Andrew: Bringing Others to Jesus

So a man had just moved into an area because he didn't know he needed a haircut and he went into a barber shop that he didn't know.

! And he walked in it was a Saturday morning and the place was full he sat down to wait to have his haircut and it soon became very apparent that this wasn't just a barber shop it was a bit of an old boys club.

And it was really clear that everybody else in there had known each other for years and there was a lot of joking and chatting going on.

But he waited and he waited and he waited and eventually this lad came in he was about nine years old and suddenly all went quiet as he was coming along the street past the window and the barber was there cutting their hair and he said oh he's on his way and we went hush.

Anyway the boy came into the shop and the barber said to him oh so hi son how are you doing today?

He said I'm very well thank you.

He said so reaching into his pocket he said so which are you going to take?

Would you like these two one pound coins or this one single five pound note?

The boy looked at them too and everybody in the shop was watching what was going on.

He said well I'd rather have the two one pound coins please.

So the boy takes them runs off down the road door closes and everyone in there laughs and it's really clear that this is a standing joke and it's a wind up that happens every Saturday morning.

Well the newbie to the shop has his hair cut and he makes his way down the street about half an hour later and he sees this boy walking along and he's eating an ice cream.

And he feels really sorry for this lad being the butt of everyone's joke every weekend.

So he says to him sorry I'm new around here but I just saw what happened to you in there.

He said how long has this been going on for?

And the lad says well since I was about five.

He says that's a really long time.

He says I know licking his ice cream.

He says you do know that they're all just having a laugh at your expense.

He says licking his ice cream.

Yeah sure.

He said well do you really understand what's going on?

He said yeah.

He said you're sure you understand.

He offers you two one pound coins or one five pound note and you take the two pound coins each time.

Do you understand what's going on there?

He said of course I understand.

He said so why do you keep coming back each week?

Taking one lick of his ice cream.

He says because the moment I take the fiver the game's over.

Who's controlling who?

Who's driving him?

In the decisions that we make each and every day of our lives.

The values that we carry around.

Who do we really succumb to?

What's going on beneath the surface?

Who are we really following?

Who are we really following?

Quite rightly we live in a world that has become suspicious.

And there is such a thing as a very healthy sense of suspicion.

When we're presented with anything that makes claims to truth or something that can offer something new or different into our lives.

And as such we ought not be surprised if when it comes to the language of Christian faith and the claims around the difference that it can make to your life that people will be suspicious.

Because we have learnt to become suspicious.

Because we have learnt to become suspicious to protect ourselves.

And there's a sense in which that's a healthy thing to carry.

But I want to suggest that maybe, maybe sometimes we can become so acutely aware of that culture of suspicion that it makes us, perhaps subconsciously,

but makes us reluctant to share our Christian faith with others because of our perception that if we do so, it's just going to hit a wall of suspicion.

If that is how we feel sometimes, we need to be encouraged by a growing number of reports that have been coming to light over recent months.

And some of you will already be familiar with some of this.

But there are a growing number of reports over the last six months or so,

which are highlighting a turning of the tide within the UK in terms of attitudes towards the Christian faith.

And which more than suggests a renewed receptivity towards it.

Indeed, we could even call it a hunger and a thirst for what the Christian faith has to offer.

Firstly, SPCK reported that between 2019 and 2024,

Bible sales in the UK are up by almost 87%.

The Bible app, known as the YouVersion, free download, many of you perhaps use it,

but in January this year, on the 5th of January,

they reported the record downloads that there were 798,000 downloads in one single day.

But the really big report, and if you haven't heard about this already,

you're going to hear more and more about it,

was the report commissioned by the Bible Society in conjunction with the research organisation YouGov,

called The Quiet Revival.

And it was an online survey,

and it dipped into a sample of the UK population in 2018,

and then again in 2024.

And it indicated that contrary to what we might think,

UK church attendance is actually on the way up,

quite significantly.

