John 1:29–42 - ‘Not Andrew’s Success but Christ’s Gain’

John 1:29–42 - ‘Not Andrew’s Success but Christ’s Gain’
Yesterday I heard a fine sermon from Vicar Sergiu Trifa on the Gospel reading for the day. One line stood out regarding verses 40–42, “One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).” — that we would “focus not on Andrew’s success but Christ’s gain.”

This is absolutely correct.

For all that we can and should say about population dynamics in the area around the Sea of Galilee and the social capital of these two brothers, they only serve one end — Christ’s gain through faith into the communion of the Church. What credit could Andrew really take for bringing Peter to Jesus?

All the mission work of the Church amounts to the same. Every day is an opportunity for the church to recognize, long for, and delight in Christ’s gain. Whenever the Holy Spirit works the gift of faith so that someone who was not a disciple of Christ is now His disciple, there is the delight of the church.

For more information on the work of Sergiu Trifa on vicarage in Romania, see the first half of this video:

For the work of his father Pastor Sorin Trifa, see this article from Lutherans Engage. For more information on the Romanian diaspora in the United States, see the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, this menu from the Romanian Food Festival in Dallas/Fort Worth , and Chicago’s Romanian Community Summit.