Martyrdom of St Andrew

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

the Holy Spirit, we are richly, richly blessed

on this 30th day of November for so many reasons,

one of which is the commemoration of two evangelists,

two saints who traveled across vast distances.

who embodied what we heard in the epistle from

St. Paul about the apostles seeming like their

last, having troubles, having obstacles, having

sufferings and hunger and cold and difficulties.

Of course, this is the truth about a true apostle.

And the two evangelists I'm speaking about, we

have their icons here. One is... Our own St.

Sebastian of San Francisco and Jackson, California.

St. Sebastian was born of Serbian parents in

1863. He died in 1940. He covered this whole

continent back and forth, back and forth, evangelizing,

establishing churches, ministering to... Orthodox

communities that were not yet gathered and gathering

them together to build churches. Last night we

had the great joy of being able to be anointed

with the oil that hangs from the lamp in front

of his relics, which are in Jackson at St. Sava

Church. I recommend you take a pilgrimage to

venerate St. Sebastian. And the others... Our

wonderful Andrew, the first called apostle. You

heard the second gospel in honor of him. And

we have a number of Andrews that we are congratulating

today. The deacon and I, Deacon Justin and I,

had the great blessing to venerate St. Andrew's

relics at the Monastery of St. Andrew on Mount

Athos back in May. And Matushka, Anna and I were

blessed, I guess it was 1983. We visited a friend

in Patras where St. Andrew was martyred, and

he was martyred on an X -shaped cross. And we

were able to venerate a portion of that cross

there in that church of St. Andrew, in the place

where he had been martyred. St. Andrew met Christ,

and he says to his brother, Come. We have seen

him whom the prophets speak about, the Tiberians

with, come we have seen the desired one. In evangelist

ministry, his job is to introduce a person to

Christ, to meet Christ, to know Christ, to have

a relationship with Christ. So we pray today

that the Lord sees us, he hears us, he comes

to us. So we have a deeper and deeper relationship

with him. And if you haven't met him to the degree

that you know is possible, then ask St. Andrew

to come and say to you, come, we have seen the

desired one. Here he is. Meet him. I'd like to

give you a picture of his martyrdom now. I'll

pass over his life. You can read that online

on the OCA website. But the martyrdom is a very

different thing, and it's a wonderful story,

so bear with me. So Andrew came to the city of

Patras in Greece after his wide travels in Asia

Minor, some say all the way up into what is now

Ukraine. establishing churches, evangelizing,

and he comes to Patras in the Peloponnese. That's

that lower part of Greece that looks a little

bit like Australia. It's down there. And there

he's preaching the gospel. And there was a governor

there named Agiatis who had a wife named Maximilia,

and she was sick. She was ill. And she... heard

the message of salvation about Jesus Christ and

she became a Christian and was devoted to St.

Andrew. And he prayed for her and she was restored

to her health. The governor was not happy with

this relationship. Of course, I assume he was

happy that his wife was healed, but maybe he

didn't care. But he was very angry that St. Andrew

was gaining converts for the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so he had him arrested and Andrew said to

him, it would be best for you, oh judge of men,

to come to know him who is our real judge, who

dwells in the heavens, acknowledge the true God

and worship him, turning away from the false

idols and divinities that you now adore. The

governor was very angry with him and says this,

are you Andrew? who tears down the temples of

the gods and teaches the people the sorcerous

faith which has recently appeared and which the

emperors of Rome have ordered to be destroyed.

Andrew answered, the emperors of Rome do not

understand what was clearly demonstrated by the

Son of God who came to the earth to save mankind,

that the idols are not gods, but the abodes of

unclean demons. enemies of the human race. And

those who worship them will be enslaved by them,

and their souls issue forth from their naked

bodies when they die, possessed of nothing but

their own sins. And the governor said, the Jews

arranged to have your Jesus nailed to the cross

because he was a preacher of fables. And Andrew

answered, oh, if you could only understand the

mystery of the cross. If only you could comprehend

that it was out of love for us that the creator

of the human race endured voluntary crucifixion.

He knew beforehand when he would suffer, and

he prophesied that he would rise on the third

day. And the governor answered and said, I'm

amazed at you, apparently a wise man, whom you

yourself admit was put to death, a shameful death,

as a criminal on the cross. It's all the same

whether he was voluntarily crucified or involuntarily

crucified. Still, he was put to death on the

cross. And Andrew says in response, great is

the mystery of the Holy Cross. If you wish to

learn of it, I will gladly speak to you about

it. And the governor said, The cross is not a

mystery. It's a punishment for criminals. It's

an instrument of execution. St. Andrew replies,

this punishment is the mystery of the renewal

of the human race, which I will tell you if only

you will be patient and allow me to speak. So

St. Andrew says to him, be quiet a little bit,

and I'll explain to you. What boldness. What

boldness. And then the governor said, I will

listen to you patiently, but if you refuse to

do as I command, I will force you to endure the

mystery of the cross yourself. He's being sarcastic.

