Simon and Jude

Shortly after being ordained I was invited, or instructed actually, to preach on the Feast Day of St Simon and St Jude, the day which was actually celebrated yesterday in the Church Calendar, but which we are commemorating today. Of all the major Saints Days in the Church Calendar that St Simon and St Jude is the one that is perhaps most difficult to preach about, simply because we know so little about either of them.

Both Simon and Jude were named in the gospels of Mathew, Mark and Luke as 2 of the 12 disciples of Jesus. Simon is called the ‘Zealot’. It may have been that he belonged to a political group fiercely opposed to the Roman occupation, or it may have been simply a nickname to describe his zealous work for Christ. Whatever the truth, it probably helps us to shape some sort of view of Simon as a radical campaigner.

Sadly even less is known of Jude. It seems he was also known as Thaddaeus, which may have been a last name. Somewhat unkindly, he has become known as the Patron Saint of Lost Causes. It’s thought that one reason for this was the similarity of his name with Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, so people were reluctant to call on Jude for prayers. It is possible though not certain that he wrote the Epistle of Jude which we find in the New Testament, or at least was involved in the writing.

And so we have Simon and Jude – in many ways an unspectacular pair – what is their lesson ? What can we say about them ?

Well I suppose the first and most important thing must be that, regardless of their backgrounds, Jesus called them to be amongst his 12 disciples. Even after they served, apparently faithfully, amongst the disciples, they do not appear to have become particularly famous… but, Jesus called them.

And in the same way he calls each one of us. A lesson from Simon and Jude is that Jesus calls and uses people of all backgrounds, normal or unusual, good or bad, rich or poor, old or young – for most of us as Christians we will not be called to do spectacular things. Most of us will not go on worldwide preaching tours, most of us will not be called to missionary work abroad, and most of us, certainly in this country, will never be called to risk our life for our faith.

But we are still called – called to share the gospel with our families and friends and neighbours, and everyone we meet, through our words and through our actions. And this is a huge calling which involves commitment and courage.

The commitment is needed to persevere through difficulties such as apathy, perhaps even sometimes hostility. The courage is needed to stand up and say something when it seems difficult to speak, and then we must have the courage and the commitment to be sure that what we are preaching is firstly, a message that is relevant, and secondly, it is a message that is accurate.

Simon and Jude reacted to the personality of Jesus – they responded to his teaching, to his life… And that is where we must start. Jesus isn’t an historical figure, caught and retained in stained glass windows, or in ancient stories – he is alive today. When we answer his call we are still reacting to his personality – that personality is one of courage, determination, strength, wisdom and ultimately and most importantly of all, love.

Jesus calls out to us today, just as he did to the first disciples 2000 years ago, offering hope and love, reconciliation and forgiveness. His arms are spread wide to welcome us into his family just as they were when he was hung upon the cross. His call of ‘come to me’ remains unchanged, and similarly his commission to go intot he world preaching the gospel also remains unchanged.

Of all the things that separate Christianity from other religions, the most apparent is our relationship with Jesus – as Paul wrote to the Ephesians (2:19-22), ‘you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the Saints and also members of the household of God…’ Jesus welcomes us into his family and he gives us immediately all the privileges that go along with that.

Jesus is the central focus of our faith, somebody worthy of our worship and praise, but somebody who can also be our closest friend – Jesus through his death and his resurrection provides us with an answer to our sins, but he also welcomes us into this new family where we are called to be a fellow citizen of the kingdom of God – as Christians we truly belong to a huge worldwide family.

And so we think back to Simon and Jude – unspectacular men ?? But how unspectacular were they really ? First of all they responded to the call of Jesus to follow him – this almost certainly meant a huge sacrifice, perhaps materially, perhaps in terms of family and friends, perhaps a combination of all of these things. Their calling would certainly not have been an easy one.

Secondly they lived among the early Christians, amongst a group of people persecuted for their faith, and they saw many of their closest friends put to death, but still Simon and Jude, knowing they risked the same fate, continued with their work.

And finally they trusted. They knew the risks, the cost of discipleship, but they answered the call willingly and served faithfully. It is worth noting that although exact details are not known of how they died, it is likely that they died a martyr’s death – unspectacular Christians – perhaps not !?!?

Throughout the world today we have many people who we see doing spectacular things for Christ, working in difficult conditions, preaching the gospel to hostile listeners, but throughout the world there are also plenty of Christians who are seen as living unspectacular lives – you and me perhaps, but our work and our calling is equally important to the spreading of the good news of Jesus like Simon and Jude our calling is not, or should not be, an easy calling – the world provides us with far too much work to do !

So really I don’t think Simon and Jude were unspectacular Christians at all – and actually there really should be no such thing. One of the most important things about them is that they provide an example which we can all follow – they were men who dedicated their lives to serving Jesus, they were men who trusted and followed, faced the attacks they faced, and fought back with the word and power of God.

There are many people today, just as then, who distort God’s truth, who live openly opposed to the gospel, who mock and judge, but just as Simon and Jude did, we must be firm, we must be strong knowing that God’s truth must go forward, and knowing that he will help us to carry that truth forward if we trust him.

I mentioned earlier that it wasn’t certain that this was the Jude who wrote the epistle in the New Testament, but that epistle finishes with the most wonderful ending :-

‘To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Saviour, be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord.’

Could there be any more inspirational message for us all than that?

…God looks after us, cares for us, guides us, in good times and in bad, through times of trial and temptation, through times of great joy, and at the end of everything he holds us up and doesn’t look at our failures, but at our faith…

God uses Christians of all descriptions to be witnesses to the transforming love of Jesus – God uses us and he wants to use us more… Today in this community and in many, many others there will be many Christians going about doing God’s will… most of them and most of their works will never be known to us, and most of what we do will never be known by most people, but our motives and our actions will be known to God…

I have said that the calling of Simon and Jude is our calling, and their faith in following Jesus must be our faith, their joy in proclaiming the gospel must be our joy, their courage in trusting Jesus must be our courage, and their seeking to follow the will of Jesus must be our lesson. AMEN