James - Apostles in Acts

Apostles in Acts

James

Acts 1:13, 12:1-2, 12:6-16

Series Slide

Good morning on this first Sunday of meteorological Fall.  I know, it doesn’t feel like Fall most of the time, but according to Jesse Hawila, it is Fall.  One thing I love about Fall… aside from the weather finally cooling off… is that everything kicks back in here at the church.  Like Wednesday Night!  We soft launched last week, but this week is a hard launch!  My study will be starting at 4:00 looking at the New Testament Apocrypha, the Lost Books of the Bible.

Then, at 5:15 is our Family meal! You do not want to miss this… great food and great fellowship – Enchilada’s this week! Then after that we have more studies, Bell Choir, Choir, youth… Come plug in on Wednesday nights here this Fall!

Whether it’s Fall or Summer isn’t the point… the point today is, that it is good to be in the House of the Lord. 

Today is Communion Sunday and as we prepare our hearts for Communion, I wanted to remind you that today’s altar rail offering is for Compassion Corsicana. Just this week, I had a gentleman come in seeking help. He just got out of the hospital, is on dialysis, and needs a place to stay, but he is currently without a home.  Compassion Corsicana is where we send our funds to help when things like this happen.  We pool our funds together to feed and care for those in need, just as the early church did as we read about in Acts.

Speaking of… I’ve extended my series on the Apostles in Acts for a couple of weeks as we look at some of the leaders of the early church. 

Churches of Revelation

Then, in a couple of weeks, we will be moving into a new series looking at the letters to the churches of Revelation.  That one will be a church wide study of these 7 Churches that we read about in Revelation 1- 3.  Don’t worry, we aren’t getting into end-time prophecies, but instead, we will examine what Jesus said to these churches and how that relates to us 2,000 years later.

I can’t wait to get into that with you.

James

But today, we are diving into the name James that we find in the Acts of the Apostles as we prepare our heart for Holy Communion.

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When we begin examining the various Jameses in the book of Acts, it can become a bit confusing.  I mean, which James are we talking about?

In the passages read a few moments ago, we heard of at least 3 different Jameses.

Let’s go through the list.

James, the son of Zebedee.  This is the one executed by Herod before he took a vacation at Caesarea Maritima. He is also known as James, the Greater, the brother of John, and the Son of Zebedee. What do we know about this James?

We know that he was a fisherman… but not just some guy who went out and caught a few fish for his family.  When we read from Mark’s Gospel about James and John’s calling to be Disciples,

We read:

Mark 1:19-20

A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.

I want you to notice something about that passage… at the end, what does it say?  They left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.  Typical fishermen didn’t have hired men.  People going out to fish for their family and friends didn’t have hired hands.  What that tells us is that James and John were from a wealthy family.

James, Son of Zebedee

We also know that this James, the brother of John, was part of Jesus’ inner circle of 3:  Peter, James, and John. 

They were privileged to be with Jesus on certain occasions when the others were not.  They saw Jesus transfigured. They saw him speaking with Elijah and Moses.  They were the only ones with Jesus when Jarius’ daughter was raised from the dead by Jesus. And, they were the ones who went with Jesus during his agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

But there is another side to this James.  First of all, he is one of the “Son’s of Thunder” we talked about last week.  You know, he and John were rejected by the Samaritans so they ask Jesus to punish the Samaritans and consume them with fire from heaven.

And, this is also the James, who, with his brother, asks to be seated at the right and left of Jesus when he comes into his glory. 

But, the last thing we know about this James is that he is the first of the 12 Disciples martyred and the only one whose death was recorded in scripture.

Acts 12:1-2

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.  He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.

I’ve asked you this question before, but I’ll ask it again.  Does your life threaten those who are opposed to God?  If being a follower of Jesus were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

But we don’t have to worry about martyrdom… it isn’t against the law…

So, I ask, are you spending time with Jesus and being transformed like James, the brother of John… day by day, are you becoming more and more like Jesus?

James

But, that’s not the only James we read about.  In chapter 12, after James, the son of Zebedee, was martyred, Peter was imprisoned, escaped, and came to the home of John Mark’s mother… This is the funny story where Peter knocks on the door and the servant Rhoda came to the door and heard Peter’s voice, verse 14 says,

“When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed, she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

They were all like, “Rhoda, you’re nuts.”

Meanwhile, Peter is at the door saying… “Hello, I’m here, I just escaped from prison… can you let me in!”

They finally let Peter in and he comes in and tells them about his miraculous escape.  Then he says these words:

“Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this.” 

