I talked last week about Philip and Andrew. Bringing what you have that is related to the need rather than thinking you need something else.

As I was preparing to talk about that idea a little more, I started thinking about Philip and Andrew.

They were from the same town, Bethsaida. It was a couple miles or so from Capernaum, on the north end of the lake we know as the Sea of Galilee. Andrew had been an early follower of Jesus. He started as a follower of John the Baptist, who then directed Andrew (and someone else) to Jesus. Sometime later, on his way out of town, Jesus invited Philip to follow him, which he did.

The two men show up in the story about the feeding of the large group. Philip offers a suggestion first, Andrew follows up with another alternative, the one the is used by Jesus.

The two men show up at the end of the preaching ministry of Jesus when some Greek-speaking people want to meet Jesus. Philip takes them to Andrew, and the two of them go to Jesus.

I’m trying to understand the relationship between Philip and Andrew. I think Andrew may be kind of a spiritual big brother to Philip. Andrew was Peter’s brother, who was in the inner circle. Andrew seems to protect Philip a little, seems to be the one Philip goes to on the way to Jesus.

Of course, we don’t have enough information to sort it through. We do have enough information to know that there was a connection, from living in the same town to following Jesus for three years to taking action in carrying out the mission of Jesus. They were real people, trying to understand Jesus, interacting with each other.

Just like us. And that’s the point of this note. We think about the big events in the Bible and want to recreate them. All along, there are real people living lives between the events. I think it’s the living and the relationships that matters more than the events.

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A few years back, I assembled a series of readings for Lent. Since Ash Wednesday (February 17) and Easter come around every year, I share this every year. Since all of last year felt like Lent, maybe we don’t need help. But maybe we do. It works as a reader for individuals, small groups, and whole churches.  Lent for Non-Lent People.