Sermon for the Feast of St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord - Lk 1:46-55

 

St. Mary

                                                                                       Lk 1:46-55

                                                                                       8/15/21

 

             A few weeks ago, nobody had heard of Lydia Jacoby. She was just a seventeen year old girl from Alaska.  However, at the Tokyo Olympics she pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the games as she won the 100-meter breaststroke with an amazing surge at the end of the race.

            Nationally, nobody had heard of Lydia.  She wasn’t even expected to make the U.S. Olympic swim team.  However, at the Olympic trials she swam nearly three seconds faster than her previous best time to earn the trip to the Olympics.  And then in the 100-meter breaststroke finals she beat Lilly King, the reigning Olympic champion who had lost only once in the event since 2015.  When it was all done, there was young Lydia Jacoby – the unexpected unknown – receiving the gold medal and becoming a national celebrity.

            Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord.  Like Lydia Jacoby, nobody had heard of Mary. She was not someone from whom great things were expected.  But then, through a series of entirely unexpected events, she became the mother of our Lord Jesus.  She became the God-bearer who has been remembered by all of God’s people. In St. Mary we see that God’s grace works in unexpected ways.  And in Mary, we see the model for how we are to receive God’s Word.

            In our text today we hear the words that Mary spoke when she, pregnant with the Lord Jesus, met the aged Elizabeth who was herself pregnant with John the Baptist. The first thing we encounter is something that perhaps we have been conditioned to overlook.  It is a sad truth of the history of Christian theology that St. Mary has often been given a role and position that contradicts Scripture.  We are well aware that in the Roman Catholic church Mary has been set up as a focus in the life of faith.  Prayer is offered to her, and she is viewed as a mediator for believers.

            Because of these aberrations, modern Lutherans have often responed by ignoring St. Mary herself.  The offenses present elsewhere have often caused us to react in the opposite direction. We have not wanted to accord any special attention to Mary.  Yet our text today reveals that this too is wrong.

            We see this at the very beginning of our text as Mary says, “For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.” Indeed, just before this, as Mary and Elizabeth met we learn: “And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!’”

            Scripture is absolutely clear in describing Mary as one who is blessed among women.  She is the one all generations will call blessed.  We must say on the basis of God’s Word that Mary stands out uniquely among all women. There had never been, and there will never be anyone like her again.

            This fact was completely unexpected.  There was nothing about Mary that would have led those around her to expect Mary take up a status that is unique among all women of all time.  She was a nobody. She didn’t come from a ruling family of that day.  She was a young teenage girl from the unimportant town of Nazareth, and was betrothed to a man named Joseph who from the house of David.

Because of infant mortality and the short life expectancy, the ancient world had to seek to produce as many children as possible.  As soon as a girl was able to conceive, she married and began to have children.  Mary was a virgin who had just become a woman in the sense that now she could have children. Betrothed to Joseph, her wedding day was approaching.

In our text, Mary acknowledges her low status.  She says, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.”  And in her next statement we learn that while Mary now holds the status of being unique among all women – the one all people call blessed - this is not because of anything that she did.  Mary says, “For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

Mary says that all generations will call her blessed because God the mighty One had done great things for her.  She was referring to the fact that at that moment, Mary the virgin … was pregnant. And it wasn’t just the fact that Mary had experienced this miracle.  More important still, was the nature of the baby she now carried in her womb.

The angel Gabriel had just appeared to Mary, and after calming her fears about being greeted by an angel, Gabriel had said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” In unmistakable words, the angel told Mary that she would conceive and give birth to the Messiah – the fulfillment of all of God’s promises about the line of David in the Old Testament.

This was amazing in itself.  But when Mary asked how this was going to happen since she was a virgin, the angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God.”  There would be no human father.  Instead, the Holy Spirit would cause the child to be conceived – and this child would be the Son of God.  Through the work of the Spirit, Mary would conceive and give birth to the One who was not just the Messiah, but also the Son of God. As Paul says in our epistle lesson, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman.”

