James the Apostle – 25th July 2010

Introduction and Call to Worship
We come to worship God in the company of James and all the saints, and to offer God our hearts and minds in service of the kingdom. James, son of son of Zebedee is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels state that James and John were with their father by the seashore when Jesus called them to follow him.(Matt. 4:21-22, Mk. 1:19-20) According to the Gospel of Mark, James and John were called the "Sons of Thunder" and also the "Saintly Brothers of Martyrdom".(Mark 3:17) James was one of only three apostles whom Jesus selected to bear witness to his Transfiguration. The Acts of the Apostles records that Agrippa I had James executed by sword, hence the use of Red Vestments and hangings in Church today, for a Martyr of the Church.

Today’s Readings

First Reading Jeremiah 45:1-5
The prophet is told that he must not long for greatness, but be grateful to escape with his life.

Or Acts 11:27 – 12:2
The early Christians face a time of famine and of violent persecution, which results in the death of James.

Second Reading Acts 11:27 – 12:2

Or 2 Corinthians 4:7-15
We carry the treasure of the good news in the clay jars of our imperfect lives, so that it is clear that it is God’s treasure and not ours.

Gospel Matthew 20:20-28
A request for the best places in the kingdom gives Jesus a chance to teach about his own concept of greatness.

HOMILY

“It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave.” (Matthew 20:26-27)

Today we celebrate and remember St James who was called by Jesus to leave his life as a fisherman and follow him. (Mark 1: 19-20) But today’s Gospel reading doesn’t even mention James – or so it would seem at face value, but if we look at St Mark’s Gospel we can find an equivalent account (Mark 10:35-45) which tells us this is about James and his brother John.

In Mark’s Gospel, James and John approach Jesus directly, and put their request. But Matthew says that the pushy one was their mother. Their mother comes to ask for what she knows, with total certainty, her sons deserve. Who else could Jesus possibly want beside him, ruling the kingdom? Matthew doesn’t tell us whose initiative this was: whether it was the mother, dragging her reluctant and embarrassed sons along with her, or whether it was the ambitious sons, pushing their mother forward to do the dirty work for them. Certainly, the young men are there, and are quick to back their mother up, when Jesus asks if they really want what they are asking for.

The mother of James and John has clearly calculated! But she had her reasons, for no doubt her sons had told her all about Jesus and how they hoped he was the one to overthrow the Roman invaders and set up his own kingdom and rule from Jerusalem. In her thoughts therefore, the disciples could form the new government, and her own sons could get senior positions. On reflection, it is a little odd that she thinks Jesus needs to have this drawn to his attention, if her sons are as wonderful as she thinks they are; clearly she doesn’t want to leave anything to chance.

But if their mother was looking for power and security for them, James and John must very quickly have realised this was not what Jesus was offering. As soon as he started to talk about the cup that they must share with him, they would have picked up the allusions. In the Jewish scriptures, the cup is almost always a symbol of suffering and the wrath of God (see Jeremiah 25:15, for example). When James and John say that they are able to share this cup with Jesus, they would have realised this meaning had a bitter/sweet nature in Jewish tradition.

So what suffering do they expect? Well, probably they anticipated a battle for the heart and soul of Jerusalem as Jesus in their mind physically takes on the imperial rule of Rome and the Jewish authorities, but they expect to emerge triumphant, and then to reap the political rewards of their triumph. What they do not expect is that Jesus’ triumph is going to be of a different kind altogether, one that no ambitious mother could ever wish for her sons. Jesus is, indeed, going to overthrow the political order for God alone is the true ruler of the world, and only God’s judgements count. According to the tradition of the early Church, James remained in Jerusalem after the Resurrection of Jesus and was himself to know real suffering for the sake of the faith at his martyrdom as recorded in Acts 12: 1-2, in AD 44.

Jesus says that his disciples must be servants and slaves, not rulers, and they must be ready to suffer for the sake of the Gospel. Some people have seen that as a reason to submit to brutality and injustice, and to deny their own needs and rights. But after the death and resurrection of Jesus, his followers, like James, acted like men and women who had immense authority and freedom. They acknowledged no authority but God’s; they were not slaves and servants to anyone but God. They defied rulers and religious authorities, and preached, taught and healed fearlessly. Many of them, like James, paid with their lives, as Jesus had.

We are not all called to be revolutionaries and martyrs, but we are all called to the service of God, which is perfect freedom. Because if we are God’s servants and slaves, we know that no one and nothing else can enslave us. We do not know if James and John’s mother came to value her sons’ Christian authority. But we can hope that she is now proud that, over two thousand years later, we honour her son James, and try to walk in his footsteps as we strive to build up God’s revolutionary kingdom here in this place of Nork.

SUMMARY
1. Unlike Mark’s Gospel, Matthew does not tell us that James and John requested places at Jesus’ right hand. Instead, he tells us that their mother asked on their behalf.
2. But James and John must quickly have realised that to share Jesus’ mission is to share his suffering.
3. Jesus says that his disciples show their authority through service.
4. To serve God is to be free from any other kind of slavery.

The Revd Damian Stewart Miles, 2010.
Original Text from Redemptorist Publications, ‘Living Word’ for Common Worship.