Matthew 20:20-28

Final Sermon at SsJA
By Rev. Heather J. Blais, Rector

Alright friends, today we celebrate one of our guys - James.

At first, it might seem curious that this particular gospel reading was assigned to James’ feast day.
After all, who wants to be remembered for their hardest moments.
The ones where we lose sight of what really matters; when we’ve gotten in the way.

After a teacher or mentor speaks to us and our pride is quickly replaced by feelings of humility, embarrassment, or maybe even, shame.

Though there is something to this; being remembered for the full spectrum of our lives - our best and worst.
And in James’ case, a reminder that this lowly fisherman rose to prominence in a movement that shook everything up.
The tables of society were being flipped by a man proclaiming God’s dream of love, launching a movement that has yet to slow down over two thousand years later.

Yet James was not able to rise to prominence until he fully understood what his teacher had to say.
His status did not rise because he asked before the other disciples thought to ask (or in this gospel’s version, his mom).
If that was the case, the saying would be the first will be first.
(sounds a little too familiar these days, doesn’t it).

Rather it was because in the discomfort of that moment, James did not let shame take the reigns of his life.
Instead, he faced his peers, and listened to his teacher.
In the Common English Bible translation, Jesus says to his disciples:
“...Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant. Whoever wants to be first among you will be your slave— just as the Human One didn’t come to be served but rather to serve and to give his life to liberate many people”
(Mt 20:26-28)

While the road was not always smooth, we know James spent the rest of his life in service to Christ and God’s dream for this world.

And as Jesus foretells in this passage, James was the first of the Apostles to die in service of Christ, as seen in our second reading from Acts (12:1-2).
We now distinguish James from the other two James in Jesus’ followers by calling him the Greater.

James bears this moniker because in what could have been a painfully
embarrassing or shame filled moment, James finds humility.
And that humility shapes his hands, his heart, his mind, towards a life of service.

When I first arrived in Greenfield, it was clear this community had embodied the spirit of James.
There was a collective heart for service.

Specifically for feeding people through Second Helpings and Bread of Life, an ecumenical partnership delivering food to homebound neighbors.
When James and Andrew married to become a new community, that collective heart of service seemed to triple, as our outreach ministries grew.

I’ve always loved that our two guys were each part of a pair of brothers who were fisherfolk, called at the same time to follow Jesus.
Two guys who led simple lives, called to set down their nets, setting down the familiar, to come and fish for people, entering a life of service.
They began their ministry with Christ together, and we continue it here today.

I especially appreciate that this community’s heart for service, while certainly influenced by the ministers that have journeyed with you, is distinctly yours.
You do not hold this value to your identity because of Titus Strong, John Whiteman, Andy Wissemann, Peter Chase, John Cerrato, Marnie Keator, or Heather Blais.
You are who God has called you to be, serving this little corner of God’s world.
Each minister has helped fan the flames of who you are.
Or at times when we lose our way or do not know how to proceed, we extinguish some of your flames.
But through it all, you are who God has called you to be, a community with a heart for service.

Ministers come and go.

We make mistakes, put our foot in our mouths, and miss God’s memos.
But most of all, if we are living into our vows, we love you, as Christ loves us.
Right before I was ordained, as I was spinning out about not knowing how to serve a church, a wise priest in the Diocese of Maine told me none of that mattered.
What really matters is that a minister loves their people for who they are.

So dear ones, we all know I have made plenty of mistakes.
I don’t especially want to count the number of times I have put my foot in my mouth.

And I am quite certain that I miss at least one, if not ten, memos a day from God.
But I do feel, with confidence, that I have loved you with my whole heart.
And I have felt that same love from you in return.
For myself, and for my family.

It has been a gift.
You shaped and formed me, and helped me grow up and into this role.
I was called a Rector long before I had any business being one.
But you were patient and flexible - qualities that have only compounded since.
Much like your heart for service.

For the last several years, when I introduce myself, I affirm that it is a joy to serve this community as Rector.
And it has been a joy.
While joy is hard to quantify, I wanted to have some way to measure that joy and the love I feel for this community of God’s beloved.

So I did what any church geek does, I reviewed the parochial report numbers.
These reports observe trends in parish life, and are shared with the wider church.
So for those who like that kind of thing, during our life together, we have:
- Baptized 35 little ones and adults into the household of God.
- Affirmed 30 people as they choose their faith for themselves in confirmation.
- Witnessed 16 couples enter holy matrimony.
- Commended 151 people we loved into God’s eternal care.
- And today will mark our 1,600th time breaking bread together as the body of Christ.

As our pastoral relationship comes to an end today, the only thing I truly want to say is - thank you.
Thank you for loving my family and wanting the very best for us.
Thank you for supporting my sabbath practice and two sabbaticals (four more years Fred!)

Thank you for being such a generous hearted community.
Thank you for loving Christ in body, mind, and spirit.

You are the living embodiment of Christ, here and now, in this place.
May God bless you and keep you, this day and every day. Amen.

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