This sermon was preached at Bridlington Priory Church by David Butterfield on 24 August 2008
(Acts 1.6-14 Luke 6.12-16)
If someone asked you to list the names of Jesus’ twelve disciples, how many could you come up with? I suppose many people would immediately think of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, not realising that Mark and Luke were not members of the twelve.
The way I remember the names of the twelve disciples is by dividing them into 6 units as follows. First there are three pairs that go together….. The brothers Peter and Andrew, James and John. Then there are two disciples we can put together because of the contrast between them: Matthew, the tax collector who was a supporter of the Romans and Simon the Zealot, who was anti-Roman. So that’s six straight away!
Then there are two I put in a category of their own – one is famous, the other infamous: Thomas and Judas. That leaves four to go!
I put those four into one group, and they go together in my mind because they are disciples whom we know virtually nothing about. They are: Thaddeus, Philip, James, son of Alphaeus (Sometimes known as “James the Less”), and Bartholomew. And it’s Bartholomew that we are going to think about now since it's his day tomorrow – August 25th!
If you were asked which one of the twelve disciples you think you are probably most like in character, personality, spirituality, etc, who would you opt for? Would you go for doubting Thomas? Do you think you identify with him most closely? Or are you more like the talkative, impetuous Peter? Is that you? Or the deep, reflective John whose New Testament writings reveal a man with profound spiritual insight. Is that you? You may have heard sermons about some of the famous names from the New Testament – like Thomas, Peter or John. In such sermons, preachers often urge their listeners to follow the examples of these heroes of faith.
However, instead of being inspired and motivated by their lives and ministries, it is possible to feel disheartened and discouraged. This is because we feel we could never be like such spiritual giants as Peter and John! We might be tempted to think, "It was all right for St Peter, he was naturally out-going – a born leader. But I'm a quiet person. I like to keep myself to myself." Or we might think "It was okay for St John, God gave him great spiritual insight, whereas I have a very simple faith."
It's when we feel somewhat overshadowed by such high-profile Bible characters, that it can be an encouragement to identify, not with a Peter or a John, but with a Bartholomew. As far as we can tell, Bartholomew was just an ordinary guy. He wasn't a leader like Peter! He didn't write a gospel like Matthew. He wasn't an imposing character like James or John who were nicknamed "Sons of Thunder"! No, Bartholomew was just an ordinary guy. So let's try and identify with him for a few moments this morning/evening and be encouraged by what we can discover from the life and ministry of this lesser-known member of the twelve disciples.
So what do we know about Bartholomew? The answer is really: Nothing! From the ninth century, some people identified him with Nathaniel who we read about in John chapter two. However, the evidence for this is not conclusive.
If Bartholomew were Scottish, he would have been called MacTholomew since the name, "Bar- Tholomew", literally means "Son of Tholomew". “Bar” in Hebrew is the same as “Mac” in Scotland. Other Hebrew “Mac” names include Bartimaeus, Barnabas, Barabbas. Bartholomew’s name appears in all four lists of disciples that we find in Matthew (10.3), Mark (3.18), Luke (6.14) and Acts (1.13). He comes sixth in the lists in the Gospels, and seventh in Acts. I’m not sure that we can deduce very much from the fact that his name comes half-way through the lists of disciples. Could it reveal that he was neither a “star” – since he didn’t come at the top, but neither that was he an "also ran", since his name didn’t come towards the end? But that’s probably reading too much into it anyway!
So there is nothing distinctive about Bartholomew that we can draw from the New Testament. I would therefore like to draw out three general points about Bartholomew from facts we are given by Matthew and Luke, and see how they might speak to us this morning/evening. They all happen to begin with the letter “C”! I shall spend most of the time on my first point, and deal with the last two very briefly. And the first point I want to make is that Bartholomew was…..
(1) CHOSEN BY JESUS In our Gospel reading from Luke 6, we learned that “Jesus went up a hill to pray and spent the whole night there praying to God. When day came, he called his disciples to him” (12-13a). The reference here to "his disciples" is to a large group of people who were generally following him at that time. So “He called (this large group of) his disciples to him......and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles” one of whom we know was Bartholomew. So Bartholomew was chosen along with such people as Peter, James and John. It wasn't as though Jesus chose Peter, James and John and Matthew and said, "Oh there's room for eight more, first come, first served!" No, we are told that after spending a whole night in prayer, Jesus chose Bartholomew! So he was specifically named, specifically included and specifically chosen by Jesus!
So what might this say to us? The New Testament teaches that everyone who is a true Christian has been chosen! You might think back to a time when you decided to follow Christ. You might be able to think back to a time when you committed your life to Jesus Christ. You might think back to the time when you invited Christ into your life, to be the Lord of your life. Looking back to that time from a human perspective, you might say it was something that you did at that time – that it was a decision that you took. And while you were probably influenced by other people and circumstances, as we all are to varying degrees when we make decisions, it was you who made that decision. You made the decision to follow Christ. You chose to become a modern disciple of Jesus.
