The Lord waits to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.

Truly, O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you. Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Isaiah 30:18-21

Dear friends in Christ,

Today (May 1) we celebrate the feast of the apostles Phillip and James. These saints are often mistaken for two others: Phillip the Deacon and Evangelist and James the brother of Jesus. We know more about Phillip than we do about James, but together they are an example of facilitating others’ coming to know Jesus. Their witness is sometimes obscured by associations with other people, but they are important companions of Jesus who show us discernment and the ability to seize the right moment to bring others to Christ. As I reflected on them this week and on our readings for the coming Sunday, I thought about Christians as leaders and ministers to those who do not believe in the Good Shepherd and in the care of God for the world. This Sunday’s lessons are very comforting to many, as we look to Jesus the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep and whose sheep know him. Yet, even as we are comforted by this, we must remember that among the sheep are shepherds and apostles, ordained and lay, who take on the role of guarding and caring for others, and also challenging them to live according to the way of Christ. Among us at St. Luke’s there are those who are called to this work, and especially now that we are in a season where there is more caring to do than can be done by the ordained shepherds, and more preaching to do than can be done by the designated preachers, we must be ready to do our part of the church’s apostolic mission.

Phillip in particular is known in the scripture as “that guy standing next to Jesus who gets asked questions and gets to ask Jesus questions in return”. His story is told in the most detail in the Gospel of John, where four incidents show us his character. First, he followed Jesus early in his public ministry and he went right after joining Jesus’ followers and recruited his friend, Nathaniel (John 1:44). Second, he was the one the Greek speakers who wanted to see Jesus went to when they wanted access to him, saying “sir, we would see Jesus” (John 12:20). Third, Jesus asks Phillip where to buy bread to feed the crowds before the feeding of the five thousand and Phillip responds pragmatically “It would take more than a year’s wages to buy each of them a mouthful.” (John 6:5), thus setting the stage for one of Jesus’ greatest miracles. Finally, at the last supper, Phillip responds to Jesus saying, “Lord show us the father, and we shall be satisfied.” Jesus responds to him, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:8). In all of these moments, Phillip is facilitating others ability to see Jesus for who he is. Phillip does not begin by announcing who Jesus is, like Peter, and he does not think about the whole structure of the ministry and who should be in charge, like James and John. He is simply there, being accessible to others and pointing at Jesus who is doing miraculous things. He is an apostle, or “witness” who doesn’t make it about himself. He is the one giving the dry estimates of how much money it would take to feed five thousand people, but he’s also the set up man for Jesus to demonstrate the power of God to feed everyone. Phillip is, in a sense, Jesus’ gatekeeper, giving the ordinary people and the Greek speakers, who would not recognize Jesus in the lineage of the prophets, a way to see him and understand him.

As I reflected on Phillip, I came to see that his scriptural story, of a man who facilitates others’ introduction to Jesus, could be helpful during a time when many of us are not able to directly serve our neighbors. Phillip was an evangelist, but one who invited others to see Jesus rather than telling the story himself. He was a part of feeding the five thousand, but not the one who did it directly. When Jesus was trying to tell his disciples the truth of who he was and how the love of God worked through him, it was Phillip’s desire to see the Father that provided the frame for Jesus to tell them that he “was in the Father” and that “the Father who dwells in me does his works.” In other words, that unity with God and God’s loving purpose for the world is what saves the world, and Jesus loving behavior and word’s shows us how to be united with God and each other. Jesus, through Phillip’s request, teaches the disciples how Christians help the world.

Right now many of us are discerning how best to live and how best to be Christians who care for others. Do we resume more normal activities, or do we keep ourselves away from others to help suppress the spread of Covid-19? Do we take a more active role in policy and in local government efforts to help those affected, or do we focus on charitable giving? Do we sound the alarm that those who were hurting before are hurting more now? How do we buy bread to feed all of those who need it? We all have more questions than answers about how to best respond to this crisis and to the many injustices that it reveals.

Phillip and the other disciples had those questions too. His special gift as an apostle was to witness that the one with the answers was right next to him and always had a personalized response. When you are confused and anxious, as we all are at times now, I hope you will reflect on Phillip and pray that Jesus will come alongside you and show you the way. Each of us has something God is calling us to do, even if it is simply to “wait for him.” Phillip eventually went out into the world preaching and showing others the risen Christ. He was martyred, and the story is that he convinced a crowd to advocate for the release of his fellow preacher. Even at the end, he was helping others continue the work of Jesus. In every situation, Christians can preach the hope of the resurrected Christ, and we can help each other do it as well. The closer we stand to Jesus and to each other (figuratively), the easier that will be.