In the first chapter of the Book
of Acts there is an account of the first pastoral transition in the history of
the Christian church. The chapter begins
with the ascension of Jesus into heaven after giving his disciples the
commission to be his “witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria ,
and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Then comes a listing of the members of the group: the eleven remaining
apostles as well as “the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers”
all of whom “with one accord devoted themselves to prayer.” (Acts 1:14 )
Left unstated is the obvious vacancy in the group that had once been
called “the twelve” but now were only eleven.
Judas was no more.
Then
comes verse 15 where Peter takes a leadership role in the choosing of a
successor to Judas. The first thing he
does is develop a job description. “One
of the men who accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in
and out among us beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was
taken up from us, one of these men must become with us a witness to his
resurrection.” (Acts 1:21 ) In those
early days it was important that that an apostle have a full understanding of
all that Jesus said and did, and it is just as important for any pastor today.
The
beauty of this passage is that they immediately came up with two
candidates. Where they had been looking
for one good man to replace Judas, God provided two. Joseph and Matthias were both equally
qualified to become apostles. Both would
have fit the bill. This is the great
generosity of our God in providing more for us than we ask or think. Here in the vital time of the first
generation of Christians, God provided two good candidates. Now in the 21st century, God is
still providing good men and women to lead his people and preach the saving
gospel of Jesus Christ. When one dies or
resigns or (God forbid) turns away, God will provide another.
Then
the whole company of them prayed for divine guidance in choosing which man was to
become the new 12th apostle.
In their prayer they said, “Lord, who knows the hearts of all men, show
us which one of these two you have chosen.” (Acts 1:24 ). Earlier the
scripture says they were devoting themselves to prayer about many things as
they waited for the promised coming of the Holy Spirit, but here they
specifically prayed for divine guidance in a very practical matter. Immediately God provided the guidance they
sought. They used the ancient practice
of casting lots (the urim and thummin of Exodus 28:30) to make the decision,
and the lot fell to Matthias so that, as the scripture so simply says, “he was
enrolled with the eleven apostles” (Acts 1:26)
The ministry would go on. Soon
all twelve of them would be his witnesses not only in Jerusalem
but “in Judea and Samaria
and to the ends of the earth” after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which is
described in chapter two of the Book of Acts.
In
generation after generation God has provided Christian leaders for his people
through a process in which the people discern the qualities needed, find
suitable candidates, pray, and then choose.
No one casts lots anymore, although some have argued that when you get
down to two very good candidates it would work as well today as any other
method. Today elections are the
norm. But the most important step in the
process is prayer. When the people pray,
God will answer, and the ministry will continue.
To
God be the glory. Amen.
Pastor Gary Halverson
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