Feast of St. James (and the retirement of Archbishop Desmond Tutu)
In the Christian calendar, every few months a ‘Saint’s Day’ falls on a Sunday, when this happens the readings change from the usual cycle and we think about the impact the person has had on the faith.
I like to think of ‘Saints’ as ‘superheroes’ of the faith, people who have managed to walk closely with God, and as a result, secure our freedom to worship without fear.
St. James is an interesting figure however. It is said that his relics lie in the great pilgrimage church of Santiago de Compostella, he was the hero of generations of crusading Spanish soldiers, who would cry “Santiago y cierra Espana”, St James and strike for Spain!
The origins of this tradition went back to the story that St. James appeared as a great warrior in the year 844, helping the Christian Army defeat the Moors , led by the Emir of Cordoba.
James is shown throughout history in art as a warrior on a white charger, ghostly in his appearance and cheerfully wielding a sword, hacking down the enemies of Spain.
Moving on a few centuries from the battle in Cordoba, we have the Spanish Inquisition and the forced conversion to Christianity of Jews and Muslims alike. Torture and death being an integral part of this particular episode in the history of our faith, it’s not surprising that we don’t talk about this too much.
St. James the great, the Moor Killer or Matamoros in Spanish myth and legend represents the struggle between control and freedom. What is ‘faith’ worth if there is no freewill or choice? Surely the most valuable thing we have is our faith, and the most valuable thing in our faith is that fact that it sets us free. It’s doesn’t enslave us.
In the Gospel reading this morning we have an interesting event. The mother of the Sons of Zebedee (a James and John) is asking Jesus for preferential treatment for her sons. “Lord, can they sit on your left and right hand?”.
She wants earthly guarantees in a heavenly way, she wants to be close to the seat of power, and perhaps without the knowledge of Mr. Zebedee, she approaches Jesus with this request.
Jesus’ response is typically mystical; he addresses the boys, James and John, together. He tells them that they don’t know what they are asking, then he closes the matter by saying that it isn’t his job to decide who sits where, it is God’s job.
The struggle between control and freedom is here too! Mrs Zebedee wants control from the very man who has given them freedom. Freedom from the ways of the world, the challenges of conforming to the laws of the day, even the fact that Mrs. Zebedee is asking questions of the Rabbi is testimony to the freedom that Jesus has brought her and her family, but still she wants to squeeze them back into the same old format of earthly power and authority.
Beware of being squeezed into the mould everyone expects you to be in. Be unpredictable to the people obsessed by the ways of the world and remember that true greatness is shown by humility, not pride.
Yesterday it was announced that Archbishop Desmond Tutu at 78 is about to withdraw from public life after four decades in the forefront of it. The BBC said that “he has never been known to mince his words”, I would like to add, and “through his humility he has shown the power of the Holy Spirit working in him”.
In the struggle against apartheid he was a voice to the Christian world, a seemingly unstoppable and invincible voice.
Even though Robert Mugabe once called him “evil”, I think he is a great example of holding the tension of control and freedom in balance, a man of true greatness.
Welcomed into the Church he was inevitably thrown into the political spotlight, but he always took the time to make it clear that his faith was his motivation not politics.
On the subject of apartheid, he said;
I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of human rights - January 1985
Be nice to the whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity - October 1984
On justice, he said
Resentment and anger are bad for your blood pressure and your digestion - January 2000
On fashion – he criticized Nelson Mandela’s dress, he said….
His sartorial taste is the pits!
He's such a lovely guy, but he was nasty to me when I publicly commented on it. He said the critique was pretty amusing coming from a man who wears a dress - October 2006
On winning the Nobel Peace Prize
A child asked him why he had won it, he said
"It's very easy, you just need three things - you must have an easy name, like Tutu for example, you must have a large nose and you must have sexy legs." - July 2009
In 2007 however, he gave his most thoughtful analysis on uniting the nation. He said;
This is something that can unite us.
We have 11 different official languages but only one word for the wonderful institution of braai (barbecue): in Xhosa, English, Afrikaans, whatever - September 2007
True greatness is shown by humility, not pride. This was powerfully demonstrated and taught by Jesus Christ, who told His ambitious disciples: “Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:26-28).
There is a little verse that says…
Find out what God would have you do,
And do that little well;
For what is great and what is small
The Lord alone can tell. —Anon.
Still today, pilgrims walk the way to the shrine of St. James, for many it is a new way of travelling. They pray for a better future where there is no slavery or war, torture or executions. In humility and patience they march, many of them in a foreign land as a symbol of Christian identity.
In a way, they are as dangerous and rebellious as the crusaders who followed St. James in the past – these however are dangerous because as they march on their pilgrimage, they don’t need the world and it’s all too earthly promises because they have their eyes to heavenly things – service and freedom.
God bless you in your endeavours to be dangerous and rebellious in the name of him who came not to be served but to serve.
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