On vacation recently I read an autobiography. I commented to a friend that the author was not overly self-critical.
Unfortunately for James and John, an incident in their lives got reported in the gospels. My guess is, had they been working on their joint autobiography, this event would have been airbrushed away. Matthew (whose account we hear this week) tried at least to blame someone else for the faux pas; their poor mother. It is this unnamed woman who asks that her boys get to sit on the left and right sides of Jesus in the kingdom. It is easy enough to realize that the other ten disciples were not best pleased at the idea. Why? Well because surely there were just as important, if not more important that the Zebedee brothers.
The human side of this story should make it straightforward for us to understand. For how many times in our lives do we want to promote ourselves with others … our friends, our work colleagues … the list goes on and on. So give the brothers a break. Firstly they didn’t yet fully understand what the mission of Jesus was about. Which reminds us to check ourselves … do we fully understand what the mission of Jesus is about? Secondly they were just being human … they wanted to be counted in Jesus’s team. Yes they likely wanted to be in the inner circle, but that wasn’t for them to determine.
Perhaps especially as get older, and hopefully more mature, we realize that power and position are not important, especially in the kingdom.
At St. James’ we may sit in roughly the same seats each week, (if we attend in person), but there are no better seats, none are reserved. It is a reminder we are all equal in status, as it is with God, as it is in the kingdom.
Today we remember our beloved patron Saint James. And as we do, we give thanks to the crowd of witnesses, who have peopled this church over its entire history. May St. James’ continue to be a place of welcome and refuge, a place of hospitality and worship. A place where we find ourselves at home, and keen to share this home with all who come.
Fr Stephen Rowe