(Delivered as a Guest at Stokesdale United Methodist Church, Stokesdale, NC)
The next day
John again was stranding with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus
walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and
they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned
and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi,” (which translated
means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
He said to them, “Come and see.”
They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that
day. It was about four o’clock in the
afternoon. One of the two who heard John
speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to
him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him
and said, “You are Simon son of John.
You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
It is a joy to be with you
in worship this morning. I am grateful
for the invitation of your beautiful, kind, compassionate, wise, and overall
“Git-R-Done” pastor to be here today.
Being part of a clergy couple carries both certain joys and challenges –
one of those challenges is that though we are both called with a deep passion
to lead the in life-transforming worship, ministry, and mission, we rarely get
to do that together. And so, as a
spouse, it is simply a rare treat for us to be in worship together. We enjoy getting to work together, so thank
you for letting that happen today.
I am also grateful for
this congregation and the role you play in this community. Not to put too fine a point on it, but your
authentic commitment to a distinctly Wesleyan theology and way-of-life is not
only unique, but is a tremendous gift to your neighbors. That is something our world today desperately
needs, and you have it here! You should
be proud of that, because you have something here worth offering!
Ashley has probably told
you this many times already, but let me reiterate how happy we are to be here,
to call NW Guilford County home, and to be so warmly welcomed and graciously
received into both the Morehead and Stokesdale church families. Thank you for helping both of us feel right
at home; we are glad to be here. Let us pray.
Little
Brothers
Today, I’d like for us to
think about little brothers. Who in the
room has a little brother? Take a look
around, I want everyone to note this.
Now, who in the room is a
little brother? Those of you who raised
your hand the first time, I want you to take special note of these little
brothers around you! Little brothers
have it tough, growing up in the shadow of their older siblings.
I am both a younger
brother and an older brother. I did have
the advantage of being the first boy, however, so as I grew up and went through
school, many teachers did not expect me to be very much like my older sisters,
which was a good thing, because our personalities are very different.
However, six years after I
came along, my younger brother, Dave, went through the same teachers, and those
who made the connection about who he was and who he was related to expected him
to be like a little mini-version of me, which—thanks be to God—he’s not. I know what’s it like to be a little brother,
and what a pain in the proverbial they can be, and I know what it’s like to
have a little brother, and the great gift they can be.
In today’s text we find Andrew,
kid brother to Simon Peter. We hear all
about Simon Peter throughout scripture: his questions, his doubts, his walking
on water, his confession of Jesus as the Messiah and then his denial of ever
having known Jesus. Before the story is
over, we will remember him as chief among the apostles and the primary leader
of the early church.
But what do we know about
his kid brother, Andrew? Not much. His personality fades in comparison to that
of his outgoing, gregarious, head-strong older brother. Andrew all but disappears in his older
brother’s shadow. But, as both a little
brother and an Andrew myself, I know that little brothers and Andrews play an
important role in the story of Faith. And
indeed, had it not been for ordinary, little Andrew, Christianity as we know it
may not have even gotten off the ground.
Who was
Andrew?
So, who was Andrew? Andrew was Simon Peter’s kid brother. When they played a game, who decided what
they would play? Simon Peter. When a joke was being told, who was telling
it? Simon Peter. When someone asked them a question about
fishing, who jumped in with an immediate response? Simon Peter.
In the background, playing second fiddle, was Andrew.
Andrew is much more
ordinary than his gregarious older brother, Simon Peter. Simon Peter loves the limelight and has no
problem being the life of the party. Make
him the center of attention and know that he’ll share his opinion on anything,
whether he knows what he’s talking about or not – anyone here know anyone like
that? No finger pointing! Because he’s so much larger than life, Simon
Peter is a rare species – you distinctly remember meeting someone like him.
But Andrew is just a
normal, ordinary guy – someone just like you and me. And that’s what I want us to remember about
Andrew – he is a regular, ordinary, normal person – someone just like you and
me.
For every Simon Peter,
there are 10,000 Andrews. Abraham
Lincoln said, “God must love ordinary people; he made so many of them!” The
amazing thing is that God can and does use all of those ordinary people, you
know, people like us. It’s easy to
overlook someone as plain and ordinary as Andrew, but if faith has taught us
anything, it is that God so often uses the ordinary to accomplish the
extraordinary. So it was for Andrew!
Andrew was a disciple of
John the Baptist, whose message was one of preparation for Jesus. In our text today, Jesus walks by when John
the Baptist whispers. “Pssst. Hey Andrew.
That’s him. That’s the guy. You know, the one I’ve been telling you about
from the beginning. You know, the Lamb
of God. The one who will take away the
sin of the world, who will change the world, the one who will bring about
reconciliation between all the world and God.
That’s him!”
Andrew doesn’t need to
hear anything else. Before John has even
stopped speaking, Andrew is off. Andrew follows Jesus and ends up spending the
better part of 24 hours with him. We
don’t really know what they talked about, or what happened. We simply know that spending time with Jesus
changed him, and Andrew, who up until now has been a disciple of John the
Baptist, will become a follower of Jesus.