And this is not simply to do with comparing and contrasting figures now

with the COVID lockdown years.

It's not.

This was contrasting with church attendance in the UK

before COVID and lockdown came along.

And across those six years, between 2018 and 2024,

UK church attendance is up by 56%.

And the biggest growth area,

and this is where we need to sit up and pay attention,

the biggest growth area

is young adults.

It would seem that young adults are more open to God than the older generations.

And when asked questions about God and atheism,

it would seem that if you are in your 20s,

you are far less likely now to become an atheist,

or to be an atheist,

than if you were significantly older.

To quote from the report,

it would seem that having a Christian faith

is again becoming normalised,

and is arguably even culturally attractive.

Now, whatever we may make of that research

and of the research methodologies implied,

and you can read all this if you just go online,

you can download the report for free.

It's on the Bible.

You'll find it with the Bible Society set of resources.

It's called The Quiet Revival.

Whatever we make of those things,

those figures, those research findings,

from different sources looking at different things,

are beginning to stack up.

Anecdotally, we find stories,

I hear stories from church leaders all over the place

of how they're finding a renewed interest

in faith among younger adults,

who are just turning up,

not in response to any particular campaign or advertising,

but are just turning up in churches

and places of worship.

So with that renewed sense of receptivity in mind,

we need to ask ourselves as Christians,

why are we so afraid to share our faith?

Now, I'll ask that question today

because as we follow through this series

and we look at the 12 disciples,

I'm going to be asking the question each week,

what can we learn from each of them?

And today we're looking at Andrew

and today I want to suggest

that there is just one very, very simple thing

that Andrew teaches us

and it is this.

His very first response to Jesus

is to go off,

find his brother

and bring him to Jesus.

It's the first thing he does.

It's not like he becomes a Christian,

he spends some time forming,

working out that newfound faith

and then he thinks a little bit about

how he might apply that faith,

but it's all wrapped up in the same response.

He follows Jesus,

he's got to tell someone.

And what I want to suggest

is that this is something

that we can profoundly overlook

when it comes to our discipleship.

The basic thing is,

it's not,

I'm a Christian,

therefore as part of my application

of that Christian faith,

I therefore need to do this.

It's all part of the same thing.

When we encounter

the reality of Jesus in our lives,

the responses tell others.

It's all caught up

as part of following him.

It's foundational in being a disciple.

Now firstly,

we could say,

well there's a missionary imperative there.

There's an urgency.

If Jesus is the way to eternal life,

then we have a responsibility

to tell others.

In 1998,

you may remember this story,

it was a horrific story,

about a 15-year-old boy in Chicago

who was with his friends on the streets

playing basketball.

There was some activity very nearby

among rival gangs,

and there was some crossfire

in which this 15-year-old lad got caught,

and he was shot.

It just happened that

where he was shot

was extremely close to a hospital.

So his friends managed

to kind of get him close

to just outside the hospital,

but they didn't want to move him

beyond that

because they were frightened

that they were going to do

the wrong thing.

So they called the hospital,

they ran into the hospital.

The hospital said

that it was not their policy

to leave the building,

and that their policy meant

that they were prohibited

from being able

to administer medical help

outside of their building.

The friends pleaded with them

that they would do nothing.

Eventually, the police came along,

and it would seem

even they were powerless

to do anything about it.

Eventually, a police officer

managed to get hold

of a wheelchair

and wheeled this boy

into the hospital,

but it was too late,

and about an hour

after he had been shot,

this 15-year-old lad died.

Why?

Because the people

who had the resources

to help him

refused to leave the building.

That story sent shockwaves

around the world,

and it indeed would continue

to shock us

when we hear it now.

And there's a sense

when we think about

the Christian message

about the gospel imperative,

it should shock us

if we refuse,

metaphorically speaking,

to leave the building,

and we can find

that saving message

of Jesus Christ

to ourselves

and the activities

in which we share

together as Christians.