As a woman, Mary conceived and gave birth to a human baby. Because the Holy Spirit caused that baby to be conceived, he was also the Son of God.  Mary carried and gave birth to Jesus Christ, the One who is true God and true man at the same time.  That is why Mary is blessed among women.  That is why she has a status that no other woman will ever have.  Mary was the instrument by which God brought the incarnate Son of God into the world.  She was, as the early Church called her – the God bearer.

Mary herself had nothing to do with this.  It was entirely a matter of God’s grace. This grace was God acting in an unexpected way – a humble virgin conceives and gives birth to a child who is the Son of God.  And this grace would accomplish salvation in an unexpected way.  Gabriel had told Mary that she would give birth to the Messiah – the fulfilment of God’s promises about David.  Yet when Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the temple, Simeon told her, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 

(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

            Jesus Christ was sent by the Father to receive rejection.  Though holy, he was sent to be numbered with the transgressors – with us.  He was sent to suffer and die for our sins.  Just before Holy Week Jesus told his disciples, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”

            Jesus the Christ died on the cross in order to redeem us – in order to free us from sin. Dead and buried in a tomb, it appeared that God had abandoned him.  But on the third day God the Father raised him from the dead.  He vindicated Jesus and demonstrated to all what he had been doing through the cross.  Through the resurrection God defeated death, and began what we will receive on the Last Day.

            In God’s use of Mary for the incarnation, we see that he works in unexpected ways – ways that often appear humble.  He continues to do so now through his Means of Grace.  At times, as we face the challenges and difficulties of life, we may think we need more than this.  We may think that God has not given us enough.  But as Mary speaks about what God is doing she says in our text, “He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.” We must be on guard against thinking that we are in a position to criticize how God works.

            Instead of being haughty – of being proud in the thoughts of our hearts - we need to follow the humble example of St. Mary.  Gabriel announced news to Mary that was hard to believe.  She would give birth to the Christ.  Though a virgin, through the work of the Holy Spirit should conceive and give birth to the Son of God.  Gabriel announced news that would turn Mary’s life upside down.  And yet when she heard all this we learn that her response was to say: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

            In the same way, when Elizabeth spoke to Mary she said, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”  Mary received God’s Word, and submitted herself to God’s will.  She trusted and believed in God’s Word that it would be fulfilled as he had said.  This attitude needs to guide our life. St. Mary is an example of what this looks like.

            On this Feast of St. Mary, we acknowledge and give thanks for the unique status that Mary will always possess. She was the woman through whom God brought the incarnate Son of God into the world.  She is the God bearer.  Yet this status is not tied to anything Mary did or earned.  Instead, it demonstrates God’s grace and how he works in unexpected ways to bring forgiveness and salvation to us. And in Mary’s faith and reception of God’s word and faith we see an example that we seek to follow each day of our lives.  

           

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

 

 

  

             

 

    

 

Commemoration of Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr

 

Today we remember and give thanks for Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr.  Early in the third century A.D., Lawrence, most likely born in Spain, made his way to Rome. There he was appointed chief of the seven deacons and was given the responsibility to manage church property and finances. The emperor at the time, who thought that the church had valuable things worth confiscating, ordered Laurence to produce the “treasures of the church.” Laurence brought before the emperor the poor whose lives had been touched by Christian charity. He was then jailed and eventually executed in the year 258 by being roasted on a gridiron. His martyrdom left a deep impression on the young church. Almost immediately, the date of His death, August 10, became a permanent fixture on the early commemorative calendar of the Church.

Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, You called Lawrence to be a deacon in Your Church to serve your saints with deeds of love, and You gave him the crown of martyrdom.  Give us the same charity of heart that we may fulfill Your love by defending and supporting the poor, that by loving them we may love You with all our hearts; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

Commemoration of Joanna, Mary, and Salome, Myrrhbearers

 

Today we remember and give thanks for Joanna, Mary and Salome, Myrrhbearers.  Known in some traditions as “the faithful women,” the visit of these three persons and other women to the tomb of Jesus on the first Easter morning is noted in the Gospel records of Matthew (28:1), Mark (16:1), and Luke (24:10). Joanna was the wife of Cuza, a steward in Herod’s household (Lk. 8:3). Mary, the mother of James (the son of Alphaeus), was another of the women who faithfully provided care for Jesus and His disciples from the time of His Galilean ministry through His burial after the crucifixion. Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee (Mt. 27:56), joined with the women both at the cross and in the bringing of the spices to the garden tomb. These “faithful women” have been honored in the church through the centuries as examples of humble and devoted service to the Lord.

