Feast of Saint Andrew, apostle
(Romans 10: 9-18; Matthew 4:18-22)
During the middle of the last century a missionary preacher
used to give “fire and brimstone” talks to high school boys. He impressed upon his listeners that they
would burn in hell if they did not repent of their sexual sins. For years he had great success. Boys would line up outside the confession
box. But toward the end of the twentieth
century the missionary’s sermons lost their appeal. He had to change his content. Perhaps he started to speak about the love of
God.
These days, however, talking of God’s love is not
necessarily the way to make converts either.
Certainly, it is a more honest approach than emphasizing God’s wrath. Whatever is said today must be backed up with
social media if one wants to reach thousands.
Preaching has changed, perhaps many times, since Paul wrote his Letter
to the Romans.
In today’s section from the Letter to the Romans we hear how
apostles like St. Andrew preached salvation through Jesus Christ. He likely did it often without
compensation. Receiving money for his
efforts would have drawn suspicion to his motives and violated the Lord’s instructions. Like Paul himself, Andrew preached out of
obedience and in order to save his soul.
