EDITOR'S NOTE: On Oct. 23, 2021, I was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and installed as pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. I also served the same church for four years from October 2017 to October 2021 a synodically authorized minister. The journey together these past four years has been an amazing one, full of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on Jan. 15, 2023.
This week's gospel: John 1:29-42
The Lamb of God
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”
The First Disciples of Jesus
35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
The Message:
In one study resource I read this past week, the writer referred to this gospel text as Andrew’s call story.
As you may remember from the text, Andrew already was a follower of John. So we know he was a follower of The Way, as the Jesus movement was known as in the 1st century.
And then one day, John, Andrew and a third believer are hanging about … maybe it was in the village square … maybe at the temple … who knows … But they’re hanging out, and Jesus walks by.
And John exclaims: “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” … Well, naturally, the two disciples do what any faithful believer would do when they hear someone say, “There goes the messiah!” … they follow him!
I mean, wouldn’t you? … Wouldn’t you hightail it after Jesus if he went strolling by?
Eventually, Jesus notices these two disciples of John following him, and he stops to address them. “What are you looking for?” … In other words, “Why are you following me?”
Well, the two don’t really answer him, but instead ask Jesus where he is staying. Jesus invites them to see. And the two follow Jesus to where he was staying. And they spend the entire day with him, our gospel tells us.
And here is where I think today’s story gets really interesting: After spending the day with Jesus, Andrew is compelled to go find his brother, Simon Peter.
He’s so excited about the encounter that he runs to find Simon Peter because he has to share the news that they have found the messiah!
Try to imagine Andrew’s excitement when he runs up to his brother! … Probably a little out of breath … “Simon, we have found the Messiah!”
And then try to imagine Simon being so moved by his brother’s excitement that he too just has to go and see for himself. … “Wait, you’ve found the messiah? Are you sure? … Well, this I gotta see!”
So the two of them run back to where Jesus is, and what must Simon Peter’s shock must be like? … There is Jesus himself, the Son of God. … Standing before him in the flesh!
Once he arrives, Jesus looks at Simon, and says, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” … which, as we know, is translated as “Peter.”
And the rest is history. … What does Peter do? … Well, we all know that Peter goes on to build the very church we know from the ground up. … Peter the rock, remember? … We wouldn’t be here today without him.
It’s a great story, right? … Kind of a story like Paul Harvey used to tell. And what did he always say at the end: “And now, you know, the rest of the story.”
Well, now we know how Peter became the rock of the church! … And it’s through this series of events.
Andrew, a disciple of John, is hanging out with him one day. They see Jesus walk by; John points him out; Andrew follows him; spends the day with him; and is so moved by the experience that he has to go find his brother to share the news.
Then, Simon Peter is moved by Andrew’s excitement; he can probably even see Christ’s light shining through his brother Andrew; so he follows to meet Jesus himself. And because he does, we get the founder of the church we know today.
Faith Family, you see, it all starts with Andrew … and the fact that he was so moved by meeting Jesus that he just had to go find his brother to tell him.
Remember, Andrew already was a follower. He had already turned his life over to Christ, and we know this because he was a disciple of John’s.
But then in the moment when he realizes that he truly has encountered Christ, his faith takes a turn. … It’s not enough for him to just be a believer. … No, he realizes that he is compelled to go find his brother and bring him to Jesus as well.
That is Andrew’s call story. … His call begins in the very moment that just believing in his own salvation wasn’t enough. … It begins when he is so moved by his encounter with Jesus … that he has to go find his brother so that he can be saved too.
Because, Faith Family, that is what a call means. … And each of us, as followers of Christ is called.
We just forget that sometimes.
The trouble with the way that Christianity has developed in the past 2,000 years is that we have convinced ourselves that the most important thing about our faith is to procure our own eternal salvation. … Our faith is about me, me, me. … How do I get saved?
When the gospel is very clear what our Godly-inspired goal should be as we walk in faith. … Our actual call isn’t to save our own skin! … Our call is that we take Christ’s love that shines through us and go out to find others who need to know Christ as well!
We need to be the Andrews of this story! … Think about that!