Collect of the Day:

Mighty God, your crucified and buried Son did not remain in the tomb for long.  Give us joy in the tasks set before us, that we might carry out faithful acts of service as did Joanna, Mary and Salome, offering to you the sweet perfume of our grateful hearts, so that we, too, may see the glory of your resurrection and proclaim with unrestrained eagerness and fervor the Good News worked in us through our Lord Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

 

Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity - 1 Cor 10:6-13

 

Trinity 9

                                                                                       1 Cor 10:6-13

                                                                                       8/1/21

 

            Around 140 A.D. a man named Marcion arrived at the church in Rome.  He became part of the church there, and it wasn’t long before people took notice of Marcion.  Marcion taught that the god of the Old Testament was an evil, lesser god who was different from the true God of the New Testament.  The false god of the Old Testament was judgmental, wrathful and vengeful.  On the other hand, the true God of the New Testament was loving, gracious and merciful.

            Marcion made quite an impact, and it didn’t take long for the church at Rome to recognize that his ideas were a rejection of God’s revelation in the Old Testament.  Marcion was denying the very thing that the New Testament clearly taught – that God’s action in Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of everything that God had done in the Old Testament.  Marcion was excommunicated from the church in 144 A.D., but his ideas continued to be something the church had to reject and defend herself against.

            Marcion’s view of the God in the Old Testament probably sounds familiar, because it is an extreme form of a common view that we encounter today.  People often describe God in the Old Testament as judgmental, wrathful and vengeful.  On the other hand, they say that Jesus in the New Testament is loving, gracious and merciful. And of course, when they describe Jesus this way, it is often connected with the desire that people in our world have to do what they want to do.

            In our text today, Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ, tells us that this view is completely wrong.  He points to some moments in Israel’s history when God acted in judgment and wrath, and tells us that these events are examples for us. In fact, they have been written down for our instruction. They show us that God’s people can’t choose to live in ways of sin and expect everything to turn out just fine.  They can’t because God has acted dramatically in his Son Jesus Christ to give us forgiveness and make us his people.  The love, grace, and mercy that we have received in Christ has set us apart as God’s people who now seek to live as what God has made us to be.

            The church at Corinth was a real challenge for the apostle Paul. They seemed to think that because they believed in Jesus Christ they were spiritual people who had already possessed everything that was necessary.  In its most extreme form this led to a denial of the resurrection of the body.  But it had a significant impact on how they lived in the world.

            Within First Corinthians we see two areas where their attitude had a great impact. The first was how they viewed idolatry and the meat that was sacrificed to idols.  The Corinthians said things like “We know that we all have knowledge.” They said, “We know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no God except one.”  Because they knew this, they thought they could continue to take part in various activities of paganism such as eating meat sacrificed to idols – even on pagan temple grounds.

            The other area was sex. In the Greco-Roman world the only person who was off limits for sex was the wife of another man.  It was just assumed that men had sex with their slaves.  Brothels were a normal part of life, and the Roman government even provided them for the poor. And in many parts of paganism, sex and religion were intertwined.  There were temple prostitutes, and having sex with them was part of the religious practice.

            In the verses just before our text, Paul reveals that the Corinthians believed that because they were baptized and were receiving the Sacrament of the Altar they were protected and immune from any harm as they engaged in these normal parts of life in the first century world.  However, the apostle warns them that this is not the case. And he uses the experience of God’s people in the Old Testament in order to do this.

