A sermon preached by the Rev’d Dr Daniel Dries Lent 5 – Passion Sunday (Evensong) Christ Church St Laurence – 2 April, 2017 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight: O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen. What is a Christian? If someone were to ask this question of you, how would you respond? From time to time, I encounter people who express confusion and anxiety precisely over this issue; people who are concerned about whether or not they even belong within a Christian community. There are good reasons for their confusion. Even the most committed Christians will offer opposing answers to this integral question: What is a Christian? Some Christians would say that a Christian or disciple is someone who has found the Lord Jesus Christ, and accepted him as their personal saviour. Others would say that they are on a journey; that they are drawn to Christ, and that they yearn to understand and to know him more deeply. In the twentieth Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, we encounter Christians or followers of Christ who are rather confused about the nature of discipleship. Despite being part of Christ’s inner circle and sharing in his ministry, they seem quite unable to answer this question, ‘what is a Christian?’; ‘what does it mean to follow Christ?’ A kilometre of two away from this church stands the historic church of St James’, King St. There are two men bearing the name James among the twelve apostles. James, the Son of Zebedee (known as James, the Great), and James, the Son of Alphaeus (known as James, the Less). The parish church of St James’, King St rejoices under the patronage of St James, the Great (as we would expect). But, why is James, the Son of Zebedee, known as James, the Great? One theory is simply that he was significantly taller than James the Less. This is possible, but perhaps it is because he was one of the first to be called by Christ. James is also believed to have been the first of the apostles to suffer the death of a martyr. James’ identification as ‘the Great’ may also be because he was always there. With his brother, John, and Simon Peter, James witnessed more miracles than the others. Peter, James and John were there at the moment of the Transfiguration; they were there in the Garden of Gethsemane. The assumption is usually that these three disciples possessed special insights and leadership qualities that entitled them to witness these special events. Another possibility is that they needed remedial classes. It is possible that, while the others were able to grasp the meaning of the cross, Peter, James and John required special instruction. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, disgrace themselves when they push their mother forward to do their bidding, requesting a special place of honour in the Kingdom of God. This is not the only occasion on which these two gentlemen disgrace themselves. In Luke, Chapter 9, Christ puts a child before them and teaches them about true greatness. A few verses later, when a Samaritan village refuses to welcome Christ, James and John ask, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” We can almost hear Christ groaning as they demonstrate that they have grasped absolutely nothing of what he has taught them. Page | 1
In this evening’s New Testament Lesson, the Mother of James and John makes an unreasonable request; a request that is not granted. While James and John have witnessed Christ’s ministry, it suggests that they have remained completely blind throughout their shared journey. It can be no coincidence that Matthew follows this encounter with the healing of two blind men. Two unnamed men sitting on the side of the road, crying out to be healed. They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they received their sight and followed him.” James and John, on the other hand, continued to follow Christ with their eyes firmly closed. In the traditional church calendar, today was known as Passion Sunday. The contemporary lectionary simply lists today as the fifth Sunday in Lent, with next Sunday beginning Passiontide. However, in the Gospel set for this evening, we read the third prediction of Christ’s death in Matthew’s Gospel; Jerusalem is now identified as the scene of death, and crucifixion is revealed as the method. Passion, at least in this context, comes from the Latin verb simply meaning ‘to suffer’. Today is Passion Sunday because this is when Christ accepts the suffering to come; this is the point when disciples are told they will be called to suffer as well. Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury writes: The crucified is God’s chosen: it is with the victim, the condemned, that God identifies, and it is in the company of the victim, so to speak, that God is to be found, and nowhere else. As we look around the church this evening, we see that every that can be concealed has been veiled. Images that may inspire and comfort us are gone, and we are simply left with the Stations of the Cross. Not great art, but a stark reminder that Christ willingly made the excruciating journey to the cross on our behalf. A disciple is someone prepared to embrace our own suffering, and to enter into the suffering of others in the hope of bringing love, mercy and compassion. Getting back to that all important question, how would you define what makes a Christian? Is it someone at the end of a journey; someone who knows Christ triumphant, end of story, or is it someone on a journey, following and discovering Christ the victim? James and his brother John would almost certainly have gone with the first definition. They knew Christ; they claimed him as their own. Unfortunately, their sense of entitlement, status and ambition completely blinded them to suffering that was around them at every turn. They shunned any talk of the cross as they sought a special place of honour. James, the Great, does learn his lesson – better late than never. He continues his journey following Christ, after the passion, death and resurrection. His eyes are opened; he comes to discover the meaning of the cross for himself; ultimately dying a martyr’s death. He is worthy of the title ‘great’ because he continues on the journey even after he realises that it was far more challenging than he’d anticipated. Among other things, James is the patron saint of pilgrims; he is the patron of all who would define Christian discipleship as a journey – a challenging journey of discovery, which will only reach its final destination when the suffering of this world is no more. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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