The following is condensed from a sermon delivered at the 2000 (annual) Evangelism Council at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. We’ve retained many of the elements of oral delivery.—Editors.

E’VE BEEN asked to direct our devotions these few days to the ministry of Christ. And I want you to know that I perceive the ministry of Christ as it works through human beings. In particular today I have chosen a common person to demonstrate what Christ can do through us. I’d like to talk with you for a few minutes this morning about the apostle Andrew. He has become my favorite New Testament character, replacing his brother Peter.

A few years ago I began to realize why I loved Peter so much. He seemed to authenticate my short temper and give me excuse for my pride and arrogance. Peter was a saint! Didn’t he shoot off his mouth without thinking and rush headlong into embarrassing situations? Surely, then, I can be excused for exhibiting some of these same questionable traits. But then it came to me that I needed to be like the postconverted Peter rather than the preconverted Peter. It was then that I decided that Andrew is a more appropriate role model for me than Peter. You see, with Andrew there is no excuse—there’s no wiggle room. He lived an exemplary life.

Who Was This Guy?
Now, we don’t know Andrew very well. His brother Peter gets most of the attention. But I think we ought to know Andrew. We see a Peter only occasionally in a lifetime. But we see Andrews every day. You see, Andrews are grocers and mechanics and farmers and Bible workers and mail carriers and teachers and literature evangelists and pastors. Every civic organization, university, or conference has its leaders. But behind the scenes are those who do much of the work and never get the credit. Andrew was such a person.

John 1:44 tells us that he lived in Bethsaida of Galilee, where he made his living as a fisherman. He was mending nets¹ when Jesus called him. He had heard the preaching of John the Baptist, so he went to see. And as John pointed to Jesus, saying “Behold the Lamb of God,” Andrew followed Jesus. I believe it’s a great moment in the life of any individual when they discover salvation and come into the presence of Jesus. Many wonderful things will happen to you after that—but nothing will compare with the experience of coming to Jesus and accepting Him as Savior and Lord.

Andrew was one of the first whom Jesus called. But Andrew was an ordinary man. Yet I want you to think with me for a few moments of the things that he did for his Lord.

Andrew is first pictured in the New Testament in these words: “He first findeth his own brother”² I perceive that he looked for Simon after he had this experience with Jesus, and then I see him going out there near the Sea of Galilee. I imagine Simon Peter was probably out there somewhere on a boat.

The Toughest Witness
I see this brother, this excited brother, come out to the seashore and cup his hands and say, “Peter! We have found the Messiah!” Ellen White says that he was so excited about his experience that he couldn’t contain himself.

I think there ought to be something that happens to us when we come into contact with Jesus. We get so excited that we can’t contain ourselves—gotta tell somebody! But I want to tell you something, the easiest place to start is not with your brother! (Laughter.) Someone has said: “It’s easier to witness to a man in China than it is to your own brother.”

I can remember my own experience as a young pastor, sitting at the head of the table there in Germantown, Ohio, trying to have a board meeting. You’ve been there. But you haven’t been there with your sisters and brothers, and your daddy, as the board members! (Laughter.) You’ve got to get some point across, and your sister looks at you and says, “Well, I changed your diapers.” (Laughter.) That’s an ugly thing, you know that?

And I struggled for weeks trying to be a pastor of my own family, the Wright family, in German-town. One Sunday morning I was having a board meeting and trying my best to be a little ol’ pastor, and my sister again was giving me a fit. This sister was the one next to me. Bless her soul, she’s gone now. But we were antagonists quite a bit of the time. She was giving me a particularly hard time, until at the foot of the table my daddy slowly stood up, the old patriarch. And he said, “This is not your brother. This is your pastor.” I didn’t have any more trouble after that! Pastoring became sweet. But it’s difficult to testify and witness to your own siblings.

But Andrew went to his own brother first. And Peter wasn’t the easiest person to approach, I would imagine. He could have said some things like “You goin’ tell me about Jesus? Don’t you remember that day you got angry and started cussin’ like a sailor? You goin’ tell me about Jesus? You forget Saturday night when you had too much to drink? You goin’ witness to me? Have you forgotten that man that you have all this against, and you planning and plotting revenge?”

