Saint Bartholomew
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Who exactly was the Apostle Bartholomew? In the end, this is an impossible question to answer with any certainty. St. Bartholomew’s name appears only a handful of times in the New Testament, each time in the list of the twelve apostles. Here is what St. Matthew’s Gospel tells us:
“Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him” (Matthew 10:2-4).
In the tradition of the early church, we learn a little bit more about St. Bartholomew. According to Eusebius and St. Jerome, St. Bartholomew went on a missionary journey to India, carrying the newly written Gospel according to St. Matthew with him. According to the tradition of the Armenian Apostolic Church, St. Bartholomew, along with his fellow apostle St. Thaddaeus, evangelized the nation Armenia. He reportedly had success in converting the king, which angered the king’s brother so much so that he had St. Bartholomew flayed alive. This is why St. Bartholomew is traditionally depicted in Christian art holding a flaying knife, as on the front cover of today’s bulletin.
Modern scholars typically agree that St. Bartholomew is to be associated with the man named Nathanael in St. John’s Gospel. Such assumption is the basis behind the middle stanza of the closing hymn that we will sing today which recalls the story from John chapter 1 where our Lord calls the skeptical Nathanael to follow Him after having seen him under the fig tree. While this biblical account certainly is not in doubt, the association of Nathanael with St. Bartholomew is, however, a more recent tradition and is anything but certain.
So this leaves us back where we started. Who exactly was the Apostle Bartholomew? As we have said, it is an impossible question to answer with any certainty—which, perhaps, is precisely the point of this feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle. In the end, we really know very little about this apostle. But we do know one thing for certain—He, like his fellow apostles, was called by Christ to be an apostolic witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we ought to have confidence that regardless of the man, God provides for His Church through the Office of the Public Ministry.
Today’s Gospel text, fittingly, is not so much concerned with St. Bartholomew specifically as it is concerned with the office that Christ has appointed in His Church. It teaches us to distinguish between the nature of the office and the man who is called into the office.
The twelve apostles, among whom St. Bartholomew is named, were the original “pastors” of Christ’s Church. And yet, the apostles possessed a unique role within the history of the Church. These twelve men were tasked with preserving the teachings of Christ for future generations of Christians. It is human nature to forget the past and the truths that our forefathers once knew. Thus, King Solomon was compelled to write in Proverbs chapter 3:
My Son, do not forget my law (Proverbs 3:1a).
For this is our tendency because of the weakness of our flesh—that we would forget the truth of God and fall into licentious, wicked living. Therefore, the apostles wrote down the words and deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ so that the truth of His Word could be preserved reliably for future generations, such as ours, and that the Holy Spirit might continue to work through these words to convict our hearts of sin and to bring us to repentance and faith.
The unique task of the apostles was this preservation of Christ’s Words. But the apostles also were just like all future generations of pastors in that they were also tasked with preaching God’s Word. Thus, we have the tradition of St. Bartholomew carrying St. Matthew’s Gospel to India where he taught and preached that same truth which we read in our Bibles.
And yet, today’s Gospel text gives us a glimpse of the men who filled this apostolic office. They were sinful men just like you and me. A dispute rose among them. Their sinful pride drove them to strive for power and influence over each other, to argue and debate until Christ rebuked them. There can certainly be a place for friendly competition among Christians, but even the leaders of the church can take things too far at times. And yet it is these sinners who are granted to eat and drink at Christ’s table in His kingdom and to sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Dear friends in Christ, if the Apostles continued to be sinners who fell short of the glory of God, then you can be sure that the same is true of your pastor and the leaders of your church. I am a far greater sinner than the men Christ called into the original apostolic office. And yet, the authority in Christ’s Church does not rest upon a mortal man. The truth of the Gospel does not hinge upon the character of the man who is tasked with proclaiming it. Thanks be to God that your salvation is not dependent upon the man who holds the title and position of your pastor!
To be sure, Christ uses ordinary sinners who have been placed into the Office of the Public Ministry in the church, that office which we call the pastoral office. He uses us to proclaim His truth, but your salvation comes from Him alone.
So, who then is Paul, who is Apollos, who is Bartholomew, who is Pastor Akers? We are ministers through whom you believed. One may plant, another may water, but it is God who gives the growth.
Therefore, on this feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, it is fitting that we do not focus upon the man in the office. In the end, it really doesn’t matter who St. Bartholomew is. He is an apostle—one sent by Christ to preach the gospel. In the same way, it doesn’t matter who your pastor is. He is a man who has been called into the Office of the Public Ministry in the Church. It can be tempting to get attached to the man who is our pastor. And to some extent that’s a good thing. God uses specific individuals—with their talents, abilities, quirks, and even shortcomings—and through them He accomplishes His purposes of working and sustaining faith in His people. And so, it is right to be thankful for the pastors who have serve you. But we must hold loosely our attachment to the man in the office. The man is necessary, to be sure, but it could be any qualified man, so long as the office is filled.
Normal Nagel, who was a long-time professor at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, once wrote these potent words: “Pastors are anonymous, interchangeable instrumentalities. It is good that we cover them up with vestments, and not pay attention to them but only to what they have been given to preach and teach and do.”
Therefore, the message of this day can, perhaps, be summarized no more succinctly than in the petition of the Collect that we prayed earlier in the service for this Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle: Grant, we beseech Thee, that Thy Church may both love what he believed, and preach what he taught.
Thanks be to God that He provides for His Church through the Office of the Public Ministry by sending pastors to preach the same faith that St. Bartholomew once taught so that we may join him in the new creation eating and drinking at Christ’s table in His eternal kingdom.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
