Sermon by The Reverend John Beddingfield on St. Andrew and doing the work of an evangelist in the world

A sermon for Saint Andrew’s Day, November 30, 2006.

The lectionary readings are Deuteronomy 30:11-14, Psalm 19:1-6, Romans 10:8b-18, and Matthew 4:18-22.

A friend of mine celebrated his fortieth birthday this week and at the very gracious dinner he threw, I was reminded of his devotion to Saint Andrew the Apostle. My friend, Ian (a sometime assisting priest at Saint Mary’s) went to the Saint Andrew’s School in Delaware. After that, he went to Saint Andrew’s University in Edinburgh. I am sure that he must own a flag of Scotland, which shows the Saint Andrew’s cross. I’m certain he has a Saint Andrew’s tie, and I would not be at all surprised to find out that on this very day, he is wearing Saint Andrew’s boxer shorts.
But more important than being simply a devotee of Saint Andrew, my friend Ian is a follower of Saint Andrew, and that’s what I’m interested in talking about today.

If I were able to select any gospel reading I might like for the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, I would not have chosen today’s gospel.
Today’s gospel, from Matthew, focuses on the calling of Andrew and his brother, Simon Peter. It is an important story because they are willing to be interrupted by God. They are alert to the will of God; they are attune to the way of God, and they are able to discern that this Jesus should be taken seriously. And so, they leave their boat and they leave their poor father with the family business, and they move on. No longer do they fish for tilapia. From now on they are fishers of men and women.

Today’s gospel is a good reading. It is a fine story, but in terms of highlighting what is important about Saint Andrew, I think I might have chosen instead the 6th Chapter of John, the story of Jesus feeding the multitude. In John’s account of the feeding of the thousands, it is Andrew the Apostle who makes it all happen. Philip points out that the people are hungry and there’s no money to buy bread. But Andrew says to Jesus, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish…” Andrew is the entrepreneur: he makes the connection between the need and the resources available. Andrew is the host: he links the young stranger to Jesus, the center of the attention. Andrew is the catalyst in that he introduces the young boy to Jesus. But from that simple introduction, a miracle is made.

This friend I mentioned earlier, who is a follower of Saint Andrew, not only follows Andrew by collecting memorabilia. He is a worthy follower of Saint Andrew in that he makes it his business, his habit, his absolute delight, to introduce "all sorts and conditions" of people to Jesus. Again and again, those whom the theologian, Friedrich Schleiermacher, referred to as the “cultured despisers of religion,” are introduced to Jesus by my friend and his elaborate designs. Investment bankers, lawyers, money-makers in the extreme (before they know it) find themselves at a dinner in a church building, sitting beside priests. Introductions are made.
Saint Andrew’s Day calls us to do two things. First, mindful of the Gospel from Matthew, we are called to be alert and to be ready to drop whatever we might be doing in order to follow the call of Jesus. We might be in the middle of a conversation, in the middle of a big project, in the middle of reading the newspaper after a long day at work—but when Jesus calls us to be attentive, it is the faithful heart that listens and responds.

Secondly, I think we’re called to do what my friend Ian does: to be creative, if not preposterous, in our attempts to introduce people to Jesus and his Church. This may be as simple as inviting a colleague to join us at a daily Mass. It might mean asking a friend or a family member if they have a place to go this Christmas and suggesting Saint Mary’s or some other church as a good place to be this season. Following Saint Andrew might also mean that we learn more about our own faith so that when people ask us questions, we are better able to answer them and thus, make the introduction all the more solid.

Evangelism, really, is no more than that: simply making the introduction. God is big enough to take care of the rest.

May we learn to introduce others to our living God. May we learn to be evangelists, and may we become faithful followers of Saint Andrew the Apostle.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.