Feast of St. Andrew, Year C (November 20, 2022) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
St. Andrew’s Feast/Christ the King (2022 STA)
Deuteronomy 30:11-4
Romans 10:8b-18
Matthew 4:18-22
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Amen.
Well,
today is quite the day of celebration,
and I have learned in my short time here that this community knows how to celebrate!
Today we celebrate the ingathering of our pledges:
the many ways that we offer our gifts to God for the furthering of the Kingdom
through the life and ministry of St. Andrew’s.
Today is also Christ the King Sunday,
the last Sunday of the liturgical year.
And today we celebrate our patron saint -- St. Andrew.
For this homily, I want to focus on St. Andrew.
We don’t have that many stories of Andrew…
he seems to be a bit of a “background” disciple and apostle.
As I reflected on the stories of Andrew, three characteristics came to mind:
· Companionship
· Optimism
· Humility (with a touch of strength and boldness)
In today’s gospel reading we hear the story of the call of Andrew:
“As Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon, who is called Peter,
and Andrew his brother,
casting a net into the sea – for they were fishermen.
“And he said to them,
‘Follow me,
and I will make you fish for people.’”
Immediately Andrew and Peter left their nets and followed Jesus.
So, Andrew began his ministry
in companionship.
This theme of companionship for Andrew shows up later in the gospel of John when Philip comes to Andrew saying that some Greeks wanted to see Jesus. (John 12: 20-23)
I have always found that curious.
For some reason, Philip did not take it upon himself to take these folks to Jesus,
but he went and found Andrew and told Andrew.
Then Andrew and Philip together went and told Jesus.
And I’m going to hazard a guess here that when Andrew and Philip found Jesus that Andrew did the speaking.
For whatever reason Philip sought out Andrew as a companion for this request,
and Andrew went right along with him.
As I thought about this situation, I wondered if perhaps Philip sought out Andrew because of Andrew’s response to Jesus at the feeding of the 5,000 which had occurred not long before.
Jesus had been teaching, and preaching, and healing
and then headed off to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
The crowds followed him, of course!
When Jesus looked up and saw the crowds, he said to Philip:
“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”
Philip answered,
“Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.”
In other words, Philip said, “Jesus, this is a no-go man…ain’t gonna happen.”
But, Andrew overheard this conversation and piped up,
“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.”
“But what are they among so many people?”
Here is Andrew’s optimism!
Seeing 5,000 people in front of him,
he first suggests that 5 barley loaves and 2 fish will do.
And then maybe he picks up Philip’s negativity…
“But what are they among so many people?”
Apparently, Andrew’s initial suggestion and optimism were right on track
because Jesus had all those people sit down…
he gave thanks for those 5 loaves and 2 fish,
handed them out
and ended up with 12 baskets of food left over.
There was enough after all!
With God, there is always enough.
With God, there is always abundance…
there is enough to meet the need.
So, perhaps when some Greeks showed up asking to see Jesus,
Philip remembered Andrew’s optimism
and went to ask Andrew to go with him to see Jesus.
These three stories pretty much sum up what we know about Andrew from Scripture.
However, other stories from history tell us that after Jesus’ crucifixion, Andrew went forth as an apostle preaching the Good News of God in Christ in the lands of modern-day Turkey and Greece.
The story is that, like Jesus, Andrew was also crucified by the Romans for his faith.
Here enters what, to me, exhibits his characteristic of humility.
Andrew did not consider himself worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus,
so he asked to be crucified on a cross that was in the shape of an “X”…
what is a called a “saltire” –
the St. Andrew’s cross.
All these stories are how I arrived at the 3 characteristics of Andrew:
companionship,
optimism,
and humility (with a touch of strength and boldness).
I have now been serving at St. Andrew’s for about six months,
and these are characteristics that I also see in this community.
This congregation serves to companion each other and the broader community.
This past week it is reported that one of the nurses told John D’s cousin that folks from the church were dropping by his hospital room multiple times a day to see him and pray with him.
Folks also companion others to doctor’s appointments,
through dark times of grieving,
delivering food in times of need,
and even gathering for “lunch” on Sunday afternoons.
Companionship as ministry is a gift of this church.
And then there’s optimism!
In an expression of optimism…
throughout the history of this church it seems the response to the question:
“how do we meet this enormous need?” is…
“Well, we have five loaves and two fish!”
In response to the question of how to pay off the debt that made this building accessible to people of every level of mobility, Holy Smoke sold loads of Bar-b-Que and then burned the note in the cooker!
In response to the question of how to help folks in Canton who are food insecure, Holy Smoke and many other individuals have provided food through meals at the Canton Community Kitchen, Pathways, and Backpacks of Love.
Even though the cost of food has skyrocketed this year,
Backpacks is feeding 56 kids every week.
When COVID hit, and we needed technology to stream services and Bible study and Godly Play, folks pitched in to purchase technology to keep the community together in worship and prayer and fellowship.
And there is money left over!
Now, to be honest, sometimes a follow-up to the optimism is:
“But what is that among so many people?”
And yet, again and again,
this church dives right in with a “can-do” attitude and gets it done!
With God, there is always enough.
With God, there is always abundance…
there is enough to meet the need.
And last, but not least… there’s humility, with a touch of strength and boldness.
That is a valuable combination!
I don’t know of anyone here who toots their own horn.
Folks pitch in to help out…if something needs doing, it gets done!
And folks are quick to give credit to someone else.
We may all have a little more than just a “touch” of strength and boldness,
but it is always in service to ministry for the kingdom.
I believe that the description of Andrew as a “background” disciple and apostle describes this congregation most aptly.
So, today let us give thanks as we celebrate our many gifts,
as we continue in companionship with each other and our wider community,
living with humility
and optimism.
And may we continue to live as faithful disciples of Jesus,
the humble Christ,
who offered the way of Love
so that all might find abundant life.
Amen.
