THE ANDREW ANOINTING

By James Wilson

            Diana and I did not plant the sandalwood grove on the back slopes of the Haleakala volcano; Native Hawaiians re-introducing native vegetation did.  We did not plant the nearby settlement at Kahiki Nui; Hawaiians entitled to land under the ethnic homestead law built their homes.  But we did help. 

When wildfire erupted in 2003 – threatening to burn out the settlement and trees that had not grown on Maui in more than a century we were there.  We called people of prayer back in California and soon had about fifty praying round the clock – while firefighters fought their hearts out in the almost inaccessible terrain and braved the rifle fire of marijuana growers in the same neighborhood.  Our team prayed nothing but blessing on all concerned.  In a few days the fire was out and – though flames came within a few feet of settlement and sandalwood – no harm was done to homes or trees.  The marijuana growers were burnt out and – yes – they too were blessed because the evil they represented was short-circuited.  Settlement and sandalwood continue to flourish today.

            We did one thing while others did many things.  Others remained to build after we went home.  But the one thing we did helped a lot.  We exercised the Andrew Anointing.

            Andrew is one of the obscure apostles.  In John 1:40-42 Andrew hears what John the Baptist says about Jesus being the Son of God and believes it.  He immediately goes to find his brother, Peter, telling him the Messiah has been found.  Peter becomes the most famous of the apostles; he does many things that are recorded in scripture.  So far as the Biblical record can show, Andrew only did one thing.  But exercising the anointing that carries his name helped to advance the Kingdom of God a lot.

            There is no way to know which thing we do will leave the world a better place but we can know what things are worth doing.  We know it every time we act to serve the least of these – as Jesus instructs in Matthew 25:31-40.  We know it each time we have each other’s backs – as Jesus declares in John 10 and 15 – defending the weaker brother from the bully.  We know it each time we confess Jesus as Lord, as He promises in Luke 21 and Matthew 10.  And we know it each time we make sacrifice – for Him or for one of His little ones – because that is why He came into the world – to make sacrifice for each of us.  Each time we do a thing just because it is worth doing we exercise the Andrew Anointing…at the very least.

            There are typically many “one things” we have the opportunity to do in a lifetime.  Taken alone they seem small – because they are – but the Lord knits these little things into a tapestry for His glory.  I had forgotten the little thing I did more than a decade ago until the Wintu leader spoke of it during the recent dedication of his tribal cultural center.  This leader needed to pick up another leader and his car was not functioning.  I loaned him my car for the afternoon and he was able to pick up his colleague – no big deal.  But as he tells the story the seemingly insignificant assist I provided led to introductions with the leaders of Bethel Church in Redding and the church soon began monthly donations to the tribe.  They called it “rent” because their buildings sit on land that once belonged to the Wintu and for which they had never been compensated.  The relationship deepened and the leaders honored the church that day for facilitating the building of the cultural center in ways large and small.  It began with the loan of a car.  Who could know?

            In the famous story Loren Eiseley walks a beach after a storm.  Thousands of storm-tossed starfish on the beach are dying; a young boy walking along is throwing the starfish back into the water one at a time.  Eiseley approaches the boy and asks why; with thousands of starfish stranded, he says, the effort cannot make a real difference.  The boy responds, “It makes a difference to this one,” as he throws another one back.  What Eiseley does not express is the reality that it makes as much difference to the boy as to the starfish.

            Our Lord says if we are faithful in small things He will begin to trust us with much more.  He wants us to use all of our anointing and gifting.  But the Andrew Anointing is a real good place to start.