Today the church commemorates the life of St. Andrew the
Apostle, and the readings are selected as such.
In the Gospel of John (1:35-42) we read of the story of Andrew coming to
follow Jesus. Andrew and another
disciple of John the Baptist are following behind Jesus. Jesus then asks that loaded question: “What
are you looking for?” Within a day of meeting Jesus, Andrew is so impressed
with Jesus he is bringing his brother Simon along, claiming Jesus is the Messiah. Later in the Gospel whenever we see Andrew
mentioned he is always an agent bringing people to meet Jesus. In St. Andrew we see the prime example of an
apostle; one of the first to begin bringing the world to encounter Jesus of
Nazareth.
The New Testament Lesson for today is an intense one from I Corinthians
that elaborates on these apostles. In
this letter we have St. Paul, another apostle, talking about the apostles:
“for I think that God
has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because
we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you
are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you
are strong. You are held in honor, but
we in disrepute. To the present hour we
are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we
grow weary from the work of our own hands.
When reviled, we bless; when
persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world,
the dregs of all things, to this very day. (ICor. 4:9-13).
I imagine if Simon or Andrew were to have read this before
meeting Jesus they probably would have thought twice. Yet this is where the
meeting of Jesus took all the apostles (except the one) eventually. Something is peculiar about these men though;
something has happened to them that makes them so different. I think we see their wisdom if we read more
from this chapter; Paul writes:
“But with me it is a
very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not
even judge myself. I am not aware of
anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgement before
the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden
in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive the commendation
from God.(ICor.4:3-5)”
I think here we can see a glimpse of the “glory” of the
apostles. These are free men;
spiritually free from the judgement of the world. These were men, who after their treatment by
others surely had cause to judge and condemn others, all the while lifting
themselves up high; yet that is not what we see here. We hear from St. Paul, who has been abused
and treated unjustly, the command “do not pronounce judgement.” It is a shame that this portion of Paul’s
letters has been neglected in modern mainstream Christian discourse. We know that most of the apostles (including
St. Andrew) were eventually martyred (a pretty word for murdered) for their faith in Jesus. They suffered tremendously and the Church has
always recognized the blood of the apostles as the seeds of the Church; for
without them the message would have been lost.
There are few things I think that is important for us to
remember on these days that we honor the apostles: 1) though Christianity has a
lot in common with the other religions of the world, this is something that separates
it from the others: its ability and insistence to accept and embrace suffering
and shame as a part of God’s redemptive will, plan and blessing. In the
Christian Faith, God is in the suffering, just as much as he is in the
joy. 2) we should reflect on the VAST chasm between the faith and life of the apostles versus the
life of the “church” in Christendom (including its lust of hierarchy) and
modern American Christianity. I think it
is important that as we re-think Church, as we explore faith in our current
age, we are able to look back and discern what are the roots of the Apostolic
Christian Faith, and what are its sacrilegious perversions. 3) and lastly, I
encourage us to reflect on the lives of the apostles with gratitude. In them the prophecy was fulfilled: “I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. (Is 49:6b)”
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