Sermon May 24, 2009
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
What are the apostles thinking in the lesson from Acts this morning? I mean here they are, presented with the task of having to select the successor for Judas. This is no insignificant task. They are selecting someone who would go down in history as one of the founding apostles of the historic Christian church.
And how do they go about this task?? They pray and then they cast lots. Casting lots would be similar to flipping a coin, except it would be done with stones. What is important to recognize is that, from a worldly vantage point it would have the appearance of being left totally to chance. It would be a decision that had the appearance of being totally impartial; not affected by politics or nepotism or any type of favoritism.
What were they thinking? How could the apostles possibly think that they could have made a sound decision of such magnitude simply by casting lots and praying?? What about forming a call-committee?? Didn’t they want to read their paperwork?? Certainly there should have been some synodical candidacy process that Joseph and Matthias should have been expected to go through. And when were they going to take it to a congregational vote?? Certainly they couldn’t have been expected to make any decisions as a church without voting on them-without seeking a consensus.
I am sure that most of you have figured by now that I am being extremely sarcastic. I think that the way that the apostles chose to make their decision speaks a great deal of the faith that had been created in them. I think the fact that they essentially put it all entirely in God’s hands shows that they had finally begun to understand the magnitude of what God was doing in His Son Christ Jesus. They finally began to understand that this One whom they had followed for so long, Who had laid down His life for them, was and is the eternal Son of God given to them by God the Father.
They realized that everything that they had witnessed in the life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus testified to the fact that not only had Christ been given to God’s people by the Father but that God’s people had been given to Christ Jesus by God the Father. For as we read in the Gospel lesson this morning, as disciples of Christ we belong to God the Father and God the Father gave us to Chris Jesus. We still belong to God the Father, but we also belong to Christ Jesus. And the name of Christ Jesus, and what He has done for us taking upon Himself all of our sin and bearing the penalty of that sin and bringing us salvation through His resurrection, is how God protects us from the attacks of sin, death and the devil that come through the world.
And so the apostles relied on no worldly measures whatsoever when deciding on who should replace Judas. They laid out a simple criteria for who was qualified; that it be someone who was with them and accompanied them during all the time that Christ Jesus was with them, in other words someone who saw and heard the same from Christ Jesus that all the other apostles had. And based on that criteria, the field is narrowed down to two men. And then they put it entirely into God’s hands by going to Him in prayer and casting lots. And thus a pattern is set for us.
Now don’t get me wrong. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with utilizing the gifts and talents and resources that God has made available to us in the world around us. Quite to the contrary, I believe that God blesses people with talent and intelligence in all sorts of areas such as science and medicine and technology for the benefit of our daily lives. But that has to do with this world and the kingdom of this world.
The apostles knew that the decision that they had to make was much bigger than themselves. They knew that the decision that they had to make was much bigger than the kingdom of the world. For they knew that the decision of who should replace Judas had to do with the continued coming forth of the Kingdom of God. They knew that the decision they had to make had to do with the continued proclamation of the promise of forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ Jesus and thus the continued coming forth of the eternal Kingdom of Christ. And so even though they were able to narrow down the choices to two men who believed in the Son of God and thus had the testimony of God in their hearts, the apostles still left the choice up to God.
I think we can look at the apostles making this decision through prayer and casting lots not as irresponsible or reckless, but as acting totally and completely in faith. They were living by faith in Christ and not by sight of the world. And so a pattern and an example is set for us. For you see, even though Judas’ betrayal was propheceid, he was still acting according to his own will.
All of the disciples messed up to be sure. But Judas was never able to realize the magnitude of what he had witnessed in the life and death of Christ Jesus. He acted totally and completely by sight, totally and completely according to the wisdom of the world. He was always worried about money and appearances. Judas was never quite able to see that Christ Jesus was bringing forth an eternal Kingdom much bigger and grander than the one he lived in. And so Judas was never able to move beyond the wisdom of the world into faith in Christ.
And so it is with us. We are every bit as weak as Judas. And so we too struggle with faith. We too give in to the temptation to cling to the wisdom of the world rather than faith in the eternal Word of our Lord. In the methods they chose to select Matthias as Judas’ replacement the apostles have given us a foolproof pattern that, by the grace of God, can be followed when making decisions relating to our faith.
And the pattern is simple, go to God’s Word and go to prayer. But Jesus says something else regarding us His disciples. In the Gospel lesson He says that He has given us His Word and the world has hated us, because we don’t belong to the world. And we don’t. We belong to Christ Jesus and He belongs to us.
But we just can’t handle that the world hates us. We like that Jesus loves us and forgives us and we like that that means that we will be in His eternal kingdom. But we’re not in His eternal kingdom yet. We’re in the world. And the world hates us because of Christ Jesus. The world hates us because we proclaim Christ Jesus as the way the truth and the life and that nobody gets to the Father except through Him. And we don’t like to be hated. Do we?
