Holy Trinity Church, Westward Ho!

Reflections

Reflection for Dec 1, 2025 from Rev Trevor Lloyd

We keep St Andrew’s Day today because yesterday (his usual day of celebration) our focus was on the beginning of Advent. The set Gospel reading is Matthew 4 verses 19 – 22.

Jesus calls his first disciples

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. (NIV)

Celebrating Andrew a day late because of Advent Sunday forces us to reflect on Andrew in the light of some of those Advent themes of impending judgement, justice, meeting Jesus face to face, the urgency of evangelism. It’s all pretty contemporary. The sense of urgency and impending doom are all around us today – think of COP and the battle to get people to take climate change seriously while praying for those affected by fires, floods and landslides. Think of wars and peace negotiations, of people dying in Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza. Reflect on how people meet Jesus. John the Baptist prepares the way, points to Jesus - and Andrew, one of his disciples, rushes off to get his brother Peter to introduce him to Jesus. Do we find family connections sometimes help in getting people to meet Jesus? But look how often Jesus goes to people’s work place to recruit people to join him and draw other people in, from collecting taxes to fishing – and he’s not hesitant about interrupting them or changing their attitude to their work. ‘I will make you fishers of men’ he says, not following our modern gender-neutral guidelines, which spoils a story I used to tell. When I was a student in Bristol we shared a house on one of the roads across the Downs with one of the college staff and often ended up looking after their three young boys. One day there was a knock at the door from a puzzled passer-by asking why one of them was marching round the front garden singing ‘I will make you vicious old men’. Jesus wants all sorts in his inclusive rainbow-coloured kingdom, young, old, men, women, whoever they are, whatever their background. And don’t get the impression that these disciples were ill-educated ‘peasants’. They were continually doing calculations, not just about numbers (and prices) of fish but about the storms and currents on Galilee, about where the fish were, about teamwork and landing places. Interesting too that when some Greek-speaking people come wanting to see Jesus, Philip takes them to Andrew, as someone who would understand what they wanted. Our churches - and therefore the people we share the gospel with – should reflect the multi-faceted variety of experiences, ethnic and social backgrounds, gifts and abilities that we find both in the disciples and the people Jesus talks to. And that Advent attitude of urgency should dominate our hearts, minds and actions: ‘ At once they left their nets’ and ‘immediately they left the boat’ or as the collect says ‘to follow you without delay’.

So we pray about our own sense of urgency as we speak your word to our family, friends and neighbours, for our world, local, national and global, that our attitude to the impending, irreversible approach of Christmas may be applied also to Jesus’ coming again and to the actions we will take ‘immediately’ and ‘at once’.

Almighty God,
who gave such grace to your apostle Saint Andrew
that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ
and brought his brother with him:
call us by your holy word,
and give us grace to follow you without delay
and to tell the good news of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, Amen.