Today's Reading: John 15:12-21
Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 30:1-20; Matthew 19:1-15
"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” (John 15:16)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. St. Simon and St. Jude aren't celebrated because they are shining examples of guys who signed up to be on Jesus' team! They didn't come up to Jesus and say, “Lord, we're in! We're with You. Just give us some orders!” No, they, like all the apostles, were called by Jesus. He called them. He drew them to Himself and then He taught them His Word and after that sent them to be preachers in the world. The Bible doesn't say what happened to these two apostles. Legend says they were martyred—they died for the faith.
The reason we take time to remember St. Simon and St. Jude is to confess that we, too, are called by Jesus. We are called by Jesus to be His disciples, those who learn His Word and follow Him even through death. It is the apostolic ministry that the Lord uses to call men to be pastors, preachers like Simon and Jude through whom He calls us.
Jesus tells the Apostles that He has chosen them to go and bear fruit. What is that fruit? That fruit is YOU! You are the harvest of the apostles' preaching of Christ. Christ, nailed to the tree of the cross dies and rises for us and then sends His apostles into the world to preach that Good News. By that Good News the Spirit “calls, gathers, and enlightens us” and makes us Christians, turns our hearts, makes us disciples. By the same Baptism that Simon and Jude delivered, by the same Gospel they preached, by the same body and blood of Jesus they administered, you are saved and made a part of that kingdom.
In celebrating God's work through Simon and Jude, we are celebrating all of His Word through the holy means of grace delivered by His faithful pastors down through the ages. And that will keep going on, just like Simon and Jude were called to do it, until Jesus returns in His glory and we live forever with these two apostles and all the company of heaven. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Praise, Lord, for Your apostles, Saint Simon and Saint Jude. One love, one hope impelled them To tread the way, renewed. May we with zeal as earnest The faith of Christ maintain, Be bound in love together, And life eternal gain. (LSB 518:28)