Tomorrow the Church will honor Andrew, a saint who knew it wasn’t about him. Saints increasingly learn it’s all about Jesus. One ancient father of the Church called Andrew the “Introducer” because he humbly brought people to Jesus. When Andrew faced martyrdom, tradition ascribes these words to him: “Hail, precious cross, that has been consecrated by the body of my Lord.”
How could Andrew face such a horrifying future? We saints know lesser fears; so many fears haunt us! Unlike Andrew, you may fear talking about your faith, you’re no “Introducer,” and you may fear death. True, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1), but how can you put that into practice?
Look more and more to Jesus. Hugh Beck writes: “A basic reason Jesus could never really be cowed by those who threatened Him was that He never claimed to own His own life in the first place. You threaten a person by telling him/her that you will take away some comfort, some money, some possession or life itself if he/she does not do your bidding. But how do you theater a person who claims to own nothing?” (“Crosses of Lent,” 27)
Christ in you, that’s how Andrew could hail the cross; and that’s the goal of growing Christians, to be introduced ever more deeply to Jesus. “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8).
“All praise, O Lord, for Andrew, the first to welcome You,
Whose witness to his brother named You Messiah true
May we, with hearts kept open to You throughout the year,
Confess to friend and neighbor Your Advent ever near. Amen.
(Lutheran Service Book, 517, 5
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