Christ Church

“Their sound went out into all the earth,
and their words unto the end of the world.”

Andrew is the Advent saint. Sometimes his feast day anticipates Advent and at other times, it falls within the first week of Advent, as it does this year. In either case, he begins the cycle of the Church’s commemoration of the Saints throughout the course of the year. And, as always, there is something rich and significant about beginnings.

Andrew is recognized as the patron saint of Scotland and, therefore, of New Scotland, Nova Scotia, as well. Scotland, not to mention Nova Scotia, is a long ways from the land of the New Testament, a long ways from the setting of the story of the calling of the brothers Simon Peter and Andrew, and the brothers Zebedee, James and John, a long ways from the sea of Galilee. It reminds us of the missionary impulse of the Christian faith. Which is not to say that Andrew ever laid eyes on either!

Yet, the spiritual point is clear. Those who follow Jesus become the ones who proclaim Jesus and make him known even “unto the ends of the world.” For much of the first millennium or more, Scotland must often to have seemed to be the very end of the world. Perhaps, too, the same might be said of Nova Scotia. And yet, the word has gone forth on the wings of the saints and carried forward by their witness to Jesus Christ. Critical to that witness, as the readings on this feast day reminds us, is the Scripture. The Feast of Andrew belongs to that pageant of Word and Song which is part and parcel of the Advent of Christ.

The epistle reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans is a kind of mini-treatise on ‘the theology of revelation’. It focuses on the significance of the Scriptures and upon preaching. What is meant primarily by preaching is simply the proclamation of the Scriptures. Those that follow become those that are sent and those who are sent preach the good news of our salvation in Jesus Christ. There is an important emphasis upon the hearing of the Word of God through the preaching, meaning the proclamation of God’s word.

Something of the majesty and the wonder of God is set before us. The word proclaimed is heard and faith comes to birth in the hearers. In a way, we encounter the mystery of God coming towards us, his Advent, in and through the lives and witness of the Saints who are simply those who have gone before us with the mind of Christ. Andrew shows us the story of one, who having heard, immediately followed, “readily obeying the calling of thy Son Jesus Christ, and following him without delay” as the Collect so simply puts it. It is almost as if Andrew knows that “the night is far spent” and that “the day is at hand” as we heard on Sunday. There is a kind of directness and immediacy to his response to the Word of Christ.

Sometimes we like to think that we can control and manipulate people’s faith. We can’t. Faith can only come by the hearing of the Word and by that Word taking root, quickly or slowly, in our hearts. It can only happen, though, if the Word is proclaimed. And for that there needs always to be those who called to preach. If only in the hopes that others will hear and proclaim, each in their own way, not least by the quality of their lives, the truth and power of the God who is Lord of all and who seeks our salvation.

We give thanks tonight for the witness of St. Andrew who belongs in the company of those whose “sound went out into all the earth,/and their words unto the end of the world.” May we be ready and willing to follow.

“Their sound went out into all the earth,
and their words unto the end of the world.”

Fr. David Curry
Eve of the Feast of St. Andrew
November 29^th, 2011
Christ Church