Witness with Andrew

In Nomine Iesu
St. John 1:35-42a
November 30, 2016
Midweek Advent 1

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus~

You’ve probably never heard a sermon centering on Saint Andrew. I’ve never preached such a sermon. His feast day—today

—falls at a time of year when our focus is firmly fixed on other things. Frankly, there’s not a lot of biblical material to work with where Andrew is concerned. When I opened my Anchor Bible Dictionary to the entry on Andrew, I found a one-page article; and the first sentence was this: “The NT shows little interest in Andrew.” That sounded a bit harsh. But the article went on to explain that while Andrew is mentioned a dozen times in the NT, most of those times he’s simply listed along with the other apostles. He speaks two sentences. One of them you just heard: “We have found the Messiah.” The other line comes in John 6 where Andrew mentions how five barley loaves and two fish won’t be nearly enough to feed a crowd of thousands. It’s true—the NT shows little interest in Andrew.

By contrast, the NT is very, very interested in Andrew’s brother, Peter. Peter’s escapades are splashed across page after page—not to mention First and Second Peter, the two epistles written by Peter. It was Andrew’s impetuous brother, Peter, who walked on water at the invitation of Jesus. It was Peter who confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It was Peter who beheld Jesus in the glory of His transfiguration and then offered to set up tents for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. It was Peter who cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant, Peter who denied Jesus three times, Peter to whom Jesus said, “Feed my sheep,” Peter who preached a Pentecost sermon after which three thousand were baptized and added to the church of Jesus Christ. Andrew, it would seem, pales in comparison to his brother, Peter.

Or so it seems, unless you take seriously our text tonight. For there we learn that Andrew had been one of John the Baptist’s disciples, along with some unnamed, anonymous guy. And when these two saw John the Baptist point his prophetic finger at Jesus and declare, “Behold, the Lamb of God,” Andrew and the other guy followed Jesus. Andrew and the other guy spent a day with Jesus. And at the end of that day Andrew tracked down his brother, Peter, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah.” And immediately Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. Andrew was the first of Jesus’ disciples. Andrew was the first missionary—the first person to bear witness to Jesus as he brought along his brother to see and hear the Savior.

What if he hadn’t? What if Andrew had never gone to Peter and said, “We have found the Messiah?” What if Andrew had never brought brother Peter into the presence of Jesus? Perhaps Peter would never have been an apostle. It’s speculation, of course, but if Andrew had kept his brother in the dark concerning the Light of the World, there would have been no Peter walking on water, no Peter on whose rock solid confession of Christ the church would be built, no Peter proclaiming Jesus as the crucified and risen Messiah on the Day of Pentecost. Without the witness of Andrew, the New Testament would be a very different document.

Will you witness with Andrew? Remember how there was another anonymous, unnamed disciple together with Andrew? There’s lots of speculation about who that other guy was—lots of interesting theories. But I, personally, like to think that that unnamed partner of Andrew is unnamed for a reason—that the Holy Spirit wants you to see yourself as a partner of Andrew—a partner in discipleship, and a partner in bearing witness to Jesus, the Messiah.

When Andrew looked Peter in the eye and said, “We have found the Messiah,” he had no idea of the fruit that those words would bear. When Andrew ushered Peter into the presence of Jesus, there’s no way he could have fathomed how that simple act of witness would impact the history of the world and the church. But then again, that’s how it is every time you bear witness to Jesus—every time you speak of the hope that you have in Jesus—every time that you invite someone to come with you here into the Savior’s presence. You never know what the results might be. The results aren’t something you can control. The results of your witness depend primarily upon the work of the Holy Spirit; and not upon you.

Will you witness with Andrew? Most of us would object that we’re not knowledgeable enough about Jesus to bear witness about Him to others. But you know a lot more than Andrew did! What did Andrew know about Jesus? He heard John call Him the Lamb of God, and Andrew had spent less than 24 hours with Jesus. Andrew hadn’t seen even one miracle performed by Jesus. Andrew’s concept of “Messiah” probably had more to do with political victory than it did with suffering, shame, and crucifixion for the sins of the world. Witnessing doesn’t depend on having an answer for every question or having a PhD in theology. Andrew himself likely had more questions than answers; but that didn’t stop him from telling his brother, “We have found the Messiah,” and then bringing his brother to that Messiah.

Will you witness with Andrew? If so, to whom will you witness? Thank about that. Andrew went to a family member—a brother he knew better than anyone. Who do you know and love that has distanced themselves from Jesus and His church? The odds are that you have no shortage of family and friends who are not receiving what Jesus wants to give them. Far better to aim your witness at those you know than to go out ringing random doorbells. You probably wouldn’t say what Andrew said, “We have found the Messiah.” But you might say that Jesus has found you, and loved you, and made all the difference in your life—that He has given your life meaning, direction, hope, comfort, and eternal significance . . . or whatever seems right to you.

And then you bring them to Jesus—you invite them to come here with you. By my count there are something like 10 services happening here between now and January 1st. Invite someone to the children’s Christmas program. Invite someone to Evening Prayer. Because, when you witness with Andrew, the results don’t depend on you. What are you afraid of? What’s stopping you? What do you have to lose? Whose life might you change—forever—with a simple invitation?

You have found the Messiah, the Lamb of God. Or, more accurately, He has found you and forgiven you—named you and claimed you in the cleansing splash of your baptism. He took on our human flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary. By His death on the cross all of our sin has been answered for. And by His resurrection from the dead we know that our present sufferings don’t even begin to compare with the glory that will be revealed in us. Sharing the hope that you have—witnessing with Andrew—you don’t know the results and you won’t know the results . . . not until you stand with all the redeemed around the throne of the Lamb—together with Peter and Andrew and all the other saints like you—valuable, precious, died-for, and loved. Amen.