Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing powers belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. ( II Cor. 4:7-8)

Today we remember and celebrate the faithfulness of the Apostle St. Bartholomew, noted in the synoptic Gospels as a disciple of Jesus and usually identified as the one called Nathaniel in John’s Gospel. When told by Philip that the Messiah had been found in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, Nathaniel responded, "can anything good come out of Nazareth." Upon meeting him, Jesus spoke of Nathaniel, "behold an Israelite in whom there is no deceit." We know little about this disciple who became an apostle of the Lord except a few fragments. It is said that a missionary to India in the 2^nd century brought back a copy of the Gospel of Matthew that had been taken there in connection with missionary work by Bartholomew. It is also said that he was martyred for his faithful service to the Lord’s Gospel by being flayed alive over an open fire.

That is about all that we know about the man named Bartholomew, or Nathaniel, from the Gospels and church tradition. It is not much . . . but then we also know many other things, but they are not very unusual or laudatory. We know that Bartholomew was a sinner who had a large gap between the man he was and what he was supposed to be. He had his weaknesses, his frailties, his failings, and his vices. He struggled with his sinful condition and advocated a standard of moral living that he himself could not live up to. He was a religious man that some might think a hypocrite because of these failings. And moreover, knowing something about his horrible death, we can perhaps infer that he was not a get along to get by sort of man. He was very set in his way of thinking and sought to persuade others to adopt his point of view, even those of different cultures and religious traditions.

But, this morning we do not celebrate Bartholomew’s Day, but rather, St. Bartholomew’s Day. We celebrate a sinful man who was clothed in the righteousness of Christ . . . a man who embraced Jesus as promised Messiah. . . a man of faith who trusted in the Lord and stood firm right up to and through a grizzly death that then transported him into the glory of the Kingdom of God. . . a man of many frailties whom the Lord of the Church used to build up and extend his Church in its early days back in the first century.

These are things that we can thank God for and take to heart, because they have much to do with the people that we are, the times that we live in, and the Lord of the Church in the world today. St. Bartholomew reminds us in many ways about ourselves, does he not? There is a big gap between the person you are and the one you ought to be, yes? And you also are quite aware of sinful habits, failings, and weaknesses that God condemns, is this not true? And like St. Bartholomew, therefore, you also embrace a moral standard that you cannot live up to and others might think hypocritical? St. Bartholomew was quite convinced that there was nothing in himself that he could use to commend himself to God, but rather he could only plead the mercy of Christ - that is just the same with you, is it not? And about his life with Jesus, it was through the initiative of others that St. Bartholomew had Jesus enter his life and make him a child of God and heir of the glory of the Kingdom. Was it not through the decisions and actions of others that the Lord of the Church also entered your life, made you a member of His Church, and heir of the same salvation that St. Bartholomew possesses? Therefore the thanksgiving that we may offer to God this day for the blessings of St. Bartholomew are the same that we recognize the Lord of the Church has been pleased to bestow also on us.

There are also some other things that are parallel between the life and times of St. Bartholomew and how things are for us today as the people of God as reflected in our lessons. The first that we may note from the words of Paul in our epistle is this: faithful service rendered to the saving work and Word of Christ is in sharp, irreconcilable, conflict with the powers and forces of darkness that are always present and at work. Where Christ is present in his Church with faithful Servants of the Word, preaching and teaching the Gospel, there will be opposition, contentiousness, confusion, and yes, even at times great hostility and persecution. This is just the way things have been in the past, it is the way things are now, and it is the way things will be in the future, right up to the time of our Lord’s return. We live in enemy occupied territory in this fallen world, and while it is in God’s ultimate control, it is nevertheless an active battle ground between the Lord of creation and redemption and the powers of Hell. To be a faithful servant of the apostolic Gospel of our Lord, as St. Bartholomew was, or to support that ministry, is to venture onto the front lines that this cosmic struggle and invite opposition.

There are a number of paradoxes here that we must understand and appreciate from the words of St. Paul. These are the same for us as for St. Bartholomew and the Church during his days as an apostle. On the one hand, the risen Lord of the Church possesses all power and authority from the Father on Heaven and on earth. He has gotten the victory for us over all the forces and powers of darkness and this victory assures us that we too shall be lifted up in glory, freed from their attacks, assaults, and misery. Nevertheless, the presence of all these forces of evil are still in this life with us. They haunt us by sinful failings that stick to our own lives:, prideful selfishness, self-centered patterns of thinking, and downright faithless and dishonorable treatment of our Savior, our loved ones, and our friends. We have the victory over sin in Christ, but the workings of that sin are still present and operating in our lives. We see it, others see it, and so does our God. We have a confession of faith that is gold, but we have lives that look like cheap clay. This is what the apostle notes as he says we have this treasure in jars of clay - the riches of Christ that make us saints like Bartholomew, but riches housed by faith in lives that exhibit just the opposite. Saints yes! by the righteousness of Christ, but sinners also at the same time. We and others see the sin, but celebrate the saint in all of us as declared by God for the sake of Christ.

The second paradox is similar. While the Lord of the Church, victorious over the Devil and all the forces of Hell, is in control of all things in Heaven, on Earth, and even in Hell - nevertheless the powers of the evil one continue to war against Christ, his Gospel and His Church here on earth. As the people of God, there is a continuing spiritual warfare, not just within each of us, but also from without. As the world has hated and despised our Lord, so also His followers, His Servants of the Word, His Church here on earth. This is how it is and has been for the people of God. We are at odds with the spirit of the age in every age. Christ has the victory, but the battles against His people continue. Cross life is still ours as we await the coming glory of our risen and exalted Christ. We can be afflicted with persecution and we have been. We can be perplexed and dumbfounded by faithless church leaders and teachers of a false gospel within the pale of the Church and we have been. We can be struck down and martyred for our confession of Christ as was St. Bartholomew and many others and we have been. Yet, as we may have been afflicted in every way . . . the apostle assures us that we are not crushed . . . perplexed, yes, by false teachers and teachings in the Church, yes! But not despairing. . . persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not crushed.

We are saints but sinners still. The victorious people of God, but still battling the forces of evil from within and without. This is just the way it was for St. Bartholomew. We are following in his footsteps and those of all the faithful saints and servants of the Word who have gone before us. They have already checked into the mansions of glory and they are waiting for us to join them. For now we do as they and our Lord. We would be servants, serving Christ in the needs of our neighbor with all the blessings that the Lord has entrusted to us. This is what makes you great in the Kingdom of God. You are Saint _______, insert your own name. Soon you get to join St. Bartholomew where there is no more affliction, persecution, or strife . . . where there is no more battling the forces of darkness with within and without. Just a glorious Kingdom . . . fit for a saint.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A-men!