Sermon - St. Philip & St. James 2022 - John 14:1-14

Maesta (detail of St Philip and St. James), by Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1311

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

A blessed festival of St. Philip and St. James to you dear friends in Christ. Many of the most significant historical figures have had numerous documentaries and films made of their lives. We often know more about these historical and contemporary celebrities than we do our own neighbors. Among some of the most significant figures in history, the twelve apostles likely are probably close to the top of the list, afterall Christ our Lord Himself specifically chose them to learn directly from Him. Yet, very little is known about the two apostles we remember today.

There were multiple men named Philip and James in the Bible, and the two men we remember today were mentioned very seldom. From what we know of Philip He was enthusiastic to tell others about Jesus. After Philip was called to be an apostle, he “found Nathanael and said to him ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’” Then another time, at the beginning of Holy Week, some Greeks approached Philip saying: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” After Jesus’ ascension, James continued to preach the good news until he was martyred on a cross. What a wonderful example of evangelism St. Philip is for us today.

On the other hand almost nothing is known about St. James. There were two apostles named James, one was known as the greater and the other as the lesser, referring to their ages or possibly their height. The James we remember today was “the lesser,” and so was the younger of the two. He was presumably martyred, but since he’s spoken of so little it’s unclear whether this James was sawn in two or beaten to death with a club. Regardless of how little we know about him, St. James was a faithful apostle of Jesus, and we give thanks to God for him. 

But why? Why would we bother to remember those saints who went before us so long ago? Why especially would we bother to remember these two men, about whom we know so very little? St. Paul explained why we should care about the apostles and other saints who went before us: “You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” We remember the apostles, including St. Philip and St. James, because we are built upon them, and they are built upon Jesus, who is our Cornerstone. Thus it’s important to remember those whom Christ has built us upon, especially because the Church is built upon Jesus Christ.

While we may know very little about St. James, we do know the most important thing about him, namely that he had faith when Jesus told him: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” There is only one way to paradise, one truth, and one life: Jesus. That is why Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith: because there is salvation in no one else. There is no other religion that leads to paradise because there is salvation in no one but Jesus only.

So it’s helpful for us that Philip asked Jesus a question that Jesus chides him for because he should’ve already known the answer: “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus explains: “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father… I am in the Father and the Father is in Me… the Father who dwells in Me does His works.” Jesus explains quite clearly here that He is not only human but He is also true God. Jesus is the second person of the holy Trinity, with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Whoever desires to be saved, therefore, must have faith in the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is the foundation, the cornerstone, of our faith.

The apostles and the saints who’ve gone before us were built upon that cornerstone. When heresies arose which claimed that Jesus either wasn’t fully God or fully man, or that the Trinity was one god among many, or that there wasn’t a Triune God at all, those heresies were condemned since they would lead people away from the way, the truth, and the life. We don’t just build our faith on anyone and everyone who came before us, but only on those who preached the way, the truth, and the life, only those who are built on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ.

Because we are built on the cornerstone of Jesus, and built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets and all the saints who have gone before us, it means that the church, the holy temple in the Lord, is much greater than how it appears at any given moment in time. The church is like a brick building, built up layer by layer, one brick built upon many others. When you leave church today, look at the bricks on the outside. Some are bigger, some are smaller, but all of them contribute to the whole. 

On their own, a single brick makes a pretty lame house, so you need many of them piled up precisely to form the whole structure. If you lose a bunch of layers of bricks on the bottom, the whole structure collapses. If some of the bricks are poorly laid, crooked and uneven, the whole structure is weakened. For this reason, the most important brick to lay is the cornerstone, because if the cornerstone is wrong, the integrity of the whole structure is in jeopardy. 

So thanks be to God that the cornerstone of His church is Jesus Christ! “The Stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Jesus, who was rejected by man, crushed and crucified, is the perfect cornerstone, raised for our salvation and upon whom all of us are built. “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 

Since there is salvation in no one else, since Jesus our cornerstone is the way, the truth, and the life, our sanctuary, He is also “a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling.” The truth is often offensive to sinful ears, and so turns many away. To those who reject Him, they stumble over Him. But for we who are built upon the Cornerstone, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets and saints, the church is a holy temple and a household of God.

Loneliness is nearly epidemic in our age. We’re a very proud, independent, and isolated people. It’s easy to feel like a stranger in our day and age, even a stranger among our friends and families and neighbors. But as Christians we are “no longer strangers and aliens, but we are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” We are fellow citizens and family members of God’s household. Not only are we family with the folks around us now and around the world today, but with the saints in the days of old.

Our history doesn’t just span a hundred years, but it goes back 500 years, 1000 years, 2000, years, all the way back to Adam and Eve. In this way we’re not really pioneers. We don’t have to start from scratch and our history is much older than just a few generations. Rather we are heirs of the treasures left by our forefathers, and so we don’t stand alone, but we stand on their shoulders and side by side with them. Similarly, just as we are built upon their shoulders, so will future generations be built upon us. We therefore have an obligation to continue passing down the inheritance faithfully.

It’s for these reasons that the saints’ days are so enjoyable and worth remembering. We are all members of the household of God together, we all share the same faith that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The ancient traditions we’ve received from our forefathers therefore aren’t stodgy old things, but reminders that we are but one layer built upon many others in this holy temple. When the pastor wears a chasuble, or we chant the gloria in excelsis, or we make the sign of the cross, or we light candles and incense at prayers, we’re reminded of all those who have come before us. Our heavenly Father builds us and all the saints upon the apostles, prophets, and most especially Jesus Christ, and so makes us no longer strangers, but members of a family who dwell together in a holy temple in the Lord.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!