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Good MorningÌýÌý

Imagine two brothers.Ìý Ordinary working men. ÌýImagine that one of them meets a man who’s unlike anyone he has ever come across, and speaks in a way he has never heard before.Ìý He rushes home and tells his brother, ‘Quick, he’s here.Ìý This is the sign we’ve longed for. This is the one who knows the truth about life. You must come and meet him.’Ìý

Andrew and his brother, Simon Peter, were the first two disciples called by Jesus.Ìý And on this St Andrews day, I’m wondering about him.Ìý Wondering about his relationship with Peter. ÌýI’ve always imagined him as the younger brother, and I ask myself: ÌýWhat did Peter say to him when Andrew rushed in breathless and dragged him off to meet this man he called the Messiah? What did Andrew feel when Jesus looked at Peter and called him a rock?Ìý Was Peter always the one people relied on? ÌýI think of Andrew as quieter, more watchful.

And I wonder, too, about that grey dawn on the shores of Galilee when Jesus appeared again to his disciples after his resurrection. Andrew’s not mentioned by name in the Gospel account, but of course he would’ve been there, at his brother’s side on their boat.Ìý I imagine him seeing that hazy figure on the shore, and suddenly hearing a splash as his brother Peter jumped fully clothed into the water, shouting ‘It’s the Lord!’

I think of Andrew as the one who opened the door to life for his brother. ÌýWho stood beside Peter the rock and said, ‘Believe me. Come with me. I’ve seen – and I know’.Ìý

Living God, through words and deeds may we open the door of light to others.Ìý And may we share the Advent joy of your loving, living presence among us. ÌýAmen.

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