Acts 1

What is God saying to us?

This week’s lesson in Acts is a short little story that tells us about someone who never gets mentioned again

I don’t know if I have told this story here or not

But this passage of scripture was the text for the sermon at my ordination service

The sermon title was “what ever happened to Matthias?”

Rev Dennis Cook preached

And he talked about Matthias being selected

Being picked as a candidate because he had been with the apostles since the time of Jesus’ baptism

That is he had proven himself to be a faithful follower

He was a witness, (Greek martus) he was a testifier

In the legal sense he was a trust-worthy witness

He was a witness in the historical sense as well

He had been present when Jesus said and did all of the amazing things that showed him to be God’s son

He knew firsthand what it was to walk with Jesus

He is chosen to succeed Judas

And then never heard of again

We assume that he didn’t mess up or we would have heard of that story

No, it seems that Matthias quietly served in the background of the early church

Bearing witness to Jesus and not drawing attention to himself

A good model for Christian service

This was the take Dennis took on that story on that day in June of 2000

There are other points of view that are raised regarding Matthias

They begin by saying that the apostles acted too quickly

That Jesus sent them back to Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit

And they went back to Jerusalem and went to work

Well let’s see

There are only 11 of us

There should be 12

After all there were twelve tribes of Israel to represent the diversity and strength of the people chosen by God

These diverse and strong people were to be the means by which God’s justice and love would be shown to the world

Since it had been by a group of twelve that God has worked in the world in the past

And since Jesus had chosen twelve disciples

The remaining disciples felt that their number needed to be rounded up again

The reasoning was sound

But they were told to wait not to work

This seems to be one of the hardest things for the people of God to do

We want to work

We want to look at a situation

Size it up

Make a plan

And then act!!

But sometimes that is not what God is calling us to do

It may be that Matthias was not God’s first choice for a replacement for Judas

There are those who make the claim that Paul was the one the God had in mind

And if the apostles had just waited

Then God would have brought Paul into the fold and he would have been named apostle replacing Judas

Those who make this claim point to the unrecognized role that Matthias played as evidence of the mistake that the disciples made

But Mathias is not the only one who is only named once in the Bible

We are told of a woman named Damaris later in Acts

We are told of Timothy’s mother and grandmother, Eunice and Lois

Their sum total contribution to the life of the church is not determined by the number of times they are mentioned

They may have served quietly and faithfully like Dorcas, who was only highlighted because she died and was raised again

Whether the lack of information about Matthias means that he was not God’s choice or not

There are those who believe that the Apostle Paul was God’s choice

Was Paul supposed to be the replacement or Matthias?

As case can be made for Paul

He clearly had a lot to do with the propagation of the gospel of Jesus

He went on missionary journeys

He wrote long letters

He addressed rulers

He was given a vision of Jesus

God spoke to him directly and called him into service

One of the criteria the disciples had set for the apostle they were selecting was that the man would have known Jesus during his entire earthly ministry

Paul did not meet that criterion

Does this mean Paul was not to be considered?

The list of qualifications was set by the apostles not by God

A third possibility is that the apostles were away too short sighted

They not only jumped the gun by quickly moving to name a new apostle

But they were too quick to assume that the new apostle should be a man

There are those who make a case for Mary Magdalene being the replacement for Judas

Mary had been a part of the group that followed and worked with Jesus

Study has shown that she was a disciple

That she participated in the new life to which Jesus was calling his followers

She had taken up her cross and followed Jesus

Those who put forth this theory ask what the face of the church would be like today if Mary had been named as an apostle

Would the structures that we maintain in the church be so hierarchical if Mary had been invited to use her gifts more fully?

Would the history of the church have been richer for having been more open to taking full advantage of the writing s of Christian woman and their talents for teaching, preaching and administering?

There are scores of devotional writings produced by women over the eons

There are inspired prayers written by women

There are Bible Colleges and Christian Education Schools built and run by women

But when the histories are written these items are given as an aside

Was Mary supposed to be an apostle?

We don’t know

And we really don’t know if all the speculation about who should have been chosen is correct

We do know that Jesus sent the apostles to wait for the Spirit

We do know that they acted before they received the Spirit

And we do know that this is a pattern that seems to be according to human nature

What else do we learn from this story of the selection of Matthias?

There is the confirmation that one does not lose one’s status because of what people consider to be success

Face it

If we were to put Paul and Matthias side by side

We would be inclined to say

Well Paul, congratulations, you established many churches, you have written letters that have been preserved and quoted, and you have made a name for yourself

And Matthias, well you were there and you were chosen

But we really don’t know much about you do we?

