When we encounter God for ourselves and believe in Him, the only natural response is for us to go and invite our family and friends to “come and see” for themselves. When Christ met Saint Andrew, the First-Called Apostles, the first thing Saint Andrew did was go and tell his brother Simon (Peter) to “come and see”. Later Christ called Philip and he went and told Nathaniel. The only appropriate response for us to is to invite our family and friends to Church to “come and see” Christ, so they can encounter God and believe in Him.
My brothers and sisters in this morning’s gospel, on this the Feast of St. Andrew, the first called Apostle, I was remembering an old TV commercial and if you’re my age or a little older, you’ll remember, I don’t even remember what they were selling in this commercial, but the commercial was famous because the product was so good. The commercial says, “And they told two friends and they told two friends and they told two friends,” and as they said that, the screen was filling with faces. I don’t know how many of you remember that commercial from the ’70s. If you’re old like me, you’ll remember that TV commercial. We used to make fun of it, “And they told two friends and they told two friends.” My brothers and sisters, every time I hear this gospel, I think of that commercial and I think of the power of sharing the good news with our friends.
We do it all the time in other parts of our life. We find a good sale on a Christmas gift and we tell our friends go and buy it. We find something on sale on the internet, we tell our friends go and buy it. We even find cheap gasoline. We tell our friends what gas station to go get the cheap gasoline. We always tell our friends when we find something good. But I was remembering another story in my life. I was speaking with a young mother onetime and she was saying that her neighbor had just moved from out of state and they were talking about how to find a good doctor, where all the good stores are. And the neighbor asked this woman about a good church. I thought to myself, “Ah, this is the chance.” I said, “Did you invite her?” “No, of course not. This isn’t the kind of church that she would want to come to.” I said, “You lost the opportunity.” I said, “You were face-to-face with someone looking for a church and we have the true church and you didn’t invite her.”
Now you see my brothers and sisters, I’m not suggesting that we go out on the street corner and fly our flag, come to St. Nicholas. The gospel tells us the way to do it. It says that Andrew first went and called his brother. How many of us do have family members who have fallen away from the church? How many of us have family members who haven’t been to church in a long time or worse are now attending other religious communities? Andrew first went and called his brother, “My brothers and sisters, we must go call our family back home.” There are 10,000 men, women and children that call St. Nicholas their home. Today is the day for us to go call them back, invite them to church, so we get a little crowded. But if we want to follow the example of the apostles, our response to God and to having faith in him and to our encounter with him is to invite our family to come back to church, to come back home, and then to go to our friends and our neighbors.
Don’t worry about the complete strangers right now. They have other friends who will invite them. But go to your neighbors when you’re having a nice conversation. Don’t make the mistake that this woman made in my story and think that this church would not be a good church for your friends. This is the true church. When Christ saw Nathanael coming, he said, “There is a true Israelite in whom is no guile. There’s nothing sinister about him.” And Nathanael said, “How do you know me?” You see, my brothers and sisters, God knows us even before we know him, and he’s called all of us and he’s called all of our friends. But we cannot just keep it to ourselves. If we keep the church to ourselves, we are betraying this morning’s gospel. If we keep the truth to ourselves, sure there’ll be room for us in the pews, but when we get to heaven, we’ll be sorely disappointed because Christ is going to ask us, “Why didn’t you tell your friends about me?” “Well, you see, it won’t cut it.”
We have to follow the example of the apostles and it starts right here in Tarpon Springs, Florida. I challenge you, my brothers and sisters, go, and don’t wait for tomorrow, but go today and reach out to one family member who has fallen away from the church, who hasn’t been here for a long time, or maybe going to some other religious community. Invite them home, invite to bring them to come and see Christ, so that they can set their eyes on him and leave the rest to God. God will speak to their hearts, as he spoke to Nathanael’s heart. God will reach directly into their soul and look at them and they will say, “God, how did you know me?” He said, “Before Yanni even told you to come, I knew you.” And then by God’s grace, they will have the response of Nathanael, “You are the Lord, the Son of the living God, the king of Israel.”
My brothers and sisters, it’s a great challenge, but it’s the only answer and only response to God’s invitation is for us to go tell two friends and then they will tell two friends and they will tell two friends. And the next thing you know, the church will be bursting at the seams with people who love the Lord. And God will turn to us and say, “You will see greater things than these.” If only we act in love and faith. Glory to God for all things.
