St. James Major, Apostle

"Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:26-28)

July 25, is the feast day of the Apostle James, often referred to as “Major” to distinguish him from the other James among the Twelve, the “son of Alphaeus,” who is known as “James the Minor.” It is also clear from the Gospel that Peter, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, held a special place among the Twelve. All three were present with Jesus at his raising of Jairus’s daughter, Jesus’s Transfiguration, and at Gethsemane.

Jesus nicknamed James and John, “Boanerges,” literally, “Sons of Thunder.” And they earned that nickname. Perhaps it was that zeal that led to James’s beheading by King Herod. As he went to his death, I’m sure that James remembered what his mother had asked of Jesus on his and John’s behalf. She asked that her sons sit at Jesus’s right and left when he came in “glory.” What Jesus promised was that they would share his cup and baptism, in other words, his death.

James was passionate in his desire for "success." He was driven to succeed in his ministry as a disciple of Jesus; just as a businessman is driven to control the market for his product or service, or a mega-church pastor is driven to gain enough members to fill the arena. And with James's passion for success came the desire for the rewards associated with that success, witness his mother's pleading. And yet, his greatest mark of success was that James became the first of the Twelve to bear witness to the risen Christ with his life. That's what it means to be a "martyr," and James was the first of the Twelve to claim that exalted title.

And how ironic, or full of grace, that Jesus held so closer to himself someone so driven by the need for "success." Jesus does not want us to sit back in sloth or fear and presume that God's grace will work everything out. Jesus wants active, enterprising partners in his church. There is nothing wrong with wanting success for Jesus's project of spreading the Good News.

But ultimately, God does have a different measure of success. It is not how much money you make, or how big your house is. It isn't how many pledging members you have, or how big the church's endowment is. As Jesus says in the Gospel reading for today, the divine measure for success is: How many have you served, and how well have you served them? May we all follow James, the successful witness.