Today is the day in the Church calender to commemorate St. Stephen, Deacon and Martyr. Do you remember the story? According to Acts, the Apostles were being stretched thin by the demands of caring for those in need. They had no time to preach and teach and heal! So, deacons were chosen, Stephen being among the first, to do what we would call today "social ministry," caring for the poor. But, also according to Acts, Stephen became the first Christian killed as a result of confessing the faith. This scene, of course, is depicted in the stained glass of St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Williamsburg.

Does it seem strange, only one day after celebrating the birth of the Christ child, that we turn our attention to the first martyr, the first one who was killed defending the faith? Doesn't that seem jarring?

It is so only if we allow Christmas to be defined by the saccharine, romantic warm fuzzy trappings of the cultural holiday. That Christmas is short-lived and shallow. But, in fact, Christmas means that God was born, a human being, right into violence and evil of our world. God became a human being, in Jesus the Christ, to be intimately present with us, in our flesh, as we live in this world. God became incarnate to save us from evil. "Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil," we pray in the Lord's Prayer, and the Christian gospel is that God saves and delivers us even as God is experiencing our times of trial and our encounters with evil. God is right here, with us. That's what the Incarnation means: God born into human flesh. "Emanuel -- which means, God with us."

That's what Christmas means. It is anything but surgary sweet. It is good that this Second Day of Christmas is also the day we commemorate St. Stephen, victim of the world's evil. It brings us the clear-eyed realism we need before God can open us to receive the incredibly joyous Good News of Christmas.