I doubt he knew what he
was getting himself into in following Jesus – honestly, who among us does! But whatever happened to Andrew, whatever he
and Jesus talked about, whatever it was like to spend time with Jesus, it must
have been wonderful, because Andrew just couldn’t keep the news to
himself. First thing the next morning,
Andrew ran to find his larger-than-life big brother and shared the wonderful
news, “We have found the Messiah. The
one for whom we have hoped for so long is here, he is among us. I have met him, and I want you to meet him
too.”
Andrew is an evangelist. The term “evangelist” comes from the Greek
word euangelion – which means “good news” or “gospel.” Andrew is an evangelist in that he shares the
good news of Jesus, with others, including his big brother. Andrew knew that Jesus was good news, plain
and simple, and he just had to tell someone about it. He simply said “I have met Jesus, and I would
like you to meet him too. Let me bring
you to Jesus.”
You ever have someone tell
you something, or you come across an article or a piece of news or some
particular experience, and you think, “Oh, this is just too good not to share! I just have to tell someone or I will
literally burst!
Back in the early 80s,
Apple Computers hired a special group of salesmen who they called “Apple
Evangelists.” It was their job to spread
the good news of Apple Computers, which was easy because these guys were so
excited and believed with every geeky fiber of their being that Apple Computers
were the best thing to happen to humankind since perhaps sliced bread or the
invention of the wheel.
It’s easy to share good
news when you genuinely believe it, and believe everyone else needs to
experience it, as well. Friends, good
news is meant to be shared, and what greater news do we have than new life in
Christ?
Andrew – an
ordinary evangelist
Andrew was an ordinary
person who met Jesus and wanted others to meet him, too. And so, he went and found his brother and
brought him to Jesus. Andrew did not try
to convert his brother. Andrew did not
try to change his brother or convince his brother. Andrew just said, “Come and see. I would like you to meet Jesus.” Andrew’s life had been transformed because he
met Jesus, and he just wanted others to meet him too.
In fact, everywhere we
meet Andrew throughout the rest of the story, he brings people to Jesus. When Jesus had been preaching to a great
crowd that was starting to get hungry, Andrew had been talking to a little boy
who had a sack lunch with five loaves of bread and two fish in it. Andrew said, “I would like you to meet
Jesus.” Jesus transformed that little
boy, transformed his meager meal, and transformed the crowd. Then later, Andrew meets a few Greeks and he
says, “I would like you to meet Jesus,” and they become disciples. Andrew doesn’t make many appearances through
the Gospels, but every time he does, he is bringing people and introducing them
to Jesus, and lives are changed because of it.
Be an Andrew
Sometimes we think that
evangelism is best left to the professionals.
Leighton Ford tells this story:
“I was speaking at an
open-air crusade in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Billy Graham was to speak the next
night and had arrived a day early. He came incognito and sat on the grass at
the rear of the crowd. Because he was wearing a hat and dark glasses, no one
recognized him.
“Directly in front of him
sat an elderly gentleman who seemed to be listening intently to my
presentation. When I invited people to come forward as an open sign of
commitment, Billy decided to do a little personal evangelism. He tapped the man
on the shoulder and asked, ‘Would you like to accept Christ? I'll be glad to
walk down with you if you want to.’ The old man looked him up and down, thought
it over for a moment, and then said, ‘Naw, I think I'll just wait till the big
gun comes tomorrow night.’”
Friends, inviting people
to meet Jesus is not just a job for the big guns, it’s for the small shot, the
little brother, the regular, ordinary person.
Scripture is filled with
examples of people who didn’t feel qualified to be about the task to which God
had called them. They offered all sorts
of excuses: “I’m too old” or “I’m too young.”
“I’m not experienced enough,” or “I’m too tired.” “I’m not trained” or “I am not a good public
speaker.” Those are human excuses, and
they are no barrier to God. The difference
was made by those who simply responded to the call, regardless of their
qualifications.
If you’re here this morning
and you’re thinking, “I’m just a regular, ordinary person,” then let me tell
you this: yes, you are! You are
wonderfully ordinary! The good news
today is that God uses the ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary; the more
ordinary you are, the more extraordinary things God can do through you. So, thank you for being an ordinary person!
Andrew simply says, “I
would like you to meet Jesus.” Simple words of invitation are more crucial to
the life of faith than our carefully worded theological statements. The church begins with an invitation, and it
spreads, person to person, with the simple words of a heartfelt invitation.
Andrew invites Simon Peter
to come and see; Andrew welcomes because he was welcomed himself. Likewise, we invite others to come and see;
we welcome because we were welcomed ourselves.
We invite because we were invited.
The world could use a few
more Andrews. Stokesdale could use a few
more Andrews! We could use a few more people who bring people to Jesus.
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