            Paul has just talked about the miraculous experience that the Israelites had with water in the Red Sea, and the manna and water provided by God, because he is making a comparison with what the Corinthians now experience in Holy Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar.  The apostle writes, “For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 

Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”

            The Israelites had experienced this miraculous rescue and provision by God. But it hadn’t changed the fact that in the end most of them died in the wilderness and did not enter the promised land.  Then Paul says in our text: “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.”  Far from being random events in the ancient past that reveal a wrathful God who is no longer relevant, Paul wants the Corinthians, and us, to know that these are examples that teach us as we deal with God today. 

God has not changed.  In the Old Testament he revealed himself as the holy and just God. He is the God who judges sin and pours out judgment and wrath against sinners.  But he also revealed that he is the God who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.  God has not changed.  And so the experiences of Israel teach us about how we need live and act as God’s people today. 

Paul says in our text, “Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” The apostle refers to the incident when the Israelites worshipped the golden calf.  Naturally, in our day idolatry does not take the form of a pagan temple.  But there is no end of the things that we put before God: our personal autonomy to do and think as we please; wealth, and financial security; sports and hobbies.

The apostle adds: “We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.”  Paul refers to the time of which Moses tells us, “the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab.” Israelites fornicated with the Moabites and became involved with the false god Baal Peor, and the sexual immorality that was part the worship of this form of Baal.

When you read the letters of the New Testament you find that they address the subject of sexual immorality again, and again, and again.  This is not surprising.  The biblical understanding of sexuality and marriage that the New Testament church shared with the Greco-Roman world was completely foreign to what people had known.  It taught that sexual union between a man and woman only occurred in marriage between a husband and wife – no exceptions. It taught that the sex established a one flesh union between husband and wife that united that couple before God for life. And of course, Jesus taught that lustful thoughts break the Sixth Commandment, and not only the physical act.

We recognize that the world has become more like the first century than ever before.  Sex outside of marriage – whether just as part of “hooking up” or as part of dating – is considered normal.  Couples live together before marriage all the time.  Our culture is immersed in sexual messages and imagery.  And of course – an unlimited amount of pornography is available on your phone.  The apostle Paul’s word challenges us, just like they did the Corinthians, to see that we are to live our lives in relation to sex and marriage in ways that are God pleasing and according to his will.

The apostle goes on to mention two other times when Israel complained and grumbled against God, as he writes, “We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.” Then after listing these various examples, Paul adds, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

The apostle says that they were written down for our instruction. And the reason they instruct us is because we are those upon whom the ends ages has come.  Paul is referring to the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  If it were not for Christ, these events in Israel’s past would be meaningless events of ancient history. They would have no relevance to us.  But now because of Jesus, the Scriptures of the Old Testament are the means by which God provides us with instruction about the importance of living as God’s people.

We have become God’s people, because Christ was the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all that God promised about Israel when he said through Isaiah, “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

We are sinners.  Almost all of us are not descendants of Israel.  But God acted to save us by sending his Son into the world as he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary.  The Son of God entered into this world to do the most shocking and unexpected thing – to be crucified for us.  As Paul says in chapter 15, Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures and was buried.  The message of a crucified Christ and Savior was absurd to the ancient world.  Paul himself pointed this fact out.  And yet this is how God act acted to take away our sins. As Paul wrote in chapter one, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

A crucified Jew, dead and buried, would not be the source of power to save us from death.  But as Paul declares so vigorously in chapter fifteen, Jesus did not stay dead.  Instead, on the third day God raised him from the dead. In the Jesus the resurrection of the end times has started. He is the firstfruits of those who have died.  That is why the apostle says that we are those upon whom the end of the ages has come. The last days have already started in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The crucified and risen Lord is the power of salvation. And you have received the benefits of this saving power in baptism. Earlier in this letter, Paul says, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”  Yet then he adds: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Through baptism God has washed away your sins.  He has made you holy in his eyes.  He has justified you – declared you not guilty – the same verdict that he will speak on the Day of Judgment.  God has given you this new life and status.  And he calls us to live as what he has made us to be. This means that we view sin as something against which we must struggle, and not something we can just give in to or embrace. The examples from Israel’s history in the Old Testament serve as warnings about what happens to those who live in that way.