However, when we turn to the pages of the New Testament we discover that that is only one half of the story. The New Testament teaches that a person makes a decision to follow Christ as a result of the Holy Spirit working in his or her life. I reckon that usually, we are unaware of the Spirit at work in our lives at those times. Yet a more mature Christian looking on, can often discern the Spirit at work. I can recall a number of occasions when I have sensed the Spirit of God drawing people to Christ. As Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me” (John 6.44a NRSV) And we find this same theme echoed throughout the New Testament. Often New Testament writers refer to those who belong to Christ as God's elect - a phrase used by Christ himself. When Paul writes to the Christians in Colossae, he begins a section of his letter with the phrase, As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved….. (3.21a NRSV)
He says the same when writing to Christians in Thessalonica, For we know, brothers and sisters, beloved by God, that he has chosen you (1 Th.1.4 NRSV)
When Peter writes his first letter, he begins, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, strangers in the world…..who have been chosen (1.1-2a NRSV)
In the next chapter he writes, But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God (2.9 NIV)
And perhaps the most mind-boggling reference of all, is where in Ephesians, Paul writes this, In Christ we were.....chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. (1.11 NIV)
How being chosen by God fits together with our human free choice, is a mystery that our finite minds cannot fully comprehend. But we are chosen! And if you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, if you have had your sins forgiven and received the Holy Spirit into your life: you have been chosen ! We don't belong to Christ by accident! The word the New Testament uses to describe a gathering of God's people reflects this fact of our being chosen by God. What is the collective term in English for a group of Christians? Answer, the word, “Church”.
In greek it is the word: “ekklesia” from where we get the word ecclesiastical. It means literally "The Called Out Ones". So a gathering of God’s people is a gathering of people who have been called by God. So those who belong to Christ, are "the called out ones" - "the chosen ones". And God doesn't just choose big names like James and John, Peter and Andrew, John Wesley, Billy Graham, John Sentamu and Rowan Williams. Whether we have a high profile ministry or not, everyone who belongs to Christ, has been specifically chosen and called by God. So you and I have something in common with Bartholomew. If we belong to Christ, like him, we have been chosen by God to be one of Christ's disciples. This is a tremendous privilege and should lead us to respond with awe, wonder and humility. After all, why did God decide to chose me?!
A second point I want to draw out of what we know about Bartholomew from the New Testament is that, as a disciple of Christ, Bartholomew was…..
(2) COMMISSIONED TO MAKE DISCIPLES The word “commission” isn’t a very strong word. It somehow doesn’t have a sense of obligation about it. Perhaps the word, “commanded” would be better. And the specific commission or command that Jesus gave to Bartholomew, and the other ten disciples that we read of at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, was this, “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples.....and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
Jesus didn't say, "Peter, James and John, you are out-going sort of fellas. I want you to go and make other people my disciples, but Thaddeus, Philip and Bartholomew, you don't need to do that, you just need to make sure you live decent lives! No! Bartholomew, along with the rest was called to go and make disciples. And if we are disciples we are called to do the same!
Some people who would like to find out more about the Christian faith can feel overawed when an extravert, impetuous St Peter-style Christian homes in on them to explain the faith. Such an enquirer might well feel much more at ease talking to an ordinary Bartholomew-style Christian, who might himself or herself be a bit backwards in coming forwards.
So if I am chosen, if you are chosen, we have a responsibility to do all we can to go and make disciples, to use the gifts that God has given us to draw others into his kingdom.
And then finally the third thing that I draw from what we read about Bartholomew in the pages of the New Testament is that he…..
(3) COMMITTED HIMSELF TO PRAY Luke tells us that after Jesus had returned to heaven, Bartholomew met together with his fellow disciples, and with "the women and with Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers". And he tells us, “They gathered frequently to pray as a group.”
So if we have been chosen by God to belong to Christ, we should find ourselves wanting to gather pray with others who have been chosen to pray. I imagine that at the top of their prayer agenda was the spread of the Good News about Jesus: prayer for people to accept Christ’s rule over their lives. And if we are going to make disciples we will need to start by including it in our of prayers.
Serious prayer wasn't left to the big names, it was something that all the disciples got involved in. Some who feel they could never have an up-front style of ministry can have a hidden, yet powerful ministry of prayer. Perhaps the real heroes behind times of revival and renewal have not been the famous evangelists and preachers, but the unknown, humble Christians who, behind the scenes, have prayed seriously and earnestly. All the disciples, including Bartholomew and others, gathered frequently to pray as a group.
So, with the other disciples, Bartholomew was chosen by Jesus; he was commissioned to make disciples and he committed himself to pray. And even though Bartholomew is not a prominent figure in the New Testament, he was as much a chosen member of the disciples as Peter was. He was commissioned with the rest to make disciples. He committed himself with the rest to pray for the coming of the Kingdom of God.
So today, if you belong to Christ, you are chosen. You are commissioned to make disciples, and you are to commit yourself to pray. In the same way that Bartholomew didn’t leave it all to Peter, James and John, so you mustn't leave it to the Vicar and the Curates. Indeed, your Christian story, coming from an “ordinary” lay person is likely to be more powerful and compelling than your Vicar’s!
And the same is true of your prayers! God doesn’t monitor whether prayers are offered by a Reverend or a Venerable or a Bishop! Your prayers are as effective as the next persons, even if that person wears a clerical collar. Sometimes your prayers might be more effective! So may the example of Bartholomew be an encouragement to me and an encouragement to you, so that when you leave this church building and prepare for the week ahead, you will do so, knowing that you have been chosen by Jesus; that you have been commissioned to make disciples; and that you are committed to pray for the coming of the kingdom.