St. Philip and St. James
Today we remember two of our Lord’s lesser known apostles. Jesus had two apostles named James. James was certainly a common name among the Jews because, as it appears in our English bibles, it is the English form of the Hebrew name Jacob, one of the patriarchs of the Jews. The James we remember today is given the nickname “the less” while the other James, of whom we know much more from Scripture, the brother of John, is called James “the elder”. The James we are remembering today is very much unknown. Of course his name appears in the listing of the 12 apostles [Mt 10.2] – where he is called “James the son of Alphaeus”. But other than that, we really don’t know anything about him. According to tradition, James was martyred in Ostrakine in lower Egypt by being beaten to death with a fuller’s club. That’s why his symbol is a fuller’s club.
St. Philip, we know more about. St. John records the account of Jesus calling Philip to follow Him. Then[Jn.1.45] Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets wrote–Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip then speaks to him that beautiful missionary call that we, too, get to tell others: Come and see. We also read of some Greeks coming Philip–a man with a Greek name–and saying [Jn 12.21]: Sir, we wish to see Jesus. And Philip together with Andrew introduce these Greeks to Jesus and Jesus speaks of His crucifixion, His saving work and its beautiful result [Jn 12.32]: And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. And at the Last Supper, Philip says to Jesus [Jn 14. 8,9]: Lord, show us the Father. To which Jesus says: He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, “Show us the Father?” As a witness to Jesus’ resurrection, tradition tells us that Philip went to the region around the Black Sea and was martyred by crucifixion in Hierapolis, which is in modern day Turkey. His symbol is a simple Latin cross.
Why are these two apostles remembered on the same day? Usually the Church remembers the saints on the anniversary of their death. Sts. Philip and James are remembered together because their relics were transferred to the rebuilt Church of the Holy Apostles in Rome on 01 May 561, which was rededicated in their honor on this day.
When we remember the apostles, we cannot help but think of the great position that they have–they were the ones specifically chosen by the Lord to hear all His preaching and see all His miracles; they were the ones who were with our Lord all during His earthly ministry; they were eyewitness of the resurrected Jesus; to them Jesus entrusted His message to go out into all the world; on them the Holy Spirit came in such spectacular fashion on Pentecost. On them–their ministry of the word– Jesus would establish His Church. St. Paul writes of the Church that She is [Eph 2.20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. The blessed role of the apostles! What great grace our Lord showed them! –But humanly speaking, what did it get them? –Great suffering; and it got all of them–except for St. John– horrible, bloody deaths by martyrdom.
This is one of the ridicules the devil and world hurl at our Lord’s faithful down through the millennia: what does it get you, what benefit is there for you to be a faithful follower of God, loving Him and striving to do His will? What did it get Sts. Philip and St. James? This is a very real and insidious temptation. It works together with our old sinful nature, our old sinful nature that is very works righteous orientated. And it seems to “make sense” to us–after all, if I do something for God, if I try to do His will, if I love Him, shouldn’t I get something out of it now? Shouldn’t I be immediately “rewarded” for it? This is the basis of the so-called prosperity Gospel: if you are a Christian, God will reward you with all sorts of earthly blessings; you will be healthy, wealthy and wise. Even the apostles themselves had this notion early on as St. Peter asks Jesus [Mt 19.27]: See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?
We have the same thing in our text–the people in the day of Malachi, the last OT prophet before St. John the Baptizer, were complaining that “God is not fair.” Look at what they were saying in the words right before our text: It is vain to serve God; what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked as mourners before the LOrd of hosts? So now we call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; yes, those who tempt God go free. Isn’t this a real temptation for us today? Don’t we often remark or think that age old thought that the wicked prosper while the “good guy” finishes last? So what is the point of doing the right thing? What is the point of striving to live a godly life in this godless world? What does our faith get us? People will often use the sufferings in the world, the sufferings of the “innocent” and the seeming triumph of evil as an excuse not to believe in God.
To us, too, and in our hearts these same questions and temptation arise. Often it is in the familiar form “Why me, God?” or “What did I do to deserve this or that?” or “Is there a God who governs and judges? – It certainly doesn’t look like it!
But, before accusing God of “unfairness” or in despair asking: “what’s the point of being a Christian and loving the Lord and striving to do His will?”, we do well to recognize that these thoughts are temptations from the devil and from the world around us and they find a willing accomplice in our old sinful nature. We have to recognize the simple fact that it is the devil’s desire always to destroy our faith and lead us away from our Lord. And what better way than for him to point out to us all sorts of God’s seeming “unfairness”–especially when it comes to us personally. It’s one thing when it’s something we see on the television; it’s another thing when “God’s unfairness” hits us personally. The devil loves to point out to the Christian our own sorrows and sufferings and how God seemingly doesn’t care or can’t do anything about it. And what does the devil do in these temptations? –He whips up our old sinful nature which is very self-righteous and works-righteous.
