Loading...Happy St James Day! Today we celebrate St James: the man, the myth, the community. Today we pay special attention to our patron saint who helps us pay attention to God.
Let’s talk about the man first. First and foremost, James is a friend of Jesus. A close, personal friend. So close that his mom is friends with Jesus’ mom.
Do you have a close group of friends? I’m acquainted with loads of athletes and we all have our own special interests and sports which unites us in a common mission: to challenge barriers. Out of many gym buddies, running buddies, swim buddies, there are three of us who have come to appreciate obstacle course races. We are headed to Asheville NC this week to run one of those obstacle course races.
Obstacle course races are a mission within a mission: challenge barriers that require the three of us to cooperate under harsh conditions. And everyone knows cooperation requires sacrifice. When we train, Esther usually chooses the exercise circuit because she always picks the hard stuff. Some days when we train I think, “Esther is so smart to create a circuit that will match our race.”
Some days when we train and I think, “Why on earth did Esther choose this circuit?? Who even IS she?” You really get to know a person when you are carrying a 40-pound sandbag up a hill as fast as you can because they have to do burpees until you reach the top. Cooperation means sacrifice.
What the Bible tells us about James is that he was originally a fisherman who worked in the family business with his father Zebedee, his brother John, and some employees. Once day while mending fishing nets in his boat Jesus passed along and called him to follow. He and his brother John leave Zebedee and the hired men and the nets and followed Jesus. The best we can tell is that they did not leave their mother, Salome. She came with them. Not sure she was invited, but you know how moms are.
Salome ends up going the distance with Jesus both to the foot of the cross and to the empty tomb on Easter morning. Are James and John called Sons of Thunder because they are loud? Or because their mom knows how to manage during a storm? I speculate James was raised with an appreciation of how noise gets people’s attention.
Nearby Zebedee’s fishing business, Peter and his brother Andrew also had a fishing enterprise on the same lake. Peter and Andrew also left their nets and followed Jesus when he called them. [Mark 16-20] Along with eight other men, these four fishermen continued their journey. Along the way, James and John and Peter formed an inner circle with Jesus and their adventures are set apart from the remaining nine disciples.
One of the most famous experiences James got to see was the Transfiguration of Jesus when he took his three closest friends up a high mountain. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” [Matthew 17:1-9]
James got to witness some secret healings, ask Jesus privately about the apocalypse, and in today’s reading from Matthew, he’s part of the stir his mom makes when she asks Jesus to give her sons cabinet assignments in his new kingdom. Clearly Salome had gotten to know Jesus too. She knows he’s powerful and that he’s coming into some more serious power but she doesn’t know specifically how and she wants her family to be part of that power — how could she ever guess….
...that power she is asking for her sons is not the power to overthrow a government or raise up a militia. Rather, Jesus’ power would be to lay down his life for his friends. Only after his resurrection do those scattered and scared friends realize how much they misunderstood the man they shared so many amazing adventures with. Once they do understand, their lives begin to attract attention.
James and John DO get to drink the cup Jesus drinks, the cup of sacrifice. James is imprisoned and beheaded because of the attention he draws to the power of Jesus. King Herod does not welcome that challenge to his power. Herod may be ruthless, but he’s a political mastermind. He knows if you want to try and reduce the power of a challenger, take out the challenger’s best lieutenant.
The power of the friendship shared between James and Jesus doesn’t end when Herod beheads James. The work James does continues to spread the gospel of Jesus today.
Let’s talk about James the myth for just a moment. Some say James preached the gospel in Spain. Some say he is buried there. Either way, James is the patron saint of Spain. Centuries of pilgrims claim blessings of transformation for walking between Europe and Galicia, a route called Santiago de Compostela. If you ever want to walk that road, I’ll go with you. I’d like to travel with you.
The community that bears the name of St James is one I am proud to introduce my friends to. I want people to know what is going on around here in the name of Jesus and under the banner of his close confidant James. I want to draw attention to all God is doing around here. One of the things going on around here is a whole lot of cooperation between our community and Jesus, just like a training circuit. Just look at the long list of ministries undertaken by those who claim this community as their own.
Like any friendship there may be days you feel like you and Jesus are bosom buddies and then other days when you ask yourself “Who IS this person? I thought I knew him?” You really get to know a person when he is executed for crimes he didn’t commit so you could be free from the bondage of slavery.
This community gathered together this morning is free, free to wield the power Jesus bestows in the cup he shares of sacrificial cooperation. Where will that freedom take you today?
