The Arrogance of Humanity

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 6/7/15


Read 1 Samuel 8:4-20

I have to admit that sometimes I hate going out to eat with Heather, not because she’s not good company, but because sometime she is so frustrating when she orders. For example we’ll go to a Chinese restaurant that we have been to before and she’ll order the Kung Pao and I’ll remind her, you didn’t like that last time, but you liked my General Tso’s, are you sure you want that? And she insists she does, but lo and behold when the food comes out she doesn’t like her food as much as mine. And the worst part of it all is that she then eats my food.  Heather is not alone in this; we are all stubborn about certain things. Even when others try to show us the mistakes we are making, we at least want it to be our mistakes to make. We don’t like others telling us what is good for us or what we want; we want to decide that for ourselves.

            As we read the Bible we see that time after time the Israelites fall into this same arrogance. Here in 1 Samuel we see the beginning of one of these fateful decisions.  The Israelites have been trying for some time to figure out a leadership style that they like. First they had Moses and Aaron and later Joshua as their leaders, but this later evolved into a group of Judges that would lead them. Now however the Israelites looked around them and saw all of these powerful nations with great militaries and enormous wealth and they were all lead by a King. Seeing the success of these nations, the Israelites began to demand a king. This upset Samuel, and certainly didn’t go over very well with the King of Kings. God even says to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” For as upset and as offended as God was by this demand, like a parent who has to let their child make their own mistakes, God allows the Israelites to have a king, but first he has Samuel give them a strong warning. Samuel tells of all of the bloodshed, abuse and corruption that will come with a king, but even after this warning the people still cried, “No! but we are determined to have a king over us,  so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles."       

  We should not jump into thinking that we are any better than the Israelites. Far too often we act as though we know what is best for us and not God. Our actions are only proof of this costly arrogance. I personally am probably one of the biggest culprits. I don’t know how many times that I have come to making a tough decision, not primarily through prayer but through trust in my own abilities. And when I did pray it was often a short quick prayer asking for an easy answer, and then later asking that God endorse my decision. I am no better than the Israelites who had already made it up in their mind that they were going to have a king, and then ask for God’s permission. This is a fundamental flaw however, we have gotten our roles reversed. It is not our job to come up with the plan and make decisions and then ask God to make it so; it is our job to listen and follow the will of God and respond to what is asked of us. Unfortunately, like the Israelites, we make great mistakes when we are arrogant enough to think that it is we and not God who should be calling the shots.

            For as difficult as the itinerant system is in the United Methodist Church can be for pastors and churches alike, I truly believe that it is a system that humbles us before God and reminds us that the church and its future is in God’s hands, not ours. Especially with our current bishop, you can be assured that the decisions that are made are made out of a prayerful discernment of God’s will. For individual churches and for pastors, moves aren’t always what we wanted, and sometimes they don’t make sense to us, but often the work of the Holy Spirit doesn’t make much sense. Just look at some of our congregational brothers and sisters and we can see the strength in our system. I have seen pastors fired from their position simply because they preached the Word of God that the people didn’t want to hear. Likewise, there are smaller churches that desperately need a new pastor to come with great leadership, but the pastor they really need overlooks them because they are too small. For as difficult as the itinerant system can be, it really does remove a lot of the arrogance both from the churches and from the pastors that we are the ones who are supposed to make all the decisions, and it helps remind us that God is in control.

            I say this today having learned this lesson first hand, as I prepare to leave this place and head to my new appointment. I love this place and all of you, so in all honesty this would not have been my decision, I would not have wanted to leave and I have heard that many of you feel the same way. And yet I am reminded that it is not my decision to make for God has something great in store for both my ministry at Lane and for the Ministry that Pastor Marci will bring here at Lambs/Evington. I say this with confidence because it was only three years ago that this same trust brought me here as a city boy fresh out of seminary to rural Altavista, a place that honestly I had confused with Buena Vista until I looked for it on a map.  If I had had to make the decision myself it would have likely brought me not here but somewhere closer to home in Richmond. I think about that and the wonderful ministry opportunity that would have been lost. I would not have met you all, would not have been part of this wonderful community and would not have been part of this fruitful ministry these past 3 years. And so I leave here humbling myself, not crying for anything other king than the Lord who has led me here, and leads me forward in ministry to serve. I pray that you may also humble yourselves before the Lord and know that even if this is not what you asked for, this is what the Lord is providing, and it is good. With the Spirit’s guidance the ministries of this church will continue, not by our own hands or decisions, but through the power of the King of Kings.