It is in self-righteousness that we say/ think to ourselves: I don’t deserve this. God is being unfair. But what is the reality? –The reality is just what we confessed a few minutes ago: that we are poor, miserable sinners who deserve nothing but God’s punishment now and eternally. So when the temptation comes to blame God for being unfair, let us instead turn it around and look at everything that we have–life and breath at the very least– and recognize it all as God’s grace and mercy. Yes! God is unfair! –He’s unfair by showing us sinners any love, mercy and grace at all.
That constant barrage from the world and devil will cause us, the faithful, to waver at times. We will entertain that thought, and perhaps even dwell on it: that God is not fair; the wicked triumph; that a life of faith and love doesn’t matter. And perhaps we will have these seasons of doubt and cynicism. May we always be on guard and repent when we give in to these thoughts.
May we instead remember that, yes, there are the distinctions between good and evil and that the Lord is perfect justice. We may not see now to our satisfaction how God deals with the good and the evil, but come the Last Day it will be absolutely clear. Then we will see that the Lord does preserve His dear Christians in all distress and danger and that He preserves and eternally saves them. Evil will not triumph; the wicked do not go unpunished; He does not leave His Christians in distress; the faithful will receive a reward of grace. He who is perfectly just rules and governs all things. First on the Last Day will that be clear, as Malachi records in our text: Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. Now we walk by faith, not sight!
That’s why it’s vital, dear Christian, that we are here in church to hear God’s word. That’s why it’s vital that we talk about and encourage our fellow Christians in the faith–so that we do not give into doubt, despair and cynicism. That’s what the believers did in the time of Malachi: Those who feared the Lord spoke to one another. In the face of widespread wickedness and complaining, they sought encouragement together in fellowship. Through that word by which they encouraged each other, the Lord preserved them from the temptations of the devil to doubt and toward cynicism, strengthening them in the faith. Certainly He does the same with us!
We need our text before us especially in our day as we daily face the onslaught: what is the point of being/ why be a Christian? The simple fact is that God does remember and delight in the good works of a Christian–the things we do out of love for God in accord with His holy 10 Commandments. Our lives as Christians/ lives of holiness matter! The Lord already now makes that distinction between His Christians and the wicked–a distinction that is made abundantly clear on the Last Day. Our text: And the Lord listened and heard them. The Lord sees all we do and hears all that we speak, as Solomon reminds us [Ecl. 12.14]: For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil. And look at the lovely image Malachi uses: a book that is always before the Lord–an image of Him not forgetting anything, not even the slightest work of love: a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. What a comfort–God does not forget our works we do, good works that flow from faith in Him. Faith alone saves us but faith is always accompanied by good works. Our good works, which are the evidence of faith, are always before the Lord. All the stains of sin have been washed away in Christ’s blood and are forgiven so only the good remains. Notice how the Christian is described: those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. What a beautiful description of faith! Faith reveres, esteems God’s name and perseveres in worship and piety even though suffering persecution. Today we hold up Sts. Philip and James who remained faithful to our Lord. How easily in their suffering they could have given into the temptation and asked: What’s the point of being a Christian? They knew the Lord saw their faith and their faith and works were before His eyes. They knew their faith was not in vain. In our temptations may we follow their example.
The scoffers around us, the temptations we face, our old sinful self all claim that serving God is all for nothing. But what does the Lord say in our text? “They shall be Mine,” says the LOrd of hosts, “on that day I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” Look at that talk about God sparing His faithful–what is that but God having gathered us into His kingdom of grace, His Church, in which He daily and richly forgives us our sins. Here in His word and sacrament He gives us the forgiveness of sins and eternal life Jesus won for us on the cross. No matter how it may look outwardly, how “unfair” it may look that God is–He is showering us with His greatest gifts and blessings. It is not futile to serve Him/ to be a Christian/to fear the Lord and [to] meditate on His name. Yes, He may or may not reward us already now with earthly blessings but certainly come the Last Day our true glory as God’s dear Christians will be revealed; then He will publicly declare us as His own. God is fair! Judgment Day is the grand, final show of His fairness. Of His faithful He says: They shall be Mine. On that day I make them My jewels. Yes, it is worth it. That’s the point of being a Christian. INJ