St. Simon & St. Jude
THE FEAST OF ST. SIMON & ST. JUDE
The Rev. Michael K. Templin
ASSISTING PRIEST
“NOW, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”
Sometimes, we Gentiles get a bit arrogant; we get a bit prideful that we are the Messiah’s spiritual children. Praise God for his election. Praise God for the riches of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But, we must remember that at one time, we were strangers and foreigners to God. We did not have the covenant that God had made through Abraham and Israel. We did not have the law mediated through angels and given to Moses. We did not have an inheritance. We were not Jacob and YHWH’s allotted family. This changed, though.
The Jews rejected the Messiah as the Old Testament prophets said they would, and the Gospel went to the Gentiles via the work of several Apostles and countless generations of faithful missionaries. Now, there will be a time when the fullness of the Gentiles has been reached, and there will be a future conversion of some of the natural Jews according to Romans 11. This only stands to make our reconciliation with God even more beautiful.
In Ephesus, just like most of the Hellenistic and Barbarian lands, false gods and false laws were followed. Debauchery and sinful cultic practices were allowed. Though there was great intelligence in the Hellenistic world, great poetry, great philosophy, etc., there was still great darkness. But that changed though the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the promises to the Jews were extended via the New Covenant in Messiah Jesus to be given to believing Gentiles. No longer were they strangers or aliens. No longer did they have to stand in courts that segregated them from the Jews when they entered the Temple, but they were given complete inheritance to the promises of God through Christ Jesus.
God not only gave them ownership, but complete fellowship with his Holy Ones of old and to come - Gentiles that believe in Jesus are declared saints of God! They have been consecrated for him and indwelled by him. Gentile believers are of the “household of God.” This means that he sees us as more than covenant members, but as his children - sons and daughters! We are not guests who have to leave - there’s no check out time - he’s not building a Holiday Inn. Christ is our brother, God is our father, and we have been made permanent members of God’s family heavenly household.
Continuing in Ephesians 2:20: “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” We often forget that God uses us to help him create! I was stirred by Fr. Thom’s great presentation at this month’s symposium. God created a world, at that point with no sin, and then says to mankind take dominion, spread the garden, take ownership, be my stewards! The prophets of old and the Apostles of the New Covenant extended the prophetic voice of God’s law and Gospel - they wrote scripture under His inspirations that brought people into his kingdom. They were his stewards and heralds.
This is precisely what St. Paul did and precisely why we commemorate Saints Simon and Jude today - because they were kingdom builders. They are the spiritual foundation of the household of God that we are now permanent members of. Thank God for their faithfulness and self-sacrifice. Remember, it is in the Confession of Peter that the Lord Jesus is Christ and Son of God, that Jesus will build his Church. We learn in Revelation 21:14 that all the Apostles were included in this: “Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
Next, St. Paul reminds us that: “Jesus Christ himself is the chief cornerstone.” The cornerstone is what holds it altogether! Isaiah 28:16 (LXX) tells us this about our Lord Jesus: “I lay among the foundations of Sion a stone costly, chosen, chief of the corner, precious.” Psalm 118 says that: “The stone which the builders rejected (i.e. unbelieving Jews) has become the cornerstone; the LORD had done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” One commentator notes: “Thus on the whole we take the image to be that of a vast stone at an angle of the substructure, into which the converging sides are imbedded, “in which” they “consist;” and the spiritual reality to be, that Jesus Christ Himself is that which gives coherence and fixity to the foundation doctrines of His Church; with the implied idea that He is the essential to the foundation, being the ultimate Foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11). Apostles and Prophets reveal and enforce a basis of truths for the rest and settlement of the saints’ faith; those truths, at every point of juncture and prominence, are seen to be wholly dependent on Jesus Christ for significance, harmony and permanence.” (Cambridge Bible Commentary)
Thus, Jesus is the preeminent one that holds us together, in whom we consist, in whom we are made family with the Father Almighty, in whom we serve and share dominion and suffering. Colossians 1 seems to be another Pauline counterpart to our Epistle today:
“15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness [of deity] should dwell, 20and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled you.”
This is all because of Jesus, and yet in Colossians and Ephesians, and elsewhere Paul and others will speak of the importance of Christian ministry and obedience because we and him and Simon and Jude, and all saints are instruments of God…Ministers of his covenant! He could do it all without us, but he has refused to do that. Thus we glory in the saints, because we glory in Jesus; they are his elect instruments who help build the very foundation of the faith of Jesus. St. Paul finishes our Epistle lesson with this: “in whom [Jesus] all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”
The building, this house, this foundation, this cornerstone, this family, and this end of “alien-ship” is because we are altogether being built in Christ, through the faithfulness of the Saints empowered by the Holy Spirit, into the very Temple of God. This is 1st Corinthians 3, isn’t it? We are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. So beloved, we commemorate SS. Simon and Jude today - those who built the foundation of the church through the power of the Holy Ghost - who followed Jesus from the beginning of his ministry to their death as martyrs of the church. May we too be spurred on to good works, to kingdom works, to evangelizing our neighbors and the nations, even evangelizing the Jews who need the Messiah. Because through the glorious Gospel of Jesus and the faithfulness of the ministry of the saints, we are no longer strangers to God’s covenant and we have been incorporated into the blessed family of God. There is nothing higher, better, or more lovely.
O ALMIGHTY God, who hast built Thy Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, JESUS CHRIST Himself being the head Cornerstone; Grant us so to be joined together in unity of Spirit by their doctrine, that we may be made an holy temple acceptable unto Thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
