Sermon Archive

Clearing the Air (A Sermon for the Eve of Saints Simon and Jude)

Fr. Mead | Festal Evensong
Sunday, October 28, 2001 @ 4:00 pm
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The Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost

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Festal Evensong
4:00 pm
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Scripture citation(s): Matthew 9:35-10:4

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And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these…

In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.

We don’t know very much about Saints Simon and Jude the Apostles, whom we are celebrating this evening, but that serves my purpose, which is to speak on the definition of an apostle. But before I get to that, let’s see what we do know.

Tonight’s Simon is not Peter but “Simon the Canaanite” or “Simon the Zealot.” That means this apostle was, before he followed Jesus, probably a Jewish nationalist revolutionary against the authority of Rome.

Jude, who also was called Lebbaeus and surnamed Thaddeus, is mentioned in Saint John’s Gospel as a brother of Saint James the Greater (brother also of John and son of Zebedee), and therefore is also a family member of Christ himself. The New Testament Epistle of Jude is traditionally ascribed to this Jude. For many centuries, Saint Jude Thaddeus has been regarded in popular devotion as the “patron saint of desperate or lost causes,” but the basis of this tradition (other than many answered prayers!) is obscure.

Saints Simon and Jude are linked together as apostles to Persia (Iran) and martyrs there. The churches they founded, in spite of centuries of Islamic persecution which is especially vigorous now, still exist, and we should pray for those Christians and do what we can to speak up for their human rights.

Now what is an apostle, precisely? In today’s reading from Saint Matthew, Jesus calls twelve “disciples,” which means followers, to a more specific calling, “apostle.” “Disciple” is related to “discipline”. If we want to follow Christ, we take up his discipline. “Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden,” he calls out. “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.” “Take up your cross and follow me.” This is the discipline of Christ’s disciples.

Out of the wider fellowship of disciples, Christ commissioned his twelve “apostles.” In Saint Matthew, as the twelve are commissioned and listed, they are then referred to as “apostles,” and the word means “one who is sent.” Sent to do what?

Jesus sent them to represent him and to exercise his own authority in his own Name. They were, of course, to found and preside over churches. That authority takes many forms and is manifested in many ways. The authority still exists in the Church through her Apostolic Succession of bishops and priests whom the apostles ordained after them, and therefore it is before our very eyes. You see it in the preaching and teaching of the faith, in the celebration of the sacraments, especially Baptism and the Eucharist. You see in the oversight of the churches’ discipline by bishops and pastors (rectors and vicars and priests-in-charge).

But at the heart of it all is this. “He gave them power against unclean spirits.” If the apostolic ministry is about anything, it is about extending the Lordship of Jesus Christ over the “powers and principalities,” the forces and spirits that resist and oppose God. After all, Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” And now that Jesus has been crucified, has died, has redeemed us from all sin, and has risen and ascended to the Throne of Grace, the apostolic Church reveals the personal identity of the King: God incarnate, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

We often hear people describe themselves as “spiritual,” and usually this is quite benign. But we need to remember that “spiritual” is not by definition “good.” I well recall a wonderful Anglican Sister of Saint Margaret say to a group of clergy, “Not every blast of hot air is the Holy Ghost.” And not every spirit is good. The devil is very spiritual.

We receive guidance from the apostles on this score. Saint Paul says no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. Conversely, Paul also says that no one who has the Holy Spirit can ever call Jesus “accursed.” (I Cor 12:3)

Similarly, Saint John should be quoted on this. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world. Little children, you are of God and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (I Jn 4:1-4)

This is the primary nature of the apostolic ministry, and it stems directly from Jesus’ commissioning. The apostles, and the one holy catholic and apostolic Church which is faithful to their teaching, clear the air of unclean spirits by the power of the Holy Spirit who testifies to Jesus Christ.

Let me finish by speaking practically about one of our most ancient pious customs, the making of the Sign of the Cross. We do it one way in the West, and the Eastern Christians do it another way. But it is the Cross itself that matters. There is nothing more sincerely disliked by the devil and the unclean spirits than the Cross, because it reminds them of the nature of Jesus Christ’s Kingdom and Lordship.

When you make the Sign of the Cross, think of it as a little “clearing of the air” in front of you. Think of it as a little participation in the apostolic commission, even a little discreet evangelism. Each one of us has an apostolate along with the apostles. We are not at all far from Saints Simon and Jude. So as we commemorate them and reflect on the nature of apostleship, let’s have a little more faith and take a little more courage in our own representation of Christ in the world out there.

In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.