Sts. Simon and Jude/ Reformation Sunday
Beloved. Today two important days in the Church Year come together. First for us Lutherans, today is the day we celebrate the Reformation—the Sunday closest to 31 October, day when in 1517 Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg calling for a debate on the practice of selling indulgences, thus setting off the Reformation. The Reformation is time when God, in grace, by His chosen instrument Martin Luther brought to light once again the central truth of Holy Scripture that had become obscured: we are saved by God’s grace through faith apart from the works of the Law; in other words, God has done and continues to do everything for our salvation. This is a day of great thanksgiving as we give our Lord thanks and praise—not only that He saves us—but that He had His saving word go out into the world and even when we lost or obscured it, He brought it back out into the light; we rejoice in His guardian care of His Church.
Today is also the day the Church remembers two lesser known Apostles of our Lord—St. Simon and St. Jude. We don’t know anything about them beyond the fact that they were listed in the listing of the Apostles. In his Gospel and in the book of Acts, St. Luke [Lk. 6.15; Ac 1.13] refers to St. Jude as “Judas the son of James.” But in his Gospel, St. Matthew [Mt. 10.3-4] does not list a Jude but he does list a “Thaddaeus.” So it is likely that like St. Peter was known as both Simon and Peter, here Jude was known also as Thaddaeus. St. Simon in St. Matthew’s listing of the apostles was called “Simon the Canaanite”—perhaps because he was from Cana in Galilee. And in St. Luke’s listing, he is called “Simon the Zealot.” The Zealots were a Jewish group that thought the promise of the Messiah meant a free and independent Jewish nation. Some Zealots were concerned that the spiritual ideals of the Jews be kept, while other zealots acted more like modern day terrorists.
The only account specific to either St. Simon or St. Jude that we find in the Gospels is on Maundy Thursday evening, St. Jude asking Jesus [JN 14.21]: “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” But like the rest, Sts Simon and Jude were witnesses to our Lord’s ministry beginning with His baptism by St. John the Baptizer and going all the way to Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. They were present at Pentecost when Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on them. They would have been filled with the Holy Spirit and on that day preached and glorified God in languages they had never learned. According to tradition, being filled with and led by the Holy Spirit, St. Jude went to Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq area, to preach while St. Simon went to Egypt. Both, though, eventually made it to Persia, modern day Iran, where they worked together bringing the Good News about Jesus to the people there until they were both killed on account of that faith and confession.
What do the feast day of Sts. Simon and Jude and the festival of the Reformation have in common? What do they mean for us? As we look at our text, today’s Epistle from St. Peter, we will see the picture of our Christian life—the status quo of the Christian. First we will see that our lives as Christians are lives of faith; and then, secondly, we will see that our lives as Christians are a life lived under the cross, that is, a life of suffering—after all, what happened eventually to Sts. Simon and Jude? –They were killed. What was the effect of the Reformation? Was it welcomed by all with open arms? Hardly. Much suffering resulted—and not just at the time of the Reformation but afterwards by many down through the ages who clung to the Gospel rediscovered and brought to light again by Luther.
St. Peter begins our text: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. This is the Christian. We have been born again/ from above by God in the word and in the waters of holy Baptism. Shortly after our text, St. Peter writes that we have been born again…through the word of God which lives and abides forever. Through His holy Word, the Lord works faith in Him in our hearts. This faith is trust/ confidence in Jesus and His work, that in Him we have the forgiveness of sin and eternal life. This faith assures us that because of Jesus and His work, things are right between us and God; that the sins that separated us from Him have been paid for by Jesus and His life, suffering and death; that reconciled to God, we are His dear children and heirs of heaven. This faith looks to and trusts in Jesus alone. This faith receives from Jesus the forgiveness of sin and His perfect holiness/ keeping of the Law. That means that no matter how grievous the sin, there is always forgiveness for that sin because Jesus paid for us the penalty for that sin and kept that part of God’s holy Law for us. It is precisely this faith in Jesus as Savior that makes a Christian a Christian. What makes a Christian a Christian is not this or that good work—yes, a Christian’s life will be full of good works—but what makes us a Christian is faith in Jesus as our Savior from sin, death, devil and hell. And again, it is faith—not a certain level or degree of faith. A weak faith saves as much as a strong faith because the object of faith, what is believes, is the same—Jesus and His saving work. And if faith is there, love of Jesus, our God and Savior, is also there—and where that love is it will want to grow in knowledge and faith.
