Feast of St. Philip and St. James

ST. PHILIP AND ST. JAMES, APOSTLES

1 May Anno T Domini 2009

"Show Us the Father”

John 14:1-14

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The apostles sat in the upper room on the night of the betrayal. Their feet were clean and so were their hearts. The Lord had given them His Body and His Blood for the remission of their sins. But then St. Philip, still in the flesh, still subject to temptation, said to Our Lord: "Show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.'

Poor Phillip. He is no better than us. He is deluded.  "Show us the Father,” he says. "That is what we need.” He doesn't know what he is asking. His discontentment with seeing the Son is obvious. It is blasphemy. He considers his current state insufficient. He wants something more than Jesus. Which is right where the devil wants him.

The problem is not that Phillip is lacking anything. The problem is that Phillip is still suffering in this fallen world. He is frustrated and tired and maybe even a little afraid. He wants temptation to stop. He wants the past to go away. He wants that emotional and spiritual high from the feeding of the five thousand or the telling of the parables to go on and not end. He wants to go to the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John. But instead he has to go to Gethsemane and face his own inadequacy. He has to wait for Easter evening with no more proof that it will come than the witness of the prophets and the miracles that Jesus performed.

Phillip's frustration is not completely wrong. It was something akin to this that moved Our Lord to the compassion that raised Lazarus from the dead, fed the multitudes, healed the sick, and cast out demons. It was also something akin to this that caused Him to weep over Jerusalem and drive out the money changers. But in the upper room, St. Phillip, who was fully forgiven in Christ, was not yet complete in his sanctification. He wrongly blamed God for his dissatisfaction. He thought God was holding out on him. He even came up with a plan of what God could or should do to make it right: "Show us the Father.' He was dissatisfied with Jesus.

And here is the great irony: he was already seeing the Father. And here is the great sadness: he didn't believe it. What God has done and is doing is more than sufficient. It is sufficient for Phillip's sins, for his doubts and worries and concerns, for all his inadequacies, failures, and regrets. What Phillip was not willing to do, that is to trust in the goodness of the Lord and His promise to make all things new, Jesus was. And His willingness to die, to go as a Lamb to the slaughter, to turn the other cheek, to take on the guilt of guilty men who reviled Him, is sufficient for Phillip and for you. His willingness to die, to be the Sacrifice for sins to restore us again to the Father, is how the Father is shown and known. It is sufficient to pay the ransom, to defeat the devil, to open heaven.

Painful as it was, St. Phillip needed Gethsemane and the trial. He needed Jesus to die and  while yet in the flesh he even needed his own failure and shame. He needed all that before Easter and the peace and the breathing out of the Holy Spirit. It is what was good and best for him. It was sufficient to make him both a saint and an apostle, to be the foundation of the Church built on Jesus Christ.

So all these things you want: honor and respect, fame and fortune, physical pleasure and a life of leisure, even health and intellect - all these things are found in the Son. But not in the way we might first think or not in the way of our fallen wants. For all these things, all your heart's truest desires, are found not in material rewards and gifts, but in faith. In faith comes perfect peace and patience. Whatever is asked in Jesus' Name, in His death and resurrection, in submission to His Word, and in the hope of His goodness and promise, all these things He has done and will do. All these things He is still doing. Thus He sends the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit glorifies Him in blessing you, in forgiving and reviving you, in showing you the Father in the crucified and risen Son, and by joining you to Himself by giving you His very Body and Blood to eat and to drink. 

You need nothing more.  All you need, you have in Jesus.  And, because you have Jesus, you have the Father.  "You are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).  So do not be afraid to ask for the things of this earth. Pray without fear. Ask, and it will be given to you.  For your Father will not fail you. He will not only not give you a snake if you ask for bread, He will also not give you a snake if you ask for a snake. He loves you and your prayers please Him. Whatever you ask in Jesus' Name, He will do.  And it will be for your good, and you will be glad in the end. You might have to still go to Gethsemane, but soon your own Easter will come. Your sanctification will then be as full as that of James and Phillip, as full as that of all the apostles, martyrs, prophets, and saints who have gone before you, who even now pray for you. You will see the Father in the Son by the Spirit without doubt or sorrow, without regret, and you will know that you are home. 

Until then, receive the gracious and merciful gifts of your Savior which He delivers to you here.  These gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation delivered through the Holy Word and Sacraments show you the Father, and through them, you are strengthened and preserved in the true faith.  Your citizenship as sons and daughters in the Father's Kingdom is made secure.  In Jesus' Holy and Precious Name.  Amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.  Amen.