25 July 2021
Text: Mark 10:35-45 (Acts
11:27-12:5, Rom 8:28-39)
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
When
young people are polled about what they want out of life, a large number of
them want to be famous. And the world of
social media has certainly encouraged this by creating an environment of
friends, likes, and followers. People
dream of making a living by being a “content producer” or “influencer.” We may be tempted to think this is something
new, but we see it in the Scriptures – even in the Gospel reading for this
feast day of St. James the Elder.
James
and his brother John were among the first to follow Jesus. They were fishermen. Their colleague Peter became the leader of
the apostles. The three of them, Peter, James, and John, were our Lord’s “inner
circle” among the twelve, and saw Him transfigured on the mountain.
Our
Gospel does not paint a very flattering picture of St. James and his brother John. They come to Jesus asking to be placed on His
right hand and His left in His glory. In
other words, they are bucking for the top spots among Jesus’ followers. And in fact, Matthew’s account gives us an
even more embarrassing detail: their mother comes with them to talk to Jesus
about getting the top jobs. Can you
imagine? Grown men bring their mother to
Jesus to ask for positions of prominence.
This
desire for worldly accolades is not something unique to our own day and
age. It is as old as sin itself. And this is the Gospel reading to celebrate St.
James. It’s clear that the Scriptures
were not cleaned up or edited to paint a rosy picture about our Lord’s
disciples, nor does the kingdom of God work like the world.
For
indeed, James and John were prominent among the disciples. John would write the fourth Gospel, three
epistles, and the final book of Scripture.
And James would achieve glory in a different way: by being among the
first to be killed by the government for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel.
And
this is why our Lord said to James and John – within earshot of their ambitious
mother: “You do not know what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the
baptism with which I am baptized?” Jesus
was referring to His crucifixion. James
and John reply, “We are able.” Like St. Peter,
their ambition blinds them to what it means to be great in the kingdom of God. There is no fame and fortune, no admiration
from the world, no moneybags and fine houses, no palaces and soft clothing, no
gourmet foods and limousines for the disciples of Jesus. Rather, for John, there was exile to a
hostile island by order of Caesar. For Peter
there was a crucifixion likewise ordered by the Roman government. For James, a sword ordered by King Herod.
Historically
speaking, to be a Christian makes one an enemy of the state – at some points in
history more than others. To be a Christian
puts one at odds with the world, with high society, with those in power, and
with the very people whom the world admires and rewards with fame.
When
the other disciples heard about James and John – and Mrs. Zebedee – seeking favors
from Jesus, they were “indignant.” Our Lord
used this incident as a teaching moment: “You know that those who are considered
rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise
authority over them. But it shall not be
so among you. But whoever would be great
among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be
slave of all. For even the Son of Man
came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
So
to be great in God’s kingdom is to be a slave – both to other people and to God. This is the opposite of what the world seeks
after. Each and every one of you sitting
here in this sanctuary is called to slavery, to be a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and to serve your neighbor. You are
called to carry out your vocation in the kingdom, whatever it is. But you are not called to be praised in this
world, to be famous, and to have people serve you.
St.
James learned what Jesus meant when he saw this “baptism” that our Lord was
referring to, when He saw His Master being crucified. And this martyrdom is what awaited James as
well. Like Christians throughout the
ages, James’s faithfulness was tested by the government, which demanded his
loyalty to them to be placed above his loyalty to Christ. In his own desire for fame and the approval
of the world, the phony king Herod Agrippa “pleased the Jews” by laying “violent
hands on some who belonged to the church” – including St. James.
The
spot where James was beheaded is today a church named for St. James. His head is buried under the altar, where the
sacrament was, and is, celebrated, and where Christ has come to His disciples
of every age for centuries. That, dear
friends, is what it means to be great in the kingdom of God.
In
the eyes of the world, it seems strange that Christians don’t just do as we are
told by kings and presidents and secretaries general. We are hated by the world precisely because
we don’t care what they think. We don’t
worship fame and fortune and the possibility of wearing soft clothing and
living in a palace. And when the powers
that be threaten us with the sword, we still won’t serve them nor bow down to
them. And that is why we are enemies of
the state. That is why St. James was
beheaded. That is why Christians around
the world continue to be persecuted, whether in a soft form (for the time being)
in the west, or by imprisonment and beheading in other less civilized countries.
We
are slaves of Christ, not slaves of the state.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” asks St. Paul (who
himself, along with St. Peter, would die as a martyr at the hands of the Roman
government). “Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” And even though we are seen by our enemies as
sheep to be slaughtered, being killed at every turn, “we are more than
conquerors through Him who loved us.” And
though kings and presidents and secretaries general can separate our heads from
our bodies, “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We
Christians do not seek fame and fortune and likes and followers. We seek to be faithful and to serve our Lord,
whether that means a long and peaceful life, or a concentration camp, a sword,
or a cross. We look to Jesus, whose own
sacrificial death on the cross is our ransom from sin and death, whose service
to us models our own service of Him and of our neighbor. And we, like James, grow in our faith, so as
to disregard, and even scorn the world’s fame and approval in exchange for the “love
of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
And
we honor our Lord by honoring St. James, by our constant presence at the altar,
in this life and in eternity, worshiping our Lord instead of this world, being
faithful subjects of our King even if it comes at the expense of being faithful
citizens of a monstrous government that puts people to the sword for political
favor. We follow Jesus knowing that the
cup on this altar may well lead to the cup that our Lord Himself drank. We are the people of the cross, the “ransomed
number.” We are slaves of Christ. And if that means a sword, so be it.
O Lord, for James we praise
You
Who fell to Herod’s sword;
He drank the cup of suff’ring
And thus fulfilled Your
word.
Lord, curb our vain
impatience
For glory and for fame,
Equip us for such suff’rings
As glorify Your name.
Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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