So what is the state of the Christian? What is the status quo of a Christian? It is one of faith in Jesus in the heart. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we know that our faith is not in vain; we are certain that what He said and promised is true; we are certain that our sins are forgiven and that we are reconciled to God and are His dear children; we are certain of an eternity in heaven, soul and body. We have a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. Our status quo as Christians is a life of hope that flows from faith in Jesus. This hope is a living hope because Jesus, upon whom our faith and hope are grounded and directed, is living. So now through this faith in Jesus, we have the firm and certain hope of an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
What is an amazing thing about this faith is that though you have not seen [Jesus] you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory... Unlike St. Peter in our text, unlike Sts. Simon and Jude who were so blessed to have seen and heard Jesus all during His earthly ministry—even His suffering, death, resurrection and ascension—we haven’t. But we still believe in/ trust in Him. Of those like St. Peter’s hearers in our text and us today, Jesus says [Jn 20.29]: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. But although we haven’t seen Jesus with our physical eyes, we have still encountered Jesus. We encounter Jesus in His word. His holy word does not just tell us about Jesus. It gives us Jesus; it gives us the fruit and blessing of His work. It is a living word because through it His Holy Spirit is working in and through it in and on us.
Of course, we encounter Jesus in the visible word—the holy Sacraments. In baptism, we are united with Jesus in His death and resurrection; we are united with Him and all our fellow Christians in His body, the Church. In Holy Communion we are united with Him as we receive His very body and blood into our very mouths; He is in us and we are in Him.
Then St. Peter writes in our text: Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. What a glorious thing it is for the Christian that for us the status quo is faith! That’s also because faith is the proper and only way that God can preserve us unto life everlasting. Through faith we receive Jesus’ perfect righteousness, forgiveness and salvation; and through faith God also preserves us in that righteousness, forgiveness and salvation. And He does so as we live in and must suffer much in this life—as a result of our own sin, the sin of others, and even as we just live out our lives as Christians striving to do the Lord’s will.
As we live as Christians in this sin contaminated world, we live a life under the cross; we will suffer. That’s the other part of the status quo of the Christian: not only will we live a life of faith but we will also suffer. Precisely here, our faith and hope also come into play. Our text: In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Because of all of our rich blessings in Jesus that we receive in faith and look forward to in hope, we rejoice. Think of the joy of Sts. Simon and Jude who saw and were with Jesus; think of the joy of Luther rediscovering the Gospel; think of your joy in the Lord. –But also think of the sufferings Sts. Simon and Jude endured as they traveled bringing the good news about Jesus, even shedding their blood for Him. Think of the sufferings of Luther whose rediscovery of the Gospel was not met with open arms but was hauled before councils and declared an outlaw. Think of your own sufferings. But in spite of it all and in the midst of them, through faith and in hope, we rejoice. In faith in Jesus’ work and promise, we are certain God will preserve us in and through faith for eternal joy and salvation. In fact, because of His promise and in hope of it we already rejoice even now in the midst of suffering. Our text: if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. In the midst of our sufferings and trials, we can be patient and still rejoice/ still have joy between the tears because in faith we know that our salvation is already prepared. Outward misfortune does us no harm so we can stand firm—our eternal, heavenly inheritance is already prepared and our suffering will last only a short while. What a comfort especially to the martyrs of the Church, like St. Simon and St. Jude.
Hear St. Peter again in our text: if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. And “why” the various trials? so that the genuineness of your faith…may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The true character of faith is revealed when tested. And notice to what St. Peter in our text compares our faith: so that the genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire. He compares our faith to gold—and says it is much more precious than gold—that’s because of the object of our faith: Jesus and His blood. And what happens to gold? It is tested by fire. When that happens all the impurities and dross are removed. Fire doesn’t damage gold’s quality; it purifies it. So also trial is valuable to the Christian. In trial, faith is purified and increased as we turn away from self, the earthly and toward the Lord; as we are forced to rely on Him and His word. Through trial the Lord is working to preserve and purify our faith.
The status quo of the Christian’s life is faith and suffering, suffering meant to serve our spiritual good—as it certainly did for Sts. Simon and Jude and for all the faithful down through the ages who were zealous to keep the treasure of pure doctrine and faith. They left us a witness by their faithfulness of the Lord’s faithfulness to them—and us. INJ Amen.