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.