We Need Each Other
The Feast of Saint Simon & Saint Jude
Br. Bruce Neal, N/SSJE
Text:  John 15:17-27

         I believe that at least some of you are aware of the fact that I am a twin.  I have a twin sister.  So from the very first moments of my existence, I have always had company.  From my very beginning, I had to learn to share.  Jeffrey Bruce Neal (myself) and Jenifer Lynn Neal, were born on April 28th, 1971.  I am the oldest, being born twelve full minutes before my twin; and I was born five pounds heavier than she was (almost twice her weight).  Now you would think that with such a superior beginning, I would turn out to be the more illustrious one.  But, alas, that was not to be the case, for I was to spend much of my childhood and youth in the shadow of my twin sister.

            What complicated matters was the fact that my twin sister was something of a tomboy.  While still being quite interested in dolls and other girlish things, she also excelled at everything little boys were supposed to excel at.  For example, she was one of the best players on the Little League Baseball Team; whereas I would strike out every time at bat, and return to the dugout in a dramatic fit of tears worthy of an Oscar nomination.  Later she was named a State All-Star Girls Basketball Player…if you put a basketball into my hands I become instantly paralyzed.  And, in a rather embarrassing reversal of the natural order of things, it was my twin sister who would defend me from the bullies on the playground.  She had a mean left-punch.

            Later on in high school, my twin sister blossomed into a beautiful, popular young woman – 2nd- runner up at the Homecoming Queen pageant.  I was the gangly intellectual-type with acne…who played saxophone in the pep-band.  And although it is true that I was elected class president, it was largely due to the influence of my twin – she made an excellent campaign manager.

            And then, of course, throughout our lives there has always been the irreversible fact that we share a birthday.  When we were young, on some years we would have a joint birthday party.  Being more of an introvert, I did not find them very pleasant.  But my twin sister was the perfect hostess; well-liked by other girls and pursued by the boys.  She was the life of the party, and she tended to receive a bit more attention, not to mention better gifts.  I considered the whole thing somewhat tedious; for when you’re intensely interested in the latest Star Wars action figure, or Dungeons & Dragons and other “low-tech” fantasy adventure games; it is difficult to share the spotlight with Barbie dolls, Strawberry Shortcake figurines, and later makeup and training bras.
           
            Yes, sharing your childhood and youth with a twin sister could often be rather…challenging. 

With this background in mind, you can more thoroughly understand my thoughts about the feast that we keep this evening, the feast of St. Simon and St. Jude.  It seems that Simon and Jude get a bad deal.  They were not siblings; they were certainly not twins, and yet we honor and remember them together on the same day.   Three hundred and sixty-five days in the year…but the church forces Simon and Jude to share the spotlight, and the feast, on the same day.

            Why?  Why has the church done this?  It’s not as if Simon and Jude, these apostles of Christ, were similar personalities…not at all.  From what little we know of them from scripture and ancient Christian lore, they make an unlikely team.  Just like my twin sister and I, they are two very different people.  Their differences are reflected in the collect of the day, the prayer that we heard which describes them as “faithful and zealous.”
           
It appears that Simon was the zealous one.  In fact, the writer of the Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles refers to Simon as “Simon the Zealot.”  This can mean one of two things; that either Simon was a member of a Jewish political group dedicated to independence from Rome and prone to violence and insurrection; or that he was simply filled with religious fervor and enthusiasm.  Either way, it seems that Simon was a bit headstrong and hot-blooded. 

            Some traditions believe that Simon was born in Cana, for both the Gospels of Matthew and Mark refer to him as “Simon the Cananaean.”  Cana, if you recall, was the site of Jesus’ first public miracle in the Gospel of John.  It was at the wedding in Cana that Jesus turned water into wine, and some old Christian legends propose that Simon was the bridegroom at this wedding, and that the miraculous wine tasted so good, that Simon immediately left his newly-wedded wife behind to follow Jesus.

            Jude, on the other hand, appears to have been more gentle and quiet.  He was the faithful one…so faithful, in fact, that Jude has come to be known as the patron saint of lost causes, or the saint of last resort.  No matter how crazy the prayer or difficult the task, Jude will stick with you as long as it takes until the prayer is answered or the job is done. 

It seems that Jude was also known as Thaddeus, which is what he is called in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark.  This may have been done in order to distinguish him from that other Judas who became a traitor, Judas Iscariot.  Or Thaddeus may have been some sort of nickname denoting size, since it may mean “big-chested” or “brawny”.  So it is possible that Jude was a rather large fellow – a gentle giant…the strong and silent type.

            But Jude could also be inquisitive, for in the Gospel of John it is Jude who asks Jesus after the Last Supper why he has chosen to reveal himself as Lord to the disciples, and not to the world.  To which Jesus replies, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”i

            Simon and Jude, these two very different men, were both drawn to Jesus…for Jesus was very good at drawing together people of different personalities and backgrounds and forming them into a community.  He still is.  After the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord, we know that Simon and Jude were together with the rest of the apostles and Mary the mother of Jesus on the day of Pentecost, and that they received the gift of the Holy Spirit as it descended upon them like tongues of fire.

            The tradition of the Western Church believes that Simon then went to Egypt to help spread the new faith, but that he eventually joined up with Jude, and they both went together as missionaries to Persia, which is modern-day Iran, where they were later martyred.  Why Simon and Jude ended up together is anyone’s guess, and the Episcopal priest and author Sam Portaro suggests that they did so because they needed each other. 

He writes:
“Without one another, Simon and Jude would likely have been martyred far earlier in their lives.  Together they were a formidable pair, each bearing the gifts necessary to the life of the other.  Jude was always there to mediate and reconcile the abrasions created by Simon’s zeal; Simon was always there to speak on behalf of Jude and protect him from those who would take advantage of his gentleness.”ii

In our Gospel reading tonight, Jesus says to his followers, “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you.  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you.” 

Simon and Jude were indeed hated by the world for their dedication to Jesus, so much so that they were killed for it.  But what binds these two men together is not so much their common martyrdom somewhere in ancient Persia, but their common mission to spread the good news that God’s love and mercy has been revealed in Jesus.  Even though they were two very different people, they were united in the Body of Christ, and they spent their lives in its service even unto death.  Though they were not siblings or twins, they are forever brothers in Christ.
           
And as for me and my twin sister…well, over the years I have grown in my respect and admiration for her.  My twin sister has had a lasting influence on me, and I have come to appreciate the formative role her presence has had in my life.  Her spunk has given me the courage to take risks; her dedication to family has inspired me to give of myself; and her enthusiasm for life has helped me to experience joy.  She is an amazing woman – I love her very much.  She has helped make me who I am today, and I am grateful for all she has done for me.

I suspect the same is true of Simon and Jude.  In fact, I like to believe that as they enjoy their eternal place in the communion of saints, their friendship and appreciation of each other will forever grow and deepen. 

And perhaps that is the true reason why the church has Simon and Jude share this feast day – as a prophetic reminder to us that we need each other.  As Christians, we do not need the approval of the world…let the world hate us, if it will.  But what we do need…is each other.  The orthodox need the progressives; the liberals need the conservatives; the catholics need the evangelicals; the faithful need the zealous.   Not despite our differences, but because of them – we all need each other; for we are all the Body of Christ.

  © 2007

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