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Thought
for the Week Sunday 26 July – The Feast of St. James
If you’ve been following the Tour de
France you may be glued to the TV this afternoon to see the final in Paris. There are 9 riders in each of the 20
teams – 1 leader with 8 fellow riders to protect, support and encourage
him. Each member of the team will have
been chosen for a particular ability – sprinting, endurance on the straight
or in the mountains. Although each
member of the team aspires to wear the yellow jersey – sign of the leader – 8
of them have to accept a supporting role in the race. Yesterday was the
patronal festival of St. James the Great.
For the most part James is linked with his brother John. They were the sons of Zebedee, a Galilean
fisherman. With Peter they formed the
inner circle in the team of twelve apostles chosen by Jesus, each of them
with his own characteristic of humility, vanity, courage and weakness. James, John and Peter are specifically
mentioned several times in the gospels.
They were present at the raising of Jairus’ daughter [Mk. 5.37], the
transfiguration [Mk. 9.2], and they were witnesses to Jesus’ agony in the
garden of Gethsemane [Mk. 14.33] James was obviously very determined to
promote Jesus’ authority but it took him a long time to accept the kind of
authority Jesus represented. When the Samaritans refused Jesus
hospitality on his way to Jerusalem James and his brother John wanted Jesus
to punish the Samaritans by bringing down fire from heaven [Luke 9.54]. Jesus calmly pointed out that that was not
the way of his kingdom. No wonder Jesus nicknamed James and John the sons of
thunder. [Mk. 3.17] James and John caused a real stir amongst
their fellow apostles when their mother asked if they could sit either side
of Jesus in his kingdom. To aspire to
sit, one on the right, and the other on the left meant that they were looking
not only for honour – but also riches and power. What do we learn from all this? We learn that James was very close to
Jesus, but still he hadn’t got the message.
Jesus had just been telling his followers for the third time about his
imminent death and resurrection at Jerusalem. James doesn’t appear to have been
listening! How often do we say: “Watch
my lips, listen to what I’m saying!” We learn that James was looking for
glory, riches and power - he could not see the impending suffering. James and John wanted to be promised in
advance that they would be number 2 and 3 in the hierarchy of Christ’s
kingdom. When Jesus asked them if they
could drink of the same cup as him they answered “Yes”. Did they misunderstand Jesus’ question? In those times to drink of the same cup
meant sharing the same fate. Even so, James denied Jesus by running
away after his arrest. What must have
gone through James’ mind when he saw the two criminals crucified - one on the
right the other on the left of Jesus?
Maybe that’s when James realised what he had been asking for, what he
was prepared for when he said he could drink from the cup that Jesus drank. James certainly did drink of the same
cup. After Jesus’ resurrection James
did not run away again but faithfully served his risen Saviour. He’d been involved in organising a relief
fund for fellow Christians in Judea.
This is a tale familiar down the centuries, of people serving God by
serving their fellow humans and risking life and limb in the process. King Herod Agrippa thought that he could
bring to an end this religious cult by removing its Christian leaders. We know James was put to death by the
sword in about AD 44 – on the instructions of Agrippa. James’ death is regarded as the fulfilment
of Jesus’ prophecy that James would indeed drink the cup that their Master
was to drink [Mark 10.39] So, we learn from the life of James the
Great that to follow Jesus is indeed to drink of the cup of suffering – and
to know that Jesus is alongside us in our suffering. The riches promised by Jesus are not
material riches but those of compassion, concern and self-sacrifice. In the Tour de France the riders do
indeed drink from the cup of suffering - they suffer from heat, thirst,
cramp, exhaustion, the altitude, etc. in their pursuit of the yellow jersey,
and many have dropped out. There’s no
point in being a member of the team if they’re not prepared to suffer for one
another – like taking the lead in order to give the others a break. Part of Lance Armstrong’s cup of suffering
is taking more dope tests than any other rider – critics cannot accept that his
recovery from cancer is not now bolstered by recourse to banned substances. When the Tour de France ends this
afternoon, there will be many weary riders each with their own tale of
suffering, injury and agony. Please God
there will also be tales of others fulfilling their chosen task of serving
their leader, putting others before self.
Amen. Revd June Hutchinson: Assistant Curate,
Anglican Chaplaincy of Midi-Pyrénées & Aude To return to main Thought for the Week page, click X at top right to close this window. |