Yesterday, I taught from Acts 1:1-14, so I'll just give you the link if you want to hear that. Here are my high points from the teaching.
- For 40 days, Jesus appeared to the disciples at random times during face-to-face meals to explain what had happened and how it all related to the Kingdom of God.
- His promise of a baptism by the Holy Spirit was about to come, and when this consuming experience of the Spirit came they would be able to be witnesses to the Kingdom right where they were.
- The disciples were dumbfounded as Jesus left them and disappeared in the sky, staring at the blank sky. We cannot get caught staring at blank skies, wishing for a better day when Jesus felt closer. He is here now.
- The twelve and their families gathered together and committed themselves to the way of the Kingdom for good. They were completely together - in belief, in action and in purpose.
- The disciples were freed from their anxiety because things were right with God, with themselves and with each other.
Today, the stand-out for me was how the disciples replaced Judas Iscariot. They gathered the ones who had been with Jesus from his baptism to his ascension, made a nomination, prayed and took a vote...no, there was no vote. They drew straws! They're selection brought them two men, then they left it up to God to decide from their. They didn't spend a lot of time praying about it or weighing the options.
The question ringing in my heart this morning is whether or not I have enough trust in God to leave a big decision up to drawing straws, or flipping a coin. I can look back on my life and realize I got to two good options on some big decisions and some I think I made the right decision and others I'm not as sure. Could I get to that point and simply take a coin and say, "Okay God, you know me from the inside out. Make plain which of these two decisions you'd like me to make," flip it and accept the outcome as from God?
Is this something we should apply to our personal lives? How should this approach to decision making impact our church? Does it seem different than how you see churches making decisions?
Post a comment on this or any other thought you have about chapter one.
I, like everyone else, have some important and crucial decisions to make very soon that I am not totally certain about. I had learned about a couple of years ago that leaving decisions to God through the roll of dice or drawing straws was actually biblical and truth...... I think....? Here's my thought - why not draw straws to ask God if drawing straws is the method by which He wants me to make this crucial deciaion? Or maybe, just to see if its a "God thing", maybe draw like 10 pair of straws, because surely if its from God, ALL the draws would result in the same answer.... right?
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that our "Helper" - the Holy Spirit that God sent to be with us and speak to us and help us would lay it on our hearts as to what we should do; and even if we did not hear right, or listen, that He has the abilities to work all things for good.
Oh yeah, ... so Matthias gets "in"; what did they do with the other guy? Did they not show him the seceret handshake? What was the diffrence in getting the draw of the straw from not getting it?
ReplyDeleteGreat comment Stan. I think you are correct in your "hoping" that the Holy Spirit would be our guide. For them, the "Helper" had not yet come, so they needed something more familiar in determining God's will. I do however think it's interesting to note that by drawing straws (actually "casting lots") the apostles differentiated what might be their decision as compared to Christ's decision. An apostle had to be selected by Jesus and this was their means to assure that selection was not made by them. Seems like many decisions are made from pulpits all over that don't have this sort of distinction.
ReplyDeleteIn keeping with Jesus teachings on the first being last and the last being first, do you think that Matthias actually drew the "short straw"?
Regarding yesterday: in the NIV it says "In my former book, Theophilus". Glad you read from a different version yesterday because I would have assumed Theophilus was the name of his former book.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the chapter today: I often feel that when it comes to decisions that as long as both roads lead to God or neither road leads you from a life with Christ, that it doesn't totally matter which decisions is made. To me it seems by the decision that was made here, they had come to choose between two men who had been with Jesus the entire time, two men who had seen everything he'd done. In that light, it seems ok that they cast lots or drew straws or whatever. I don't know how to say this without being blunt, but I don't know that it would have made a HUGE difference who was chosen since they both must have known the story and believed the story in the same manner since they were both being considered for the position. Does that make sense?
I think when it comes to choosing to sin or choosing to not sin it REALLY matters to God, but when it comes to choosing this job or that, this house or that it doesn't matter as long as it aligns with what you already know God has told you is important or aligns with what you know God wants for us according to the Bible.
At the same time, I can't really think of a time I've really been faced with a decision that one of the options didn't get wiped out when it came down to it. Debating between two schools and not being accepted into one, debating between two cities and the new job in one falling through. Or maybe that's God providing those answers for me?
