The Rev’d Canon Selina McMahon
It’s wonderful to be able to be with you today. As Rev’d Sue said, I’m Selina McMahon, although I have an unusual middle name: Missouri – named in honour of my great aunt Missouri. To this day no-one knows why, in a family where girls were called Ada, or Elizabeth, or Alice, we have a Missouri – but there it is.
Sharing your name with someone famous can sometimes be tricky and can lead to confusion. This was probably also true for the two apostles we celebrate today, Simon and Jude, both of whom are notable for who they are not! Simon, for instance, was not Simon Peter. He did go by a couple of names which are mentioned in the gospels though: Simon the Canaanean was one of them but he is best remembered as Simon the Zealot; this latter name perhaps being afforded him because he was a member of the Jewish freedom-fighters: the Zealots, who were a group of individuals fighting for a free Jerusalem and they were not above the odd bit of terrorism – a Roman would not want to meet any of them in a dark alley! There is a less sinister meaning of his name though – it may merely indicate his zeal for the law and not be a reflection on the manner by which he wished it to be upheld – we simply have no way of telling.
Jude also suffers from a case of mistaken identity, although in his case, the confusion is more sinister, because he is often mistaken for Judas Iscariot. Luke tries to clarify matters by calling him Judas son of James whereas the betrayer’s father, we are told, is called Simon Iscariot. John, in his gospel, spells it out even more clearly as “Judas (not Iscariot)”. Mark and Matthew both use an alternative name, Thaddeus, for him to eliminate any identity crises altogether. It’s believed that he wrote the letter that bears his name (you’ll find it at the back of the New Testament just before the book of Revelation), and it’s a letter that is also filled with religious zeal: looking for the day of the Lord to right all wrongs. Twinning two such zealous people together to have a joint day of celebration seems quite natural.
Whereas Simon is the patron saint of leather workers and lumberjacks, Jude has the unenviable reputation of being the patron saint of lost causes. Some say that, to avoid confusion with Judas Iscariot, no-one claimed Jude as their patron until they were absolutely desperate. Not only was Jude burdened by his name, his letter emphasises that Christians should persevere under difficult circumstances. When I was at school (a VERY long time ago in a galaxy far, far away) my maths teacher gave all her students a copy of a prayer to St. Jude just before we sat our exams – she reckoned some of us would really need it.
And that’s about it. We don’t know very much more about either of them. Jude, traditionally was martyred by being clubbed to death (so he is usually represented with a club) whereas Simon is traditionally shown with a saw – you can work out how he was reputedly martyred. What we do know, is that they were both with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry and that they stuck with him throughout (until they all ran away at Gethsemane). But Jude, in particular, is remembered for one other particularly important event which, for some reason that eludes me, isn’t mentioned in our readings today – so I’ll mention it anyway.
In chapter 14 of John’s gospel, Jesus is being a bit obscure and Jude asks, “Lord, why is it that you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
When you read this passage you can almost hear the gasps of breath from the gathered apostles. “I’m glad I didn’t ask that” would have been coupled with a sense of “but thank God someone has!”. Both the questioner and question are remembered because it must have been important to all of them. It has been argued that the only stupid question is one that is never asked – thankfully Jude did. (As an aside, it’s an interesting thought to ask yourself, if you were to go down in history for asking one question, what would it be?)
Jesus gave Jude the answer that it is all centred on Jesus; loving him and keeping his word both now and after the Resurrection. After Jesus had been crucified (unlike Judas Iscariot) all the disciples made a huge leap of faith. They moved from any forms of religious fanaticism to a zeal for the way of life that Jesus espoused, who had suffered and died for all and they are reputed to have proclaimed this message in countries such as Libya, Armenia, and Persia – where they were reputedly martyred.
Although they had turned from any form of violence they still remained passionate in their beliefs and that led them to be passionate in their subsequent actions. The question as to how we redirect our passions is an issue that is prevalent in the world today when we hear talk about religious extremists (which is, effectively, what the apostles were). Nowadays, we use that expression to refer to those who advocate or carry out acts of terrorism – those who use violence in the name of religion, even though it’s usually for their own selfish or political ends.
And we need to remember that violence is not constrained to acts of physical violence, but can also be made up of words used destructively. This takes place in all all walks of life, from politics through to our domestic lives and also, sadly, in our churches. Gossip, slander, even the occasional bit of malicious name-calling all wound people emotionally, and are the antithesis of the Christian message of love and forgiveness. Remember that the power of the gospel converted two potentially religious fanatics into passionate disciples: not quenching their enthusiasm, but altering their pattern of life. And that is an example we can all follow.
The truth is that most of us really want to follow God and be faithful disciples on a daily basis. Most of us have causes and ideals that we are passionate about too. So what is God asking us to do with that passion, that zeal? Because that affects our whole life and how we use the time, talents and resources we have. Perhaps we may even have to rediscover our passions, realising that chief among them, should be our faith.