So we try to convince ourselves that we can have it both ways; that we can belong to Christ and the world at the same time. And so we speak of Jesus saying to those who were about to stone the adulterous woman to death “Let He who is without sin cast the first stone.” But we conveniently forget what soon after that Jesus says to the adulterous woman herself-“Go forth and sin no more.”
Or we love the beatitudes when Jesus speaks of the meek inheriting the earth or God blessing the peacemakers, but we conveniently forget what Jesus says not long after that when He says that looking with lust upon someone is the same as adultery or that getting angry with your brother is the same as murder.
But you see this is nothing but the same living by sight foolishness that led to Judas’ downfall. This is the same foolishness that leads to our arrogantly thinking that we can control the Word of God or the law of God. This is the same foolishness that leads to our arrogantly thinking that we can gain greater insight into God’s Word, by seeking consensus on it or voting on it, rather than actually going to God’s Word.
You see the difference between Peter and Judas, who’s replacement selection Peter was overseeing was not that Judas was a sinner and Peter wasn’t. Far from it, Peter betrayed Jesus also; three times in fact. The difference was that Peter recognized that Jesus was who He said He was and that His coming marked the coming of the eternal Kingdom of God. If Judas had been aware of that He might have responded the same way to his betrayal that Peter did to his. He might have repented and believed upon the Lord Jesus. But right to the end Judas clung to the wisdom of the world, and it led to his suicide. And ultimately this is what trying to belong to the world and Christ at the same time leads to-death.
But I have good news. In the waters of baptism, you have been given to Christ and He has been given to you. He has taken your sin and paid the price for it, and you have been given His eternal righteousness and the promise of eternal life in His kingdom. It’s a done deal. You don’t have to worry about the world hating you. You have been freed to share the Word of Christ with your neighbor. And some will hate you for it, but you need not worry. For where there is a Judas who can’t let go of his love of the world, there might just be a Peter or a Matthias waiting to hear God’s glorious call to repentance and forgiveness of sin in Christ Jesus.
Amen
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
What are the apostles thinking in the lesson from Acts this morning? I mean here they are, presented with the task of having to select the successor for Judas. This is no insignificant task. They are selecting someone who would go down in history as one of the founding apostles of the historic Christian church.
And how do they go about this task?? They pray and then they cast lots. Casting lots would be similar to flipping a coin, except it would be done with stones. What is important to recognize is that, from a worldly vantage point it would have the appearance of being left totally to chance. It would be a decision that had the appearance of being totally impartial; not affected by politics or nepotism or any type of favoritism.
What were they thinking? How could the apostles possibly think that they could have made a sound decision of such magnitude simply by casting lots and praying?? What about forming a call-committee?? Didn’t they want to read their paperwork?? Certainly there should have been some synodical candidacy process that Joseph and Matthias should have been expected to go through. And when were they going to take it to a congregational vote?? Certainly they couldn’t have been expected to make any decisions as a church without voting on them-without seeking a consensus.
I am sure that most of you have figured by now that I am being extremely sarcastic. I think that the way that the apostles chose to make their decision speaks a great deal of the faith that had been created in them. I think the fact that they essentially put it all entirely in God’s hands shows that they had finally begun to understand the magnitude of what God was doing in His Son Christ Jesus. They finally began to understand that this One whom they had followed for so long, Who had laid down His life for them, was and is the eternal Son of God given to them by God the Father.
They realized that everything that they had witnessed in the life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus testified to the fact that not only had Christ been given to God’s people by the Father but that God’s people had been given to Christ Jesus by God the Father. For as we read in the Gospel lesson this morning, as disciples of Christ we belong to God the Father and God the Father gave us to Chris Jesus. We still belong to God the Father, but we also belong to Christ Jesus. And the name of Christ Jesus, and what He has done for us taking upon Himself all of our sin and bearing the penalty of that sin and bringing us salvation through His resurrection, is how God protects us from the attacks of sin, death and the devil that come through the world.
And so the apostles relied on no worldly measures whatsoever when deciding on who should replace Judas. They laid out a simple criteria for who was qualified; that it be someone who was with them and accompanied them during all the time that Christ Jesus was with them, in other words someone who saw and heard the same from Christ Jesus that all the other apostles had. And based on that criteria, the field is narrowed down to two men. And then they put it entirely into God’s hands by going to Him in prayer and casting lots. And thus a pattern is set for us.
Now don’t get me wrong. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with utilizing the gifts and talents and resources that God has made available to us in the world around us. Quite to the contrary, I believe that God blesses people with talent and intelligence in all sorts of areas such as science and medicine and technology for the benefit of our daily lives. But that has to do with this world and the kingdom of this world.