To answer your question, do I trust God enough to flip a coin? Do I trust God?...of course! Definitely! Enough trust to cast lots? hmmm. Truthfully? I guess not. I'm with Emma...often, one decision seems to fall through or get wiped out, which is how I see my prayer answered. But I don't know if I could make a BIG decision by praying, and then literally just flipping a coin...
ReplyDeleteOne of my neighbors showed up at the house the other day and needed to talk. He's like so many people right now: job insecurity, financial worries, etc., and he was frustrated because he didn't think God was leading him or giving him clarity in the decisions he needed to make. He felt like God gave other people more clarity than He gave him, which may or may not be true. I think he believed that if he knew God's will about his job or his financial decisions, that would guarantee success. Then I read about the apostles. How much clarity did they have after casting lots? Not much. But they trusted that God was leading them even if He didn't appear in the sky and tell them which man to choose. And, like Emma, I believe that God's grace covers decisions like these (not right/wrong, but chocolate/vanilla kinds of decisions). Even if I make the "wrong" choice, if my heart is right with God and I am seeking to honor him, I think either one can be right. I see a lot of people get paralyzed by decisions like this thinking that one wrong move is going to ruin their lives. If that were so, my life would have been ruined a long time ago!
ReplyDeleteI often wondered if they acted hastily, or even if it was necessary for them to have done this. It seemed to fly in the face of the command from Jesus to wait for the Holy Spirit before they did anything. I always read that and felt like they were sitting around staring at each other wondering what to do next and someone (impetuous Peter?) said: Hey while we are waiting let's choose a replacement for Judas so, you know, scripture can be fulfilled. Won't that be cool?
ReplyDeleteSo they colluded and chose Joseph and Matthias and then prayed to God saying, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." It always sounded to me like they chose a couple guys they felt were solid believers, and then wanted God to speak and have the final say. But Maybe neither were whom God woulld have chosen. Maybe they should have casted lots to see if they were to do this to begin with.
Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
I mean really? Casting lots, drawing straws, or flipping a coin, you are going to get and answer. Metaphorically, you are going to get either heads or tales. There will be an answer. What would really be God intervening would be for someone's name to appear on the coin while it was being flipped. Now that would be clear. Seems to me, in spite of what the 11 did at that point that God did choose, and it wasn't either of the two that were chosen by the apostles.
Down the road a way Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus and he became (II Tim 1:1) "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God" through direct appointment as it were.
Am I too far out there on this one? I don't know. I jsut always had trouble with the leaving it up to chance routine that casting lots implies, even if you substitute God for 'chance' to make it sound more 'faith' oriented.
Pete, it's interesting that you said "substitue God for 'chance'" because the modern era went the other way and substituted chance for God. What used to be a worldview that held God to be in control of everything, including the casting of lots, flipping a coin, etc., was replaced by chance. I, too, feel like it's risky to leave any decision up to the flip of a coin, but in reality the coin has no way to reason out my preference, or manipulate my decision. It is what it is. The disciples could have reasoned for both men, they could have voted and the first one to 6 would have won the spot and in the end we could have attributed that to God also. However, we have the ability to be manipulated in toward the wrong decision (unlike the coin), as evidenced by American Idol votes!
ReplyDeleteJesus' imperative to wait was not to do nothing, but to not leave Jerusalem. The move to replace Judas was necessary to give the remnant of Jesus 12 - representative of the 12 tribes of Israel.
I really like that this is making us think...
Pete, one of the things that sets the gospel writers apart from other historians is their brutal honesty about themselves and the other Christ followers. They make no attempt to gloss over their own shortcomings. I think if this was a miscue on their part, Luke would call it so, but there is no indication any of them considered this a mistake in retrospect. Secondly, casting lots had a long history as a method of determining God's will. See Joshua 18, 1 Chronicles 24 and Jonah 1. In keeping with previous comments in this thread, casting lots seemed an appropriate way to seek God's will where the options seemed equal. They did not abandon reason: they were already confident that a replacement was necessary and had narrowed the prospects down to two. I am intrigued by the level of confidence they had that God was active among them and leading them.
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