When we do fall in sin, we confess it.  We don’t view it as something that is no big deal, because after all, we are Christians. We certainly don’t take up regular patterns of sin in our lives. We don’t because through the work of the Spirit, God has made us a new creation in Christ.  We are those who have been washed, sanctified, and justified in baptism. We are those who have been blessed to receive the saving action of God in Christ.  We know that we live as those upon whom the end of the ages has come in the death and resurrection of Jesus.   

 

 

  

 

             

 

 

Mark's thoughts: The Preface and Proper Preface of the Service of the Sacrament - Why are we saying this?

 

The second half of the Divine Service, the Service of the Sacrament, begins with the Preface.  This is a series of three exchanges between the pastor and the congregation.  In the first, the pastor chants “The Lord be with you” and the congregation responds, “And also with you” (historically, the response has been, “And with your spirit,” just as we say in Setting Three in the hymnal). This language reflects 2 Timothy 4:22 where Paul writes, “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.”

This first exchange is known as the Salutation and occurs at several different points in the Divine Service.  On the one hand, the Salutation carries out a practical function.  It serves to introduce new parts of the service and renew the attention of the congregation as the Divine Service moves along.  However, it also plays a much more important theological function.  The statement by the pastor “The Lord be with you” is a blessing.  It is a proclamation of the Lord’s gracious presence in the Word and Sacrament of the Divine Service.  The Salutation also indicates the special relationship between the pastor and the congregation.  It is sometimes called the “Little Ordination,” since here the congregation acknowledges the pastor as the one called by Christ through the Church to carry out His ministry in the midst of His people.  The congregation acknowledges that God has placed the pastor there in the Office of the Holy Ministry to carry out the next portion in the Divine Service.

Next, the pastor says, “Lift up your hearts” and the congregation responds, “We lift them up unto the Lord.” These words reflect Paul’s statement in Colossians 3:1 “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”  In the words “Lift up your hearts” the pastor invites the congregation to rejoice in welcoming our Lord Jesus who will come into our presence in His body and blood.  These words encourage us to turn to our Lord for forgiveness as He comes into our presence in the Sacrament and remind us to focus on Christ and the miracle He is about to carry out in our midst rather than being distracted by worldly things.  In the response, the congregation members state that as they prepare to receive the Sacrament, they are doing just this.

Finally, the pastor changes, “Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God,” and the congregation responds, “It is meet and right so to do.” When our Lord instituted the Sacrament of the Altar He gave thanks over bread and wine (1 Corinthians 11:23-25).  Another name for the Sacrament that comes from the early Church is “Eucharist.”  The term “Eucharist” is based on the Greek verb that means “to give thanks.”  The pastor invites the congregation to give thanks to God for the salvation that Jesus Christ has won for us, and for Christ’s body and blood in the Sacrament through which Jesus delivers the benefits of His cross to us.  In the reply to the pastor, the congregation agrees that giving thanks to the Lord our God is the only right and fitting thing to do since Christ comes among us in his body and blood in order to deliver forgiveness to us.

 After announcing that thanks should be given, the pastor proceeds to do this using the Proper Preface.  Each Proper Preface begins with the words, “It is truly good, right and salutary that we should at all times and all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God ….” In the Proper Preface we give thanks to God for the salvation He was won for us through Jesus Christ.  This portion of the liturgy is called the Proper Preface because there is a prayer for each season of the Church year and for some individual feasts.  Each of these prayers focuses on a particular part of God’s saving action that we meet in that season.  All of the Proper Prefaces end with the words, “Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying….”  These words introduce the Sanctus and remind us that in the liturgy of the Divine Service we join in the heavenly liturgy as we are united with the angels and the saints who have gone before us in praising God. We will consider this in more depth in the next post as we focus on the meaning of the Sanctus.

