Br. Lucas Hall

Saint Andrew the Apostle

Today we observe the feast day of St. Andrew, the first-called disciple, brother to St. Peter. Well, technically his feast was Sunday, but the first Sunday of Advent bumped him. Honestly, I don’t think he’d mind; if your brother is St. Peter, you probably have a pretty thick skin about not getting top billing.

You may have noticed the signs at the entrances to the chapel, in the wooden frames with the candles, one at the front entrance and one at the guesthouse. We put those signs out on the larger feast days of the year, just to give people coming into the chapel a little context about why our liturgy may look and sound a bit different than normal. Each sign has the collect of the day, as well as a piece of art from somewhere in the Christian tradition, depicting the relevant figure or scene. So, naturally, today’s sign had to have St. Andrew.

As I was looking for a good image, I ran into a problem. A lot of them just aren’t very distinct. Many images of Andrew have been made, but most of them are just depictions of an older man. Which is fine, he was an older man, but they don’t really give you much. Some have him holding a scroll, a common feature associated with the Apostles, representing the Gospel, the Word, which they spread. Again, fine, but not very distinctive. Many had him with a big wooden X; the Church tradition holds that Andrew was crucified, not on an upright cross, but on an X-shaped cross, limbs spread and nailed to each arm of the cross. If you know what the Scottish flag looks like, a white X on a blue background, that’s from St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. But as a symbol, that only really works if you’re not only familiar with Andrew in the Bible, but also of the Church tradition around him. If you’re not, it’s just an X. And some images depict him in a boat with his brother Peter, being called from the shore by Jesus; I considered that, but honestly, I felt a bit bad. We hear so much about Peter; maybe for one day a year, Andrew shouldn’t have to share the spotlight. Maybe Andrew’s sainthood isn’t just a function of bringing Peter with him; maybe he’s a saint in his own right.

The image I ultimately found is, at first, not that distinct looking. It’s an old man, holding a scroll. But what struck me was what was written on the scroll. In Greek, you see the words, “Eureka men ton Messiah.” Literally, “We have found the Messiah.” This is the way Andrew shares the news with his brother Peter in John’s gospel. But what stuck out to me was that first word, “Eureka.” You may recognize it: Eureka! It’s an exclamation that’s made its way into English. The most famous story involving the word is that the ancient scientist Archimedes exclaimed “Eureka” after sitting in a bathtub, seeing the water rise, and realizing that by measuring how much the water rose, you could exactly measure the volume of an object placed in the water. He was so excited at discovering a fundamental function of physics that, it’s said, he sprang up, naked, shouting “Eureka,” that is, “I’ve found it!” and ran through the city still naked to share his discovery.

And honestly, as someone who has read a lot of John’s Gospel, many times, that’s new to me. “We have found the Messiah,” can be said, well, just like that. A simple recitation of fact. But seeing that word, “Eureka,” adds something exclamatory. We’ve found him! I need to share this with you, my brother, my loved one, because this is new and exciting; we’ve found the one we were looking for! We found him!

Maybe I’m channeling Archimedes, encountering a fundamental mechanism of physics, seeing something deeply and beholding in awe. Or maybe I’m channeling Christ himself, who speaks at length about searching and finding, the woman and the lost coin, the shepherd and the lost lamb, the father and the prodigal son, who did not even let his son get fully to his house before rushing out to him in the street, who “had to celebrate, because . . . he was lost and has been found.”

“We have found him!” How sweet and pure, how full of awe is this joy. How new, even in the words of an older man. We are in Advent, a season of preparation and anticipation. I go to church a lot. Many of you do too! Perhaps part of our Advent observance, our watching, our keeping awake, is not to become dulled by the familiar story. Maybe, with St. Andrew, we’re called to be excited, to be surprised, to behold this promise anew, and exclaim “Eureka! We’ve found the Messiah!,” and really, really mean it.