One of the greatest joys of being a pastor is to see someone come to know Jesus and watch the Holy Spirit transform a person into a Christ-follower. This is what energizes me and empowers me to continue doing what I am doing. I especially love watching teenagers engage in the faith because they are at a critical stage of life where God can do the impossible in their lives as they discover their giftedness and make important decisions as to what they would like to do with their lives. It is what gets me up every day and what brings me back to the church each and every day: to see the life-transforming power of Jesus change someone from the inside out.

If you have been paying attention to the news lately things just seem to be crazy right now. It is easy to get overwhelmed and feel despair. But as a follower of Jesus how do we rise above all that is going on? What is the proper response? When we are faced with personal and social issues what is our knee-jerk reaction?

I know that when it comes to social issues, it is good for us to consider better rules or laws for everyone to follow in order for there to be more justice and equality. But even if we had the best, most well thought-out laws that protected everybody would that finally take care of all our social ills?

I would propose that with all the right laws we would still face problems because the external laws do not change the heart! We see this with the Israelites in the Old Testament. And their laws were not man-made! They can from God Himself! We believe that the most powerful change factor that we profess to is the radical, life-transforming work of the Holy Spirit which comes through faith in Jesus. Quite simply, we call this the Gospel, the Good News. That despite whatever social, political, or personal ills we might be facing, Jesus can come into any situation and bring healing, hope, restoration and power that transcends our laws and politics. Jesus is our King and God’s Kingdom is our primary identity. What if the church acted like this and believed this 100%?

I would like to do a case study today. I want us to look at one of Jesus’ disciples named Andrew. He is mentioned just a handful of times throughout Scripture but every time he is mentioned it is important for us to observe his actions and see how he responds to his circumstances.

Let’s begin in the Gospel of John.

CASE STUDY: Andrew: Bringing People to Jesus

John 1:35-42 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

In this story we see that Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. When Jesus happened to come in contact with John and his disciples, John called Jesus “the Lamb of God”. This piqued Andrew’s interest enough to go and follow Jesus for the day. After processing his experience with Jesus, what I want you to notice in each one of these passages 3 things:

1) What is Andrew’s first reaction,

2) Who is the focus group that he is in contact with,

3) and what are the future consequences, or ripple effects of his interaction with the people in the story.

In this story we just read, did you catch what Andrew’s immediate reaction was after spending the whole day with Jesus? He went right away to his brother Simon to tell him that he found the Messiah. This is Simon who’s name Jesus changed to Peter.

So what is the focus group here? We see that Andrew’s first reaction was to share with his immediate family.

And what are the consequences that we know of as a result of Peter meeting Jesus? Peter ended up being one of the primary disciples that Jesus spent the most time with. Peter was the one who denied Jesus three times and yet after the resurrection Jesus sought Peter out and affirmed him three times to feed his sheep. Peter was called the rock that the church would be built on. Peter was a primary figure throughout the book of Acts who launched the church movement. He wrote some of the letters found in the Bible. We would not be where we are at today as the church of Jesus Christ if it weren’t for the courageous faith of Peter boldly spreading the message of Jesus to thousands of people. Why? All because of Andrew who was willing to introduce his brother to Jesus. If Andrew did not act on that impulse just try to imagine the New Testament without the presence of Peter.

Let’s take a look at another story found in the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 1:29-34 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. ³⁰ Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. ³¹ So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

³² That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. ³³ The whole town gathered at the door, ³⁴ and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

Andrew is with Jesus and the rest of the disciples as they leave the synagogue and go to his house. As they come to Andrew’s home it was discovered that Peter’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever. Now notice what was the first reaction of Andrew and his brother Peter in realizing that their relative was sick. Andrew, with Peter, brings Jesus into the situation. Now this circumstance is different from our first story. This is not necessarily about meeting Jesus for the first time more than it is about Jesus entering into a major issue and bringing peace, healing and wholeness to it.

Imagine if we did that with all the personal and social ills we are experiencing in our country right now. When we face a major problem in our life or community our immediate reaction ought to be to invite Jesus into the problem.

So, who was our focus group being brought to Jesus here? It was Andrew’s extended family. So not only did he introduce his primary family to Jesus but also distant relatives. We see the circle expanding here.

And then what was the consequences of Andrew bringing Jesus in to heal Peter’s mother-in-law? Many, many other people came to find healing through Jesus, both physical and spiritual healing. We can never underestimate the ripple effect that can be caused by bringing Jesus into every situation we find ourselves with whether it be personal or social.

Our next Scripture passage comes from the Gospel of John.

John 6:5-11 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

⁷ Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

⁸ Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ⁹ “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

Many of you are familiar with this passage. This is where Jesus miraculously feeds the 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish. But notice what happened. Jesus wanted to offer food to the crowd. He threw out the request to the disciples to see what would happen. Keep in mind that they would have seen Jesus perform many miracles already. What is the reaction of the disciples here?

Philip complains and the others remain silent. I can relate to Philip. I can imagine him thinking “Are you crazy? Do you know how much that would cost to feed everyone?”

But notice Andrew here! He is the only disciple once again, bringing someone to Jesus. He brings a child to him who has a basket with bread and fish in it. At the very least, Andrew is thinking of “Who can I bring to Jesus in this situation?”.