 

 

 

 

Commemoration of Robert Barnes, Confessor and Martyr

 

Today we remember and give thanks for Robert Barnes, Confessor and Martyr.  Remembered as a devoted disciple of Martin Luther, Robert Barnes is considered to be among the first Lutheran martyrs.  Born in 1495, Barnes became the prior of the Augustinian monastery at Cambridge, England.  Converted to Lutheran teaching, he shared his insights with many English scholars through writings and personal contacts.  During a time of exile to Germany, he became friends with Luther and later wrote a Latin summary of the main doctrines of the Augsburg Confession titled Sententiae.  Upon his return to England, Barnes shared his Lutheran doctrines and views in person with King Henry VIII.  The changing political and ecclesiastical climate in his native country, however, claimed him as a victim; he was burned at the stake in Smithfield in 1540.  His final confession of faith was published by Luther, who called his friend Barnes, “our good, pious dinner guest and houseguest … this holy martyr, St. Robert Barnes.”

Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, heavenly Father, You gave courage to Your servant Robert Barnes to give up his life for confessing the true faith during the Reformation.  May we continue steadfast in our confession of the apostolic faith and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from I; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

Sermon for the Feast of St. James the Elder - Mk 10:35-45

 

                                                                        St. James, the Elder

                                                                        Mark 10:35-45

                                                                        7/25/21

 

          You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to recognize that Peter, James, and John held a unique status within the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ.   When Jesus raised the little girl from the dead, he only took these three with him into the room where the girl’s body was. 

          When Jesus went up on the mountain and was transfigured revealing his divine glory, and Moses and Elijah appeared with him, he only took along Peter, James, and John as witnesses. And of course, on the night before his death, when Jesus prayed so earnestly in the Garden of Gethsemane, only Peter, James, and John were there.

          We learn that Peter, James, and John, along with Peter’s brother Andrew, were the first apostles called by Jesus. They were partners in a fishing business at the Sea of Galilee. We aren’t told why Andrew was not accorded this unique treatment.  James and John were brothers, just like Peter and Andrew.  But for some reason, Andrew was not included as part of this inner group.

          The name “James” in the New Testament can easily produce some confusion because there are three of them.  There is the James that we remember today, who along with John were the sons of Zebedee. There is a second James, the son of Alphaeus, who was also an apostle.  Because we hear more about James the son of Zebedee, he is usually called “the elder” or “the greater,” while James the son of Alphaeus is called “the lesser.” Then there is James, the brother of our Lord who became a believer after Jesus’ resurrection and very quickly became a leader in the Jerusalem church.

          We call James, “St. James,” but an examination of what Scripture tells us about him reveals the fact that he certainly did not earn that title by his behavior.  Instead, he was a sinner like we are, and we see our own sins in his behavior.  Mark tells us that Jesus gave the name Boanerges to James and John, which means “Sons of Thunder.”  We are very familiar with the impetuous nature of Peter, but from this name we learn that James was no different. And Luke tells us about one event that illustrates this.

          As Jesus was making his final trip to Jerusalem he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. However, the Samaritan villagers did not receive him, because he and the disciples were Jews making their way to Jerusalem. When James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”  Our Lord responded by turning and rebuking them, and then they went on to another village. Like James, at times we respond with anger as we seek revenge against others.  We let our emotions take control and seek payback instead of forgiving.

          We hear about another instance in our Gospel lesson.  There Mark tells us about how James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Jesus with a rather preposterous request. They said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”  Imagine your son or daughter approaching you in this way!  Jesus ignored this fact and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” Then James and John said, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 

          James and John were selfishly looking out for themselves.  They were seeking the prime positions, and they were making sure that they asked for them before anyone else could.  Like James, selfish motives that seek to put our desires ahead of others infect our actions all the time.  We look out for ourselves first, and if that means stepping over other people or mistreating them – so be it.

          In our Gospel lesson we learn that our Lord responded to James and John by saying: “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?”  Impetuously ambitious, the brothers had the audacity to reply, “We are able.”  Since we know about Peter’s threefold denial of Christ, and the fact that James fled from Jesus along with the other apostles at the Garden of Gethsemane, their answer is almost humorous.

