Most of you will know that I love reading and talking about the stories of the saints and our episcopalian tradition encourages us to reflect on and celebrate the lives of our dear sisters and brothers who have walked the journey of faith before us. Today , we remember St Bartholomew. But do you know, Bartholomew is rather a difficult saint to celebrate and that’s because we don’t really  know very much about him.

The gospel set for the feast of St Bartholomew doesn’t even mention his name. He may or may not be the same person as Nathaniel – scholars argue the one way and the other. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, Bartholomew is listed as one of the twelve. John doesn’t mention Bartholomew but does mention someone called Nathaniel – so that leads some to conclude that these two men, Bartholomew and Nathaniel to be the same person. 

Some ancient writers on the history of the Christian faith claim that Bartholomew was an apostle to India – possibly working in the region of Mumbai. Along with his fellow apostle Jude, Bartholomew is reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the first century.

By tradition, Bartholomew is said to have been flayed alive, before being crucified upside down, and so became the patron saint of Leather-workers. In painting and sculpture, he is often represented as a rather gruesome image, holding a knife, with his own skin neatly draped over his arm. But Bartholomew has also always been associated with healing, so a number of hospitals are named after him.

He is also associated with the small Italian Island of Lipari, where its thought that he may have been buried. During World War II, the Fascist regime in Italy, looking for ways to finance its  activities, ordered that a silver statue of Saint Bartholomew from the church should be melted down. But it is said when the statue was weighed it was found to be only a few grams and so worth very little, and so it was returned to its place in the Cathedral of Lipari. In reality, the statue is solid silver and is very heavy – a relatively recent miracle associated with St Bartholomew.  

But about Bartholomew himself we know almost nothing, except that he was a disciple of Jesus.

Now, far from being a negative thing, I think that not knowing very much about him is actually the most important thing for us to hold on to when reflecting on the life of this rather mysterious man, because he teaches us that the call to serve is not really to do with our own fame or status.

When we look around us today we realise we are living under the reign of ego and of fame, perhaps media stars and the glitterati are the best known for this. An increasing number of children, when asked what they want to do when they grow up, say that they want to be famous – being famous for being famous has become a vocation. Some of our politicians seem rather the same and of course, the church is not exempt: evangelists on religious television stations, pastors of megachurches, and, unfortunately,  some bishops and clergy appear to love being in the spotlight and have become artists of self-publicity. I once heard someone say that their church was OK, but it was hard to see God because the priest always got in the way. It’s a temptation most clergy are aware of and try to resist – our job is to point people to God, not to ourselves.

So Bartholomew’s anonymity shows us ‘it’s not all about me’. Our job as Christians is to get out of the way and to enable people to catch a glimpse of the God whom we serve.

And something all of us must realise, something that the life of this mysterious man teaches us, is that we actually don’t need to be famous, not because we should be humble or control our egos but because God loves us, and that’s all we need – we need no other adulation.

All of us here will join the great ranks of anonymous Christians who have served God through the ages. In 2000 year’s time – probably long before that – we will all have been forgotten, except perhaps by ancestor hunters who might still be digging our names out of archives and searching church registers for information.

That might seem rather disheartening, but it needn’t be, because we know we are creatures of God’s making and redeeming: we are each loved by God more than we could ever imagine – part of our job is to try to discover a little more of this love as we go about our lives. When we understand even a little of this love our anxieties about status, importance and fame, begin to lose their hold over us. In God’s love we have everything we need.

So often we see the lives of the rich and famous descend into tragedy or disaster. Wealth and fame often don’t bring happiness. The ordinariness of our lives is something to celebrate, if, like Bartholomew, our lives are built on the rock of faith and within us we have the knowledge of God’s love, like a hidden jewel, burning deep inside. 

So Bartholomew is one of us: a follower, disciple and servant of Jesus Christ. An anonymous, unshowy person who gave of his best. Someone we don’t know much about, but whose soul is now hidden with God where that great love will, at last, be fully known.

That is all that is needed. All that matters. Amen