Ascribe to the Lord

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 5/31/15


Read Psalm 29

Read John 3:1-17

“Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name; worship the LORD in holy splendor.”  These are the words from psalm 29 that we read together earlier. But as we read it, did we actually stop to think about what it was that we were saying? Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength, worship the Lord in holy splendor. What we are saying is that we attribute all honor and glory to God. In essence we are being called to give credit where credit is due. As the psalm continues this becomes more and more explicit. The psalm describes the voice of the Lord breaking the cedars, causing cattle to skip and flashing flames of fire. The psalm tells us that the Lord sits enthroned as King forever. In other words, when we say ascribe to the Lord, we are ascribing everything to the Lord. We recognize that everything belongs to the Lord and that God shall be glorified and Worshiped because of it.

Image Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library

            Today marks a day in the Christian Calendar known as Trinity Sunday, the day in which we celebrate the totality of God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As we look at the psalmist ascribing all of these things to the Lord, we do so recognizing that it is the work of all the trinity.  As we look as the creation story we can see each person of the trinity at work. The most obvious is God the Father as he speaks the world into creation, but John reminds us in his prologue that “In the beginning was the Word (that is Jesus Christ) and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”  At the same time we can read about the Spirit hovering above the waters in creation. Even here in this psalm, though not explicitly stated, when can see the trinity in work. We see the works of creation so often attributed to God the Father. We see the flashing flames of fire that we associated with the Holy Spirit. And we hear about the Lord who reigns in heaven as king for all eternity, the role that Jesus now fulfills after his ascension into heaven.

            On the surface it is easy to recognize the Holy trinity here in the scripture, but as we begin to dig deeper and question more, understanding the trinity becomes much more difficult.  After all, how can 3 be 1?  We learned from an early age that these are in fact different numbers (unless that new common core curriculum can teach us something different). And if the three are one how are the same but different? If it makes you feel any better we aren’t alone in asking these questions, in fact it was a great debate in the early life of the Church, In fact different councils were held to discuss and hash out an understanding, including the council of Nicea (from where we get our nicean creed) and the council of Constantinople. Through these councils and creed we get a rough statement on the Trinity. It is one God in three distinct persons, yet one substance or nature.”

Totally makes sense now right? We can all go home. Over time people have tried to use different analogies to try to help explain. Some have used and egg differentiate between the white the yolk and the shell. Others use water to show that it exists in three forms, liquid, gas, and solid. For as helpful as these analogies can be, they are also sadly wrong. They fail to fully grasp the trinity by falling into different heresies. Water for example helps us to think of how 3 different things can be one, but it ice doesn’t exist anymore when it becomes water; that would be like saying the Father didn’t exist when Jesus came to Earth, or that Jesus doesn’t know sit on the throne because the Holy Spirit is with us. The egg fails because it doesn’t recognize the unity of the trinity. You can take the away the shell of an egg and it is still an egg, you can’t take away the Father and still call it God, if that were the case the trinity would be three gods not one.

