God came to us in Christ in a world full of tensions and divisions. In fact, the sort of world we live in now. Jesus was born in temporary accommodation when his parents were travelling. 

When Jesus was taken to the Temple at six weeks’ old, there was the prophecy that he would shake up many lives and that a sword will pierce his mother's heart. That seen as referring especially to Mary’s pain at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. Before long, Jesus’ family will be refugees heading for Egypt to escape the murderous Herod.

About thirty years’ on, after the Resurrection, in the early days of the Church, in Jerusalem, the Christians initially behaved much as the Jews did. They tried to provide regularly for the needy, who were largely the widows, who would probably not have a stable income. The Christians there were of two sorts. The majority had been born as Jews, and probably spoke Aramaic, as did Jesus. Then there were a smaller number, mostly, - but not all, - born as Jews, but who normally spoke Greek. It was the widespread language in the ancient world, and – you will remember – that the New Testament was written in Greek.

The Greek-speaking Christians at that time in Jerusalem felt that their widows weren't doing so well in the food distribution, as the Aramaic-speaking widows, so seven men were chosen, and indeed ordained, to sort it out. Stephen was the most prominent one of the seven, who were called deacons. Besides having those administrative responsibilities, deacons were also to be preachers, and, in those very early days, Stephen managed to upset the local synagogues and the Jewish leaders by his preaching. He was accused of being against Moses and the Temple.

But Moses, Stephen was actually very keen on, and the Jewish Law. Probably the Temple not so much - it was not around in Moses’ time, and Stephen might have been unconvinced about some of the activities going on in the Temple in his day. Stephen was quite a young man, possibly under thirty when he died, being killed after giving a speech to the Jewish leaders, outlining the essentials of Jewish history, and pointing out that God's great prophets had usually been persecuted by the Jewish leadership, and that they had done the very same thing to Jesus, the greatest of all. They had messed up to the ultimate degree.

Stephen courageously said what he was moved to say and paid the price. One of the leading Jews who opposed him was Saul, who looked after people's clothes for them during Stephen’s stoning. The outcome, of course, was that before long, Saul would change - from being famous as a violent persecutor of the Church, -  to become St Paul, himself enduring all sorts of hardships, and becoming the most famous of all for spreading the faith around the ancient world. Stephen's witness must have played a big part in triggering Paul's conversion.

So, what does all this say to us? The Church now, when there are serious differences and divisions, seems often to choose the route of papering over divisions, very politely, and with very pretty paper. Confrontation and hurt to be avoided at all costs. Anything leading to painful change for anyone, to be dodged and side-stepped. But is the Church of England thriving like that? I think Stephen and Paul would want us to ponder. Like Christ, they never rushed to take the easy way, and it was their courage and leadership and examples and sacrifices which brought many others to God.