On a freezing February day,
crowds gathered on a snow-covered field near Dublin, Ireland. Two men had been
feuding and their conflict was about to be resolved with a pistol duel. When
the gun smoke had settled a prominent politician named Daniel O’Connell had
slain his adversary John D’Esterre. The dead man left behind a young widow, Jane,
and two small children, along with several burdensome debts. The penniless widow
had no choice but to let the creditors seize their home and possessions.
Jane was forced to move back
home near her parents, where she sank into a deep depression. One day she sat by a river, contemplating suicide. On
the other bank, a plowman started his day’s work. As he labored behind the
animals, he began whistling Christian hymns. As Jane listened, her heart was
moved. Jane wanted the joy of the whistling plowmen. Searching for God’s love,
she decided to attend a church service the next day, where she confessed Christ
as her Savior after hearing a sermon on John 3:16.
By and by, the Lord
brought a new man into Jane’s life, a Captain John Guinness. After a whirlwind
engagement, the two were married and had a son, Harry Guinness. At 18, Harry
was set to inherit a fortune from his wealthy father, but he decided not to
take the money. Instead young Harry answered a call from the Lord to enter the
Gospel ministry. Harry went on to become the “Billy Graham” of Ireland and in
1859 his preaching sparked a national revival which brought over 100,000 people
to Christ.[1]
Just think—that tremendous
harvest of souls was triggered by a whistling farmer who had no idea how far
his simple Christian witnesses would extend.
In John 1 we are
introduced to one of Jesus’ disciples that had a similar “behind-the-scenes”
impact. He is Andrew, “the apostle of small things.” He’s mentioned less than
10 times in the Gospels, usually in passing or in reference to his more
well-known brother, Peter. Andrew’s claim to fame wasn’t his preaching, we
don’t have any of his sermons recorded. He wasn’t famous for doing any dramatic
miracles that we know of. He never wrote anything significant enough to be in
the New Testament. But what he did do was appreciate the value of a soul.
The first thing Andrew did
after meeting Jesus was share the Good News with his brother, Peter and then personally
led him to Jesus (John 1:40-42). Here’s the amazing thing about Andrew—he
reached the one, who would go on to reach thousands and millions. Think of it,
Andrew brought Peter to Jesus and Peter in time would preach at Pentecost on
the day that the Church was born and 3,000 souls were saved.
In his book, 12
Ordinary Men, John MacArthur points out that Andrew’s influence is nearly immeasurable.
Because of Andrew’s impact upon Peter we have the first sermon of the church-age
on Pentecost, the letters of 1st and 2nd Peter and the
Gospel of Mark. As MacArthur writes, “All the fruit of Peter’s ministry is
ultimately also the fruit of Andrew’s faithful, individual witness.”[2]
Even the smallest
witness can have the biggest impact for eternity. Because we share Christ in this life, eternity will
be different for other and for us. We won’t know until we get to heaven how our
faithful witness rippled out likes a pebble on a pond. From our finite
perspective, it’s difficult to imagine how vital a role we play in this cosmic
drama where our lives are connected to so many others. Eternity hangs in the
balance and your witness matters because you never know how far out into the
future your influence for Christ might extend. -DM
[1]
Robert J. Morgan, The Promise (Nashville, TN: B & H, 2008), 185-186.
[2]
John MacArthur, 12 Ordinary Men (Nashville, TN: W Publishing, 2002), 69.
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