St Andrew the Apostle 30 November

Strategy for Evangelism

Isa. 52:7-10 The messenger who announces peace; Ps. 19:1—6 The heavens declare God's glory; Rom. 10:12—18 God's messengers reconcile Jew and Greek; Matt. 4:18—22 The call of the fishermen

'For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?' Romans 10:12–14

A bilingual disciple

St Andrew, like his brother Simon Peter, was born in Bethsaida Julias. Extensive remains of this town have been recently found on the east bank of the River Jordan where it enters Lake Galilee. It was in the mostly Greek-speaking area known as the Decapolis. The brothers later settled to the west of the Jordan, in the tiny fishing village of Capernaum. This was in the province of Galilee, where most people spoke Aramaic, a dialect of Hebrew. People living near the border were probably bilingual and spoke both Aramaic and Greek. Andrew has a Greek name; Simon's is Aramaic. Andrew's first appearance on the stage of the gospel story is when Jesus calls him; then Andrew fetches his brother Peter.

The hardest form of evangelism is to share the good news with members of your own family. Some people pray for their relations for years before they're ready to listen, but there must have been something infectious about Andrew's joy in discovering Jesus, for his brother was converted straight away. They were called to be fishers for people, evangelists.

Andrew was one of the inner circle of disciples who were present at the transfiguration and close to Jesus in Gethsemane. His bilingual background meant that he was one of those who brought some Greeks, who were enquiring about Jesus, to meet him. Jesus was so moved to find that his words were attracting, not just the tiny nation of the Jews, but the whole Greek-speaking Roman Empire, that he exclaimed: `The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.'

St Andrew in Patras

We don't have any details in the Bible about what happened to Andrew after that. But there's a very strong tradition that he went to Patras in Greece. Patras is now an important port in the Peloponnese, where the ferries land from Italy, and at the southern end of the impressive new bridge which joins the western part of that peninsula to the Greek mainland. We can't be absolutely certain that Andrew went there, but with his interest in boats and Greeks it seems quite likely. The tradition continues by describing his crucifixion there on an X-shaped cross, as punishment for baptizing Maximilla, the wife of the Roman Governor of Patras, who was named Egaes. Poor Andrew's bones weren't left in peace but dragged all over Europe, to Constantinople, the Vatican and Amalfi, and some of them to St Andrew's in Scotland, which is why the red X-shaped cross of St Andrew is part of the Union Flag of the United Kingdom.

A strategy for evangelism

St Paul built on Andrew's foundations in trying to evangelize the Greeks, and bind them into one church with the Jews. Paul probably never went to Patras; his strategy was to establish strong churches in the provincial capitals, in this case the nearby city of Corinth, and rely on the Christians from these cities to take the good news of the gospel out to the surrounding towns. When he wrote from Corinth to the Christians in Rome, he emphasized the importance of those who were willing to carry the good news of Jesus to others: `How are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?' Yet some were trying to deny that Greeks could be members of what was at that time a mostly Jewish church. Paul, like Andrew, saw that this was a denial of the gospel message: `For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." '

If Paul and Andrew hadn't insisted on this principle, you and I wouldn't be Christians. Just think: if that's true, shouldn't we also be willing to bring people to Jesus, no matter what language they speak, or what their national, ethnic or religious background, as Andrew was?

Suggested hymns

Jesus calls us—o'er the tumult; I danced in the morning when the world was begun; Take up thy cross, the Saviour said; Will you come and follow me?