St Andrew: The Dreamer of Worlds
Sermon preached in St Salvator's Chapel, St Andrews on the 26th November, 2006 by Mario Aguilar
Readings: Isaiah 55 and Mark 1: 14-20
Sermon:
We celebrate the life of Andrew, one of the apostles and patron of this nation (and of Russia). In doing so we are conscious that there are no major biographies of him. However, as we heard in today's reading he was called by Jesus of Nazareth to join his ministry in Galilee and beyond and later to be part of that inner circle of those who were at the Last Supper, remained uncertain at the moment of the arrest and crucifixion and later rejoiced when Jesus was risen by his Father. One poignant moment told of Andrew in John's Gospel occurred when Jesus fed the five thousand and Andrew told Jesus: 'There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fishes: but what are these among so many?' (John 6:8-9). He preached throughout the Roman Empire and was crucified under the persecution of the Roman Emperor Nero in 60 CE, when Christians were labelled as traitors because they didn't recognise the divinity of the Roman emperor.
I am less inclined to dwell on historical detail but I want to reflect on the central gospel passage of his calling. The calling of Andrew, brother of Simon Peter, requires further reflections. A young person from a fishing village decides to leave the ordinary and comfortable life of family and friends. This could be interpreted as the ultimate dream of youth, to discover other worlds, to see other places, to go for a gap year. Some have suggested that there was very little in Andrew's life that could make him stay as a fisherman. However, others have suggested, and I agree with them, that it must have been quite traumatic for a young man to leave kin and friends, the known for the unknown. Andrew had no major information about what the world outside Galilee was apart from a few stories of people who would have gone to Jerusalem or to other parts of the world. There was no security, thieves on the road, no email to request help from kin, no Internet to check those emails and no phone calls with the clear message 'please send a cheque'. He was young and he was adventurous and he trusted that Jesus was somebody worth risking it all for.
I would like to suggest that a simple moment in the life of a fishing village becomes an extraordinary moment for the life of a person, Andrew, and also for the life of many others, those who are to be caught like fish by the same calling. Because Jesus' words in the Gospel of Mark are straightforward and very clear: 'Follow me and I shall make you into fishers of men [and women, and St. Andrews students and staff]'.
That past and ancient event made Andrew into his brother's companion; they shared incredible journeys for what was expected of simple fishermen of Galilee. Galilee was as far north of Jerusalem, the centre of power, as the Western Isles of Scotland are from London. I ask myself and I asked you: Why was it that Andrew decided to join Jesus and his companions? Was it because he was impressed with the preaching of Jesus? Was it because he wanted to support his brother Simon? Maybe both, maybe neither of these explanations makes sense we would never know.
My own sense is that in a short moment Andrew's existence changed dramatically. From thinking about the next day's catch of fish and his own obligations towards family, friends and neighbours he had to dream of further and distant lands. Not unlike Frodo and the ring from the Shire's quiet existence to the lands of Mordor, death or victory. The response to Jesus' call 'Follow me' required more than an instant awareness that Jesus was the Messiah, I doubt that Andrew was actually aware of that and most probably his initial response was as clear as many would have given: 'Do we have to go?'.
And this is where our own existence, our own awareness as students and staff of this university relates to that single but important moment of calling. When Jesus calls Andrew and when in our own Christian pilgrimage we are called by mysterious voices or circumstances to follow a way of life we don't know where we are going. We can only dream of greener pastures, of adventures, of moments of deep excitement, warmth and companionship. We don't know the whole history of Andrew, as I have mentioned before, because his existence and his calling was not unlike ours. He was called to dream. Did you dream when you decided to come to St. Andrews? Are you dreaming now of discoveries, challenges and worlds to be built? Will you dream of a world in which the values of the Kingdom are realised? Will you take further challenges knowing that you don't know what will happen?
Let me tell you a story. When in June 2004 the University honoured Gustavo Gutiérrez, the world-known Peruvian theologian, with an honorary doctorate in divinity, and after ceremonies and dinners had ended he asked me to drive to Elly. Any fishing village would have done it was a more than usual Scottish weather day, it was a dark afternoon and the rain started to drop. Through the short journey he asked me about several theologians, where they were, and if I had read the work of the eminent Argentinean Edinburgh professor Marcella Althaus-Reid. Did I think that the world in Scotland was different than South America? Etc. We got out of the car and as he didn't have a coat, he only had one suit and hand luggage was all he had brought to St. Andrews, I suggested that we better go and get a coffee somewhere. He pointed me to the beach and started to walk, himself ahead, myself following. He saw the peer and his speed increased. As we sat at the peer while the rain fell upon us drops of rain started to reach our necks and inside our shirts I realise that he was in bliss and I was feeling quite miserable. Gutiérrez shouted: how wonderful to be here! I was conscious that nobody was around in those bold climatic conditions. He then asked me: What are your dreams for the future, I mean for your work for other people? The conversation continued and I realised that I had got new challenges at that peer and that I felt absolutely soaked with a great sense of peace and consolation.
Great men and women, great Christian men and women did not reach a deep understanding of their journey without allowing time to dream and time to dream other worlds. Explorers, scientists, vice-principals and principals do not get to show originality or creativity by doing the same but by dreaming realities that are unthinkable now and were unthinkable in the past. The ages of discovery and deeper awareness of human potential require the dreaming of worlds and their creation. That was the call of the first disciples: to dream a moment in which the God of Israel would be closer to them and would deliver them from the Romans, but would deliver them from their own narrowness, greed, envy and deceit. By delivering them he would deliver all, particularly the hungry, the sick, the poor and those in the margins of society.
Many times during my lectures I have spotted a student or two who seem to be in another world, some of them writing a dear name on their writings pads, once and again, and again and again. Others with open mouths seem to wonder in shock when I speak of realities of violence, war, and Christian commitment to be with the poor and to seek challenges and consolation. We call that day dreaming not a good practice for those who want to achieve a first class degree, however much necessary for our connection with the world of today, with other human beings and with God. I am not advocating here that students should daydream in lectures hall or that staff attending committees should disappear into a world of bliss and dreams. However, I am clearly suggesting that great moments, great things, and great stories do not happen if human beings, we, do not dream in order to make new worlds.
For Christians, that name to be written on a pad once and again is the name of that person who called Andrew to dream with him. It is the name uttered in many prayers and supplications, a person who calls us to dream with him as well. To dream is to actualise realities that we know and to create future realities that can exist, can happen and where we have a central part to play. How do we dream? I give you my secret the peer, a place of dreams and wind, of prayer and contemplation, a place where disciples are called and dreamers fall into the sea. The beach, where it is easier to visualise and actualise the sands where Jesus called his disciples to dream, the hills where the trees and the grass speak wonders of a world that is to come. All those realities around us call us to dream, to hope and to build a better world not for ourselves but for the dearest of God: the poor, the marginalised, and the unemployed, those rejected by war, conflict, those with AIDS, and those who don't have a dream any more.
Dream at all times like Andrew did dream in prayer and in walks, it is the best activity in life and the one that would make you central to the history of others and the history of many. Andrew dreamed too hard and looked what happened to him! May he, as patron of our nation and as an example of a disciple of Jesus pray for us! Amen.