FEAST OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW – August 24, 2008

SCRIPTURES – Proverbs 3:1-8; 2 Cor. 4:6-10; John 1:43-51

 

 

Have you been watching the Olympics? Aren’t they exciting?! Our country has some great athletes, heroes even, to cheer!

q   There’s Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian ever, whose 8 gold medals are more than any other athlete has ever won in a single Olympics.

q   Or, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, who again won gold in beach volleyball and are nearly unbeatable.

And, many others. How will our heroes fare after the Olympics? Very well. They will be on TV programs; on Wheaties boxes; here’s Michael Phelps on the cover of Sports Illustrated. They will be sought after by advertisers and will make millions promoting products, and for years will have an adoring following. They should! They’ve worked and trained very hard for years to achieve their success. They’ve earned it! 

How does it fare for Christ’s heroes, for the heroes of His Church? Today we remember Saint Bartholomew, also known as Nathanael. He was, indeed, a great man, with much to praise, as we hear in our Gospel reading.

q   He was a Biblical scholar. Philip invited him to see Jesus by saying to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote.” This is all he needed to say. Bartholomew apparently knew the Bible, the writings of Moses and the prophets, well. He knew they wrote about the Messiah. He may have known the Bible better than any other of Christ’s disciples!

q   Jesus praised him as a true Israelite, in whom there was no deceit. In other words, He was no politician. He didn’t say what people wanted to hear in order to make himself look good. We know that temptation, don’t we? Pastors may seek to be witty or humorous, and may avoid certain topics in sermons and discuss-ions, so that people will like them and speak well of them. You are tempted to not talk about your faith, not speak up about Jesus, or not call certain behaviors sinful so that you’re not thought of as some religious zealot or put in an uncom-fortable situation. This was not Bartholomew. He spoke honestly. He was not like many of the religious leaders of his day, whom Jesus called hypocrites because they loved to do things like pray loudly in public in order to impress people.

q   Bartholomew also gave a great confession of Jesus: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” He confessed this of Jesus long before any other disciple did.

Bartholomew had so much going for him. No wonder Jesus praised him and called him to be His disciple! So it seems. How He could use such a man! 

How did He use him? What became of Bartholomew? It’s interesting that, after such an auspicious start, we hear nothing more about him in the Bible. His name is only mentioned in passing. The early Church historian Eusebius says that, in the years after Christ’s ascension, Bartholomew went east, as far as India, preaching the Gospel, and was eventually put to death by being skinned alive. He gave his life for Christ. 

Now, this is certainly admirable, but it might also seem to be a bit of a waste. Such a talented man! Why did he go east? Why didn’t God have him stay in Israel, among the Jewish people whose Scriptures and traditions he knew so well? This scholar and plain speaker could perhaps have had a great impact in leading his own people to receive Jesus as their Messiah, their Savior. Why leave and become martyred in a foreign country? 

“We have this treasure” – this “light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” – “in jars of clay,” Holy Scripture says, “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” Jesus did not choose Bartholo-mew, and He does not choose us, because of the great things that He sees in us. We are all sinners, and Christ alone is the glory of God. But, His glory is that He is for us. Jesus is the true martyr, for He, the holy and true God, took upon Himself the flesh of sinners to bear in our place the punishment we deserve for our sins. He shed His blood and gave His life for the world. He forgives our sins and unites Himself to us in Baptism, thereby making us and our lives valuable. He decides how He can best use our lives; we are simply to follow and trust that He will bring forth what is good. “The surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” Thanks be to God that it does, that He deals with us in Christ and not on the basis of who and what we are! 

Now, Bartholomew was a great man. He was an apostle of Jesus! He traveled far and wide to bring the good news of life and salvation in Christ to people he did not even know, whose language and customs and beliefs were foreign to him! He gave up his life for these people that they might be saved, refusing to stop proclaiming Jesus to save his own skin! This is truly great, and for this we should remember and honor him. But, he did all of this, not in order to gain God’s or man’s favor, but because Jesus came to him, revealed Himself to him as his God and Savior, and opened heaven to him. He also revealed to Bartholomew what this would mean for him. When Jesus told him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man," He was referring to an event that Bartholomew would have known well. In Genesis 28 we are told of how God appeared to Jacob as he was sleeping. He had a dream in which he saw a ladder reaching from heaven to earth, and God’s angels were ascending and descending upon it. The Lord Himself stood upon it and told Jacob that He was his God and would be with him always, to keep him and bless him wherever he went. Jesus referred to this and told Bartholomew that He was the God who spoke to Jacob and promised His blessing, the One upon whom God’s angels were ascending and descending. Bartholomew was to now follow and worship Jesus as the One who brought God’s eternal blessings down from heaven. Jesus would then be with him always, to keep him and bless him as He directed his life. 

With these great blessings, however, come hardships in this life. Being Christ’s followers does not make us heroes to our world. The adulation our athletic heroes receive is not accorded to Jesus, nor to us because of our faith. No, we are “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” Our world thinks in terms of work and reward; of deserved-ness; of choosing one’s own way, and having our choices and efforts affirmed. Most people enjoy the Olympics and recognize that some athletes are better than others. But, when it comes to God and faith, they think that most everyone will win in the end and go to heaven. God will accept people’s efforts, and only the worst will not make it! The truth is that we do not even get out of the starting block. We are sinful by nature, and our sin causes us to fail completely. God sees our every sinful thought, desire, and act, and they render us and everything that we do unholy, deserving of God’s eternal condemnation. Our only hope of heaven is God coming down to us in mercy, with forgiveness of our every sin. This He has done for us in Christ, and in Him alone. 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding,” says Proverbs 3. “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” Bartholomew did this. He listened to, confessed, and followed Christ alone; and for this he suffered horribly, with his skin being peeled from his body. But, although he died, this was not his end. I want you to look at the picture that is on the last page of your bulletin. It is from Michelangelo’s fresco,

“The Last Judgment,” which he painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It proclaims well the promise, ”It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” For, Michelangelo shows Bartholomew holding his old skin. Note, however, that he is not only alive; he is whole, healthy, and strong. He is not focus-ing upon this, however, but is looking to and pointing to Jesus. 

This is how it will be in heaven, and so this is how it should be for us now. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own under-standing.” Look unto Christ, and Him alone. “It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”

To the eternal praise of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.