St John the Apostle

Have you ever been on a scavenger hunt?  If you have, what or who were you looking for?  This past All Saints Day, some of the Sunday School youth and I went on a scavenger hunt inside Christ Church.  We went looking for saints.  This is what we found.  We found tombstones of saints.  We found images of saints, paintings of former pastors, icons of Mary, images of the disciples, and others.  We found symbols of saints on banners, including St Andrew, St Francis, and St Bartholomew.  We found symbols of the four evangelists on the chancel cross, St Mark’s Lion, St Matthew’s Man, St Luke’s Ox and St John’s Eagle. 

Even with all of that evidence of saints in our midst, we still weren’t finished.  The best discovery of all was in the lower narthex.  We came upon saints who looked a lot like us.  Saints who look a lot like all of you, drinking coffee, talking with one another, and preparing for the next service.  Some of the saints we discovered during our scavenger hunt tried to convince us that they were not really saints.  They must have been using a different definition of saint – someone who is exceptionally modest, charitable, and patient.  But the youth knew the right question to ask.  “Have you been baptized?” we asked.  “Why yes,” they responded.  “Then you are a saint,” we replied.  Good works do not make a saint, only the grace of God makes us righteous – in other words, a saint.  The term “saint” is not limited to notable Christians who have died, whose lives are examples of godly living.  We, who have been baptized, joined to the death and resurrection of Christ, are also saints, even though we might be acutely aware of our many sins and shortcomings.

Martin Luther described baptized Christians as people who are at the same time both saint and sinner.  Baptism signifies that the old creature in us dies daily through repentance of sins and also daily rises a new person to forever live righteous and pure before God.  If living Christians are saints, why should we remember those saints who have gone before us? There are very good reasons to remember the saints who have died.  Our faith may be strengthened as we recall how they experienced God’s grace and how they were helped by faith in Christ Jesus.  The lives of saints can also serve as examples of godly living as we daily seek to live faithfully by grace.

Today we celebrate the life of St John the apostle and evangelist.  Scripture tells us that John was a fisherman, who along with his brother James, were sons of Zebedee.  They were also known as “Sons of Thunder,” which probably described an impulsive and reckless temperament.  Scripture records that brothers James and John were mending fishing nets when Jesus called them.  They immediately left their father in the boat and followed Jesus.  John and James along with Peter were all called be Christ’s disciples.  They all left their vocation as fishermen to learn from him how to fish for people.

Peter, James, and John are often found together in the gospels as witnesses to the most amazing and profound moments in the life of Jesus which they only really fully understood well after Jesus Christ had been resurrected from the dead.  Traditionally, St John the apostle and evangelist has been considered the author of the Gospel according to John, the First, Second, and Third Letters of John, as well as the book of Revelation.  St John is believed to have been the only one of Jesus’ disciples who did not die a martyr’s death.  Exiled to the island of Patmos, He wrote what we know as the Book of Revelation.  He died an old man, probably at Ephesus. 

If one of the reasons for learning about saints is to take encouragement from how they experienced God’s grace, the Gospel of John is full of examples.  Traditionally, St John has been identified with the phrase, “The disciple whom Jesus loved” or the “beloved disciple.”  The “beloved disciple” was present at moments in the life of Jesus Christ in which God demonstrated his grace to the world.

Reclining next to Jesus at the last supper the “beloved disciple” asked Jesus, who was the disciple that would betray him.  John’s Gospel records that after Judas Iscariot received bread from Jesus, identifying him as the Lord’s betrayer, he immediately went out -- and it was night.  The “beloved disciple” shows up again at the cross as Jesus was being crucified, taking upon himself the sins of the world.  The “beloved disciple” was standing near the cross next to Mary the mother of our Lord.  Jesus said to Mary, “Woman here is your Son,” and to the “beloved disciple” he said “Here is your mother.”  Having provided for his mother, Jesus died.

Joseph of Arimathea, a secret disciple of Jesus, received permission from Pilate to remove the body and place it in a new tomb in the garden where Jesus was crucified.  Helping Joseph of Arimathea to bury Jesus according to Jewish custom was Nicodemus who had first come to Jesus by night.  Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene discovered that the stone had been removed from the tomb where the body of Jesus had been laid.  Upset, she ran to Peter and the “beloved disciple” to tell them that the body of their Lord was gone.  They also went to the tomb and saw for themselves what Mary had said.  Then the “beloved disciple” and Peter returned home because they did not yet understand scripture “that Jesus Christ must rise from the dead.”

Mary stayed behind in the garden and wept until Christ her Lord, whom she thought was the gardener asked her, “Woman why are you weeping?”  “Who are you looking for?”  Filled with unspeakable joy, she ran back to the disciples with the good news of the resurrection.  That evening Jesus appeared to the disciples behind locked doors except for Thomas, to whom he later appeared. 

The last time the “beloved disciple” is mentioned in John’s Gospel is at another post-resurrection appearance.  Peter, James, and John along with four other disciples returned to fishing.  They went out to sea at night -- and caught nothing.  Just after the sun rose, Jesus stood on the beach where he had originally found Peter, James and John -- in a fishing boat with nets.  The “beloved disciple” recognized Jesus as the one who called to them from the shore and told them to cast their net to the right side of the boat.  When they did as the Lord instructed them, they caught a net very full of fish.  They hurried to greet Jesus who made them breakfast.  After breakfast, Jesus had an intense conversation with Peter.  Three times he asked Peter if Peter loved Him.  Three times Peter affirmed his love for Jesus.  Three times Jesus told Peter to care for the Lord’s flock and indicated to Peter that he would die a martyr’s death, and so glorify God.

Peter noticed the “beloved disciple” following them.  He asked Jesus what would happen to the “beloved disciple.”  Jesus essentially told Peter to mind his own business and to follow him.  The “beloved disciple” is present in all of these narratives of grace -- the Lord’s Supper, the Lord’s love and care at the cross, the Lord’s resurrection, and the Lord’s call to his disciple.  These narratives of grace are our narratives of grace.  We are beloved disciples responding to our Lord’s call to follow him.  In baptism, we meet Christ at the cross where we die to sin and are raised to new life with Christ our Lord.  We have been promised that one day our bodies will also be resurrected.  As we journey through life, our Lord graciously sustains us by meeting us in his Holy Supper -- truly present in the bread and wine.

St John weaves images of light and darkness throughout these narratives of grace.  The darkness of night surrounds Jesus’ betrayal.  The darkness of night covered Nicodemus when he secretly came to see Jesus.  It was in the darkness of night, just before daybreak, when Mary discovered the empty tomb.  It was in the darkness of night when the disciples went fishing and came up empty handed until Jesus appeared, just after daybreak, when it was light.  Jesus redirected their nets which became heavy with fish.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, in this life we are both saint and sinner.  The grace of God in Christ Jesus has made us saints of God in baptism.  Made righteous by Christ Jesus, we have fellowship with God, the light of the world in whom there is no darkness.  “But if we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Life can be like a scavenger hunt, we search for things we think we need and sometimes we are disappointed because that which we thought we were looking for isn’t what we get.  Sometimes, we find something unexpected while we were looking for something else.  Are you still on a scavenger hunt or have you found who you are looking for? If you are looking for saints, begin at the baptismal font.  Amen