Invite

Epiphany 2A, 1/19/14
John 1:29-42

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sigh, O God, you are our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

What would have happened if Andrew had kept the message of Jesus to himself?

Andrew was one of the first disciples to follow Jesus. Andrew had been following John the Baptist, but John’s message always pointed away from himself and towards someone to come.

When Andrew saw Jesus    and heard John say that he was the one they had all been waiting for, Andrew believed. He recognized Jesus and his message as the genuine word of God.

But Andrew didn’t stop with just believing. He had to share this good news with someone. He couldn’t keep it to himself. So he told his brother about Jesus.

And this brother, Simon, became Cephas in Hebrew – Peter in Latin. Jesus renames the guy in both languages, just to make sure there’s no confusion! Simon became the Rock – the Petros, the Cephas – upon which Jesus would build the church.

What would have happened if Andrew had kept the message of Jesus to himself? Would we even be here today? Would the church as we know it ever have existed?

Peter wasn’t perfect by any means. He did some pretty dumb things, like denying that he knew Jesus after he had been arrested – check out John 18:15-27 for that story.

But Peter was also one of the first leaders of the Christian movement. Look in the book of Acts, chapters two through five. Those pages are full of stories of Peter’s witness. On one day he preached a sermon that was so compelling, three thousand people decided to follow Jesus, and were all baptized that day.

Three thousand people.

One sermon.

He must have been very convincing!

Peter was clearly responsible for the growth of the early church. Without Peter’s preaching and teaching and leadership, it seems unlikely that Christianity would have ever developed at all.

And without Andrew, Peter would never have become a follower of Christ.

The argument could be made that each of us owes our salvation to Andrew. Jesus did the hard work, obviously, and Peter told the world about our salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

But Peter would never have been a Christ-follower without the influence of Andrew.

It seems unlikely that Andrew himself would have led public demonstrations like Peter did after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Andrew was a little more introverted than that. Andrew seems not to be the world-teller, but the friend-teller. Andrew had a few close friends and family members, and those were the ones he brought to Jesus. And what a difference it has made to our world!

This story of discipleship is so relevant to us, because it allows everyone to have a place in the story. Those who are outspoken in crowds can relate to Peter, or perhaps even to John the Baptist. Those who are more comfortable in one-on-one situations can relate better to Andrew.

Put yourself in the story. Where do you fit? Are you the one who calls out to passersby to tell them all about God’s plan for the world? Or are you the one who pays careful attention to what’s going on, then invites your loved one to join you?

I think, from what I know about the folks in this congregation, that many of you are a little more introverted, a little more quiet, than Peter or John the Baptist. Some of you, I know, would rather have a root canal than get up front and read a lesson in worship.

The world needs people like John the Baptist and Peter. The world needs those folks who can get up in front of a crowd and tell them all sorts of wonderful things about Jesus. The world needs people who can get them excited and inspire them to action on behalf of God and for the sake of others. The world needs people like Martin Luther King and Pope Francis, and our own Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton.

But the world also desperately needs people like Andrew.

The world needs people who become convinced that the message of Jesus is important, and then share that conviction by personally inviting the people close to them to come and see – to follow Jesus – to meet God in a new way. Martin Luther King and Pope Francis and Elizabeth Eaton all needed childhood pastors and Sunday School teachers and friends to invite them to youth group.

Andrew became convinced that Jesus was the real deal – that he was the Messiah – because he listened to the preaching of John the Baptist. And then, once Andrew encountered Jesus, he chose to follow him and spend some time with him.

We can’t do exactly the same thing nowadays, since Jesus has already ascended into heaven, and has not yet returned.   

But, there are many ways in which we can experience Christ in the world. We can join with communal worship, like we’ve all chosen to do today. We can attend a Bible study. We can volunteer to help out around the church. Or better yet, we can find ways to serve people in need, for by dong so, we serve Jesus – as we are told in Matthew chapter 25:31-40.

Find a way to connect with Jesus, and then, like Andrew, invite others to come with you to do the same.

You know, Andrew’s inviting didn’t stop with Simon.

Andrew went on to bring a lot of important people to Jesus, one personal invitation at a time.

As a pastor colleague of mine in Arizona writes,

Three times Andrew is doing something in [the Gospel of] John – and each time he is bringing someone to Jesus! First, his brother, Simon (1:40). Then, a boy with five barley loaves and two fish (6:8); and finally, "some Greeks" (12:20-22), which signals the hour for the Son of Man to be glorified.                       

Andrew is never mentioned just by himself.

(Pastor Brian Stoffregen, www.crossmarks.com)

OK, without people like Peter, the church would never have spread.

But without Andrew, the message of Jesus would not have reached the Gentiles.

Without Andrew, we wouldn’t have had the miraculous feeding of the 5000.

Without Andrew, we wouldn’t have had Peter, and the message of Jesus might have quietly fizzled out after his death and resurrection and ascension, because no one would have been able to share the news with the world.

What is it that will convince you that Jesus is the real deal? Do you need to hear some awesome and inspiring preachers, like John the Baptist or Peter? Do you need to have a personal conversation with a friend or loved one? Do you need to experience something other-worldly? Do you need some sort of proof that Jesus really knows what he’s talking about?

If you don’t need any more convincing – if you, like Andrew, believe in Jesus, what is stopping you from inviting all your friends and family to join you in worshipping him?

Most people who join a church do so because of a personal invitation.

In fact, most people who even walk through the doors of a congregation that is new to them, or that they’ve been away from for a number of years, only come (or come back) when someone they know and trust invites them to be there.

Now, don’t get me wrong – issuing an invitation to someone can be a risky business. When we invite someone into our life – into our community – we are putting ourselves on the line.

Inviting people means that they might actually come, and they might actually participate, and they might actually have opinions on how things ought to be done.

Sometimes the people we invite to this community   will get their way,   which means that we might not get ours.   Don’t you think Andrew was a little jealous when Jesus announced that his brother was going to be the foundation of a new church? Why should Peter get all the credit – Andrew was there first!

If we invite someone new, we have to realize that the new person could have a different way of doing things.

If we invite the next Peter, he’ll probably get his way at the expense of ours.

But if we invite the next Peter, the message about Jesus will surely spread to the ends of the earth.

Think about the ways in which you have met God in the world. Is Jesus important to you? Does your faith have an impact in the way you live your life?

Your faith experiences are just as important as Andrew’s were. And your invitations to others can be just as crucial as Andrew’s invitation to Peter.

If you share your experiences with others, inviting your loved ones to join you in following Jesus, you are doing the best thing possible to spread Jesus’ message to the world. You are doing the best thing possible for the future of the church – both for Cooksville Lutheran Church, and for the church of Jesus Christ in every place and time. Tell your friends and family to join you in your life of faith – introduce them to Jesus like Andrew did with Peter.

Who knows, you just might be recruiting the next Rock upon which Jesus can build the church!

Amen.