St. Andrew

A kindergarten teacher gave her class a show-and-tell assignment. Each student was instructed to bring in an object to share with the class that represented his or her religion. The first student got up in front of the class and said, “My name is Benjamin and I’m Jewish, and this is a Star of David.” The second student got up in front of the class and said, “My name is Mary. I’m a Catholic, and this is a rosary.” The third student got up in front of the class and said, “My name is Tommy. I’m a Methodist, and this is a casserole.”

How does this connect to today’s Gospel? It connects because the reading is about a Jewish kid, son of a carpenter, who leaves home and starts a movement that gave birth to the many Christian teams or traditions we have today, whether Presbyterian, Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Eastern Orthodox or Episcopalian.

By the way, it’s interesting to speculate just what might go into each team’s casserole.  Baptists might add an extra cup of water, a Presbyterian casserole might be a bit tart, and an Episcopalian casserole might include a few jiggers of sherry. But I’m just guessing here. More study is needed.

The point is that it takes a team to really be successful. And if Jesus — Son of the living God— believed this to be true, we’d better believe it, too. He needed help from his friends. In today’s Gospel, we see that Jesus is beginning an entrepreneurial venture, but he’s not starting a “business,” and he’s not just some entrepreneur trying to make a buck. Jesus is not going to be your CEO to help you get rich.

He’s actually doing something a little bit more ambitious, like proclaiming the arrival of the kingdom of God.   

To get some inertia pushing this flywheel, Jesus surrounded himself with a team. Sure, part of the idea of choosing 12 disciples was to provide a metaphor for a reconstituted and renewed 12 tribes of Israel, but the practical side of Jesus’ mission required the help and participation of others. He doesn’t wait for them to come to him. At the outset of his ministry, he spends time going after candidates, most of whom are nothing like himself.

If the call of the first disciples is any indication, Jesus wasn’t looking for experts in religious discourse, cheerleaders who would be part of an entourage, role models of high moral character and religious piety or techies versed in communication theory and practice. He doesn’t go headhunting at the local synagogue or collect resumes from Jerusalem.

Instead, he goes to the lakeshore and begins by inviting some fishermen to be on his team. While the text gives us no indication of the specific roles Jesus was looking for in Simon, Andrew, James and John, we can get a clue at least about the basic character of the disciples he was calling and, indeed, still calls today.

A response seems to be what Jesus was looking for as he came to the lakeshore. He was doing his own “fishing” for people when he came upon Simon and Andrew and invited them to join him in his work. James and John were next, leaving their undoubtedly astounded father by the boats with the hired help as they, too, set out after Jesus.

Traditionally, many readers of the gospels assume that these fishermen were poor, destitute individuals with nothing to lose who follow Jesus to try and break the monotony of their everyday lives.

But the truth is that these four fishermen were likely quite prosperous. We learn later that Simon and Andrew had a house and an extended family (Mark 1:29-31) and that James and John, along with their father Zebedee, were wealthy enough to be able to hire additional help for their fishing business.

These fishermen weren’t desperate drifters with nothing to lose, but well-established businessmen in a culture where prosperity and family were everything. Following Jesus, then, was no small disruption of their lives, but a complete change of course. Throwing in with Jesus meant throwing out their security, their reputations and their livelihoods.

In John’s Gospel, we learn that Andrew was Jesus’ first follower. John the Baptist told Andrew that Jesus was the Messiah. So Andrew began to follow Jesus.

            Andrew was Jesus’ first evangelist.

            Andrew was Jesus’ first missionary.

            Andrew was Jesus’ first disciple to spread the word and invite and even urge others to come and join him in the discovery of Jesus the Messiah.

            Andrew’s first act as a disciple is to go, get his own brother and introduce him to Jesus. Of that act William Temple wrote: “Perhaps it is as great a service to the Church as ever any human ever did” (Readings in St. John’s Gospel, p.29). In John’s gospel, the community of faith is not formed by Jesus calling to fishermen. It’s the invitation of Andrew that gets the first “two or three” gathered together.

            Every church named “St. Andrew’s” should glow with pride and never hide. Now Andrew doesn’t have a big name like Peter, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or Paul. But he did do one thing, and he did it over and over again: he introduced people to Jesus. Everywhere he went Andrew issued the summons to “Come and See.”

            Andrew introduced his brother Simon, a fishing partner, to Jesus. And Jesus was so impressed with Andrew’s invitation he gave Simon a new name.

When there were 5,000 of Jesus’ listeners to be fed, Andrew introduced a small boy with a small lunch to Jesus. And from that introduction Jesus fed the enormous crowd.

Andrew’s contribution to the history of the church was not dramatic, or innovative, or inventive. He simply nudged people to get acquainted with Jesus, and when this happened, God did some amazing things . . . even when Andrew wasn’t there.

            Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, but he should be the patron saint of all Christians and every church. You might even say that Andrew should be every Christian’s middle name.

            Like Andrew, we should be so delirious by our relationship with Jesus that we can’t wait to introduce everyone we know to him.  Christians aren’t “born.” Christians are “summoned,” invited by those who already stand within the community of faith to experience the person and power of Jesus the Christ. With our words and with our witness, we the “St. Andrew Christians” should be spending our lives introducing people to the truth about who Jesus is and what Jesus is doing in this world.  

            As Jesus’ disciples we have “bragging rights.” It’s our mission to go around “bragging on Jesus.” When Jesus performed healing miracles, he did not PR himself or boast about his healings. Often Jesus told the ones he healed to keep quiet about it, or to tell a few others. It was up to those who followed Jesus to spread the news about the power and presence they had witnessed, about the miraculous works that were taking place.

            Taking their cue from Andrew, “bragging on Jesus” became the mission of the Twelve.

            Bragging on Jesus is why we have the Gospels.

            Bragging on Jesus is the reason we have Paul’s letters to all those fledgling faith communities.

            Bragging on Jesus is the most important work any disciple can ever do.

            Christians don’t impose – we invite.

            We celebrate 151 years of ministry here in Tampa because, like Andrew, we continue to brag on Jesus and invite others to “come and see.”