But not having a lot of press doesn’t mean that Matthias fell short of what he should have done

Jesus told his disciples to love God and to love people

He told them to make disciples and to baptize

Nowhere in that list of things to do is there a command to make a name for yourself

Or to build an organization

Or even to write letters

The direction is to pass on what you know of God

How to do it is not so closely defined

Historical documents from the ancient world tell us that Matthias preached the gospel, but little else is known

I said earlier that the fact that so little is said of him probably means that he didn’t do anything bad

Faint praise perhaps

But really, that is the sort of leadership that we need in the church

Those who are willing to do what Jesus asks whether or not they receive acknowledgement

Maybe the apostles jumped too quickly to name Matthias to replace Judas

But maybe they didn’t

Maybe what that group of believers needed was someone who would be a part of the team

And support the work of others

And remind them of the things that Jesus said and did

Now I don’t know for a fact that Matthias did all of those things

But I don’t know that he didn’t

Being faithful does not always mean being famous

Should Paul have been the one named to be one of the twelve apostles?

He didn’t seem to need that designation from other believers to do the work to which God had called him

He knew what God wanted

He would introduce himself as

“A servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God”

He had his designation and he worked to fulfill the ministry to which he was called

Paul stood up for what he believed in

He went from living the life of a respected religious teacher in society, to being an itinerant teacher who was imprisoned and beaten at time for what he believed

He brought the gospel of Jesus to areas of the world that had not heard the good news and he wrote letters to believers to encourage them and to at times give correction to what they were doing

Whether Paul had been named an apostle by other people or not, he knew that God had called him to be who he was and to do what he was doing

And Mary Magdalene?

It has been recently that Mary’s place as a disciple has been reclaimed

In the early church she was recognized as a true follower of Jesus

In the passing on of the story

Mary’s reputation was dismantled

Most of us learned that Mary was a prostitute

In 591 Pope Gregory insisted that all of the Marys in the gospels, besides Mary the mother of Jesus were one

Therefore Mary Magdalene was the sinner woman who washed Jesus’ feet

Therefore Mary Magdalene was a prostitute

In 1969 the second Vatican council rejected that teaching as flimsy

Since that time Mary has been recognized as a woman who was diligent in observing her faith

And who was one of the early witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus

Again

The faithful living out of belief was not stopped by what others thought

Mary was a steadfast believer

It is thought she may have fled to France with Mary, Lazarus and others

It is also thought that she may have contributed to a book called The Gospel of Mary

Regardless of where she ended her days

She is an example of one who heard the gospel of Jesus and lived it

We can look back on what has been done in the past and debate over whether it should have happened or not

It is more helpful for us to see what lessons there are to be applied to our living

Matthias, Mary and Paul never gave up

Matthias is someone about whom we know little

Of the 3 people being considered today he is the one about whom we know the least

We do know that he had been with Jesus from the beginning

That he was faithful

And that he was a witness, or one whose word could be trusted

We know Matthias shared the gospel

We have every reason to be assured that he was faithful to the end, in spite of the lack of fanfare./

In the early days of the church

When believers were beginning to have a sense of what it meant to follow Jesus

And when it was becoming dangerous to be a believer

Matthias gives us an example of being steadfast

Paul was fiery, passionate and zealous in his apostleship

There was no doubting where Paul stood on an issue

He too was faithful and stalwart in the face of opposition

Mary of Magdalene too was a disciple

She was never named as an apostle

But that didn’t stop her from being one of the backbone people of the early group of believers

She was not always believed by her own group of followers

The story the women brought back on the day of resurrection was not immediately embraced

But Mary too was dedicated and determined to follow Jesus

It may be that the apostles acted hastily in choosing Matthias

It may have been that the apostles should have spent more time in reflection with God

From the early church where it was not easy to be a believer comes this message

Be faithful in your living of the gospel

Look to Jesus for your strength and support

It is not up to the community to support the church

It is up to believers to bring gospel truth to the community

And when it seems that it is a struggle to maintain your identity as a believer

Think of Paul who was true to what God asked of him regardless of what fellow believers had to say

Think of Matthias who was faithful in spite of little applause

Think of Mary who served because the Lord spoke her name

And remember that Jesus promised the Spirit that would give power

And that promise is for us as well

It is time for us to stop jumping too quickly to act

Time to wait on the Lord and walk in his way