purpose of our activity.  The closer we get to “the end” however perceived by our own assessment or the doctors of our life span, the more there is a temptation to give up and ask ourselves, what the point of it all is.  We are to go out, forgetting our own needs in order to reach out and to share what we have with others. It is one complete action.

            At the same time, we are to accept the invitation of God to God’s banquet in honor of God’s Son.  This parable is a direct parallel to the one from last Sunday.  God held a feast for the people of Israel, but they all went their separate ways and did not respond to God.  Instead, they went about their lives doing other things, some even persecuted God’s slaves and killed them.  The king actually responds with violence and killed those who killed others, burning their city. 

            God’s response to this is to send out the invitation to all, both the good and the bad.  God’s salvation is meant for everybody.  The king fills the wedding hall.  God’s covenant now extends to all people, not just the Jews because now the chosen people of God are not just the Jews, but the Gentiles as well.  God has opened the kingdom of heaven to all.  We are called to respond to that invitation, to feast with God, but as this parable reminds us, there is more.

            Just what does it mean to feast with God?  Certainly this could be thought to be an allusion to participation in the Lord’s Supper, considering that the Greek word for the supper means thanksgiving and is a celebration of the new life God gives us in Jesus.  It also means enjoyment of life in general, of all that God has given us which certainly includes food, shelter, and warmth.  It means having a thankful heart for each day.  One of the ways some people cope with bad days in their lives is to remind themselves that tomorrow is a new day, a new beginning.  I may have a difficult time making it through today.  Something terrible could happen, but tomorrow I can start fresh with a clean slate. 

            What of the man who shows up to the banquet without a wedding robe?  Scholars think that this may have originally been a separate parable about preparedness, possibly for the end times.  Another scholar suggests that this could be in reference to Romans 13:14 that we are to put on the Lord Christ or Galatians 3:27 because we are baptized into Christ, we are clothed with Christ.  Still another scholar interprets these verses to mean what it says in I Colossians 3:16 that this is a baptismal robe and we are to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.  If we are to take Jesus’ words seriously, we are to be committed servants who will daily walk in the footsteps of Jesus, our master, who like King Wenceslas leads the way and encourages us and strengthens us to follow his lead.

            Therefore, Christian people, be sure, wealth or rank possessing; ye who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing. As with the parable of last Sunday, we are called to bear fruit.  We are called to be a blessing just as God also blesses us.  God calls us to more than simply contemplation, but action.  Sometimes, the blesser is the one who walks away the most blessed.  Our interactions are all potential blessings because of our maker and redeemer. Amen.