St Endellion Church
He saw James.
James, with his brother in their boat.
Sitting together mending the nets.
Mending nets demanded skill and patience: checking, untangling, knotting; nibble fingers handling needles; four hands holding the weight and tension. It’s a scene which still plays out along our coastline. So mundane and time consuming we’d hardly notice it; we barely see.
And there Jesus saw him.
Really saw him.
The fisherman: gazed upon;
by one who is God with us.
Guido Reni - Saint James the Great
He was called James.
James was called.
He left his father and followed.
James listened, witnessed and asked a favour.
He questioned, doubted and was weighed down with sleep.
James believed, followed and fished for people.
Sharing life transforming good news made him apostle, martyr, saint.
If you Google “St James” you discover a boutique hotel, royal palace and a wealth management group; numerous schools, hospitals and a creative media company which, according to its website, injects a ‘thrill into a tailor made message’. St James’: a crown estate - a market like no other - food, fashion, lifestyle, art and events.
And in all these places, men, women, young and old, are engaged in tasks which demand skill and patience: planning lessons, cleaning offices, fulfilling ambitions, asking questions, making beds, welcoming diplomats, shaping campaigns, resisting sleep, cooking meals, managing wealth, suturing wounds, seeking work, creating art.
And God sees them; sees us.
We are seen with all our questions, passions, exhaustion and potential
Like James, we are called by name.
By name we are called.
Called to follow and listen, believe and share good news.
To see others as we are seen; and to see lives transformed by love.
This is good news.
This news is, in the words of Rowan Williams, ‘a message about something that altered the climate in which people live, changing the politics and the possibilities; it transforms the landscape of social life’.
Mark’s Gospel expresses possibility and transformation by with urgency: moments of amazement and ordinariness punctuated by the words kai euthys ‘and immediately’. The universal scope of this good news is told in a series of intimate encounters. Today we glimpse James at the beginning of a journey. He spent the next days, months, years enfolded by good news. Good news he proclaimed.
Good news that God’s beloved Son stood came to us in the midst of our longing, frailty and need for forgiveness. He taught with authority - revealing scope of God’s love in parables about sowers, seeds, lamps and yeast. He sought solitude as he prayed in a deserted place; he fed thousands on a hillside and taught thousands more on seashores and synagogues.
Eugene Delacroix: Christ Calming the storm
Jesus stilled the storm and brought peace to the troubled mind. Lepers, paralytics, the deaf, the blind and a woman with haemorrhages knew his healing power; he restored a little girl to life. Fishermen, religious leaders, children, a tax collector and a Gentile women followed him in faith.
He showed how God’s law of sabbath rest enabled human kind to flourish; he challenged the rich and ambitious, to serve God’s Kingdom; and treasured the widow’s mite. Jesus radically extended our understanding of kinship - all who love mercy are his mother, sister and brother.
In him, love divine plumbs the depths of humanity.
A close companion betrayed him; another denied him; a woman poured out lavish oil to anoint him. Bread is broken and wine is poured; tears, sleep, arrest and trial. Hosanna becomes crucify. At a moment of utter forsakenness a centurion sees God’s Son. And at an empty tomb risen life bursts forth.
This is good news: God’s Kingdom breaks in, transforms and empowers; in our daily tasks, our journeys and our resting places. In all this is the love of God sees us as we are. Like James we are addressed by name and invited to turn and respond. Follow me!
New possibilities lie ahead; we are co-workers in this Kingdom. Transformation unfolds as we love God with all that we are; with every fibre of our being; voices, gestures, heart and mind; loving neighbour as ourself.
The speed of James’ response is remarkable: can we imagine letting go of the equivalent of nets, family, boat and crew? What could be so compelling that we leave familiar rhythms behind?
And yet, we are here - we’ve stepped aside from our regular round of commitments and responsibilities to join with this living, festival community.
Do we recognise in the pull of this place of pilgrimage, something that James might have seen in Jesus? A longing for the opportunity to reconnect and reflect; for encouragement, joy, renewed relationship and spiritual refreshment?
Richard Hickox described the spirit of this place as something on which ‘we all feed’. He called it a ‘magnet’ as well as a ‘refuge’. There is something magnetic and irresistible about Jesus too - but it’s not always easy or comfortable. James found himself re-deploying his trade - a fisherman becoming a fisher of men.
To be caught by the love of God - to draw others into that abundance - is to find our refuge, our place and our purpose. In creation God gave us freedom to follow or reject love; in Christ that rift is overcome; by the power of the Spirit’s guidance we bear the witness to the good news of that love, bringing healing and wholeness.
To ‘catch’ people for this Kingdom is joyful and demanding. It means seeing people as they are - being with them as God was with us in Jesus. To take words from another “James”, this time the indie rock band, we are to ‘sit down’; to sit down ‘in sympathy’ with those ‘who feel the breath of sadness’, those ‘touched by madness’ or who ‘find themselves ridiculous’.
When we sit down in love: in the face of fear, or hate or tears, heaven touches earth. To sit alongside others - to see them as God does - is prophetic. It makes hope and consolation known in the present.
It’s not easy.
Some days, we’ll sympathise with the reluctant prophet Jeremiah. At a time of political and social upheaval he carries the lonely weight of continuing to speak of the demands of God’s love. Although he was shunned and ill-treated, he was not a defeatist.
He was persistent in speaking truth to those in positions of authority; calling them to return to listen to God; to avoid the impending disaster by walking in the way of his law of love.
Even in the darkest times of rebuke, mockery and condemnation, Jeremiah holds on to the hope that God will not abandon him. Nor would God abandon his people - but would touch every human heart. James saw that prophecy come to fulfilment - as Jesus brings a new covenant in his blood; as the Spirit brings new life to the law.
Jesus saw James.
Like James we are called by name.
By name we are called.
Called to follow and listen, believe and share good news.
To see others as we are seen; and to see lives transformed by love.
Your music gives voice to that vision with joyful song.
Over the coming days, may you glimpse a new heaven and a new earth.
May you hear and respond to the heavenly voice declaring that God dwells with us.
Over the coming days, may you find refuge, encouragement, joy and delight.
May the Holy Spirit equip you return home embracing new possibilities.
This is good news.
© Julie Gittoes 2017