            As humans, especially in this age of information we can get really frustrated with the trinity. We believe that we should be able to understand it, and if we can’t than there is something wrong with its principle. Jesus’s discussion with the Pharisee Nicodemus in John 3 may give us a way to go about addressing the trinity. This passage is loaded with verses that are probably very familiar to us. We have the discussion of being born again, and of course the famous John 3:16. Often lost in this dialogue is the way that Jesus challenges Nicodemus’s way of thinking. Like us, Nicodemus wants all the answers, he wants it all to make sense, and so when Jesus says we must be born again, that just does not compute. How are we to be born again. Are we to enter into our mother’s womb a second time?  How? Sounds oddly familiar to our questions about the trinity.  But listen to how Jesus responds, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  Jesus compares our knowledge to that of the wind, we can’t fully define it or see it, but we know it. But still this answer is not satisfying to Nicodemus, as it might not be to some of you.  He again asks, “How can these things be?” to which Jesus kind of mocks him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? Aren’t you supposed to be smart, aren’t you supposed to be a teacher and leader for the people and you don’t get it? “If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things.” And there’s the real kicker. In our search for truth and knowledge we want to believe we can have answers for everything, and still there are things here on Earth or in the universe that we simply can’t explain or understand. If we fail to even understand these things, how do we expect to understand God?  The trinity is simply a mystery, and all we know about it is through what has been revealed to us. What we say about it is just our best understanding of it. The trinity is not a theological concept for us to learn and fully understand, it is not theoretical nonsense, it is the very nature of God which we as humans cannot fully understand. So instead of asking how does it work, or how is it possible, maybe we should instead be asking different questions about the trinity. Maybe we should ask what  would it mean if there was no trinity.

            How many of you love the Christmas season? Me too, if I’m being honest I actually hate the summer. Being a fair skinned red head I actually hate being in the sun, lying out on the beach doesn’t sound like relaxing it sounds like torture. I actually prefer the cold and the chill of Christmas time. I’ll take winter and Christmas over the dog days of summer anyday. I love the decorations and the traditions.  In Richmond one of those traditions happens late on Christmas Eve. At the historic Byrd theater, they show the classic Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” In the movie George Bailey played by James Stewart faces many difficult situations causing him to wish that he had never been born. With this wish an angel comes and shows George what the world would look like without him. As he watches his family, friends, and city all functioning as if he never existed, he begins to realize that his life really did matter to so many. He in fact had a profound impact on the lives of so many. In the end he is in fact pleading for Clarence the angel to send him back, he wants to be with his wife and family, and celebrates when does in fact return. It took seeing what the world would look like without him for George to realize his importance.

Maybe we can take a cue from this classic movie and think about what the world might look like without the trinity, maybe then we can start to see why it is so important. As we do I am sure we too we find ourselves falling into the trap of some of the classic heresies, but even if we do, I think this little thought experiment will be helpful. We may begin to understand the importance of our belief in the trinity that separates us from our Unitarian friends. So let us think what would the world look like without the trinity.

Let’s picture if God was only a Unitarian God as some believe. At first it doesn’t really seem that bad. You would still have the God of all creation who formed us in his image and breathed into us the breath of life.  I could still stand on the top Mill Mountain like I did yesterday and admire the beauty of creation all around me. As followers we could still delight in a God who made covenant with us to be our God and for us to be God’s people. This picture is not very different from the one that we typically ascribe to God the Father, the first person of the trinity, and honestly this view is not too different from how we typically think of God.

            In this understanding however there would be no God incarnate. A world without the trinity would not have a self-emptying God who became human and humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. There would be no new Adam giving us as humans new life through his life death and resurrection. There would in fact be no good news of Easter, no joy of resurrection and no hope that we or any of creation would be saved. There would be no great hymns of power in the blood, or Old rugged cross. If we did believe in Jesus, he would either only be a man who would not have the power to save us, or we would have to believe that he was a different, lesser God than God the father we worship. When we look at what it would mean if there were no trinity, we begin to see exactly what we would be missing, and they are somethings that are essential to our faith.

