5th Sunday of Easter 2026

Sermon: 5th Sunday of Easter 2026

Texts: Acts 7:55-60 ; John 14:1-14; 1 Peter 2:2-10

Grace, Peace, and Mercy from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Whose crown are we seeking? Crowns are an enduring symbol in many cultures. Crowns often symbolize achievement, it is the sign of having reached a particular milestone or feat, we are crowned for something. At other times, crowns are symbols of power, kings and queens wear them as signs of their authority over others. In our time, crowns still carry similar meaning, although our attitudes towards them are different. Today, crowns as symbols of power are passé, or perhaps signal unmerited and undemocratic power. Many believe rightly that we should not crown one human being with absolute authority, for absolute power over life and death belong to God alone. Perhaps, today we also can look at how we view the symbols of crowns more broadly, as what it is that we crown with absolute authority in our lives? Under what crown do we belong? Or under what system are we competing, that we seek to be crowned by? Who do we want to be recognized by or whose approval are we seeking? These are important existential questions, for according to our faith, whose crown you seek determines your whole being and disposition, and we are always pursuing a crown, whether we crown ourselves or seek a crown from someone else. Whose crown do we desire? A crown by the world, with fame, power, or status? Or do we seek the crown of the Truth, the Way, and the Life, that Christ bestows upon us?

In today’s reading from the book of Acts, we heard the story of one of the first Christian martyrs, Stephen. The story of Stephen is an example of what witnessing to Christ creates in us. The name of Stephen is significant, in Greek it means “crown”. Stephen, by witnessing to the way of Jesus to the end, receives his crown from Christ

Himself. Christ is the crown that Stephen won, a sight of the world to come, but also a share in the life of Christ which is the true life. Stephen, by proclaiming Christ, shares also in the sufferings of Christ. By deepening his faith in the way of Jesus, he was challenged and provoked by the crowds of the world who see in his witnessing a threat. And in that confrontation, what he held as essential comes to light. His steadfastness was not in vain, it was his crowning achievement in the face of God. Stephen not only received this crown of glory, but also shared in the crown of thorns. For Stephen is mocked, berated and ignominiously beaten to death. It goes to show, that Christian “success” is not what many peddle today. Glory is often found beneath the shadow of struggle for righteousness. Being a witness to Christ is not verified in our worldly success. Christian “success” is integrity in the face of rejection and contention. As Jesus was that cornerstone that the builders rejected, God takes up what the world rejects and builds from there His kingdom. It is another sign of God’s solidarity with the marginalized and oppressed, for He uplifts those who have been delt a bad hand by others. So “success” in a Christian sense relies more on the rightness of justice, of integrity in the face of compromise, of standing on the side of the suffering for God in Jesus Christ stood there. Recently, many were commemorating the life of the Jesuit priest and non-violent, anti-war activist Daniel Barrigan, and as he said: “Know where you stand and stand there”. Indeed, like Stephen, like Fr. Barrigan, stand with Christ and witness to him. For in this standing we also proclaim a greater success that is being born among us, that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, this success of God over the powers of death and destruction, uplifts us in our defeats, and will make right all those things that are

oppressing us. The success of a martyr like Stephen is that God in Jesus Christ succeeded, and therefore Stephen staked his life upon the One that is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Indeed, in the Christian tradition, we cannot speak of crowns without speaking of martyrdom. When we hear the word martyrdom, we often think of people who suffered a violent end for the sake of a cause. It can even be caricatured as someone who is a “glutton for punishment”. But that is not simply what we remember in the Church. The meaning of the word martyr in the Greek means “to witness”. A martyr is a witness like Stephen and Fr. Barrigan. A martyr is someone who in faithfulness witnessed to Christ to the end. To look at martyrdom as witnessing, gives us then a whole new spectrum of meaning. It clears the way for all those acts, big or small, that we do for the sake of Christ. We do them not for our own gain or satisfaction, but rather we do them because Christ is our Lord, and we love Him and those He calls us to serve. This faithfulness becomes our crown, the fruit of our strivings. It is telling, how even in the early years of Christianity, when martyrdom was a prominent motif, even devoting oneself to acts of prayer or service could be considered an act of martyrdom. To forego our own will to uplift the other, in not focusing on our own desires, but rather to be faithful to Christ in a selflessness that builds up others in Love. Now, this is not an invitation to be martyrs! Martyrdom often finds the Christian, rather than the Christian finds the martyrdom. Living in faith, hope, and love will often bring the tests that leads us to be witnesses. Our following of Jesus is not something that is simply internal and ethereal, it is lived out in real time with real people, and tested with real conflict. We are called to witness in public, what God works within us

in the quiet hours of our prayers and devotions. It is in the daily living and witnessing that these moments of steadfastness will arise.

