November: Day 30: Teaching 2: Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called

November: Day 30: Teaching 2:
Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called
 
(The Call of Believers to Salvation and our Indifference to This Call)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. One day, during the first year of His public ministry to humanity, Jesus Christ was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He was then still little known to the world as a Preacher and was just gathering His first followers, His disciples, around Him. Seeing two young brothers, Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew — later known as the Apostle Andrew, the First-Called, whose memory is celebrated today — casting their nets into the sea, the Savior, as if in passing, said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." The brothers did not question their divine Master about who He was, by what power He commanded them, or where He would lead them, but immediately abandoned their nets and followed the Savior. Walking with them further, Jesus Christ saw two more brothers, James and John, sitting with their father Zebedee in a boat, mending their nets. The Son of God, who sees into the hearts and innermost thoughts of men, called these young men, and they immediately responded with complete readiness to the voice calling them: they left their father, the boat, and the nets and followed Jesus.

Here is the Gospel story of the call of the Savior's first disciples to the apostleship. How simple it appears, but how instructive it is for us Christians! "Consider," says Saint John Chrysostom, "the faith and obedience of those called. All four of these men were poor, earning their living by fishing and busy with their work when the Savior passed by. Yet, as soon as they heard the Savior's call, they did not hesitate, did not put it off until another time, did not say, 'We'll go home and consult with our relatives,' but, leaving everything, they followed Him that very moment. So strong was their faith in the Redeemer, so pure was their soul, that at the first voice they unmistakably recognized in the One calling them the One of whom Moses and the prophets wrote, but Whom the scribes and Jewish lawyers later rejected."

II. Is not every one of us who confess God and Christ called from the day of our baptism to follow Christ? Should not everyone strive for heavenly glory, following the example of Christ's apostles, following the holy saints of God, blessed by the Holy Church? True, we do not hear from the lips of the Savior Himself a voice calling us, as we did with the apostles Peter and Andrew. But only those destined to grasp the universe, to gather from among men the flock of Christ, were worthy of this. For us, the call we hear in the preachings of the apostles and the words of the Savior transmitted to us is quite sufficient.

a) Anyone who hears the Gospel reading in the church of God should listen to it as if Jesus Christ Himself were speaking. We must remember that in church, the Lord Himself is always invisibly present among us, according to His immutable promise: "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." Here, in the church of God, the divine voice of Christ resounds in everything: in the sacred rites performed before our eyes, in the reading of Divine Scriptures, in the singing of touching church hymns, and in the contemplation of holy icons. All this speaks to our hearts, urging us to abandon our attachment to worldly vanity, to cleave to Christ, and to follow Him persistently, fulfilling His holy will. He stands at the door of each of our hearts and knocks, and if anyone opens the door, He comes in and dines with him (Rev. 3:20).

b) What else, if not God's call to repentance, do the sudden misfortunes of this life, the terrible natural phenomena that befall us from time to time, the unexpected mercies, or the pangs of our conscience signify? Therefore, if anyone hears such a call, either from within or from somewhere else, if the thought occurs to anyone to begin "living according to God," let him immediately put this thought into action. Let him not postpone his holy resolve under any pretext, not for a single day or hour, but, "leaving all at once," follow Christ. Do not say: "I'll live another year for the world, I'll arrange my affairs, and then I'll begin to please God." No, as Simon and Andrew did, hearing the Savior's call, so must we act. They didn't even clean up their nets, but simply abandoned them. So too, we must immediately part with everything that stands in the way of salvation, renounce worldly ties and pleasures. Indeed, is it proper for a Christian to commit unrighteous acts every hour, every minute, while postponing doing something good, serving God, or working for the salvation of one's soul to a later time?

III. How then, fellow Christians, do we respond to the call of Christ the Savior? Do we follow Him, our Redeemer, as hastily and irrevocably as the apostles Peter, Andrew, James, and John?

a) Unfortunately, apostolic zeal has almost completely disappeared among Christians today. It's now almost unheard of for any of us to abandon our worldly pursuits, all our possessions, and devote ourselves entirely to serving God and Christ. Today, on the contrary, many are unwilling to devote even a few minutes to God-pleasing, saving deeds; for Christ's sake, they refuse to devote even a small portion of their wealth to the benefit of a neighbor in need. Most of us, modern Christians, while accepting the divine call to salvation with tenderness and humility, postpone fulfilling these saving counsels from hour to hour, year after year, for an indefinite period.

b) Worldly pleasures, worldly needs, and sinful habits bind our hearts to such an extent that they often lead us to completely forget the law of Christ: "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I do." How often, because of some petty and insignificant matter, many decide to neglect God's service, and sometimes even offend their neighbors. Indeed, if we look into our lives, we will agree that it is often the most trivial things that distract us from God, and that sometimes disagreements and strife arise between us over the most trivial matters. And yet, these always draw us to actions and deeds that are completely inexcusable for followers of Jesus Christ, the Teacher of mutual peace and love.

Therefore, Christian, wandering through the streets and byways of this vain age, stop justifying your negligence and carelessness about salvation by saying that we are sinful people, that we cannot be holy. No, not only can we, but we must become holy with the help of God's grace, which calls us to salvation and sanctifies us all. 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.