The Greatest

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Beaten with rods, flayed like a fish and then crucified upside down.” This was the fate of St. Bartholomew, also known as Nathanael. He is among the lesser-known disciples. In fact the story of his martyrdom is one of tradition. It is a tradition to which we subscribe, but know full well that it is not Scripture. But what is Scripture is the Gospel appointed for this day of St. Bartholomew. And one could ask the question, “So why is this Gospel lesson chosen for him? He is not mentioned by name. None of the disciples are mentioned by name” The answer is found when you put the story of his martyrdom and this Gospel together.

“Who is the greatest of all the disciples?” Certainly it has to be St. Peter, the confessing rock of the Church, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” No, it is not him. Remember, Jesus calls him Satan in the same conversation in which Peter confesses the truth about Jesus. And three times Peter denied his Lord, the very same night of this debate between the disciples. Certainly he is not the greatest.

Dogs and Crumbs

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today's Gospel lesson is not a popular one. It is not one of those accounts of Jesus being all nice and sweet. He does not multiply bread and fish and feed a zillion people. He does not have compassion and heal crowds of sick people. He does not do anything neat and cute and altruistic. He does not even say anything nice that we can file away in a Hallmark card and save to spout later when it sounds cute. In fact, today's Gospel lesson makes Jesus sound like a jerk.

Here is this poor woman, and she comes to Jesus, asking Him to heal her daughter who has been severely oppressed by a demon. And what does Jesus do? Nothing. Not one thing. He keeps on walking. He ignores her. Gentiles do not approach Jews, and women do not approach rabbis. It is as if she does not exist.

Then, after she has pestered His entourage enough that the disciples entreat Jesus to make her go away, He tells her that He was not sent to her, and calls her a dog, one of the more offensive terms one could hurl at another human being in that day. Dogs were scum, scavengers and nuisances, a cause for concern and disdain, dirty and impure. And Jesus called this woman a dog, simply for coming to ask Him to heal her daughter. What a jerk, right?

Limits

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings saga, there is a scene where the band of good guys are racing through the underground realm of Moria, and they are confronted with an ancient evil foe risen from the lowest depths of the earth. The Balrog comes up from the darkness and pursues them through the caverns and halls, until they reach the bridge of Khazad-Dum, a narrow stone bridge spanning an abyss that falls into the very heart of the earth. The men, dwarves, and hobbits race across the bridge toward safety, but, seeing that they are in dire danger, Gandalf the wizard stops in the middle of the bridge, plants his magical staff, and defies the enormous ancient beast, shouting, “You shall not pass!” The demon tries with all its might to attack Gandalf, but the light holds fast against the darkness, until Gandalf strikes the bridge, shattering it and sending the Balrog down into the abyss, allowing the rest of the Fellowship to escape. However, at the last second, the demon's whip grabs Gandalf and pulls him down, too.

Blessed, Not Destroyed

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jesus had compassion upon the people. He looked upon their infirmities and their afflictions, and He healed them. And He healed them. And He healed them some more.

He healed them of their illnesses and their diseases. He drove out their demons. He made the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the mute speak. He forgave sins and proclaimed freedom to those held captive by sin, death, and the devil. He did all this out of compassion for their sorry state of affairs. And what did it cost the poor, bedraggled masses? Nothing.

Then it got late. It was a desolate, wilderness place, and the day was far spent. The disciples petitioned Jesus to tell the crowds to go away. “Send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Go away and leave us alone. Find your own food. Can't you see that Jesus has done enough? You already chased Him all over hill and dale, all the way across the Sea of Galilee. Let the poor man rest, and go spend your own money for once.

The Mystery Man

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Once upon a time there was a desolate land, a land of dust and death and grit and thorns. Anything that lived on the land decayed and died. Plants, animals, people – they all died, and some, in dying, suffered greatly, and some, watching the dying, suffered greatly as well.

During the short time that the people lived on this land, they quickly grew backs that bent way over from them trying to scratch out a living upon the face of the cursed ground and to keep from dying. Most of the time it was only the old ones who died, but sometimes it was a young man, a promising child, or a baby girl.

The people did not like the thought of dying for they had seen what a struggle it was. To keep from being reminded of dying, the people of the land did not think about it much. Whenever someone did die, they dug a hole in the ground or in the side of a hill, and they put the dead man or woman or youth or child or baby into the hole. And if it was a baby, the hole was not very big.

A Mixed Bag

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Church of God here on earth is a mixed bag. In any given Christian assembly there are the faithful saints of God, redeemed by Christ and anxious to hold fast to the pure Word of God. And right alongside them are the false saints, the pseudo-Christians who would reject the truth of the Gospel, water down the proclamation of the Word, or propose new ways and new measures to accomplish their goals. We may wish it were not so, but that is how things are.

This is what the parable Jesus tells in today's Gospel reading teaches. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but in the middle of the night, the enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat. No one was any more the wiser, until the plants grew up and their fruits were evident.

When it was evident that the weeds had been sown over top of and into the midst of the wheat, the servants of the master asked whether they should go and rip out the weeds. The master told them to leave the weeds alone until the harvest, lest they damage the wheat as they worked. Then, at the last, they could separate the good from bad and deal with each accordingly.

Doing Hard Things

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sometimes it is difficult to get things done. You set out with a plan for the day, a list of things to get accomplished. And, almost as soon as you get started, it seems, things are derailed. An unexpected phone call. A slew of activity on Facebook. A breakdown of equipment. Something is bound to come along and lay waste to your best-laid plans.

It is even more difficult to get things done when you do not want to do them in the first place. There is always something more interesting on the internet. Something is always wandering about in the yard outside the window. Some other project, whatever it might be, is always more intriguing or seems more important. Anything at all that you can come up with in order to avoid doing the things you do not want to face.

Face it – how many people actually – really, truly, honestly – enjoy hard work?