Judas was a problem. A careful reading of the gospels shows that he was a controversial member of the disciples from the beginning. Luke and John’s gospels have nothing good to say about him and John’s gospel accuses him of embezzlement. Judas’ suicide is described differently between Matthew 27:5 (by hanging) and Acts 1:18-20 (by jumping to his death). Acts 1:17 says of him, “he was one of our number and he shared in this ministry.” Judas was a casualty. One of the things we did not talk about in our short review of the history of St. Barnabas on Wednesday night are the relationships that worked and did not work that shaped how our church has gotten where it is. Even in his closest circle, Jesus had someone who betrayed him. Lest we think that sharing the gospel has a guaranteed success rate (“If God is in it, it must succeed.”), the example of Judas gives a reality check.
But what about the method of choosing Judas’ replacement? They pray and then they cast lots, evidently because they couldn’t make up their mind between Joseph Barsabbas or Matthias. In the end, Matthias is chosen but neither one are mentioned again in the Bible. Is anyone else besides me a little uncomfortable that they played a game of chance to choose leadership? Maybe for next year’s nominating purposes for church officers we should play, “Rock, Paper, Scissors!” At the same time, have you ever, despite your most fervent prayers, been unable to see a clear decision and yet you need to make one anyway? The Bible doesn’t hide the truth that God uses common things for his purposes. There is a pattern here – choosing the foolish things of this world to shame the wise, using ordinary people like you and me to do the extraordinary.
But then there is this other issue, that what appears to be chance occurrences end up later to be part of a pattern of God’s guidance. We have so much that happens good or bad to us out of chance (conception at child birth, winning the lottery, an audit, finding or not finding a parking place, being born at a particular time or place where a one in a lifetime opportunity happens.), yet God seems to work in the midst of all that. That’s why I said in an early sermon “God is in the mix.” It’s interesting to see what God uses in our lives, and quite unpredictable.
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It seems to me that the more we look for God, the more we see His hand in all that we do and encounter.
And as a member of the Nominating Committee, I love the idea of filling positions by drawing names from a hat. (Just kidding!)
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