For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things. I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.
I Corinthians 4: 9-16 (Epistle from Feastday of St. Andrew)
The Epistle lesson that will be read tomorrow on the feast of St. Andrew is read on the feast days of several of the Apostles, so if it sounds familiar, it does come up a few times each year. That is a good thing. First of all, we learn best through repetition, and second, each time we look at a Scripture passage, something different grabs our attention. As we reflect on this passage today, it lists several traits that are common to the life of an “apostle.”
The first trait of an “apostle” is that one is chosen for this role. St. Andrew was an unknown fisherman. He was doing his thing, toiling away in his boat trying to catch fish to make a modest living. And Jesus called HIM! The message here is that ALL of us are called to be apostles. We have discussed that a disciple is a student, and an apostle is a recruiter. We are all called first to be disciples, students of Christianity; and then we are called to be apostles, recruiters for Christianity. One cannot be an apostle without first being a disciple. At the same time, the work of a disciple doesn’t end with being a good student. It extends to bringing others into the fold of Christianity and recruiting new disciples. Christ calls everyone to this role. Two thousand years ago, He didn’t go to the temples or rabbinical schools to choose the finest scriptural scholars and Jewish leaders. He went to the seashore and recruited simple fishermen. He still does the same today. He calls everyone to be a disciple. We are all chosen for this task.
Humility is an important trait in the life of an apostle. It’s all about HIM, not about us. We don’t need to puff out our chests and boast about our Christianity. The most important work of an apostle is to demonstrate Christ’s love, and we do that through humility, through service, through putting others ahead of ourselves. We don’t do this for attention. Many people mistake demonstrations of piety for humility. Rather humility becomes a way of life, not something we do for show or when people are looking.
An apostle is bold. St. Paul calls the apostles “fools for Christ’s sake.” A bold faith will seem foolish to the one who has no faith. To the unfaithful, our worship of an unseen God, and our dedication to the Church led by Him may seem foolish. And yet we boldly proclaim faith in God, and we sacrificially support the work of God’s church.
When certain actions happen, there are what seem to be “natural” human reactions. For instance, when we are attacked, we attack back. When we are slandered, we sue. When we are cursed, we curse in return. These are what seem to be “natural” reactions to attack. As apostles we are called to react in different ways. St. Paul writes “when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate.” (I Corinthians 4:12-13)
Apostles are imitators of Christ. Christ endured temptation and persecution, even death on the Cross, and never did he flinch in His faith in God the Father. Christ got tired and hungry just like everyone else, but never once when someone cried out “Lord!” did He send them away because He was too busy. Christ encountered all kinds of sinful people and yet He never made them feel bad; He called on them to be better but didn’t make them feel ashamed of who they were. These are just some of the attributes of Christ that we are call on to imitate.
Finally, St. Paul writes in I Corinthians 4:16, “I urge you, then, be imitators of me.” An apostle, the one who imitates Christ, is supposed to live a life worthy of imitation. If we are saying to others, “be imitators of my Christian belief and behavior,” then we need to have belief and behavior that is worthy of being imitated.
Our identity as disciples and apostles never ends. We have to be a student (disciple) before we can be a teacher (apostle). But our role as students continues forever. Even teachers continue learning. Apostles do as well. We need to be worthy of imitation both as teacher and as student.
Let us extol that preacher of the Faith and minister of the Word, Saint Andrew the Apostle. He fishes human beings out of the depths, holding the Cross instead of a pole, and letting down its power instead of a line. And he retrieves souls from the error of the foe, and he offers them to God as an acceptable gift. O believers, let us ever extol him, and the entire chorus of Disciples of Christ, so that he will intercede with the Lord to be merciful towards us on Judgment Day. (Doxastikon, Orthros, Feast of St. Andrew, Trans. by Fr. Seraphim Dedes)
The life of an apostle begins by being a disciple. The work of a disciple needs to progress being an apostle. And the life of an apostle has to be one that is humble, bold and worthy of imitation.