            And we haven’t even looked at all of what we would be missing. That was just if there was not second person of the trinity, but what would it look like if there were no Holy Spirit. There would be no Pentecost, no birthday of the Church and likely no 3000 baptized on that day.  If there was no Holy Spirit then Jesus’s ascension would have been like abandonment. We would have had God live and dwell with us, die and rise again only to have him leave without giving the Advocate to be with us. The term A.D. when used to talk about years is often thought to mean “after death” when it in fact means anno domine, the year of the Lord, celebrating the resurrection of Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. But if there were no Holy Spirit would we still celebrate the year of the Lord or would it mean for us after death; a time to remember when God stopped being present with us. If there was no Holy Spirit our groans would simply be groans, for we would not have the Spirit to intercede for us. Just as was the case if there was no incarnate God, if there was no third person of the trinity our very understanding and belief in God would be shattered. While we may not be able to understand the trinity, we can understand how important it is.

            Still there are many who will not like this explanation. There are many who do not want to embrace the mystery that is the trinity. In philosophy there is even a negative term for this mystery called ex machina. Back in the time of Greek plays it was a common occurrence for there to be a problem in the plot that nothing could solve until a God carried in by a machine or ex machina would come in and solve. In philosophy this term is now used whenever God is used as a quick fix to explain something that can’t be explained. I am sure there are some who feel this way about the mystery that is the Trinity, that when we don’t know we just chalk it up to being part of mystery of God.  Maybe this isn’t a bad thing, as Jesus says if we can’t even understand these earthy things how are we supposed to understand what is heavenly? Maybe the psalmist is right, and we should ascribe to Lord glory and strength, ascribe to the Lord glory of his name and worship the Lord in his Holy Splendor. Maybe instead of trying to figure it all out we as simply called to cry “Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!”

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Groans of Labor

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 5/24/15

Read Romans 8:22-27

Read Acts 2:1-21

Image Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library

            Today in the life of the Church we celebrate the day of Pentecost. It is the amazing day in which the Holy Spirit descended like tongues of fire upon a group of early followers. Although these followers were from different areas and spoke different languages, through the spirit they began to understand what the others were saying as if they were speaking their own native tongue. This event was so powerful that after it 3,000 members were baptized and joined the church that day. For this reason Pentecost is often referred to as the birthday of the Church. This makes sense, after all Jesus had just ascended 10 days earlier, the disciples had just elected a new 12^th disciple, but still there were questions of leadership, authority, and an overall feeling of what now?  Jesus is gone, what do we do now?  The Spirit’s presence with the people answered these questions; God’s presence was still with them, and they could continue their ministries in the world through the guidance of the Spirit. With this new hope and guidance and with the 3000 members that joined that day, it no wonder why this day is celebrated as the birthday of the (big C) Church.

            But although Pentecost is rightfully celebrated as the birthday of the Church, it is really only a labor pang of the Kingdom of God. As our scripture from Romans says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” While Pentecost is a significant celebration of the glory of God, too often churches today look back at that earliest Church as say, “If only we could be like the original Church.” But this Church at Pentecost is not the goal to be desired, it is instead more like an announcement of what is to come. In Revelation 7, John of Patmos reveals to us a picture of what the Kingdom in all of its glory will be like. He says, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation tells us of the Kingdom of God in its fullest as a time where all peoples from all nations would be gathered in praise of Jesus Christ. It even goes on to say that “God will wipe every tear from their eyes”.

            As we look back to that day of Pentecost, it is obvious that this day is not the coming of the Kingdom in its fullest. It is however, a day that that with hope points towards the coming of the Kingdom in all of its glory. In a way, Pentecost is an announcement to the world; not only that the Kingdom of God is coming, but that the Kingdom is here. As we heard earlier from Romans, Paul equates the time we are in now to a time of labor pains before the Kingdom of God is fully birthed. While the celebration of Pentecost is a celebration of the Church’s birthday, not that of the Kingdom of God, it is still something that calls for celebration.

