First a question - how many James's are there in the Bible? Today we commemorate James - but which James?
Well, there are 3 :
1. James the brother of Jesus, who later became leader of the church in Jerusalem, and who probably wrote the Epistle of James. He is sometimes called "James the Just".
2. James, son of Alphaeus, one of the 12 apostles, who is sometimes called "James the Less", and about whom we know nothing at all.
3. James - the one we are commemorating today - James an apostle, the brother of John, and son of Zebedee.
So what about this James?
1) The first thing we note about him is that he was a Follower.
That day on the lake shore of Galilee he was sitting with his brother John in their boat, preparing and washing their fishing nets. And Peter, with his brother Andrew, was alongside in their boat. And Jesus came along, and addressed the crowd from Peter's boat, then told him to lower his net, and he caught a huge catch of fish.
And Jesus said to them: "Follow Me!" And Mark tells us that "at once they left their nets and followed Him". Luke says: "They left everything and followed Him."
Isn't that amazing? Perhaps they had already, previously, been impressed by Jesus. Perhaps it was what He had said from the boat that day. Or maybe it was the miracle of the huge catch of fish. Whatever!
But the fact is that Jesus said "Follow Me!" and they followed. They followed at once - no humming or hahing; no ifs and buts. They left everything - they left their boats, their nets, their income, their security, their father. They left their whole way of life. And they followed Jesus - followed into a completely unknown, and uncertain and insecure future.
If they could have foreseen the future, I wonder - would their decision that day have been any different? Somehow I don't think so. Their lives had taken on a completely new perspective. A new set of priorities. And they took a risk.
They left everything and followed Jesus.
James was a Follower.
Nowadays, in our materialistic world, where security is so important, we are advised not to take risks; not to make sudden decisions. "Don't make a rash decision about your future," would be the advice. "Take stock of your assets! Assess your prospects! Get it in writing! Think about your mortgage! Work out your pension! Invest wisely! Check out your rights! All good solid advice. Except - not the priorities for Jesus. He says simply "Follow Me!" - and that may mean leaving everything that is secure and safe and familiar and sensible, and stepping out on an adventure.
If I can speak personally for a moment, when Rosemary and I got engaged her parents were delighted. To have a doctor for a son-in-law seemed a very good and pleasing thing. The little balloon of thoughts above their heads included words such as "Prestige", "Financial security", "Comfortable home" Maybe even "Harley St". Unfortunately for them the little balloon of thoughts above our heads included "Africa", "The bush", "Isolation", "Insecurity of every kind". You see, we had both felt so surely that that was what Jesus was calling us to. He had said "Follow Me!" and for us, at that time, at that point in our lives, it meant leaving everything that was familiar and safe - especially for Rosemary - and taking a risk.
We - particularly I - was told that I was "irresponsible, reckless, stupid, inconsiderate of other people's feelings and wishes". And by any normal standards that was true. I wonder if Zebedee had some such feelings that day when James and John left him to it, and went off with Jesus.
Rosemary and I felt we had no choice. And I believe, in retrospect, that we did the right thing.
Jesus calls each and every one of us to "Follow Him". For most of us that does not mean actually going anywhere.
It is a call, not to a change of situation, or job, or country But to a change of lifestyle A change of priorities in life. A change of what is most important to us.
James didn't say to Jesus that day: "I'll certainly think about it, Jesus. We must keep in touch - I'd be interested to hear how You get on. I'll pray for You! Perhaps see You in the synagogue some Saturdays!" Of course he didn't!
Jesus didn't become an interesting off-shoot of his life. A sort of hobby. A private side-line. No! Jesus became his life. His passion. He left everything, and followed.
Sometimes we come to a crossroads in life. We have to decide, maybe, what to study at Uni. Does Jesus have any say in that decision? We get our degree or qualification or whatever. Now what? The job with the best money? Or the job that Jesus has for us? The person we marry. Someone who will divert us from the direction we had thought God was leading us? Or someone who will travel with us? Redundancy - as some of our Priory family have recently painfully experienced. Could this difficult time be turned into an opportunity to do something maybe completely new? To follow Jesus in a new direction, with new possibilities? Retirement - time to sit back in the garden chair and watch the grass grow? Or time to follow Jesus into new opportunities, with the new time that we have?
