ANDREW
John 1:35-42; 6:5-9, 11-13; 12:20-22
March 21, 2004
Before I begin to talk about Andrew today, let me tell you that I was with your women folk for the first half of their retreat and they are, indeed, having a mountain-top experience which is Christian talk for beyond a great time! It’s always hard to come back to reality after a retreat and so I feel a responsibility to my sisters in Christ to tell you, the children and men folk left behind, the Top Ten Ways NOT to Welcome Your Loved One Home from a Women’s Retreat:
10. Do not greet your wife at the door with the remote in one hand and the kids in the other and say, “Thank God you’re home. Here take the kids, the game is starting.”
9. Do not greet your wife at the door with a grocery list in one hand and the kids in the other and say, “Thank God you’re home. Here:.the kids need to get out of the house and we’re out of food.”
8. Do not greet your wife at the door with the kids in one hand and the laundry basket in the other and say, “Thank God you’re home. We’re still in our pajamas because we ran out of clean clothes.
7. Do not greet your wife at the door with the kids in one hand and golf clubs, a tennis racket, a basketball, a fishing pole, a lacrosse stick or any number of other assorted sports implements and say anything that even implies you are going to leave the house to catch a quick game of whatever.
6. If you have young children, do not meet your wife at the door with the words, “Thank God you’re home. We were in the emergency room all night.”
5. If you have older children, do not meet your wife at the door with the words, “Thank God you’re home. Newark PD just left.”
4. Do not greet your wife at the door and say, “Thank God you’re home. Cousin Orville and Aunt Myrtle are here for dinner.”
3. If you undertook a home improvement project while your wife was away, do not greet her at the door and hand her the kids and a broom.
2. Do not greet your wife at the door and say any of the following: “Surprise! I took all the wallpaper off in the dining room” Or “Hey! I hope you like the color I painted the kitchen!”
1. If that home improvement project went awry, do not meet her at the door hand her the kids and say, “Thank God you’re home. Who is our plumber, electrician, roofer, etc.
So gentlemen. You have been warned! Now, what you may ask, does all that have to do with Andrew, our sermon topic for the day? The answer is, regretfully, not very much. I had a pastor friend of mine read my sermon to make sure it was Biblically sound and she suggested I needed a better opening! The top ten was all I could think of!
Actually, we know very little about Andrew. We don’t even know if he was married, let alone how he would greet his wife at the door. We do know that his brother Peter was married because Jesus healed his mother-in-law, and we know that Andrew lived in the same house. But whether he lived there with his family, too, or had joined Peter’s family as a sort of bachelor uncle is unclear.
Andrew in many ways was a pretty ordinary fellow. We read in John’s gospel that Andrew and Peter were originally from Bethsaida, a small town probably in northern Galilee. We know that at some point they moved to Capernaum, a nearby larger city, located by the Sea of Galilee at the junction of several trade routes. That’s where the two brothers shared a house and a fishing business.
It’s possible that Andrew and Peter were lifelong friends of the disciples James and John. At the very least they knew each other when they were grown and all fishing in the same sea. They four of them were also spiritual seekers, even before they met Christ.
Now it’s always interesting to read about brothers in the Bible and the Book, in fact, gives us lots of not-so-good examples. Who among us would want our sons to turn out like Cain and Able and Jacob and Esau? Even James and John have that annoying habit of seeking glory for themselves and arguing about where they will sit in heaven.
In contrast, Andrew and Peter seem perfectly suited for each other. At least the quiet and unpretentious Andrew seems the perfect brother for the strong-willed, dominating and some times blustery Peter. I think Andrew genuinely loved his outrageous older brother—after all after Andrew met Christ, the first thing he did was to run and get Peter and lead him to Jesus.
We read in the Bible that at some point Andrew and his fishing buddy John took some time away from fishing to spend time in the wilderness with John the Baptist. It’s possible that they were with him when he baptized Jesus. We know for sure that they were with John the Baptist the day after Jesus was baptized, for John records it in his gospel.
35The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"
37When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
39"Come," he replied, "and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
40Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter[10] ).
Imagine, being so tuned in to Jesus that you not only recognize Him when He passes by, you also follow Him without a moment’s hesitation. Imagine how exciting it was for John and Andrew to spend this time with Him! They met, talked with and were taught by Jesus that very day. This makes them the first disciples.
This was a miraculous encounter for Andrew and what a testimony to his character that he didn’t for a second keep all this good news to himself. He went right away and told Peter. Now think about that for a moment.
Let’s suppose you and your boss have been out to lunch one day and as you are leaving you hear a commotion coming from a table at the back of the restaurant. You turn and see your dynamic older brother, the center of attention at the table, regaling his friends with some story. Without hesitation you take your boss back to the table and introduce him to your brother.
The two of them hit it off and before you know what’s happened, your boss has not only offered your brother a job, he’s made him the company’s new CEO. Your brother is going to have a career that eclipses yours. How do you feel about that?
I’ve been in my brother’s shadow most of my life. When Bill was nine years old he was a star in the West Grove Little League. He played in a field rimmed by signs advertising local businesses. In the middle of center field was a sign for the local saving and loan. All the kids knew that if anyone ever hit a homerun out of the ballpark right over that sign, a savings account would be opened in their name and the bank would make the first deposit. Bill was the first one to hit the magic home run.