            For years, probably even centuries we as a culture have been great at celebrating birthdays. Kids gather around lit candles on a cake just waiting to blow them out and make a wish. We give gifts and cards to people on their birthday, or gather as family and friends for a meal. Even here in the church we sing “Happy Birthday” to those who are celebrating in the upcoming week. With the advances in technology a new sort of tradition has begun, and that is the celebration of the announcement. For those who are on Facebook you have most likely seen what I am talking about. Usually a couple will take some sort of creative picture to tell to the world that they are expecting a child. My favorite one was probably my boss from college who was expecting around Christmas, so announced with a picture of a Christmas tree saying “We are expecting a special gift under the tree this Christmas,” or something along those lines. These celebrations are important. No longer do we just celebrate a babies, arrive, but now we also celebrate the hope of their arrival.

            Pentecost is very similar to this type of announcement celebration. As the Spirit descended upon the people gathered there allowing them to speak to and understand each other, hope for the Kingdom of God in its fullest was proclaimed. But let us not fall into the trap of thinking the Kingdom of God is only something far away in the future. Pentecost is a celebration that the Kingdom is here, now. Though it has not arrived in its fullest, it is not the way it will ultimately be; it is here and here to stay. When a couple announces they are pregnant, the child has not arrived, but in a way it has. In the womb there is a child, growing each day. It is not just some false hope of one day we will have a child, the child already exists and awaits it day of birth. Likewise Pentecost is not a day of false hope, but one that declares that the Kingdom is here, it exists, and will one day that New Creation will be birthed.

            It is no surprise that this day of Pentecost brings us so much hope. Not only do the earliest followers receive the comfort from the Spirit knowing that God has not abandoned them, but Pentecost is in itself a small glimpse, a microcosm of the Kingdom in its fullest. Whereas we heard all nations and tribes and languages gathered around the throne, here on Pentecost we at least get a taste of that. On Pentecost we have not all, but a collection of people from different tribes, and languages, and nations, all celebrating together the glory of God. Their differences do not hinder the celebration as it had ever since the Tower of Babel, but instead these differences now further glorify God and show that Christ truly is Lord of All. At Pentecost we see the hope of the Kingdom in its fullest, lived out on a smaller scale; a sign that the Kingdom is already here.

            Pentecost also reminds us that because the Holy Spirit is with us, we too can catch glimpses of the future glory of the Kingdom. Last week I mentioned that for me one of these times was at Seth Mokitimi Seminary in South Africa. As me and a few fellow classmates from Duke served and studied there for a summer, we would gather each morning in the chapel for Worship. We as Americans were able to Worship with people from South Africa and surrounding countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique, as well as other students from England. This experience was more than just worshipping with people from different countries however, for South Africa is very different culturally than the U.S.  In South Africa there are different tribes such as Zulu and Xhosa and many more, descents of the English colonizers, as well as Dutch descendants known at Afrikaners. In South Africa there is no official langue like English is here, but isn’t there are 12 official languages of these diverse groups and many more that are unofficial. These groups are separated by more than just their different languages, they are also separated by a difficult past. The Afrikaners and English both colonized the tribes of South Africa, and also fought against each other in the Boer War. While this was happening tribes fought against tribe and some sold others into slavery. Later in 1948 unjust system of law called the Apartheid was put into place, forcing the blacks out of cities and towns and into the rural areas and what are called townships, which are often poor shanty towns outside of the cities. These people were oppressed, given no rights and often arrested or killed. This lasted until 1994, only 17 years before my trip.

            This history and diversity is what made worshipping together so powerful. We truly gathered as different nations, tribes and languages, and worshipped Christ. One of the most powerful aspects of the service was when we would sing hymns; there would be a blend of both traditional Western hymns as well as some of the tribal worship hymns. As we sang we would also often sing each verse in a different language. The significance of this could not be overstated. Here we had Zulu and Xhosa Christians singing praise to God in Afrikaans, the language of their once oppressor, and at the very next verse those English and Afrikaans students were singing in Zulu. What a powerful sign of humility and forgiveness, of reconciliation and love. It was there that I experienced my own Pentecost moment, my own glimpse of the Kingdom of God in its fullest.