In this gospel text, we are told that Andrew is so moved by his experience with Christ, that “the first thing” he does is go find his brother. … “Simon Peter, You have to come with me. I’ve found the messiah! … And I want YOU to know him too! … I can’t keep this to myself!”
That is a call. … This gospel text is Andrew’s call. … Because he answers the beckoning that God has issued him. … “Andrew, you’ve found me. Now, you have to help others find me,” God says to him.
In this season that we discuss epiphanies, I want to share a very impactful epiphany that happened to me this past week. … And, I admit, it wasn’t until a few days had passed, and that I had spent a good deal of time mulling over this week’s gospel text, that I realized what the incident meant.
I was having a conversation with another believer, an ardent follower of Christ, and the person asked me: “How do you do it? How do you manage such different worlds in your life?”
At first, I honestly didn’t understand the question. … I took it to be a question about how I manage the time for both, because honestly that is a lot of people’s first question for me.
But the person clarified: “No! … I mean, how do you separate your pastoral job with the work you do in newspapers everyday. That’s got to be difficult.”
And that’s when the epiphany hit …
They weren’t asking about time management. … They were asking how it is that I slip in and out of the two professional roles I carry.
How do you go from being a newspaper executive to being a pastor and then vice versa?
Because in their mind, there’s absolutely no way that a pastor could work in the newspaper world … or that a newspaper executive could be a pastor. … Right? That’s what was going through their head … because that is what we have conditioned faith to be in this modern world of ours.
We are to hide our faith under that bush … right up until the culturally appropriate time that we can briefly uncover it. And then we stow it away again so the world won’t ridicule us!
Tell me if this sounds a little familiar.
My faith is mine. … I carry it around in this pretty, little box wherever I go throughout the week, and then on special occasions, I open the box and I let my faith out.
Oh-hoh-hoh! … You should see how my faith shines on Sunday mornings, during those couple of hours I am at church. … Lordy, Lordy … She is a sight to see! … that faith of mine then sure is!
And then at the end of fellowship, I finish my coffee; say goodbye to my faith community for the week; pack away my shiny, glorious faith in its pretty carrying case; and I zoom home in time to catch the Vikings game!
Faith Family, hyperbole aside … there are a great many Christians that actually believe that is what faith is. … There are a great many Christians that are convinced that if they are saved, that’s all that matters.
They struggle with the idea that true faith moves us beyond our selfish selves … true faith moves us beyond the focus on our very own salvation … to the focus on the salvation of others.
And that’s exactly what the gospel story involving Andrew tells us today. … We know that Andrew was a faithful follower of Christ. … After all, he had to be … because he was first a follower of John, who was a follower of Jesus Christ.
So, even before Andrew ever took that first step to chase after Jesus, we knew he had procured his own salvation. … But, what happens when the already-saved Andrew has his personal encounter with Christ!
It changes him! … He’s no longer concerned about his own salvation. … Rather, he is so moved by the experience, that he has to run to his brother and share. … He has to run to his brother and bring him to Christ as well! … He wants Simon Peter to know Jesus’ love too!
When I was talking with that other fellow believer this week, their question was how do I slip in and out of the two professional roles I carry. How do I go from being a newspaper executive to being a pastor and then vice versa.
And as lovingly as possible, I tried to explain: “I don’t. When I walk into work on Monday morning my aim is to be the same person I am when I walk through those double doors of our lovely church on Sunday morning.”
I don’t want to make this story about me, because it’s not. … The point is that Andrew came to realize that his faith wasn’t his alone. After experiencing Christ, he realized that he was compelled to go into the world and find his brother and share the Good News.
And look what we got in exchange for Andrew answering his call: Simon Peter, the person who would go on to found the church we belong to some 2,000 years later.
So, Faith Family … How about you? … Are you answering your call? … When is the last time that you let that carefully cared for, and unshakably glorious, faith of yours out of the box? … When was the last time you were like Andrew, and you just HAD TO FIND SOMEONE with whom to share your experience with Christ? … Because, after all, that is your call.
And, Faith Family, that is the Good News for this Second Sunday after Epiphany, Jan. 15, 2023. … Amen.
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