The Feast of Saints Simon and Jude
28 October 2012
Saint Faith’s Anglican Church
Vancouver BC
Propers:
Deuteronomy 32.1-4; Psalm 119.89-96; Ephesians 2.13-22; John 15.17-27
In today’s reading from the Gospel according to John we
hear some very hard words about discipleship and the opposition that followers
of Jesus should expect. Such hard words
should not surprise us. The way of Jesus
is not an easy one, even for those who choose to follow it, and it is a way
that challenges those who benefit from inequalities in our world. Even democratic governments, from time to
time, find the followers of Jesus uncomfortable and try to muffle our voices
and our criticisms.
This was a reality that Simon and Jude knew all too
well. Conventional wisdom associates
Simon with the Zealots, a political movement willing to use violence to
overthrow the Roman authorities. They
were, in fact, people who today would be identified as terrorists. But somewhere along the way, Simon met Jesus
and his life was changed. I am sure that
his former compatriots thought him a traitor and there were probably occasions
when Simon’s life was not easy.
On the other hand, Jude is thought by some to have been a
brother of Jesus. This is not the time
to go into an in-depth exploration of the possible family connections, but
there is no doubt it cannot have been easy to be related to a man thought to be
a miracle worker by some, an inspired teacher by others and a political and
religious threat by the authorities. But
Jude was numbered among the Twelve, the inner group of the early
Jesus-movement. With his colleague,
Simon, Jude is counted among those apostles who were martyred within twenty
years of his brother’s death and resurrection.
What Simon and Jude came to realize is that following
Jesus is a public work for the common good.
Being public meant that Simon and Jude were identified as leaders of a
movement and anonymity was not an option.
Being part of a movement for the common good meant that Simon and Jude were
compelled by their belief in the resurrection to speak out and to call others
to join in this movement.
Saint Faith’s is very familiar with these dimensions of
Christian discipleship. Under the
leadership of Peter Davison and Andrew Pike, this parish entered into the
renewal of public liturgy that began in the late sixties and early
seventies. We could not hide our
commitment to worship that spoke to new generations of Christians for whom
Tudor English and clergy-dominated worship no longer had meaning.
This parish also was among the earliest proponents of the
ministry of women in every dimension of the church. The late Dr Mary Murray was the first woman
to be elected to various offices in the Diocese of New Westminster. Saint Faith’s provided a curacy for Elspeth
Alley, one of the first woman ordained in the Anglican Church of Canada. Her shoes were filled by other women
culminating with the appointment of Paula Porter Leggett as Rector in 1998.
This heritage, the heritage of saints and of this parish,
is an embodiment of leitourgia, a
Greek word meaning ‘a public work for the common good’. Its English derivative, ‘liturgy’, is
sometimes used to describe worship, but I want to explore its broader meaning
with you today.
Leitourgia is
'public' because it is neither secret nor reserved for a select few. What God is doing for the world with and
through and sometimes despite the Christian assembly is intended to be
broadcast far and wide, our doors flung open to any and to all who would
enter. God appeals shamelessly to the
'wrong kind' of people as well as to the 'right kind', however we might define
those terms.
Because we worship and serve in full view of those who
are not part of our movement, we cannot ignore them and try to hide ourselves
behind our doors and walls. This is not
something this parish has ever been tempted to do, but we cannot afford to
forget the public nature of our faith and of the path we have chosen to follow
as Christians.
Leitourgia is
‘work’ because it requires effort as well as accomplishes something. Christian life becomes less than leitourgia when we do not practice for
it, when we no longer examine closely the reasons why we are doing and saying
what we are doing and saying. When leitourgia is at work in and through us,
lives are changed, communities transformed and God's shalom becomes evident to
the blind, the deaf and the voiceless.
Leitourgia is
'common' because it both involves the 'things' and 'stuff' of human life as
well as being shared by all. 'God's
public work' is not an abstraction but uses our journeys and passages, our food
and our drink, our language and gestures to convey the mission that God is
accomplishing in the world. Further,
when Christian faith and witness become the possession of a particular individual
or particular group, then we experience a deformed expression of leitourgia, this frivolously hospitable
act of God.
Leitourgia is
'good' not only because God is good but because it embodies what God envisions
as the 'good'.
“With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow
myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with
calves a year old? Will
the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of
oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for
the sin of my soul?" He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6.6-8)
'To do justice' is to ensure that the dignity of every
human being is protected and that no one becomes a means to my ends. 'To love kindness' is to love chesed, covenant loyalty, steadfast
love. 'To walk humbly' is to remember
that, although we are made in the image and likeness of God, we are not God.
- The ‘good’ is present when others see us creating life-giving and life-sustaining community.
- The ‘good’ is present when others see us proclaiming the good news of God in Jesus of Nazareth.
- The ‘good’ is present when others see us manifesting costly witness to the good news which we proclaim.
- The ‘good’ is present when others see us offering self-giving, self-sacrificing service and agency to our neighbours.
- The ‘good’ is present when others see us teaching our faith not only in word but in deed, practicing a life of integrity.
As we contemplate how we shall exercise our stewardship
of the gifts God has given us, let us remember that our gathering for worship
is a ritual expression of how we follow the way of Jesus once this assembly is
over. Worship plays a role in
stewardship because it reminds us of our public work for the common good. Bishop Augustine of Hippo is reported to have
lifted the bread and wine of the eucharist with these words: “The gifts of God for the people of God. See who you are. Become what you see.”
Through our baptism and our participation in the
eucharist God reveals us to be agents of leitourgia,
a people who are called to be a gift to the world. Leitourgia
joins diakonia as one of the dimensions of the stewardship we exercise in
communion with Simon and Jude and the generations of believers who have come
before us.
Let us pray.
O God, you have called your servants
to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden,
through perils unknown. Give us faith to
go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is
leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. [Evangelical
Lutheran Worship, 304]
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