            But for as special as moments like these are, we are often quickly reminded that these are only glimpses. The Kingdom of God is here, but what it will become cannot fully be seen. We need only to look at the unrest in Baltimore or the gunfights in Waco to see the brokenness of the world. We need only to look at earthquakes in Nepal and tornados in the heartland to see devastation. We need only to look out our own backyard and into our community to see that unjust systems are in place that hinders farmers, factory workers, and those looking for a job at all. We realize that these glimpses are the birth pangs, the morning sickness if you will of  the fullness of the Kingdom.

            Often we try to celebrate Christ in the midst of all that is happening it only comes out as groans. When we try to formulate words to say to God is often comes out as some inaudible sound. But Pentecost gives us hope, for as Paul says, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”  With the Spirits help, those moans and sighs we lift up when we have nothing to say become ardent prayers to God. I wonder if on that day of Pentecost those original followers had anything to really say to each other or if their desperate groans were turned into loud shouts of praise, their sighs turned into the rushing wind of the Holy Spirit. For God took our desperation and gave us hope, our despair and gave us the Advocate, the Holy Spirit to be with us always.

            This understanding of the presence of God with us was nothing new the early Christians. From the earliest moments, we hear of God breathing into us the breath of life. This word in Hebrew ruah, which means both spirit and breath even imitates our breath, ruah. Likewise as Rob Bell describes in one of his Nooma videos, the word for God the Israelites had was not said one out of reverence to God, but also because the word Yahweh was almost inaudible, more like a groan or a sigh or a breath than a word. (yod-he-va-way). Bell helps us to imagine a baby’s first action in this world or that last thing someone on their death bed does is proclaim the name of God. (Yaweh). The Spirit, the breath of God proclaims the glory of God, even when what we let out are sighs too deep for words.

            Pentecost is that reminder that though the Kingdom of God is not yet revealed in all its glory, that though there is hardship and pain is all around us, that God is with us, with every breath we take. As we like the original followers at Pentecost begin to realize that God has not abandoned us but has instead declared to all the world that the Kingdom is here and will come with certainty one day in its fullness, then we too can begin to lift up our voices in praise. We can celebrate as black or white, rich or poor, American, South African or Iranian the good news of Christ’s Kingdom. And when the world around us beats us and batters us, when the things that make up the beautiful tapestry of diversity of the Kingdom are the things that begin to divide us, then let us like on that day of Pentecost use our groans. For we know that the Spirit intercedes for us in groans, sighs too deep for words.  We are in the labor pains of the Kingdom of God, so maybe we should take a cue from expecting mothers and learn to breath. (Lamaze breath slowly turns in Yahweh)

Witnesses of Something Spectacular

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 5/17/15

Read Acts 1:15-26 
Read 1 John 5:9-12 

Certain years tend to hold certain memories for me. For example 2015 will be the year I am ordained, 2013 was the year I got married. 2012 was a big year, it was the year that I proposed to Heather, graduated from seminary, and started my ministry here at Lambs/Evington. 2011 was the year I went to South Africa. But 2010 will always be the year that I watched Duke win the National Title. Sure Duke has won it all before that year, and yes they won all again this year, But 2010 was special because I was there. No I wasn’t actually there in Indianapolis where they won it all, but I was at the next best place; Cameron Indoor Stadium, watching on the big screen with thousands of other students around me. When that last shot barely missed and Duke won, that place erupted. It was so loud that as I hugged my friend J.D. in celebration, there was no way to differentiate his yelling in my ear from the screams all around me. As we all filed out of the stadium we headed for the quad for we knew what was awaiting us. On Duke’s campus there are these huge benches that are built each year for the sole purpose of burning to celebrate extraordinary events. It is a smart move by the school to create a safe, fun way to celebrate as Fire firefighters prepare and watch over the massive bonfire. It may sound strange, but there is nothing quite like celebrating late at night with thousands of people around a huge bonfire.