Peter couldn’t say any of those things to Andrew. Andrew was an ordinary man, but he lived an exemplary life. You can’t really testify to the power of Jesus unless your life is right.

So he went to his brother—and what a brother he was: rough, tough, but apparently he loved Andrew, because he followed him. Amen! We need more Andrews who will share their burning desire with a spirit of joy.

You notice I said “desire,” I didn’t say “burden.” Many years ago in my little church in Germantown, Ohio, E. E. Cleveland came. And you know, that’s an exciting weekend.

Oh, that’s an exciting weekend in a great big ol’ church, but you know what it was in a little bitty church! You know . . . E. E. Cleveland himself! He said something that day that I’ll never forget:  “I don’t ever ask the Lord for a burden for souls. I got enough burdens!” That’s what he said. (And you know I’m tellin’ the truth, ’cause he’s sittin’ back there.) He said, “I ask  the Lord for a desire, not a burden.” Praise the Lord! Now, I want you to have a great, burning desire to share Jesus with the world, and especially with your own family. Bypass the burdens, OK?

How Did Andrew Know?
The next time we see Andrew, he’s down by the seashore. Multitudes of people had been following Christ. The words of Jesus had so spellbound the folk they forgot what time it was. I imagine that stomachs began to growl; children began to fret; babies were crying. You know, some folk get ugly when they get hungry. I can imagine they were murmuring, starting to shove each other.

Jesus was not going to turn those people loose. You know, He never seems to cut us loose when we’re struggling. He’s there for us! And Jesus looked over that vast audience and said, “Is there any food?” And somebody said, “Lord, there’s a little boy here, and he’s got five loaves and two small fishes.”³

I wonder, how did Andrew know there was a little boy out in that vast audience with some sardine sandwiches? How did he know that? I think Andrew was the kind of servant of God who loved the people that he’d been called to serve. I believe he was out there circulating among them. I believe he was out there walking up and down where they were. I don’t think Andrew was the kind of person who was so taken with position that he tried to find some place up front, where he could be seen, rather than see.

And I think that’s a good example for God’s servants this morning. You don’t need to elbow your way into position; if you’re serving Jesus, there’s a place for you. Fill that place! And fill it with joy and honor.

You know what happened. I’m not going to relate the miracle. But it must have been exciting for the people there to see Him pray, and then start to divide those sandwiches, and just keep breaking them and passing them. I know everybody wanted a bite, don’t you think? I mean, it was coming from the hand of Jesus. You know, suddenly these fish had become more than what they were. They’d been touched by the Master’s hand. Jesus was ministering to physical needs. It must have been an exciting time.

I want to tell you something. That little boy there was probably the most important person in that crowd that day. But don’t you ever forget, if there hadn’t been an Andrew, there wouldn’t have been a little boy with those sandwiches. Just a common, ordinary man filling his position.

It also makes me think of something else. I think this little boy must have had confidence in Andrew to turn his lunch over, don’t you think so? I mean, you’d have to have quite a story for a little boy who’s been there all day and it’s eating time, and you take his lunch. (Laughter.) But it tells me something again about this servant of God, that he carried and conducted himself in such a way that a young boy could have confidence in him.

Watch Out for the Little Ones
It makes me wonder this morning, what are we doing about the young people that we are called to serve? Young people can’t be fooled—they know. And you can’t get over just trying to talk their talk. That is so ridiculous. Be yourself and walk uprightly. That’s what wins young people. They can spot a phony a mile away.

You got a boy in your church. And my concern this morning is What are you doing for that boy? What are you teaching him? How are you finding a way to encourage that boy? Where are you leading him on Sabbath? Is there anything in your sermon that will serve that boy?

You know, I was operating in an evangelistic campaign once, and a 74-year-old man came down the aisle to give his heart to the Lord, and an 11-year-old boy came down too. And it just hurt my heart to see everybody cry and paw over the elderly man, and hardly anybody notice that boy. Now, it’s OK to be excited about the elderly man, but you ought to get excited about this boy, who’s got a lifetime to give to Jesus!