The apostles knew that the decision that they had to make was much bigger than themselves. They knew that the decision that they had to make was much bigger than the kingdom of the world. For they knew that the decision of who should replace Judas had to do with the continued coming forth of the Kingdom of God. They knew that the decision they had to make had to do with the continued proclamation of the promise of forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ Jesus and thus the continued coming forth of the eternal Kingdom of Christ. And so even though they were able to narrow down the choices to two men who believed in the Son of God and thus had the testimony of God in their hearts, the apostles still left the choice up to God.
I think we can look at the apostles making this decision through prayer and casting lots not as irresponsible or reckless, but as acting totally and completely in faith. They were living by faith in Christ and not by sight of the world. And so a pattern and an example is set for us. For you see, even though Judas’ betrayal was propheceid, he was still acting according to his own will.
All of the disciples messed up to be sure. But Judas was never able to realize the magnitude of what he had witnessed in the life and death of Christ Jesus. He acted totally and completely by sight, totally and completely according to the wisdom of the world. He was always worried about money and appearances. Judas was never quite able to see that Christ Jesus was bringing forth an eternal Kingdom much bigger and grander than the one he lived in. And so Judas was never able to move beyond the wisdom of the world into faith in Christ.
And so it is with us. We are every bit as weak as Judas. And so we too struggle with faith. We too give in to the temptation to cling to the wisdom of the world rather than faith in the eternal Word of our Lord. In the methods they chose to select Matthias as Judas’ replacement the apostles have given us a foolproof pattern that, by the grace of God, can be followed when making decisions relating to our faith.
And the pattern is simple, go to God’s Word and go to prayer. But Jesus says something else regarding us His disciples. In the Gospel lesson He says that He has given us His Word and the world has hated us, because we don’t belong to the world. And we don’t. We belong to Christ Jesus and He belongs to us.
But we just can’t handle that the world hates us. We like that Jesus loves us and forgives us and we like that that means that we will be in His eternal kingdom. But we’re not in His eternal kingdom yet. We’re in the world. And the world hates us because of Christ Jesus. The world hates us because we proclaim Christ Jesus as the way the truth and the life and that nobody gets to the Father except through Him. And we don’t like to be hated. Do we?
So we try to convince ourselves that we can have it both ways; that we can belong to Christ and the world at the same time. And so we speak of Jesus saying to those who were about to stone the adulterous woman to death “Let He who is without sin cast the first stone.” But we conveniently forget what soon after that Jesus says to the adulterous woman herself-“Go forth and sin no more.”
Or we love the beatitudes when Jesus speaks of the meek inheriting the earth or God blessing the peacemakers, but we conveniently forget what Jesus says not long after that when He says that looking with lust upon someone is the same as adultery or that getting angry with your brother is the same as murder.
But you see this is nothing but the same living by sight foolishness that led to Judas’ downfall. This is the same foolishness that leads to our arrogantly thinking that we can control the Word of God or the law of God. This is the same foolishness that leads to our arrogantly thinking that we can gain greater insight into God’s Word, by seeking consensus on it or voting on it, rather than actually going to God’s Word.
You see the difference between Peter and Judas, who’s replacement selection Peter was overseeing was not that Judas was a sinner and Peter wasn’t. Far from it, Peter betrayed Jesus also; three times in fact. The difference was that Peter recognized that Jesus was who He said He was and that His coming marked the coming of the eternal Kingdom of God. If Judas had been aware of that He might have responded the same way to his betrayal that Peter did to his. He might have repented and believed upon the Lord Jesus. But right to the end Judas clung to the wisdom of the world, and it led to his suicide. And ultimately this is what trying to belong to the world and Christ at the same time leads to-death.
But I have good news. In the waters of baptism, you have been given to Christ and He has been given to you. He has taken your sin and paid the price for it, and you have been given His eternal righteousness and the promise of eternal life in His kingdom. It’s a done deal. You don’t have to worry about the world hating you. You have been freed to share the Word of Christ with your neighbor. And some will hate you for it, but you need not worry. For where there is a Judas who can’t let go of his love of the world, there might just be a Peter or a Matthias waiting to hear God’s glorious call to repentance and forgiveness of sin in Christ Jesus.
Amen
posted by Steve at 3:03 PM
1 Comments:
Great sermon-I see how you then continued it the next week. Thought the part starting with:
"And so it is with us. We are every bit as weak as Judas. And so we too struggle with faith. We too give in to the temptation to cling to the wisdom of the world rather than faith in the eternal Word of our Lord. In the methods they chose to select Matthias as Judas’ replacement the apostles have given us a foolproof pattern that, by the grace of God, can be followed when making decisions relating to our faith."
Really hit the nail on the head
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