We have that charge,

that missionary imperative,

not to keep that

to ourselves,

to leave the building

and to share it.

But if we focus

entirely on that,

I think we missed

the point.

Because

if we're not careful,

we can end up

with this idea

that sharing our faith

with others

through the things

we do

and the things

that we say

ought to be driven

by,

just by,

a sense of urgency,

and not long

behind that

comes the feeling

of guilt.

And if that's

the idea

we have in our minds

as to what

Andrew teaches us,

then we've

missed the point.

Yes,

the urgency

is there,

but more fundamentally,

it has to do

with relationship.

You see,

sharing the faith

with others

simply comes down

to this reality

that if you have

experienced something

that you know

is good,

that is real,

you would naturally

want to share that

with those

that you know

and those that you love.

Why?

Because you want them

to have the same thing

that you know

is real

and is good

and is life

transforming.

Before Tamara

and I came

to Clevedon

in 2007,

we were eight years

where I was

a minister

in Mid-Devon.

We lived very close

to Dartmoor,

one of our favourite

places,

still is.

And when we first

arrived there,

it was just ourselves

and we often used

to go out for walks

on Dartmoor.

Then three children

came along.

And for several years

when we had three children,

there was one point

when we had three

all under the age

of five.

And actually,

going for a decent walk

was a bit of a challenge.

We might be able

to sort of drive

onto Dartmoor

and get out of the car

for a little bit,

but we couldn't go

very far.

It was shortly

before we left there

and came here

in 2007

that the children

were just about

getting old enough

where we thought,

you know,

we can manage

a decent walk

or what we would

regard as relatively

a long walk

for us then.

And we decided,

I can't remember

which tour it was now,

but we realised

that we could just

about get all three

children and ourselves

up to the top

of this tour

and back.

So off we went.

We did it,

by the way,

and we were really chuffed,

but that's not the point

of this story.

As we were about

100,

200 metres

from the top

of this tour,

we saw the figure

of a man

and he was doing this.

He was on his own.

But then we realised

that he was actually

running towards us

and we were thinking,

is there something

the matter here?

As he came up to us,

it was clear

that he was okay,

but he just had something

that he had to tell us.

He said,

I've just been up

to the top

of that tour.

He said,

I used to climb mountains.

I was almost professional.

I used to go

all over the world.

I used to scale

great heights.

And then several years ago,

I had an accident.

I fell.

I was told at one point

that I was lucky

to have survived it.

I was told I probably

would never walk again.

And he said that

as I went through

a series of several surgeries

and physio,

gradually,

gradually,

gradually,

long story,

but I managed

to be able to walk again.

And then they said,

well,

you'll never climb again.

But I was determined

that I was going to get out there

in the open.

And today I have.

Because today's the first time

I've managed

to get up that tour

and back

on my own,

unaided.

And with tears in his eyes,

he said,

I'm sorry,

you must think

I'm absolutely mad.

I'm just so excited.

I have to tell someone

and you're the first people

I've found.

And you've got good news

to tell.

You've just got to tell it.

Not because you've got to.

Not because there's

some compulsion about it.

You just can't contain it.

You've got to tell someone.

Emily will testify to that.

Andrew

goes straight

to his brother.

Not because Jesus has said,

you've got to go

and tell someone.

Not because he feels

he ought to.

Not because he's undertaken

a course in theology

and in mission studies

and has worked out

that there is a logical

progression somewhere

by way of sequence

that actually

you do this,

you follow Jesus,

you get to know Jesus

and therefore

you must go

and tell others about it.

That's not how it happens.

When you know him,

you can't keep him

to yourself.

there's a story

that Nicky Gumbel

used to tell

on the older stories

of Alpha.

I'm not sure

it's included

in the current version

of the course

but it's a story

if you've done Alpha

in the past

you may well have

come across this one

before

but it's a story

about a young man

who became a Christian

and he was really

caught up

in the excitement

of what he had

discovered

in following Jesus

except that he had

heard

somewhere

in all of the gospel

being explained

to him

that

will we tell others

about Jesus?