And Andrew answered a marvelous and amazing answer.

He said, if I were afraid of punishment by crucifixion,

I would not worship the one who was glorified

on it. And the governor said, you have lost your

mind. It's because you have lost your mind that

you praise the cross. And because you are foolish

that you prefer that you do not fear death. You

become a total fool. And Andrew responded, I

have not lost my mind. I have found it. It is

not foolishness, but faith that has set me free

of the fear of death. For the death of the righteous

is honorable, but grievous is the death of sinners.

Therefore, it is my desire that you listen to

what I need to tell you about the mystery of

the cross. Acknowledge the truth and believe

and gain your life. Win your soul, said the apostle.

And the governor replies, only that which is

lost can be found. If my soul is truly lost,

I cannot imagine it that you will find it by

means of your stupid faith. Sounds pretty modern,

doesn't it? And Andrew answered him, I will reveal

to you in what perdition men's souls lie, so

that you may recognize the salvation effected

through the holy cross of Christ. It's the cross

of Christ. The first man ushered in death to

the world by the tree of disobedience. And so

it was necessary for the race of men, the human

race, that death might also be abolished through

the tree of suffering. As the first man who brought

in death was formed a pure and virgin earth by

God, so it was necessary that Christ, who is

at once perfect man and the Son of God, and who

fashioned the first man, be born of a pure virgin

to restore life everlasting, which has been lost

to all men. The Son of God stretched out his

blameless hands upon the cross, facing on that

wood the transgression of the first man who,

lacking self -restraint, stretched forth his

hand to the tree of desire and took the forbidden

fruit. In place of the sweet fruit of the forbidden

tree, Christ tasted bitter gall upon the cross.

Taking on himself the death that was our due,

he bestowed immortality upon us. Now, when St.

Andrew had finished this, the governor said to

him, Speak of these things to those who are interested,

not to me. But if you do not sacrifice to the

gods, I will have you beaten with staves and

crucified upon the cross which you so greatly

glorify. And Andrew responded, every day, every

day I offer to the one true almighty God, not

the smoke of incense, not the flesh of bulls,

not the blood of goats, but I offer the spotless

lamb of God, the liturgy, who suffered in sacrifice

upon the altar of the cross. All the faithful

partake of this most pure body and blood. The

governor mocked him. How can this be? You're

foolish. Andrew said, if you wish to understand,

become a disciple. In other words, if you wish

to understand the mystery of the cross, there's

only one way. These are my words. You have to

become his disciple. If you become a disciple

of Christ, if you follow faithfully what he teaches,

Do what he did. Act as he acts. You will understand

the mystery of the cross because you will enter

into that mystery. You will experience it yourself.

St. Andrew says, become his disciple. You will

know. But if you don't become his disciple, you

will never know. And the governor said, I will

extract knowledge of it from you by torture.

I'm not going to suffer, you're going to suffer,

and then maybe I'll see if it's true or not.

St. Andrew answered, as this comes to a conclusion,

I'm amazed that you, a learned man, speak so

foolishly. Do you suppose that you can learn

God's mystery by torturing me? I've already explained

to you the mystery of the cross. If you wish

to believe in Christ, the Son of God who was

crucified, I will tell you how he was slain and

yet lives, how he was sacrificed and is eaten

and still remains alive and whole in his kingdom.

And the governor says, how can it be that he

was put to death and then he's consumed his food?

You make no sense. If you believe with all your

heart, St. Andrew said. You will come to understand

this mystery, but if you do not believe it, you

will not. St. Andrew then said, Until now I have

spoken to you meekly, wishing to instruct you

in the holy faith. It was my hope that you would

prove to be a reasonable man, recognize the truth,

renounce the idols which you worship, and worship

the one true and living God who dwells in heaven.

But since you remain obstinate and imagine that

I fear your tortures, I invite you to devise

whatever you want. I am the slave of the cross.

Jesus Christ, I do not fear death by crucifixion.

And the governor said, okay, then you shall have

it. And St. Andrew was crucified on the X -shaped

cross. And then the story says the light came

from heaven. And Maximilia, the wife of the governor,

took down the holy body from the cross after

he was dead. She anointed it with costly ointments

and she placed it in her own new tomb. These

things, it says, took place on the last day of

the month of November in the city of Patras.

For us, can we see? What an amazing change of

life from that fisherman to that theologian.

Can we see in our own life a path of such also

profound change in whatever way God has determined

that we can flourish? This is the story we have

to follow, the story of the cross and the resurrection.

To our Lord be glory now and ever, to ages of

ages. Amen.