Being Like Andrew

Today, our sermon from the lovely Pastor John Beeman was about being like Andrew, Peter’s brother. Here’s a link to the full sermon if interested. Someone Must Bring One

I found this interesting because we don’t have any written works from Andrew that I’m aware of, and he really seems like a side character. However, he was one who would invite anyone to learn from or meet Jesus, regardless of their background. This is a strength he has that Peter, his brother, does not. We see Paul rebuke Peter for his prejudices in the New Testament, but I don’t remember the book, so I’m not going to tell you where.

A few examples that Pastor John brings up are, first in the gospel of John, John 6:8-9 NIV.

8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,

9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

A seemingly insignificant set of verses until you think about the culture at the time. As Pastor John puts it, you wouldn’t bother a Rabi with a child. Andrew however, saw value in the child and what he could literally bring to the table in this case. The second instance I took not of also in the gospel of John, John 12:20-22 NIV.

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival.

21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”

22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

The interesting thing pointed out here is that Philip doesn’t go directly to Jesus; he goes to Andrew first. Andrew had a gift that allowed him to look past insignificant things in the grand scheme of things. God has a plan for everyone, and it’s not up to us to decide if they deserve to hear about it simply because they have a belief or background that we don’t agree with. Not everyone needs to be like Peter or Paul and have a grand story that converts thousands; sometimes, you just need to be the one to convert someone that no one else would reach out to.