            We had witnessed something that some schools and fans only dream about. As the days passed there was still a buzz, people couldn’t stop talking about the night. The book store was packed with people buying National Championship t-shirts (which I have two of) and even a shirt for the students that read “I was on the Quad” Still to this day the bookstore still sells tiny little wood blocks that were part of the championship floor for over $100. People just want to have some memory, some proof, some conservation starter about the night they saw Duke win the National Championship. In fact you can probably sense how excited I get talking about this great event that I got to witness.

            It does make me wonder however, why are we so willing to witness to stories like this, but so rarely witness to the Messiah who rose from the dead?  Because I don’t think I’m alone, I am sure each and every one of you have a story like mine that you love to share. The story of your engagement or wedding day, the story of the birth of your children, the story of the concert that you once went to, or the day you ran into that famous person on the street. We tell stories about the places we’ve been, the work that we have done, the fish that we have caught (even if those stories are a little exaggerated), but still we rarely find ourselves sharing the story of the savior we follow.

Image Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library

            Today in the life of the Church we find ourselves celebrating one of the most spectacular events in the New Testament, but sadly it is one that is not as well know and not often celebrated like it should be. As Christians we are good at celebrating Good Friday and Jesus’s death on the cross. We are good at celebrating Easter and Jesus’s resurrection from the dead, but now as we come to the end of this Easter season, we celebrate Jesus’s last recorded event on Earth, the day he ascended into Heaven. This is a spectacular event, so why don’t we talk about it more often. We say it every week in the Apostle’s creed, “He ascended into heaven from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead,” so why don’t we give this day more praise? Do we find it too unbelievable? If so then why are we okay with celebrating tongues of fire resting on people’s shoulders next week at Pentecost?  Or are quiet in celebrating the Ascension because we don’t want Jesus to go? Even though we are promised that he is with us through the Spirit, and we see that fulfilled just days later at Pentecost, do we still not celebrate the Ascension because we feel abandoned. Are we afraid because now the witnessing to the world is not through the miracles and signs of Jesus, but the witnessing now falls on us? Do we fear the Ascension because it is the time where were are reminded that responsibility and leadership now at least partially falls on us?

            I believe that is at least the state that we find our disciplines in our scripture for today. Their leader had just ascended into heaven and they are obviously in the middle of a leadership crisis.  They did not have Jesus there to tell them what to do or how to minister to the world. None of them could fill the shoes of Jesus, not even Peter who Jesus called the cornerstone on which he would build the church. It was obvious that there would need to be a restructuring of sorts; instead of one leader, the 12 disciples would become tasked with testifying to what they had seen and learned. The only problem is that one of the disciples is now dead. Judas after betraying Jesus left the disciples and died, either by hanging himself as we read in Matthew, or through his guts spilling out as we have here in Acts.  Regardless of the discrepancies one thing is clear, Judas is gone, and needed to be replaced.

            The disciples come up with some strict guidelines of who was eligible to be the new 12^th disciple. The next disciple must have been there when Jesus was baptized, had to witness the miracles of Jesus, his death, his resurrection, and yes his ascension. The requirements for the new disciple were required more than what the existing disciples had to do! But it was all done so that they would know that the newest disciple would be able to testify and witness to the glory of Jesus Christ. And so out of about 120 followers gathered there, these requirements left two people, Mathias and a named Joseph sometimes called Justus. Finally after it was determined both of these men were qualified, the disciples prayed about it, and cast lots to determine the next disciple. The lots fell on Mathias, and that’s how the new 12^th disciple was decided

              This kind of reminds me of my journey towards ordination. The Board of Ordained Ministries requirements are rivaled only by those requirements we have here in Acts. For Ordination you must go to both Undergraduate and Seminary. You must be recommend by your home charge, you home district, and then after countless papers and interviews you are entered into what is called the provisional process. This is the process you all have so graciously walked with me through. During this process while you serve full-time, there are more meetings, papers, surveys and psychological evaluations that you can shake a stick at, until three years later you are able to write papers once more and sit in front of the board hopefully your last time. As you are interviewed for 3 hours, your body shakes, sweat drips off every part of your body and you pray that the Board recognizes in you the same gifts for ministry that you feel you have. But the Board of Ordained Ministries’s goal is the same as that of the original disciples, they want their new leaders to be ones who can effectively witness to the good news of Jesus Christ.