          But then Jesus told them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”  It is important to recognize that immediately before our text, Jesus had said, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

          Jesus describes his suffering and death as a cup he must drink, and a baptism he must undergo. He tells Peter and John, that they will indeed experience suffering and even death, but that the positions they request are not something that can just be given to them.

          We learn that when the other ten apostles heard about the request made by James and John, they began to be indignant.  No doubt they were angry that the brothers had asked to be placed over them.  Most likely, they were upset that they had not though of this themselves!

          Yet for Jesus, this was a moment to teach about his mission, and what it means to be his disciple.  Our Lord said, “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.”

          James sinned.  We sin.  Because this is so, Jesus Christ the Son of God gave his life on the cross as the ransom for us all.  He drank the cup of God’s wrath against our sin.  He received the baptism of suffering and death on the cross.  He did this to win forgiveness for us – forgiveness for our every sin of anger, revenge and selfishness.  Yet death was not the end of his saving mission.  As he had told the disciples, on the third day he rose from the dead.  He defeated death and began the new life that will be ours.

          James was among those who fled the Lord Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane.  He was with the apostles in the locked room on the evening of Easter.  He was there when the risen Lord appeared in their midst and said, “Peace to you!”  He was there when Jesus said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

          James learned that the crucified Christ had risen from the dead. He learned why this had taken place when Jesus said, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

          James learned that he was forgiven.  He was now a witness of Jesus’ resurrection.  He knew that sin was forgiven and death had been defeated.  And James had been charged to proclaim this good news to others. 

          We live as those who have received this message.  We know that like James, we are saints – we are holy in God’s eyes because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Our sins are forgiven, and we are prepared to stand before God on the Last Day. What is more, we know that because of Jesus’ resurrection, death cannot separate us from God. Death is a defeated enemy because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. When our Lord returns in glory, he will raise us with bodies transformed to be like his resurrected body.

          James became a witness to the crucified and risen Lord.  Our Lord had told him that he would drink the cup that Christ drank, and that he would be baptized with the baptism with which Jesus was baptized.  Our Lord told James that he would experience suffering, and even death.  But even the threat of death could not stop James from speaking the Gospel – the good news about the death and resurrection of Jesus.

          James was a witness to the risen Lord all the way to death.  In our first reading from Acts we learn, “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.”  In 41 A.D. the Roman emperor Claudius had granted Herod Agrippa I rule over all the lands in Palestine – even those that formerly had been a Roman province.  He lived in Jerusalem, and seeking to please influential Jewish leaders he had James killed.

          James became the first martyr among the apostles of Jesus Christ. He was willing to suffer and die – to share in the suffering and death with Jesus – because he knew that Christ has risen from the dead. He knew that his sins were forgiven.  He knew that the risen Lord had defeated death, and so there was no reason to fear it.  He gave the ultimate witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus by dying – by being a martyr, for the word martyr means “witness.”

          In St. James we see that we too are saints – forgiven sinners because of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross in our place.  We find that we too can take up the cross as we share in Christ’s sufferings, because Jesus has risen from the dead.  Like James we must be willing to drink from the cup that Jesus’ drank, and to be baptized with the baptism with which he was baptized.  We must be ready to accept reproach, mockery and suffering int his world on account of Christ.  We can receive this “cup” and “baptism,” because we drink the cup of the Lord as we receive the Sacrament of the Altar.  There we eat and drink the true body and blood of the risen Lord, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins.  We can endure these things because we have been baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection in the water of Holy Baptism.

          The assurance of forgiveness and resurrection provided by these Means of Grace carries over as it shapes the way we treat others.  In the Gospel lesson, our Lord says in response to the request by James and John: “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.”

          Because our Lord Jesus has served us in his death and resurrection, we now seek to serve others.  We put their needs ahead of our own.  We are given strength to do this by the Holy Spirit as he works through our reception of the Sacrament and as we return in faith to our baptism.  We receive strength to do this through the Spirit’s inspired Scriptures, for there we receive the witness of St. James about Jesus Christ.  He died as a martyr – a witness to Christ - because Jesus has risen from the dead.