But what happens when we are not steadfast like Stephen? What happens when our fear and sense of self-preservation is greater than our bravery or our resolve? Will God not give us the crown of glory, because we rejected the crown of thorns? What happens when we are weak or low and are unable to act with integrity towards Christ and His Kingdom? It is true, not all of us are able to stand as firm as Stephen and all the martyrs of the Christian Church. While we might all be called to testify to Christ, perhaps there will be moments where our testifying is not as strong. In the novel “Silence” by the Japanese Christian novelist Shusaku Endo, he portrays such a scenario, where our ideas of being great witnesses to Christ do not always coincide with the lived reality. In his novel, the young priest is confronted with an impossible situation, die for his faith, or to renounce Christ in front of the authorities to save his fellow persecuted Christians. He was to perform this act by stepping on a fumie, an image of Christ, to announce his rejection. What was this young pastor to do? What did witnessing to Christ mean then, when his act of witnessing would be curtailed by the suffering of those Christ called him to serve? In such a moment, a voice as whisper spoke to him from the image he was to step on, commanding him to “Step on me”. Christ spoke to him, “Come ahead now. It’s all right. Step on Me. I understand your pain. I was born into this world to share men’s pain. I carried this cross for your pain. Step.” The young priest, for the sake of the suffering ones, for love for these, stepped on the image, renouncing not his faith, but rather his own ego. In such an act, it turns on its head what we might think martyrdom and being crowned by Christ means. It is

the paradox, that to glorify Christ we are to love like He loves, and that sometimes that means to forego even our own sense of heroic faith for the sake of love for the least of these, and to simply abandon ourselves in the mercy of Christ. For in the end, the great Gospel truth, is that we are not ultimately crowned by our great bravery. We are crowned because we have trusted the One who has embraced all our pain and weakness and sin. We are crowned because God’s love and mercy abides irrespective of our strength. We should strive always for the Truth, to strive for that crown of glory, and accept the crown of thorns when it comes. But let such a striving be always fastened to the Gospel, that it is not because of our strength or weakness that we receive this, it is because we have trusted in the One who loves us. In the end, it is the fact that God has made us His that matters. And in that sense of belonging, we can witness to the truth bravely, without sacrificing our love and care for the least of these. We can trust that God will strengthen us to face the difficult moments and the difficult choices with integrity, and also trust that our weakness is not the end. The crown of life is given because God is merciful and far-reaching, not because we are worthy. If we listen to Stephen’s last words, mirroring those of Christ: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”. Indeed, the testimony of our Christian faith is that God is mercy, and His desired work is that of mercy, not of condemnation.

And thus, beloved, the life of a Christian, our crowning glory, our sense of purpose and direction, in the face of death or life remains to keep close to Christ who is Risen, in victory or defeat, in strength or in weakness, cover yourself under the wings of God’s grace. Like Thomas, we might say: “”Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” And thus the answer to disciples remains the same to us:

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”. In Him, through, with Him, for Him, we can exist in the assurance of our fundamental purpose, to make God’s love known to others as Christ did and called us to do so. Our witnessing will bear fruit the closer we remain to the heart of Christ. He is the crown we so ardently yearn for, a life that resembles his, a life that shines with the renewal of forgiveness and mercy. In a world where people are fighting over earthly crowns, striving for a life separate from the roots, of faith, hope, love, and truth, let us, like Stephen, stand with Christ and the oppressed, let our striving and trust remain in the One who is our crowning glory, knowing Him that has overcome this world with justice, mercy, and love. Let us then pray: