Following Jesus with the Saints in Advent
“St. Andrew:
Come and See the Savior of the Nations”
November 30,
2016
INI
In the
season of Advent, there are a number of saints that are commemorated. This
year, some of the more significant celebrations fall on or near the Wednesdays
when we have our Advent worship. Therefore,
our Advent theme this year is “Following Jesus with the Saints in Advent.” We will learn a bit about their lives, how
they followed Jesus, and why they are significant at this time of year. By hearing from Holy Scripture and learning
about these faithful followers, we can be guided in our own life of discipleship.
Each
week, we will also be singing select stanzas from a hymn written by one of
those saints, one we’ll hear about next week.
Ambrose – bishop of Milan, Italy in the 4th century – wrote many
hymns, and in this one which we sang a few moments ago he sings of the Savior’s
miraculous conception … of a virgin, not by human flesh and blood, but by the Holy
Spirit. “In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and the Word was God … And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us” (John 1:1, 14). Ambrose
tells us to “marvel” that the Lord chose such a birth. Marvel that the Second Person of the Holy
Trinity, God himself, made the Virgin’s womb his home for 9 months. And when the time had come for Mary’s Son to
be born, he entered into this world, the pure and fresh offspring of the woman,
the only pure and fresh offspring since Adam and Eve fell into sin, the
offspring that came into this world “where death had royal scope and room” to
do battle with Satan … to endure temptation … to live perfectly under the Law …
to offer up his holy flesh and blood as the sacrifice for the sins of the world
… to give you forgiveness and life everlasting … to be the Savior of the
Nations … to be YOUR Savior.
But
first, we hear about Saint Andrew. November
30 is St. Andrew’s Day. Why November
30? I’m not exactly sure. I searched for the answer but couldn’t find
it. Some of the reasons for these traditions
are simply lost in the past. Many saints
days are celebrated on the day the saint died or was born, but we don’t know
those dates for Andrew.
The
Sunday closest to St. Andrew’s day is always the first day of Advent. It’s the start of a new church year. And a new year is always a time for fresh
starts, new anticipations, a renewal of your desire to follow Jesus and live as
one of his disciples. This is
appropriate when you consider how dramatically Andrew’s life changed when he
encountered Jesus. Andrew was the first
disciple to follow Jesus. In fact, the
Eastern Orthodox churches call him the Protokletos
… “the first-called.” We learn about
this later in John chapter 1, the chapter from which we heard earlier (John
1:35-42). It was the first day of his
new life as a devoted follower of Jesus.
So perhaps that’s why he is the first of our saints in the Church
Year. As we begin to follow along with
the life of Jesus in the Church Year, it’s appropriate that we begin with the
first follower of Jesus … Saint Andrew.
Prior to
this, Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptist (another Advent character who
we’ll hear about the next two Sundays).
Again, in John chapter 1, the Baptizer points his followers to
Jesus. “Behold the Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), we hear him say as he stands on
the banks of the Jordan River. The next
day, he is with two of his disciples, one of whom was Andrew. Andrew goes after Jesus, and Jesus turns to
him and says, “What are you seeking?” Andrew asks, “Where are you staying?” Jesus
says, “Come and you will see.” Notably,
the first thing Andrew does is to introduce someone else to Jesus. He finds his brother Simon Peter and says,
“We have found the Messiah!” And then,
the gospel writes adds, “He brought him to Jesus.” Andrew, Peter, and all other followers of
Jesus found that their lives were changed forever.
Some
early Christian writings tell us that after the Ascension of Jesus, Andrew
travelled to Scythia, which would be Ukraine and south western Russia today. Upon his return south, it is said that he was
arrested in Greece and was crucified on an X-shaped cross like the picture on
the cover of our service folder. One
tradition says that this was at his own request, because he did not feel worthy
to be crucified the same way his Lord died, similar to his brother Simon Peter
who requested he be crucified upside down.
Followers of Jesus will follow in his footsteps of suffering, too. In his first epistle, Peter writes, “For to
this you have been called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an
example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter. 2:21). Paul in Romans 3 says that “we suffer with
him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom. 3:17). And Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know
that it has hated me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but you
are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world
hates you … If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John
15:18-19).
This may
sound out of place in Advent. Advent is
supposed to be a season of anticipation and expectation. A season of joy and hope, of light and
peace. But just when you expected to
hear about angels and Joseph and Mary and Wise Men, you hear about the
Triumphal Entry of Jesus, riding into Jerusalem on the way to his brutal
suffering and death. Then you hear about
Andrew and his call to discipleship.
Then the next two Sundays are all about John the Baptist. Both Andrew and John died martyr’s deaths. Even after Christmas, after we have just
heard the tender story of the Christ Child lying in a manger, we soon hear the
story of King Herod slaughtering the innocents of Bethlehem.
All this
to say that our life is shaped by the cross of Christ in more than one
way. Yes, we are shaped by the cross in
the way that we are united to Christ’s death and resurrection in Holy
Baptism. But we are also shaped by the
cross in the way that we will suffer as his followers. We don’t do anyone any favors by telling them
that their life will be so much happier and successful and free from trouble if
they will only follow Jesus. It could turn
out to be just the opposite.
Andrew’s
encounter with Jesus reminds us that when the time had fully come, Jesus
arrived on the scene. There was much
anticipation and expectation associated with the promise first given to Adam
and Eve, that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. The long-awaited Messiah was born in
Bethlehem in Judea, born to be the Savior of the Nations. But for about 30 years, he lived in obscurity
in Nazareth in Galilee until it was time for his public ministry to begin,
calling disciples to follow him all the way to the cross and the empty
tomb. And through his suffering and
death, Jesus did crush the serpent’s head, earning forgiveness and everlasting
life for all who would trust in him, and proved his victory over sin, death, and
hell by rising to life again.
Jesus is
the Savior of the Nations. He is your
Savior. And because he is your Savior,
you can bring people to the Savior and introduce them to the Savior, just like
Andrew did with his brother Peter. “He
brought him to Jesus.” How can you bring
someone to Jesus? Bring them to the
place where Jesus has promised to be present.
Wherever two or three are gathered in his name, there he is among
them. Wherever bread and wine are
offered with the Word of Christ, there Jesus is truly present with his body and
blood. And wherever Jesus is present,
there he also offers his gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. Evangelism at home and mission work abroad is
as simple as that. Bring people to the
Word so they can meet the Word made flesh and come to know him as Savior of the
Nations … as their Savior. The Savior
who forgives their sin. The Savior who
strengthens them in suffering. The
Savior who saves them for life everlasting.
INI
No comments:
Post a Comment