Saint Andrew the Apostle 2022

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Saint Andrew, Apostle

John 1:35-42a

November 30, 2022

Advent begins by calculating the Sunday closest to St. Andrew’s day. That’s today, November 30. That calculation ensures there are always exactly four Sundays in Advent. But there is more at work here.


Andrew is among the first called to be a disciple of Jesus. The Greeks titled Andrew Prōtoklētos - the “first called.” Andrew and a friend had been disciples of John the Baptist. They listened to John, who pointed them to Jesus and said, “Look! That’s the Lamb of God!”


That’s astonishing on many levels. What kind of preacher sends his own members away? It’s a preacher’s natural desire to gain more hearers for himself. But St. John the Baptist is the first and greatest preacher of Christ, who makes Christ everything and himself nothing.


And the claim that Jesus is the answer to the world-problem – it’s breathtaking in both scope and simplicity. That this Man Jesus can undo the curse, that He is the Lamb whose blood can cause death to pass over, the one who can open tombs and bring an end to corruption – how can this be?


But Andrew listens. He follows Jesus, not knowing where they are going.


Jesus turns and looks with a penetrating gaze that sees into Andrew’s soul. “What do you seek?” It’s a fitting question for us as well. What do you seek? What do you want?


Your answers to those questions reveal your gods. What your heart clings to, what your heart trusts, what your heart longs for – that is really your god.


Look at Andrew’s answer. He asks for no money, no health improvements, no status enhancements. “What do you seek, Andrew?” And Andrew replies, “Where are You staying?” Which is to say, “I want to follow You. I don’t know where You are going, but I believe what our teacher John said about You. You are the Lamb of God. You are the end of my sin, You are the death of my death, You are the overturning of the world-problem.” Andrew couldn’t understand all of what that meant just yet. But he believed the Word, and it was enough.


So Jesus replies to Andrew and his friend, “Come and see.” That’s what Advent calls us into again. Come and see that God has become man, that He has taken your nature into Himself, to redeem it. Come and see what your sins cost. Come and see what My cross will accomplish. Come and take up your own cross, and follow Me.” As Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”


Andrew does. And straightway he tells his own brother, Simon Peter: “We have found the Messiah.” That’s the message of the Church today. I can’t tell you to follow me. I didn’t die for you. I can’t take away your sins. All I have is the same words as Andrew to his brother: “We have found the Messiah.”


There are only a few traditions about what happened to Andrew after Pentecost, and they aren’t consistent. It doesn’t matter. What Andrew has already given us is our program for Advent:


  1. Andrew took the word of the prophet seriously.

  2. Andrew followed Jesus without regard for himself or the cost.

  3. Andrew told his brother about Jesus, and simply invited him to come follow Jesus too.

  4. According to tradition, Andrew was crucified in Achaea.


Being a Christian has a cost. We follow Christ into perils unknown. Being a Christian is soon going to be, as it was for Andrew, a thing that brings hatred and death. It matters not. “We have found the Messiah.”


So now the question is put to you. “What do you seek?” What do you want? What are your desires? Put those desires to death, and listen to Andrew: “We have found the Messiah.” Nothing else matters.+INJ+