St. James the apostle

 

Sunday 25^th July – James the Apostle.

Jeremiah 45: 1-5. Jeremiah prophesies disaster for the Jewish people because of their inability to represent God’s love and justice in the land. That raises an interesting point of whether God actively “breaks down and plucks up” or simply withdraws his protection of the Jewish people from the attentions of powerful and malign nations. The Hebrew scriptures strongly suggest the former. The Christian revelation says that while God is involved at every level of pain, suffering and disaster, free will dictates that there are lines and constraints that cannot be transgressed in this life, even for God.  

Acts 11:27 – 12:2. This reading mentions the murder of James almost in passing by King Herod who must have been feeling very threatened by this new movement that followed another “King of the Jews”. A famine is also predicted and as I have said before, while we have no control over what happens to us we have choices over how we react. The churches subsequently and effectively rallied around to support the impoverished churches in the Holy Land where the church was born.

Mark 6: 14-28. We’ll never know whether this was the sole action of a proud and pushy mother or whether James and John put her up to it. Jesus’ reaction to the brothers suggest the latter and anyway it provides a wonderful introduction for Jesus to express the nature of true Christian ministry which is one of service and not lording it over the church. “Servant leadership” as it is known in the church is however a difficult balancing act to achieve convincingly.

 

To be honest the most enduring visible legacy to St. James in Europe is undoubtedly the Way of St James across Northern Spain to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela which traditionally houses his remains.  Known as the Camino, this is on our bucket list for when we retire

Of course, Santiago simply means St. James in Spanish and I remember visiting the cathedral under acres of scaffolding and the iconic incense burner (Thurible) was out of commission.

How his remains got to Spain from the Holy Land after James was put to death by the sword is another matter but sometimes, I think it is better to give in to romance and mystery.

But, for modern Christianity it is in that little exchange between Jesus and James and John’s mother that introduces a quite profound insight into how Christian leaders are required to relate to their flock that is the most important thing.

On their behalf their mother is asking for a seat at the high table, security and position, and from that place can then Lord it over all the other disciples which understandably upset everyone.

I would summarise the reply that Jesus gave as saying that the first quality needed in leadership in the church is humility and collegiality. Listening to others with respect, acknowledging that they may have something vital to contribute to the discussion and that all of us are never too old to learn.

A “first amongst equals” if you will.

That may still lead to respectful disagreement, but you must be able to listen all the same.

Advancement and the pursuit of prestige and power for its own sake are not hallmarks of Christian ministry.

You work for the good of your community, the best you can, with the gifts that God has given you, and hope that people trust and follow you, if for no other reason, because they realise that you are not in this for yourself or for money.    

This also accounts for the way that Kings in the Hebrew scriptures are also routinely referred to as shepherds.

Shepherds are necessary and there to guide and protect their flock, so while they occupy that position in society the role is softened, with the message that the king is there for your collective benefit.

How this is worked out in the three biggest apostolic churches of the world, Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican is interesting.

The Anglican model of synods with separate houses of clergy and laity and , all starting with the PCC as the first rung on that ladder in its modern form has both strengths and weaknesses, but the prime mover for that system is trying to balance the need for leadership with the need to show that we are humbly going forward together, listening to each other, noting our differences with respect.

As our joint PCC’s start again after a difficult year in September lets be mindful that we are one community – a community of equals – with designated and assigned roles within that community of equals and to keep the show on the road we need lashings of grace and patience with others that we may disagree with, always mindful that we are only here at all because we are members of one family – the universal church – the one Holy, catholic and apostolic church and in the eyes of Christ we are all viewed equally, loved passionately, and no matter who you are, if you were the last person alive on earth, Jesus Christ would and did lay down his life for you.   

God's plumb line

 

Sunday 11^th July – 6^th after Trinity – Proper 10

Amos 7: 7-15. The plumb line means that God is going to establish a standard of behaviour and will no longer be indifferent to how people live. We don’t know if Amos directly prophesied Jeroboam’s violent death but according to 2 Kings 14:29 Jeroboam died a peaceful death after ruling Israel for 41 years. We do know however that the Northern Kingdom of Israel was laid waste by the Assyrians in 721 BC which would accord with his prophesy against Israel.

Ephesians 1: 3-14. “Blessing” in Greek is both an act of praise or thanksgiving or an act of bestowing a gift on another, so God is to be blessed for God’s blessings. The gifts bestowed are redemption, forgiveness, wisdom and faith and the only appropriate response to that is one of giving thanks and praise. This should prompt us to recall that the chief end of human life according to the Westminster confession (1646) is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Mark 6: 14-29. This longest piece in the gospels not directly about Jesus is drawing a parallel between the deaths of both men at the hand of weak vacillating leaders who left to their own devices would have spared them but under the influence of other circumstances order their executions. Speaking truth to power has always been a dangerous thing to do and having friends in high places (Herod respects John) never guarantees your safety.

 

Honesty and integrity and treating your fellow men and women with justice and as equally loved by God have always been highly prized human attributes and especially within the house of Israel (at least to each other) these are the foundation stones of what honouring and praising God looks like in practice.

 

It is a commonplace in the Bible that a love of God and a pure religious cult must go hand in hand with a just society purely because it was revealed early on that this is what God wants and prizes.

 

But it was a fact that no matter how correct the religious worship was and how strictly the sacrifices to God were conducted, Israeli society at the level of both the societal and the personal level had become corrupt.

 

Injustice, cheating, lying and exploitation had become commonplace and the message given to Amos the prophet was that God was not going to tolerate it any more from what was after all his chosen people.

 

A plumbline is a piece of string with a weight on one end and was used to measure how straight walls were – and the plumbline God was dropping into Israelite society was the law, or Torah.

Measure up to that or face the consequences was the basic message revealed to Amos, because actions have consequences.

 

The actions of powerful men and women like Herodius, Herod and Pilate have far reaching life-ending consequences for which they should have been held to account in this life but will have to account for before God.

 

And that is the same for all of us on a personal level of private morality, and the more power you wield, the higher up you are in the pecking order, the more your decisions and morality impinge on ever more people so your honesty and integrity become even more important.

 

What we do know is that the Northern kingdom of Israel was wiped off the face of the earth by the Assyrians in around 722 BC.

 

Were the Assyrians an unknowing instrument of God. That is unknowable but the Southern kingdom of Judah must have looked at what happened to their brothers and sisters to the North and shuddered.

 

Did it make them think about their own actions and morality? Probably, in the short term but humans are flawed beings, prone always seek the easiest most expedient way so even if it did produce a sudden burst of moral probity I dare say it wouldn’t have lasted very long – and historically of course we know it didn’t last.

 

Of course, when the time was right God dropped another plumbline into human society, his son Jesus Christ.

A definitive once for all standard against which all things can be measured and found wanting.

 

Jesus Christ is the eternal revelation of the truth about God and his moral rectitude and wisdom shines as an everlasting light to the world at large and for his followers like us a paragon of virtue to emulate and use as an example of how to live a godly life.

 

Jesus was immersed in God’s grace and lived out of that grace. That is the example he left us. Love God and love your neighbour as yourself.

 

Just like our Jewish antecedents we fall and fail often but in the light of the revelation in Christ we also know that if we repent (turn our lives around) there is forgiveness and mercy and eternal life.

This is why we praise God. His love, forgiveness and redemption are revealed to us in Christ. We are blessed in Christ and we praise God for that blessing.