A homily for the Apostle Andrew, the Holy and
All-Praised First Called (commemorated on November 30).
Walking through
this dark, cold morning, did you happen to ask yourself, “What in the world am I doing?”
What were we
looking for when we got out of bed this morning? What were we looking for when
we came to this place—whether we came from the other side of the world, or the
other side of the street?
Have we found it?
What are we looking for now?
When St. Andrew
first followed Jesus, our Lord looked at him and asked, “What do you seek?”
What were we seeking when we were first called?
Something inspired
us to leave everything and follow Christ to this place. Perhaps it was a fire
that burned in our souls, or a light that guided us through the darkness, or a
Word that spoke to us in our loneliness.
As Andrew, and
Simon Peter and Phillip and Nathanael are called, they leave everything and
follow Christ. And we can imagine that in those early days, there was a great
deal of excitement, perhaps even some back slapping and self-congratulation.
“We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus
of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
We have
found Him, you and I, we are the chosen ones, we can see something amazing in
Jesus, and so we leave everything to follow Christ.
But it is a long path.
It stretches from
the wilderness of Jordan, throughout the Galilee, across the perilous waters of
that sea, to the land of the Gaderenes and back, and ultimately the path leads
up the long and treacherous road to Jerusalem.
It is a path that
starts out bright, hopeful, exciting, thrilling even, but it gets harder, and
harder.
And standing there
on the Mount of Olives, looking across the Kidron Valley at the Temple, we
wonder, just as Andrew did, “Lord, all that you have foretold, when will it
come to pass?” But when it becomes clear that the journey ends with a shameful,
dishonorable death on Golgotha, nailed to the cross, we realize just how hard
it is to follow Christ.
It was not easy for
St. Andrew, and it is certainly not easy for us.
But it is frighteningly easy to fall away. So
frighteningly easy to deny Christ, voluntarily or involuntarily, in word or in
deed, in knowledge or in ignorance.
And so today, on
this cold, dark, morning, we may feel a bit like Andrew and the other disciples
who were so dispirited as Jesus hung upon the Cross. But just because we might
be dispirited, does not mean that we are defeated.
In those dark days,
Andrew’s faith may not have burned as bright as it once had in those exciting
days of leaving everything and following Christ. And this morning maybe our faith does not burn as bright as it
once did, when we first we made exciting decisions to go off in new directions.
Perhaps Andrew’s faith was nothing more than the tiniest spark of a smoldering
wick. And perhaps that is all the faith that we have.
But that one small
spark is all it takes.
In that upper room
on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles, the
smoldering wick of faith was fanned into a tongue of fire. No matter how weak
their faith had been, each one of
them became a light in the darkness, and they were sent out into the world to
bring Christ to a lonely world.
At that moment
Andrew began to understand his calling.
According to
legend, he traveled far and wide, preaching the Gospel in Cyprus, Georgia,
Romania, and Kiev. And in his most difficult moments, on those cold dark
mornings, hundreds and hundreds of miles from the warm shores of the Sea of
Galilee, perhaps he thought back to Jesus’ first words, “What are you seeking?”
No matter where he
was, no matter what he was doing, no matter how dark or cold, he needed to look
no further than his own heart, for as St. Paul says, “God’s love has been
poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 5.5) Filled with that
love, Andrew saw the image of God in everyone he met. He saw the image of God
in the poor, the angry, the sick, the despairing, the lonely, the stranger. It
was this love of God that allowed him to rejoice and give thanks even as he
offered his life as a martyr.
Today as we give
thanks in this Liturgy, we pray to God, “Send down your holy spirit upon us and
upon these gifts.” As we pray this prayer today, may God remind us of the
moment that we were first called.
By the prayers of
St. Andrew the First Called, may we fulfill our calling to do God’s work: being
faithful in everything we do, especially those things that are annoying or
unpleasant; offering a kind word to the people that God places in our life,
especially the ones who are the most difficult to love; and giving thanks to
God for all things, especially the crosses that we are blessed to bear on this
day.
By the prayers of
St. Andrew the First Called, may our hearts catch fire with faith in our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
By Rev. Dr. J. Sergius Halvorsen
Source: https://svotssynaxis.com/2015/12/07/the-moment-we-were-first-called/
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