So if Big James, James the Greater, the brother of John and the son of Zebedee, is dead, who is this James?

Well, there are a couple of options.

James, the brother of Jesus, and James the Lesser.  Let’s start with James the Lesser

James, the Lesser

No, he wasn’t less than James the Greater.  It means either that he was younger or he was shorter than the other James.  Both of them were part of the 12 Disciples selected by Jesus, but we don’t really know much about this James.  In The Chosen, they call him Little James, and he is portrayed as having a disability.  First of all, there is no biblical reference to James having a disability… however, the actor who plays James is a Fort Worth native named Jordan Walker Ross, and he has actually been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and Scoliosis.  Rather than try to play it off, the directors and writers embraced the symptoms of the illness and have James portrayed as one with a disability.

There is a beautiful scene in Season 3, Episode 2, where “Little James” confronts Jesus and asks why he isn’t healed.  I wanted to show it, but it was too long, I encourage you to go and watch it… and try to keep a dry eye as you do…  In that scene, Jonathan Roumy, as he portrays Jesus, shares with Jordan, as he plays James, that his witness is greater, not because of the healing, but because he believes in spite of the pain.

Let me ask you this… are you waiting on God to do something in your life so that you can have a “witness?”  Are you waiting on a healing, or an answer, or something else so you can be something more than you are?

Then you are missing the point of what God is doing in your life.

James the Lesser was listed as one of the 12 closest followers of Jesus, even if he is one of the lesser known of the 12.  Little James shared the gospel across the land farther than most ever dreamed.   In the modern version of Foxe’s Voice of the Martyrs, we can read, “James contributed to the eastern expansion of the gospel that eventually left a lasting arm of the church on the distant end of the arched trade route that connected Jerusalem and Damascus on the west to ancient Iraq on the east.  The gospel traveled even farther east into India, pushing toward the ends of the Earth.”

You don’t have to be a Peter or a Paul to make a difference for Christ.  I would be happy if I was just a little like James the Lesser, Little James, quietly changing the world for Jesus, one life at a time. Maybe you would too...

And then there was one… one more James to consider.

James, the brother of Jesus.

We can argue if James was the biological brother of Jesus, the half-brother of Jesus, or the cousin – a relative, of Jesus.  Yes, I know there is an argument for each of these, but that isn’t the point to make here.  Here is what I want to point out…

James, half or full brother of Jesus – was one who grew up with Jesus and was probably part of the family that came to get Jesus and take him home because they thought he’d gone crazy.  One version of that is found in Mark 3:20-21:

Mark 3:20-21

“Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

31-35

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

So, James the Just… also known as James, The Righteous… James, the Brother of Jesus… was once one who didn’t believe in Jesus.  In fact, he once believed that Jesus was “out of his mind.”  But then, something changed.

James, The Brother of Jesus

By the time James, the Son of Zebedee, was martyred, this James, James the Righteous, James the Brother of Jesus, had become a leader in the church.  By the time Paul and Barnabas were bringing word back about the spread of the gospel among the Gentiles, and they convened the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, James, the brother of Jesus, had become THE leader, the Bishop of the church in Jerusalem.

Then, around 63 AD, he was such a witness for Jesus that he refused to denounce his faith and was flung from the pinnacle of the Temple and then clubbed to death.

What is it that would cause someone who adamantly refused to believe that Jesus was who he said he was… someone who thought Jesus was out of his mind… to then become one who was willing to die for his faith in Jesus?

One thing.  He had an encounter with the Risen Lord. His brother, Jesus, crucified… whom James had seen laid in the grave, dead… rose from the dead… was alive… and confronted him.

An encounter with the risen Lord has a way of doing that.  When we are confronted with the reality of the resurrection, it changes us.  And I have to ask?  What difference has the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ made in your life?

James

So, as we prepare for Communion, what James resonates with you?

James, the wealthy fisherman who overcame his anger, who was privileged to be a part of the inner circle… who was always in the know and known about?

Or maybe

James the Lesser… the one that was quietly working with others to further the kingdom… not much was written about him… little is known… and yet because of the work he did following Jesus, the Gospel spread east and west across the ancient Near East?

Or, maybe you are more like James, the brother of our Lord…

Maybe you didn’t believe right away, it took some convincing… or maybe you are still being convinced that Jesus is who he said he was…

Who do you resonate with?

The vocal zealot

The quiet worker

Or

The passionate leader who needed a little more convincing to join the ranks of the followers

Wherever you find yourself… whoever you relate most to… bring that to the Altar today.

Come to this altar with your questions and your needs… Leave them at the altar as you have an experience with the Risen Lord.

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