            I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for Mathias and Joseph on that day. You both have all of the requirements necessary to step up into this leadership role and so it comes down to either you or him. But here there is no chance to articulate why you are the better candidate or why your gifts for ministry would make you a great next disciple; it is all left up to the casting of lots.  A coin flip, dice roll, rock, paper, scissors; this is in essence how your fate is decided. It just so happens that day that Mathias was the one the lots fell upon. Mathias was the newest disciple to witness to the glory of God through the leadership role as one of the 12.

            When you hear this story you almost start to feel a little bad for Joseph, the man not chosen to be a disciple. He had been with Jesus since his baptism, he had witnessed Jesus’s miracles firsthand and had even just recently witnessed the amazing act of Jesus ascending into the clouds to sit at the right hand of the throne. Joseph was just as qualified as Mathias, but Mathias gets all of the glory and responsibility of leadership, while Joseph continues on as just another follower of Christ. In fact Joseph’s name is never mentioned again in the Bible. It seems unfair, Mathias gets the glory, and Joseph gets none. But let’s look at Mathias a little closer. He has just been chosen for this great honor of leadership in the first chapter of Acts, so how many times do you think we hear about Matthias later on? The answer is none. Like Joseph, Matthias is never mentioned again,

            This passage really makes me reflect upon the roles of clergy and laity in our churches today.  Matthias is like the clergy who have been called and set apart to be leaders in the church. They have met all of the requirements of the Church and are called into this sacred role of ministry, while the laity are like Joseph, called to continue to serve Christ through their participation in the Church. But what separates the two men? It is not that Mathias has more privilege or experience of Jesus than Joseph does, it is simply that Mathias was called into leadership. Too often in our church today laity act as though they are not qualified to witness to their faith. We have a pastor, they’re the ones that are called to do that not me. But as we see both Mathias and Joseph are called to witness. Both can testify to glory of God. Matthias is not greater than Joseph, neither men are mentioned again after this passage. But as we continue in our stories we can bet that both men are there as part of the gathered following on the day of Pentecost. Both men received that spirit, and both were sent into the world to witness to the good news that Jesus Christ now sits on the throne of judgement, the Kingdom of God has been established and Jesus is Lord!

            We all have a story to tell. It doesn’t matter if you are lay or clergy, I am sure that you have witnessed sometime in your life the amazing works of Jesus Christ in this world. As 1 John says, “Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts.” It is my job to witness to my faith, but not because I am a pastor, but because like you I am a follower of Christ. I am called to tell the story of how God’s love entered my heart on a youth trip to Lake Junaluska. I am called to tell how I have seen a glimpse of the Kingdom in its fullest as I worshiped at Seth Mokitimi seminary in South Africa singing “How Great Thou Art” in the many different languages of the students there. And I am called to tell these stories because I have been a witness to the glory of God in my life, and because these stories are powerful. I remember the stories my mom would tell of my grandfather in his ministries, standing up against segregation, even when his life was threatened on multiple occasions. It is stories like these that help spark my own flame and have given me courage to witness.

            But the storytelling does not rest squarely on my shoulders. Like Mathias and Joseph, You and I are both witnesses of the glory of God. You and I are both called to tell the stories. As we tell the stories of Christ, let us do it with the same passion and frequency as we do our other stories. Hopefully when we talked about Christ we can get as excited as I do when I talk about witnessing Duke win the championship, or that you do about the fish you caught that one time; because let’s face it no other story we could tell could ever match the story of God as human dying, rising from the dead, and ascending into Heaven. Let us as the classic hymn says “love to tell the story” because 2015 may be the year of ordination and 2013 may be the year of our wedding; but all of them are the year of the Lord.