When I go into churches, I look for those little ol’ boys and little girls. And I know we live in a terrible age, and you’ve got to be careful—amen? Got to be careful going after little boys. But I like to encourage them. And I rub their head, and I let them help me with my equipment, setting up and tearing down and packing it up. I was over in Michigan, and one mother said, “Boy, get out of the way; you’re bothering Elder Wright.” I said, “No, honey, let him help me. This man is my assistant today.” That boy walked around! It’s not much, but we can give that—amen? And I see Andrew giving that kind of service even to the children. This is the ministry of Christ as He works through us. Nobody is unimportant!

See what you can do with those little ol’ boys when you go back home—amen? And it takes even more courage to deal with the little girls, but they need help too. And you know, you may be the only father figure that some of those kids in your church will ever see. Be a good father! I think there’s nothing better than for kids to wish they had a father like their pastor! Man, that’s a wonderful experience.

Equal-Opportunity Missionary
Well, next time we see Andrew, some folk from another race are coming to him. Some Greeks came to Philip, and they said, “Philip, we’d like to see Jesus.”⁴ So Philip said, “Well, look, I’m going to take you to Andrew. Andrew is the specialist in taking people to Jesus. Let me take you over to Andrew.” Now, you will notice, he didn’t take him to Peter, ’cause Peter was liable to say, “You ignoramus, don’t you know Jesus

didn’t come for anybody but Israelites? What’s the matter with you?” Peter had a “regional” mentality. (Laughter.)

You know, “regional” is Adventist codespeak for “colored,” “Negro,” “African-American,” “Black.” And somehow some of us have gotten a notion in our heads that we’re only supposed to look for people who are just like us. Let me tell you something. If you’re going to be a servant of Jesus and allow Him to work His ministry through you, you’ve got to have your eyes, your ears, and your heart open to whomever He would bring to you. And I don’t care if that person’s one that says “Whassup?” or “¿Qué pasa?”—you’d better be ready to bring that person to Jesus! (Applause.)

As a little boy growing up, I can remember the city of Dayton being divided up, and you could only go so far, even in Ingathering, couldn’t go beyond this street. Got to stay in your own territory. I found out that Jesus is Lord of all the territory! And whomever you come in contact with, you have an obligation to bring that person to Jesus—would you say amen?

I think it brought great joy to the heart of Jesus as He saw those Greeks coming, Andrew wagging behind them. “You want to see Jesus? Come on.” Of course, you’ve got to know Jesus to introduce somebody to Jesus.

I believe that Jesus looked down through the ages, and He saw a vision of the future, when all races would come to Him. I believe He saw a marvelous church that was tingling and thriving with all of humanity that He has blessed in this world. I believe that Jesus was able to look forward and see Peter at Pentecost.⁵ I think He saw Paul at Antioch.⁶ I believe He saw Philip witnessing to a Black man on the side of the road.⁷ And I believe it brought so much joy to His heart that He said, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”⁸

Andrew was an ordinary man. But we need more Andrews. He was great in humility. He did not care who got the credit as long as the work got done. Andrew was great in personal friendships. He had a genius for reaching out to others. People are brought to Christ, you know, on the vehicle of friendship. Don’t you be so stoic and so pious that you seem to be unapproachable. Don’t you go walking and strutting the streets of your hometown looking like the king of Persia! You ought to walk so that somebody will say to you, “I would like to see Jesus.”

Let’s finish up here. Andrew never worried about position, because he knew his place—which was in the service of the Master. He had no time for racial bigotry, because he never knew who might come and ask him to see Jesus. He never asked Jesus to call down fire on anybody; rather, he tried to extract the fire from every tense situation that he came across.

This is Andrew. Just a common man. Just an ordinary man. He never portrayed himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. But he knew Jesus loved him. Jesus never denied Andrew a single request that he made. Andrew was great in missionary zeal. He kept pointing people to Christ. This is the kind of evangelism—friend-to-friend, person-to-person, the ultimate source of strength and growth for this church.

Would you, my brothers—would you, my sisters—dare to be an Andrew? God bless you if you will!

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¹ Mark 1:16-18.
² John 1:41.
³ John 6:8, 9.
⁴ John 12:20, 21.
⁵ Acts 2:1-42.
⁶ Acts 13:13-48.
⁷ Acts 8:26-38.
⁸ John 12:32.

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Walter Wright is the secretary and ministerial association director for the Lake Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Berrien Springs, Michigan.