CHAPTER 1

Andrew

The First Disciple

In 1901 and 1902, the American psychologist and philosopher, William James, wasinvited to give the Gifford Lectures on natural religion at the University ofEdinburgh, which grew into his famous book The Varieties of ReligiousExperience. There he presented literally hundreds of descriptions of ways thathuman beings have experienced religious conversion. James is known for thedistinction he drew between people who are "once-born" and those who are "twice-born."The once-born find it much easier to respond to God and to givethemselves in love and obedience because of their personality structure,disposition, and experiences early in life. In contrast, the twice-born havemore conflicted religious experiences, perhaps because of their tempestuouspersonalities or difficult things that have happened to them. These are peoplewho have experiences like Paul's on the road to Damascus, and are likely toexclaim, "Once I was blind and now I see! Once I was dead and now I'm alive!"Some of us may wish for such a sweeping spiritual change in our lives, but Jamessees value in both experiences. Neither is automatic or effortless. A religiousexperience is highly personal and participatory, occurring when something in usfreely responds to that mysterious reality that we dare to call the Holy One.

I remember hearing an old preacher say, "If you could get religion and not knowit, then you could lose it and not miss it." You have to be involved. The once-borncross the stream at the narrowest point, while the twice-born may have tocross an ocean. Christ is the Lord of all kinds of experiences. Disciples in thetwice-born category would include John, who became the "beloved disciple," afterhaving been a "son of thunder" in his youth; and Matthew, the tax collector, andSimon, the Zealot, who began at opposite poles of ideologies and personalitiesbut were so transformed by Jesus that they became intimate companions. Many ofthe disciples in the twice-born category had decisive experiences that markedlychanged their lives, whereas Andrew seemed spiritually inclined from thebeginning. He brought to Jesus a mature spirit and open nature, characteristicof those James called once-born. He moved from strength to strength, and Jesussimply helped to enhance who Andrew was already, without the striking changesthat we find in the journeys of the twice-born. There is no set pattern orsingular way that God works in our lives but rather a vast keyboard on which heplays. All of us are recipients of the mysterious, ingenious mercy of the HolyOne, and it may be that your walk with God has been that steady unfolding ofstrength to strength, from step to step. Andrew's reliable character was verymuch the same throughout his life.

Andrew was one of three pairs of brothers that became part of the intimatecircle of Jesus' disciples. It is interesting that six of the twelve gatheredaround Jesus had another brother who was also a disciple. These brothers wereJames and John, Andrew and Simon Peter, and Matthew and James. Andrew was afisherman by trade, from a little town called Bethsaida, on the northeast cornerof the Sea of Galilee. He went to Capernaum, on the northwestern side of thelake, where tradition says that he and Simon Peter worked for James and John'sfather, Zebedee, in his thriving fishing business. Andrew is mentioned inMatthew, Mark and Luke, but it is only in John that we find any informationabout what kind of person he was, and how he grew in his friendship with Jesus.

The first glimpse we have of Andrew is in the company of John the Baptist, whoseministry touched Andrew's soul and prepared him for Jesus. Many believe he wasthe first disciple to be attracted to Jesus and to say yes to following him.John the Baptist reminded his listeners often that he was not the Messiahhimself, but the one who prepared the way for the Messiah. He would tell themthat he baptized with water, but the One to come would baptize them with theHoly Spirit, the energy and power of God. John the Baptist had a sense ofexpectancy that something was about to happen that would change everything.Andrew was with him one day when Jesus came into John's line of vision. As soonas John saw his cousin, Jesus, he pointed to him and said, "Here is the Lamb ofGod who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). It was his firstacknowledgment that here was the One about whom he had spoken for so long.

I imagine that Andrew and all those who were gathered there with John theBaptist were astounded by his words and, particularly, by the image that hechose: the Lamb of God. You see, for a thousand years, the Israelites had beenlooking for a lion of God to come as the Messiah. They were not looking for alamb. They expected another King David, who would drive out the Romans fromtheir sacred soil and extend the political power of Jerusalem, but that was notGod's intention for the chosen people. God had a different plan in mind when hecalled the descendants of Abraham to be his chosen ones (Genesis 22:17). Thesame generous impulse that moved God to create, also moved him to bless what hehad created.

When you stop and think about it, if the goal is to bless and to re-establishtrusting, loving relationships between God and those who have turned away fromhim, then a lamb willing to endure suffering is what you need. You cannotbludgeon people into being good, nor force seeds of love to grow with asledgehammer. If you want to evoke love and call people out of evil back togoodness, you need someone who is willing to accept and endure the ravages ofevil without imitating and returning evil. The Lamb of God is far betterequipped to restore creation to its loving maker than a king who comes with asword. When it comes to changing evil into good, nothing is more powerful thanthe spectacle of innocent suffering. Yet, the unexpected metaphor of a lamb waslikely to have been confusing, and even shocking, to Andrew.

Jesus and Andrew had both grown up in the northern part of Palestine calledGalilee, which was not a very large area. Andrew could have easily known Jesuswhen he worked in the shop of his father, Joseph, as a young carpenter'sapprentice from the insignificant hill town of Nazareth. Andrew was probablysurprised that a fellow from his hometown area turned out to be the one whom Godhad chosen to do the messianic work. Many of us think that anybody who sharesthe same humble beginnings as ours cannot be particularly special. Time andagain we see this tendency to underestimate the people we have always known. TheWright brothers grew up in Dayton, Ohio and built their flying machine in theirbicycle shop. After they had made their successful flight from Kitty Hawk,...