THE LEGACY OF ST. JAMES
Jer. 45:1-5 Ps.
&:1-10 Acts
11:27-12:3 Matt. 20:20-28
This morning we honor the life, witness, and martyrdom of
St. James, one of the original twelve disciples. Fr. Ben, in his
recent newsletter article, asked that we embrace this day as a
rededication to our patron saint. To that end, it may be helpful
to recall a bit of history, both about James himself and the founding
of this church.
James and John, sons of the fisherman Zebedee, along with
their friends Andrew and Simon (later known as Peter), were the first
to be called to follow Jesus. As Matt. 4:22 tells us,
"Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed
him." Mark records that Jesus nicknamed James and John "Sons of
Thunder," probably a reference to their zealous, impulsive natures.
Scripture references place James among the inner circle of
trusted disciples. It was only James, Peter, and John who were
with Jesus when he healed Jairus's daughter; only those three who were
present at the Transfiguration. And much as we turn in times of
greatest need to our closest friends, so Jesus asked James, John, and
Peter to watch with him on that fateful night in the Garden of
Gethsemane.
James was a witness to the Resurrection and, as John's
Gospel tells us, was also present on the shore of the Sea of Galilee
when Jesus made a post-Resurrection appearance. James was the
first of the original twelve to be martyred for his faith, beheaded in
44 A.D. at the hands of Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great.
One tradition asserts that James preached the
Gospel in Spain and that his body was buried there, finally resting at
Compostela, which during the Middle Ages became the site of famous
pilgrimages to honor the sepulchre of St. James. Mounted on a
horse and anachronistically clad in medieval dress, it is James that is
depicted by the carved wooden figure in the back of our nave.
Moving forward in time, it was in the 1880's when a
dedicated group of people organized the very first church congregation
in this town—St. James' Episcopal Church. No record remains
outlining the reasons James was selected as the patron saint of the
fledgling congregation, but we might make an educated guess.
James did not hesitate to follow his Lord nor to die for him. Nor
did he waver in proclaiming the Gospel at home and as far from home as
Spain. He was faithful. He was an effective evangelist, and
he served others.
From today's Gospel we see that James learned from Jesus
that his authority would not derive from a favored status with the
Master. Quite the contrary. He would be asked to drink from
the same bitter cup of sacrifice as Jesus and to practice a radical new
way of being: “ . . . whoever wishes to be great among you must be your
servant.” [Matt. 20:26]
James was an intimate of Jesus, a man of action, and a
servant who spread the Gospel far and wide. A model worthy of
emulation.
I like to believe that those founding members of this
congregation embraced James’ example and shared a vision of glorifying
God, providing regular worship, and witnessing Christ’s love to Eureka
Springs and beyond. As those founders contemplated what they had
begun, surely they foresaw a future of St. James’ Church’s continued
service and influence in this community.
Through its more than 120 years of existence, St. James'
has experienced its share of ups and downs. There have been times
of such shrinking attendance that mere survival was in question.
But despite the challenges, including severe economic downturns and a
devastating fire, the church faithful, inspired by that blessed
communion of saints who had preceded them, kept the mission alive until
this very day.
When Larry and I winter in Arizona, we attend a very large
church with four Sunday services. The architecture is Southwest
mission style, and the grounds feature fountains and desert
plantings. The spacious nave is enhanced by intricately carved
wooden figures of saints, beautiful stained glass windows, and
priceless paintings. The interconnected buildings serve a variety
of uses from meeting rooms to a music center. One couldn’t ask
for a more functional or complete physical plant.
However, in reading their bulletins each Sunday, we grew
increasingly puzzled. Many functions—concerts, prayer groups,
Christian education classes, cooking lessons, children’s events—went on
within the buildings each week. Note, I said "within" the
buildings. What, we wondered, went on outside the church
complex? In the fine print we discovered that once a month a
small group of parishioners help serve in an area soup kitchen.
You can imagine, then, how pleased we were on our last
visit to learn that the church was undertaking an initiative called
"From Maintenance to Mission," designed to explore the question of why
they exist and whom they are serving.
In the life of any church body, there are times when simple
"maintaining" is all the members can do. But it is seductively
easy to remain in that posture—taking care of property, nourishing the
faithful, and becoming a self-perpetuating community.
As we discovered from the small group discussions we
attended at our Arizona church, moving from a maintenance model to a
mission model is threatening for some. After it all, it involves
change. It calls for venturing outside the safe, comfortable
interior of the church into an uncertain world. And it calls
individuals to move off the sidelines into participation.
The message coming out of the recently concluded triennial
Episcopal General Convention is one focused on mission, not mere
maintenance. As our Arkansas Bishop Larry Benfield put it, "It is
no longer business as usual." He adds, "We have finally begun to
realize that the vital mission of the church takes place in local
congregations, not at church headquarters."
So what can we say of this local congregation, this St.
James' Church of ours? Consider these questions: What if there
were no buildings and grounds to maintain? Would we still be a
church?
In her book An Altar in the World, Episcopal priest
and teacher Barbara Brown Taylor suggests that ". . . the teachings
mean little apart from the embodied practices of the community." [p. 92]
What are the embodied practices of this community of St. James?
Suppose that in Eureka Springs St. James' was identified
not as the white church with the red doors on the Historic Loop, but
rather as those people who . . .
feed the hungry
sing for the lonely
knit for healing and hope
welcome the stranger
pray for those in distress
visit the infirm
love the unlovable.
Writer Anne Lamott offers an example of a church in the mission mode in her book Traveling Mercies.
One chapter is entitled "Why I Make Sam Go to Church." Sam is her
young son. She says, "I make him because I can. I outweigh
him by nearly seventy-five pounds. But that is only part of
it. The main reason is that I want to give him what I found in
the world, which is to say a path and a little light to see by.
Most of the people I know who have what I want—which is to say,
purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy—are people with a deep sense of
spirituality. They are people in community, who pray, or practice
their faith."
She goes on to say, "When I was at the end of my rope, the
people at St. Andrew tied a knot in it for me and helped me hold
on. The church became my home in the old meaning of home—that
it's where, when you show up, they have to let you in. They let
me in. They even said, 'You come back now.'" [p. 100]
Maintenance and mission are not mutually exclusive
concepts. What is critical is the balance between them. It
was only as I prepared this sermon that I realized we have at our
fingertips a source of guidance for achieving that balance between
maintenance and mission. Listen.
"A church family where all are invited by the limitless
love of God to be nourished, blessed, and empowered to love and serve
the world."
Do you recognize the source? You should. It is
the most recent mission statement for St. James' Episcopal Church,
Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Simply put, it says that within these
church walls we are prepared through community and sacrament to take
the Gospel from this place into the world.
On this day St. James himself calls us to "self-denying
service" [The Collect for Feast of St. James], and the church founders
rely on us to remain faithful stewards of their vision. We can,
indeed, be a church where "all are invited by the limitless love of God
to be nourished, blessed, and empowered to love and serve the world."
There is so much more to St. James' than being merely "the
church with the red doors." As we strive to live our mission
statement, we can hope that those blessed ones who have gone before us
in this place are smiling.
AMEN.
Laura Shoffner
Feast of St. James
St. James' Episcopal Church
Eureka Springs, AR
26 JULY 2009