FEAST OF ST. PHILIP AND ST JAMES – APOSTLES
St. George’s Anglican Church, Ivanhoe East
10 am Wednesday, 3rd May, 2017
Isaiah 30:18-21 Psalm 19:1-6 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 John 14:6-14
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
Today we celebrate and give thanks to God for the lives of St. Philip and St. James, both apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ and martyrs for their faith in Him.
When I reflect on the deaths of these two apostles, I am shocked and, at the same time, so in awe of Philip and James and the other apostles who died for their faith in our Lord. I have questioned myself as to whether I would stand the test of being faithful to our Lord even in the face of persecution and the threat death. Have you ever asked yourself this question?
ST. PHILIP AND ST. JAMES
Philip was an apostle of Jesus. After he responded to Jesus call to follow Him, he went and invited Nathaniel to join the band of disciples. So he was an evangelist from his beginnings. In the Gospel passage today, Philip asks Jesus to: “Show us the Father and we well be satisfied.” Jesus says plainly: “He that has seen me has seen the Father. I and the Father are one.” (John 14)
It is said “Foxes Book of Martyrs”, p.9.) that Philip labored to spread the Gospel amongst barbarous people and suffered in Hierapolis, a city of Phyrgia. He was crucified and stoned to death and buried there with his daughters.”
St. James was a disciple of Jesus and one of three disciples in Jesus’ inner circle, the others being Peter and John. James was present on the Mount of transfiguration when Jesus was transfigured and revealed His glory. Herod Agrippa ordered James’ death by a sword. (Acts 12:2)
PERSECUTION
I have the opinion that Christians are not popular in our society today. The church has much to apologize for from past events.
Jesus said to: “Count it all joy when we are persecuted and reviled and hated” and dealt with maliciously on account of Him, because this is what was done to the prophets in the Old Testament.
In our humanity, being the recipient of this kind of persecution, it is not easy to call this “joy”.
I’ve recently read some novels which related how people were persecuted, burnt at the stake, hung drawn and quartered for their Christian beliefs in England in the 1500’s and beyond. It is shocking what some people had to endure for what they believed.
TODAY
We sometimes think that persecution of Christians doesn’t happen now to a great a number of people as it did back in the early days of Christianity or in the Middle Ages. I imagine we can all recall that our Television news has, at least over the last 12 months, given news of a number of incidents where Christians died for their faith in our Lord. I think of those Coptic Christians killed in Cairo on Palm Sunday and the Christians who were beheaded in Mosel and other places in Iraq.
An international Christian organization, “Open Doors”, has an article on the Internet, which says:
“A new report by a leading watchdog group has identified 2016 as the “worst year yet” for Christian persecution, ever since the organization began monitoring persecution 25 years ago.
(The report, which is produced annually by Open Doors USA, found that persecution of Christians rose globally for the third year in a row, reaching “unprecedented levels” in countries located in South and Southeast Asia, among other locations.)
“Christians throughout the world continue to risk imprisonment, loss of home and assets, torture, beheadings, rape and even death as a result of their faith,” the report stated. The World Watch List (WWL) ranks the 50 countries across the globe where persecution of Christians is most severe.
Islamic extremism remains the dominant driver of Christian persecution in the world, responsible for initiating oppression and conflict in 35 out of the 50 countries on the 2017 list. Moreover, nine out of the top ten countries where Christians suffer “extreme persecution” have populations that are at least 50% Muslim.
For the 14th straight year, North Korea tops the list as the most dangerous place to be a Christian, followed by Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Eritrea and Yemen.
While killings of Christians in Nigeria saw a dramatic increase of more than 62 percent in 2016, the most violent nation is now Pakistan, which climbed to No. 4 on the list for a level of anti-Christian violence “exceeding even northern Nigeria.”
CONCLUSION
Many years ago, as I thought about my faith in our Lord and then compared myself with the “greats of the Christian faith, people like Philip and James, Paul, Mother Teresa, and so many other “greats”, I knew that the depth of my faith was “shallow” in comparison. This was one of the reasons which led me on a long search to find God and to know that He is real.
You’ve probably heard the story that if you were held hostage at gun point somewhere, and were given the option of denying our Lord and being set free or confessing Him as Lord and Saviour and being killed, what would you do? This is a challenge to each of us. Our brother and sister Christians in 50 other countries in the world face worse persecution than any of us will ever know personally.
Today, we honour saints Philip and James, giving thanks to God for their lives of faithfulness and witness which cost them their lives. We thank God for the inspiration they have been to countless Christians down through the ages.
As we contemplate the lives of St. Philip and St. James, may we be strengthened and emboldened to live our lives in faithfulness to our Lord.
The Lord be with you!