It didn't really seem

to occur to him

that it was because

others had actually

told him

that he actually

discovered

Christian faith

for himself

but he was just

really really scared

about actually

passing it on

to anybody else

so he didn't

but this bothered him

because

the more he read

his Bible

the more he

the more he kind of

read and

found out about

Christian faith

he'd become a Christian

but he just felt

that he just couldn't

tell anyone

he didn't

he didn't go to a church

he didn't open up

to anybody

now there was

one person

that he knew

who happened

to be a Christian faith

a much older Christian

and so he went

to him

and told him

that he'd recently

become a Christian

said that

he knew

that deep down

inside

that there was

something about

Christians should

tell others

about Jesus

but he felt

really nervous

about that

and he was afraid

that people

were going to

think he was silly

that he was going to

reject him

we'd want nothing

more to do

with him

and this very

wise friend

of him

said

you know

what

I sense

that God's

making an

exception

with you

I said

what do you

mean

he said

well I haven't

listened to you

tell your story

to me

I sense

that God

might be

saying you

to do

something

don't worry

about telling

anybody

about Jesus

you don't

have to do

it

just relax

but I

sense

that God

saying

that

I want you

to do

this one

thing

go home

to go

to your

room

when you

can

take some

space

when you're

not going

to be

interrupted

by anybody

and just

ask God

to fill you

with his

Holy Spirit

what about

telling other

people

don't worry

about that

forget it

just go

and do

what I

said

this man

was both

relieved

but also

slightly puzzled

by his

friend's

advice

but he

decided to

do what

he said

because he

respected

him

so he

went

home

and in

fact there

were a few

people at

home

including

next door

neighbours

in the

kitchen

having a

cup of

tea

having a

chat

but he

decided

just to

tiptoe

off to

his

room

and

closed

the

door

quietly

and

decided

to get

on

with

praying

and

remembering

what his

friend had

said

pray

Lord

please

fill me

with

your

Holy

Spirit

as he

prayed

that

prayer

he

found

himself

getting

down

on

his

knees

and

his

arms

stretched

out

and

over

several

minutes

he

felt

the

most

extraordinary

sense

of

peace

and

joy

come

upon

him

that

he

had

never

experienced

even

since

becoming

a

Christian

to

the

point

that

he

began

to

well

up

it

was

the

most

awesome

experience

and

the

sense

of

the

presence

of

God

in

the

room

was

almost

tangible

after

20

minutes

or so

of

praying

he

couldn't

contain

himself

he

got up

he

opened

the

door

he

ran

down

into

the

kitchen

and

said

to

his

entire

family

and

their

next

door

neighbours

who

were

having

a

cup

of

tea

It's

fantastic

I've

just

become

a

Christian

and

I

don't

have

we

share

Jesus

not

because

we

must

because

it's

the

most

natural

thing

in the

world

to

share

that

which

is

good

with

those

around

us

let's

pray

Lord

thank you

for this

story

of

Andrew

thank you

for the

way in

which he

experienced

you

and just

naturally

went and

told his

brother

Lord we

thank you

for the

encouraging

reports

that we

are hearing

of what

is being

referred to

as a

quiet

revival

in our

own

country

thank you

for that

it would

seem

renewed

openness

to you

we pray

that that

would

continue

that it

would grow

that it

would

flourish

and that

we may

each

play a

part

in

responding

to

that

Lord

forgive us

for those

times

when we

allow

our

own

fear

perhaps

fear

of how

we might

be

perceived

to get

in the

way

of sharing

your truth

with others

Lord

renew us

like the

man in

that story

in the

power of

your

holy

spirit

rekindle

in our

hearts

that

sense

of knowing

your

presence

your joy

and your

peace

that it

may just

naturally

and

spontaneously

overflow

through our

lives

through our

actions

and through

our

words

in

Jesus name

Amen

Amen