Chosen In Community
By: The Rev. Brenda Sol
A few months ago, we celebrated the feast day of Saint Matthias, because we had a guest speaker with us—Robert Vivar. If you were present, you may remember this reading from Acts. Now, on the seventh Sunday after Easter, we encounter this passage about Matthias again, so you might think, “Oh, yeah. Here’s ol’ Matthias again.” But what else do you actually remember about Matthias?
Okay…that’s a trick question. In fact, this passage is, the only time, in the entire Bible that we hear about Matthias. In this reading, Peter relays the information that, because one of their twelve group members, Judas Iscariot, has died, and they want to keep this inner circle of Jesus’s followers at exactly twelve people, they choose Matthias to join them. That’s it. That’s all we’re ever told about Matthias.
And, yet, Matthias’s story carries great meaning for us today. What’s significant about this event is the emphasis on community—specifically, being “called” in community—which is why we celebrated St. Matthias when Robert came to preach. St. Matthias isn’t a feast day we typically observe on a Sunday, but because Robert is one of the most unlikely people to be in any kind of professional role within a church system, we wanted to make that connection.
Today during our 10am worship, we’ll have another guest preacher, Nicodemus Lim (unfortunately, he couldn’t be with us at this earlier time, but you can watch the video, later, if you want to hear his story). Nicodemus, who was one of the Lost Boys, sponsored by the Refugee Net, much like Robert, was called on by the people around him to step into ministry as a lay person—not to just to help them deal with their physical circumstances, but to help them experience the love of God. Nicodemus wasn’t tapped on the shoulder by a bishop who said, “You ought to become a priest.” Rather his community said, “We need you. It’s time to do this!”
The book of Acts serves the purpose of linking the gospel stories—that is Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—to the rest of the New Testament. The Gospels all focus on God incarnating into the world as Jesus. Then, the book of Acts describes how the early Christian church came into being. All the books in the Bible that follow are collections of teachings, letters, and prophecies that help us understand the ways the early church was making sense of Jesus’s message. And, of course, through our study of them, we are called into our own ministries, here in our lives today.
The calling of Matthias shifts things from people who were tapped directly on the shoulder by Jesus to the community taking responsibility for carrying on the earthly ministry Jesus had begun. The only other thing we learn about Matthias and Joseph—the other guy they were considering for the position—is that they were both present to Jesus’s pursuits from the time of his baptism through his ascension. In other words, Matthias and Joseph were both trustworthy folks who would guarantee some continuity to the group.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Although Jesus has died and isn’t available to invite the best choice into the position of apostle, those gathered don’t vote with their personal opinions. They cast lots. And, because we are educated, practical people, we might assume this was some really sophisticated process.
But “casting lots” was, essentially, throwing dice—more of a random selection than we might have imagined. Still, what we gather by the important placement of this story, is that this was a really important decision. The group didn’t think they should rely on their personal opinions. They wanted Divine guidance. So they prayed, and asked Jesus to be present in the process, so they cast lots.
We have the tendency to scoff at such techniques today, but Scripture is full of God’s people being open to God speaking in all kinds of ways: through dreams, philosophers, astronomers, and psychics, not to mention through the activities of rivers, fire, and dice. This nudges us to consider the many ways God is ready to inform us.
We don’t have to take on the weight of being able to figure all of it out with our intellect alone. When we pray and listen closely, God is with us, whether we cast lots or take a vote. And that “listening” might mean noticing our own breathing—whether we feel sense of peace or are experiencing wholeness and well-being—even in the midst of conflict.
So, this is what I want you to know as we enter into the new goal your vestry and I have set for us: God has, or is, calling each and every one of you into a unique role, because you each have particular gifts to share. As we live into the goal of “moving from a parish with a small core of people who know what’s going on, to an extended community with more people engaged,” know that when you were, or will be, asked to serve on a committee, or help brainstorm an issue, it’s not random. Other committee members and I have been praying. People have been discerning where God is at work among us, and God placed your name on our hearts.
As we continue this holy work together, we find encouragement in this morning’s Gospel. In the Ascension story—just as in the passage from Acts, things shift from Jesus carrying out God’s call to the disciples stepping into their roles. But Jesus doesn’t just disappear. Instead, he fills his followers with the energy and passion they need to carry on. Jesus prays in front of them: “[Loving Creator,] protect them in your name…so that they may be one, as we are one.”
Likewise, over the past several weeks, we’ve been reminded of the many ways we are invited to abide in God. And abide is exactly what Jesus means in our Gospel reading when he says, “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them” and “sanctify them in the [your] truth.”
So, I offer a bit more encouragement as you consider how you might be called to share God’s love—whether through a ministry of St. Andrew’s, or through some other program or activity in our community. This encouragement comes from the Brothers of the Society of St. John the Evangelist. Brother Luke wrote:
Abide can mean to live in, to make yourself at home. Abide also means to remain or to stick through challenges. There’s a gutsy quality to it. [He writes,] Jesus says: the [Creator] stuck with me. I’ll stick with you no matter what.
-AMEN