Who is the focus group here? It is a child. So what I gather here is that the circle that Jesus influences in Andrew’s life is not just immediate and extended family but now it is breaking out to being inter-generational, old and young alike.

What was the consequence of Andrew bringing this child to Jesus? He was able to take what the boy had and miraculously multiply it to satisfy the hunger of all the people. It is just another illustration in Scripture and in our lives where God can take what little we have and multiply it in ways we could never imagine.

Our final Scripture comes from the Gospel of John. Once again, pay attention to Andrew and the ripple effects of what he does.

John 12:20-22 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

Philip was at a festival and some Greeks approached him wanting to meet Jesus. It appears that Jesus wasn’t immediately available so what does Philip do? He takes this situation to Andrew for help. Andrew took Philip, with the Greeks, and introduced them to Jesus. Now Jesus goes on to give a lesson, but I want us to focus in on what Andrew did. He modeled to Philip what it was like to introduce people to Jesus.

What is the focus group here? It is the Greeks. Or more radically speaking it is the non-Jewish people. This shows us the multi-cultural nature of Jesus. He not just the Messiah of the Jews but for all the nations.

And what is the future consequences of Andrew’s actions here? In the book of Acts we see Jesus commission his followers to go and make disciples of all the nations and then He ascends into heaven. Many of the followers continue the work of the Gospel in Israel until persecution breaks out and scatters everyone. As we follow Philip in Acts, chapter 8, we see that he goes into Samaria to proclaim the good new of Jesus. Now if you know anything about Samaritans these are people who the Jewish people had no love for. Samaritans we looked down upon as second-class citizens. Yet Philip, with his experience with the Greeks, had no problem introducing the Samaritans to Jesus. Many miracles happened and we are told that there was much joy in that city.

Now if that weren’t enough, God used Philip to go and speak to the Ethiopian eunuch. Here is our first reference to anyone from the African continent coming to know Jesus. The Ethiopian was reading a passage from Isaiah that was a prophecy about all that Jesus just accomplished at the cross. Philip had the honor of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to this Ethiopian who immediately put his faith in Jesus and asked to stop the chariot they were riding in so that he could be baptized. Amazing!

So who is the focus group here? It is the Ethiopian. When we combine that with the Greeks we see that this focus group comprises of those who are different that you. For Andrew, the gospel of Jesus came first to his immediate family, his extended family, it was multi-generational for the young and the old, and it is now multi-cultural. It transcends all cultures, races and people groups.

The consequences here are that Andrew is responsible for missionary efforts through the work of Philip to a wide cross-section of non-Jewish people both Greek and African.

So, what do we make of all of this? 2020 has proven to be a very tough year for all of us. I would encourage every one of you to be careful about all the directions and causes that could potentially pull you into certain camps. Our primary identity is in Jesus Christ and we are representatives of His Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. It is our responsibility to invite Jesus into all of our situations, our issues, and our relationships. We must be vigilant about this.

We have been given the task of making disciples of all the nations. This seemed to come naturally to Andrew. Was there a person hurting, or a social situation begging for a solution, or just a friend or relative who was going through something? Andrew’s immediate reaction was to figure out how Jesus could come into the situation or relationship and breath His power into every situation. And guess what? Jesus did not disappoint! Jesus brought healing, salvation, and multiplication into every situation.

How are you with your relationship with Jesus? Have you considered how he can speak into your personal life, your social life, your political life? Or are you limiting the potential of what Jesus could do through you?

If it weren’t for Andrew there would not be Peter or Philip. The missionary efforts of these two stalwarts is legendary. Yet none of it would be possible if Andrew didn’t introduce them to Jesus first. Never underestimate the impact that God can do through you simply by inviting Jesus into your situations and your relationships. How can you step out in faith and trust Jesus to use you to impact others?

We have the same Holy Spirit power within us that the believers had in the New Testament. The only problem is that we here, in 21^st century America, have domesticated our faith and relegated it to our “private” life. Many of us are guilty of draining the power out of our faith. It is time for us to be brave like Andrew and invite Jesus into all areas of our lives and relationships.

As we are in the midst of a very, very crazy political year imagine if our connection to Jesus was what shined through all of our thoughts, feelings, emotions and relationships. This is who we are called to be. Kingdom people who are reflecting the transforming power of Jesus Christ. We can change a lot of laws to try and create a more just society, as we should, but only Jesus can transform the heart and mind of people as we are invited into his kingdom here and now. Let’s not lose focus of that and make sure that this is our primary identity above all else.  

John Wesley got it. He said,

“Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth.”

He knew that if he had a bunch of people similar to Andrew, willing to take the good news out to everyone, the world would be forever altered as the Kingdom of God would continue to expand and the effects of Hell would be destroyed.

May we enter into this Summer allowing the Holy Spirit to change and transform us to be more like Andrew, introducing Jesus to all types of people and situations that we encounter. How can you do this right now?

Who are you going to impact?

How are you living into being a disciple of Jesus?

Step out of your comfort zone and allow God to use you to impact others through you. You may never know what kind of ripple effects that the Holy Spirit may use with your ability to bring Jesus into all of your situations. Think about it. Pray about it. And do it, trusting God to use you in amazing ways! Amen.