The bank president came to a game to present Bill with something symbolic of the savings account. The ceremony was held on the pitcher’s mound. Bill, a charming, blue-eyed, blonde so impressed the bank president that the bank decided to feature Bill in an advertising campaign. As a skinny 13-year-old with red hair, freckles, braces and glasses I didn’t appreciate the day a photographer came out to our house and spent an afternoon photographing Bill in his baseball uniform—pitching, batting, leaning on the bat—you get the picture. I had always suspected that there was something special about Bill and a few weeks after the photo session all the local newspapers confirmed that for me, running ads with huge photos of Bill that said, “Bill Hannum is a winner and you can be too when you open a savings account at the West Grove Savings and Loan.”
Just like Peter got a great deal more ink in the New Testament than Andrew, my brother throughout his life got and continues to get a lot more press than I ever will. Just last year a local historian wrote a book about Penn Township where my mother has lived for most of her life. He interviewed and wrote about her and the article contained many mistakes. It says for example, “Mrs. Hannum has one child, a son, named Bill, who is a policeman in Petersburg, Virginia.”
Chances are, with my amused but begrudging attitude, I would never have been chosen to be a disciple. Fortunately for us, Andrew wasn’t like that and we have his excellent example of how to be a supportive sibling right here in the Bible. After Andrew found the Messiah the first thing he did was bring his brother to Christ.
In the book, “12 Ordinary Men,” John MacAruthur writes that when introducing Peter to Jesus, “Andrew must have known that Peter would take charge, yet he brought him anyway—this says much about his character.”
Peter would go on and preach at Pentecost where 3,000 people were converted. We never hear of Andrew addressing the masses, but ultimately didn’t he play a role in the conversion of the 3,000 as well? By bringing Peter to Christ doesn’t Andrew ultimately share in the fruits of Peter’s ministry as well as his own?
Having a heart for ministry in the background, having a personality that does not seek the limelight is not a bad thing. Not resenting those who do seek the limelight is a gift. Think about it—didn’t someone bring Billy Graham to Christ? Isn’t there a Sunday School teacher or pastor out there who encouraged Rick Warren whose “Purpose Driven Life” is said to be transforming the nation?
Andrew understood the importance of bringing just one person to Christ—of saving just a single soul. That’s what he did for Peter and that’s what he does the other two times he is featured in a story in the Bible.
In the story of the feeding of the 5,000, Andrew brought someone to Christ, and a miracle that we are still talking about today, happened. The miracle we refer to when our children take up our One Great Hour of Sharing collections in fish banks.
We read in John 6
5When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7Philip answered him, "Eight months’ wages[1] would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
In “12 Ordinary Men,” we read, “Jesus had commanded the disciples to offer the people something to eat. While the other disciples seemed stymied by the request, maybe Andrew alone realized that the Lord would not issue such a command with out making it possible for them to obey. Andrew did the best he could, he identified the one source of food available and made sure Jesus knew about it. Maybe he understood that no gift is insignificant when it is brought to Jesus. It is not the greatness of the gift, but the greatness of the God to whom it is given that matters.”
The lesson for us is simple: Jesus can accomplish much with very little.
I like to think that as Andrew participated in this preaching event with all the disciples, he alone took the time to talk to with the children and he alone knew about the boy with the loaves and fishes and that it was his faith that made him bold enough to bring a mere boy with such a small amount of food to Christ.
Stories like this can embolden us. We who think we have so little to offer can be surprised at what God can do with what we see as our limited gifts. Andrew knew the value in what others might see as the insignificant.
The last time we see Andrew in the Bible he is also doing what he does best—bringing individuals to Christ. This time in John 12:20-22 some Greeks are seeking Jesus. They were probably Gentiles and they sought out the disciple Phillip—maybe because he had a Greek sounding name. For reasons unknown Philip hesitates. He doesn’t immediately lead the Greeks to Christ. Instead he goes to Andrew. Maybe Phillip was timid, maybe he thought he would be bothering Jesus, maybe he didn’t think Jesus would want to meet the Greeks. In any case, Phillip must have known Andrew’s reputation for introducing people to Christ.
When Andrew hears about the Greeks, once again he does not hesitate. He immediately introduces them to Jesus. Maybe he just understood that Jesus welcomes us all regardless of our nationality, our Bible knowledge, our gifts.
Because he brought Peter to Christ and later the Greeks, Andrew is often called the first home missionary—someone who brings people to Christ in his own land—and the first foreign missionary—those who convert people from other countries—and I do think lots of our missionaries continue to follow the example of Andrew today—building personal relationships with others before leading them to Christ.
I think Andrew is a great disciple. In the ministry of Jesus he rarely played a big part, but I believe he had a big heart. The examples he sets for us are huge. He is the quintessential quiet Christian, a role model for all who labor in the stillness, in the quiet places.
Legend has it that after the crucifixion Andrew took the gospel north, that he was crucified after he brought the wife of a Roman governor to Christ. He was lashed to an X-shaped cross instead of being nailed to a traditional one and suffered for two days, all the while preaching to those who passed by. That cross is called the cross of St. Andrew today. He is the patron saint of Scotland and Russia.
Not bad for a quiet disciples who outside of the three stories we looked at today, is only mentioned nine times in the New Testament and many of those times it is just in passing.
So the lessons from Andrew that apply to us today are simple truths from the life of an ordinary man. 1) Love and support your siblings no matter how different they are from you. 2) There is value in each individual and in each gift you can offer to Christ. 3) If you think someone with whom you cross paths is ready to know Christ—don’t hesitate. Bring them to church where they can meet Him, too.
I think that if Andrew had a wife and was welcoming her home from a retreat today, and he knew the theme of the retreat was FLOWERS, he would meet her at the door and say, “Thank God you’re home. I missed you. The kids are at your mom’s and this bouquet is for you. Come and sit and tell me all about your weekend with the Lord.”
