Chotard Doll

Dear Friends,

Today, immediately after the celebration of the birth of Christ, we commemorate the death of the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen. This juxtaposition to the Nativity makes clear the cost of discipleship—for all of us.  Life is not all celebration. Death is a part of life, too.

But Stephen goes out in a blaze of glory. He angers the Jewish authorities by giving them a detailed history of God’s actions for his people, including the persecution of prophets and of the Messiah himself at the hands of those same authorities.

“You stiff necked people,… you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit,…”

And Stephen was rewarded with a vision of heaven as he was stoned to death, and saw Jesus himself at the right hand of God. And like Jesus, he prayed for forgiveness for those who killed him.

Happily, we rarely face such opposition to our faith. As for me, I have to struggle to forgive things far less serious than being stoned to death. And I wonder, under such pressure, would I be able to take the stand that Stephen did? And will I be able to face death with such confidence and hope? 

There is a cost to acting out what we believe to be the truth. I think we have daily challenges to live up to that responsibility, and I pray that at least sometimes, I may be able to meet the challenge.

Faithfully,

—Chotard