At any time or stage in life are we listening for that call, "Follow Me!" ? Maybe into new ways of serving God. Little things. Bigger things. Maybe into life-changing decisions.
The missionary Jim Elliot, who was murdered by the Auca Indians in the Amazon, when he was told that it was crazy, stupid, to take such a risk, said: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose".
We only have one life to live. Are temporal values more important to us than eternal values?
Jesus calls you and me to follow. To have servant hearts. To ask, not "What's in it for me?", but rather "What can I give? What can I do, for my Lord?"
James was a follower.
2) But he was a Fallible Follower.
Isn't that a relief? If we were beginning to think that he was just a bit too good to be true, a bit too holy for the likes of us, then let's remember the real James.
James and John were nicknamed by Jesus "The sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17) Was it because Zebedee their father was a bit explosive? Perhaps he had laid into Jesus when He suddenly took off his 2 sons that day, away from the family fishing business. Or was it that they themselves were hot-tempered and intolerant? Remember the time when a Samaritan village refused to welcome Jesus, and James and John were so angry about it that they asked Jesus if they should call down fire from heaven to wipe out the village (Luke 9:51). And Jesus rebuked them.
James was no model of perfection. There was that other time when, according to Mark (10:35), James and John asked Jesus to grant them their wish to sit one on either side of Him in glory. In other words, they wanted pride of place in heaven. Matthew gives a different slant - he says that it was Mrs Zebedee, their mother, who approached Jesus, and asked for her sons to have pride of place. So - was this an ambitious mother, rooting for her precious sons? Had she put them up to it? Or had they put her up to it? Whatever - they were all involved. They were ambitious for themselves. James thought that he and John deserved a bit of glory. A bit of privilege. To be treated as special. And Jesus said rather sadly "You don't know what you are asking!"
And he went on to talk about true greatness. The world counts prestige, power, authority, wealth as important. Not so with God. Jesus said: "Whoever wants to become great must be a servant. Whoever wants to be first must be a slave to others. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."
James - James who was a normal human being - impulsive, hot-tempered, ambitious - James was one of the persons that Jesus chose and called that day, on the shore of Lake Galilee.
Sometimes maybe we think "All this talk about 'calling' applies to other people, not to me. Jesus wouldn't want me!
I'm not good enough!
I'm not special enough!
I'm not holy enough!
But you see He does call you. He calls even weak fallible people - like James, and me, and you - to follow Him.
Nobody is beyond the range of God's call. It's not like a mobile phone - out of range. We can get good reception wherever we are, if we listen.
Jesus looks for fallible followers. James was a fallible follower.
3) Thirdly, James was a Faithful Fallible Follower.
In many ways James was a background person. We hear a lot in the Bible about his brother John. But really very little about James.
After that episode of wanting to sit at Jesus' side in heaven, the next time we hear about him is in Acts, when Herod had him beheaded for his faith. James was a quiet, faithful, background follower of Jesus, rarely in the spotlight.
But that doesn't mean that he was a weak follower. Going to your death for your faith is hardly a sign of weakness.
Perhaps James had taken on board what Jesus had said about being a servant to others, about the last being first,
about servant leadership. That's what Jesus does to people - he gently changes us, to be the sort of people He wants us to be. And of course James had seen the supreme example of servanthood, when Jesus submitted Himself to the cross. When He died as a ransom for many. James had heard Jesus. And James had seen Jesus' example.
And James had changed.
It would seem that he remained very much in the shadow of his brother John. Very much in the background.
Yet he wasn't so much in the background that his faith wasn't recognised. There must have been a reason why Herod chose to execute him, as an example to others.
Faithfulness in the shadow.
Faithfulness in the background.
A servant apostle.
A servant leader.
That was James!
We have here in the Priory people who quietly but faithfully get on with behind-the-scenes activities, for Jesus' sake.
People with servant hearts - not out for thanks, or for appreciation, or for recognition, or for glory. Thank God for you, if you are one of them!
So, to sum up, what was James? He was a Faithful Fallible Follower of Jesus. Jesus was the centre of His life - his hope, his song, his fire, his vision. Jesus was the reason that he lived, and the reason why he died.
Whoever we are - at whatever stage in life - at whatever stage in our Christian journey may we listen again to Jesus' call. May we listen today, this morning. He says "Follow Me!" So may we, like James, follow Him - fallible but faithful followers. Every one of us.
David Webster
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