Tearing Down Idols with S. Bartholomew: A Sermon for the Feast of S. Bartholomew the Apostle

Deuteronomy 18:15-18
Psalm 91
1 Corinthians 4:9-15
Luke 22:24-30

St. Thomas's Anglican Church
Toronto, ON

+In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew by Lo Spagnoletto

The Church remembers and celebrates the lives of the Jesus’ disciples and apostles, highlighting what they learned from him, and in the broader hagiographies, the lives and ministries they led following the Ascension of Jesus. But it must be said that some apostles are known and remembered better than others. Apostles and disciples like Ss. Peter, James the son of Zebedee, John the Evangelist, Mary Magdalene, and Thomas have extensive stories and legends about them in Rome, Spain and Portugal, Ephesus, France and India. But Bartholomew, whom we commemorate today, does not have as many legends or stories about him as other apostles. He only appears in the Synoptic Gospels, and he is not even named in the Gospel reading for the day. What we see are the disciples, which presumable would include Bartholomew, quarreling at the Last Supper about who was the greatest among them, and Jesus educating them on what it means to be the greatest—which is to be one who is like the youngest in a group, and the one who serves that group, namely to follow the example of Jesus by assuming the role of the one with the least status in a group and serving the needs of others.

Perhaps this lesson in some way shaped Bartholomew and the other disciples in their later lives, as in the few stories and legends that tell us of his later life, Bartholomew goes on to serve others by disrupting and bringing an end to what could be called an organised crime ring run by the Demon Astaruth/Astarte who was plaguing the people of a city in “India”.

This legend is in many ways fantastic and unusual. Eusebius and other ancient sources in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Armenian accounts say that Bartholomew went to India, but some of those sources admit that India could be anywhere from eastern Ethiopia and the Arabian Peninsula, to southern Iran, and to the actual Indian subcontinent. According to medieval legends, the demon Bartholomew drives out from the region is a demon based on the Phoenician goddess Astoreth, who would not have been worshipped as a god by anyone in this ancient zone of “India”. But when we look beyond the geographical anomalies and anachronisms, we see the transformation of a society liberated from a dangerous and exploitative relationship with a demon, where demons are rendered impotent and kings are humbled.

For this, Bartholomew was executed by another king by being crucified, skinned alive, and finally beheaded.

In a far-off city, a demon by the name of Astaruth tormented the people with “troubles, infirmities, damage, violence, and much affliction.” The demon would relent from these evils for a time when offered sacrifices, and people were willing to do so not knowing that the demon was the cause of their harms. What other choice did they have: illness and war will take a toll on people, and they came to believe the demon was actually helping them, and so they worshipped him like a god. It can be inferred from the legend that as time went on, it took more and more sacrifices and wealth from people to get the same help from the demon as they became enthralled to Astaruth. Thus, in this parasitic relationship, only the powerful and elite could gain aid from Astaruth, while those without that could only suffer further from the demon because they could not afford sacrifices to him.

Bartholomew came to reside in the temple of Astaruth, and by doing so, God bound the demon so that Astaruth could no longer harm the people of this city. Bartholomew then proceeded to heal those who had been afflicted by the demon, particularly the poor living near and around the temple. The king of the city learned of the apostle, asked Bartholomew to heal his daughter, and she was healed. The king, having lived under Astaruth’s parasitic relationship, attempts to pay for Bartholomew’s help by giving him gold and finery, only for Bartholomew to vanish into thin air. That night, Bartholomew approached the king in secret to explain to him why he healed the king’s daughter, and why he did not expect payment. Then he proceeded to teach him the Christian faith, who God and Christ are, and who the demon in their midst was.

The next day, Bartholomew exposes the demon before the people of the city in Astaruth’s temple and makes him reveal how he was exploiting and harming the people of the city. Together, the people of the city and the king take down the idol of Astaruth and other idols in the temple, and Bartholomew through the power of Jesus drives the demon out from the city into the wilderness to never be heard from again. The temple is rededicated as a church in a miraculous scene where angels come down from Heaven to give God’s blessing on the church, the people are healed of their infirmities and illnesses caused by the demon, they were baptised, and the king abandoned his thrown and crown to live a life of simplicity like that of the Apostle Bartholomew by serving the poor and those in need throughout the city.

In our Gospel, Jesus warns of the dangers of unjust and exploitative hierarchies and relationships and tells us how to avoid them and undo them. He says that “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors.” In relationships of benefactors and clients, and in lord and servant, there is the high potential of exploitation because antagonisms emerge in which the benefactor, in order to satisfy their own needs or desires, must take more from their client than they give. Such is the case in this far off city, antagonisms exist between the demon, the king, and the people. The demon, who created this whole scenario, demands more from the people than he is willing to give. In turn, the king, to help his own daughter, will likely have to demand from the people more than he can give to them so that he can pay off the demon. And as a result, there are people who are in great need, that are tormented by the demon, but are unable to pay the demon for the relief that the demon himself is causing.

Even when Bartholomew cures the king’s daughter, the king goes off to pay Bartholomew for his services because that is what is expected! He never considered the possibility of selfless service to another person. He lived in a society of deeply hierarchical relationships where things like kindness, generosity, service, and loyalty are bought and sold on an open market, not freely given.

What Jesus passes this along to his disciples, and what his disciples embody wherever they went, is that true leadership is one that comes from below, one that actively seeks to serve the needs of others in a spirit of generosity, where one gives fully of themselves to those in need, not because they themselves expect a return or compensation for that service, but because it the right thing to do. It is in this generosity that the kingdom of God is made manifest because in this model of servitude towards others, we are liberated from systems of antagonism, so we can truly embrace others because we no longer need to take from those below us to give to those above us in hopes we get a little back in return. The teachings of Christ allow us to break free from those antagonisms and join with others, where divisions like benefactor and client, lord and servant, no longer exist, and people unite and drive out evil by the power of God. It is in serving others that we ourselves are served, and it is in serving others that we are set free.

For as little as there is written about Bartholomew the Apostle, there is still much we can learn from his life and his ministry, and we too can hopefully work together to tear down the idols that divide us from each other so that we may truly come to love and serve one another in a spirit of compassion and generosity.

Amen.