The first church council meeting
Another sermon on Acts 1
Acts 1:12-16, 20-26
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred and twenty people) and said, ‘Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus—‘For it is written in the book of Psalms,
“Let his homestead become desolate,
and let there be no one to live in it”;
and
“Let another take his position of overseer.”
So one of the men who have accompanied us throughout 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 must become a witness with us to his resurrection.’ So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.1
Note: This sermon was preached at the annual Lake Harriet Bandshell worship service, so there is no recording or video. It is not my practice to share my manuscripts as I write for the ear, not the reader, but ya’ll get a pass this week! All I ask is that, for my sake, you add some sassiness to the voice in your head as you read. You’ll know where it should go. 😉
If you were confused by this passage, please know you’re not alone. I’ve been joking with my colleagues that this story reads like church council meeting minutes. And honestly, this meeting feels like it could’ve been an email.
But, to my surprise, there are some interesting nuggets in these secretary notes. So to begin, a quick recap of what went down:
The apostles, formerly disciples, gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem. This was same place Jesus shared the Last Supper with them before he was crucified. And they gathered there after Jesus ascended into heaven because one, they were told by Jesus to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father, and two, they had some stuff to figure out.
Specifically, someone was missing. A friend, a teammate, a fellow disciple was absent. And that person was Judas. Yes, that Judas. The one who sat around a table in this very room, waiting for the moment he would turn Jesus into the authorities in exchange for money. The one who threw his friend under the bus and betrayed him with a kiss.
Now it’s no surprise that Judas is absent, but it leaves a hole. There were twelve who were chosen by Jesus, but only eleven in the room today. There were twelve who followed Jesus throughout his ministry, but only eleven who made it this far.
And so, they had a spot to fill. They needed a twelfth man. They needed a full council.
So Peter stands up and leads the group in nominating two guys to fill Judas’ spot—Joseph and Matthias. After they nominated these two standup men, they prayed that God might know their hearts, rolled some dice, and voila! Matthias becomes the twelfth man. The newest apostle. The newest member of the team.
It’s thrilling stuff here in Acts chapter 1, let me tell you.
Now this council meeting was called to fill the twelfth spot on the team. That’s why they got together and had this meeting. But what struck me in my reading of this story was noticing who else was there. Who else was present at this meeting, because there are more people in this story than just the eleven disciples.
There were women, including Mary, Jesus’ mother, and probably Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others. These were the women who supported Jesus’ ministry for years. Not only that, but they saw their Lord as he was crucified. They watched Jesus die. Even more, they stayed at the foot of the cross longer than any other disciple. And then they laid Jesus’ body in the tomb and returned the next day to care for it, until they eventually visited and found it to be empty.
These women saw the death and resurrection of Jesus more closely, more intimately than any other disciple. They were closer to the sting of death than any of the twelve.
And they’re still there. They’re in the room where it happened. Because God has used their experience, their proclamation, and their leadership for the love of the world.
Along with the women are the two nominated apostles, the ones to replace Judas’ seat around the table. Joseph and Matthias. These were two men who had been eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life and ministry from the beginning. They saw Jesus as he was baptized in the Jordan river. They witnessed the Holy Spirit descend on him like a dove. They saw the miracles Jesus made happen. They watched as he died, confused about what was going on. And then they witnessed him rise, in an impossible turn of events.
These two nominated fellows, after all this whirlwind, are still there. Following the eleven around, trying to figure out what to do next. They’ve never been in a leadership role before, but their hearts have been tapped by this Jesus. They’ve been sold ever since the beginning, listening and watching from the sidelines.
And they’re in the room where it happened. They are important attendees on the council meeting minutes. Because what they saw, what they learned, matters and God is going to use them.
And then finally, we hear about a crowd who is present, a crowd Peter speaks in front of. 120 people who are there, waiting to be told what’s next. Who haven’t given up on this story. Who are captivated and intrigued and drawn into this life and death cycle. Who are ready to be a part of whatever this movement is going to be.
These are the third ring of people who are there, clinging on to everything they’ve seen and heard about Jesus. And even these nobodys on the outside, who aren’t even named, are in the room where it happened. Are being kept in the loop. Are invited into this very boring council meeting.
Because their presence matters. In fact, they make up the very first church. They are the ones God is going to use to spread good news across the world.
Though the eleven in this room today—the ones named in this passage, the ones who Jesus chose himself—though they may be the ones who will lead the pack, it’s clear they can’t do this on their own. They can’t fulfill Jesus’ command by themselves. They also don’t have all the answers or experiences required to do what’s set out before them.
They need a team. They need each other. They need the women who have been there the whole time, who never left Jesus’ side even and especially during the hardest moments. They need eyewitnesses who followed them around, not because they were chosen by Jesus, but because they had been captivated by this message of love. They need the crowd who saw it all go down from different perspectives, from different vantage points, because they have been listening and learning and soaking in everything, and they are the launching point for the church to come.
What’s interesting is that this isn’t much different than what Jesus did, when he gathered up those twelve random dudes to follow him around. He chose men from all walks of life, from both extremes of the socioeconomic world. He chose men from different towns and villages. He chose men who were brothers but also men who didn’t like each other at all. The original twelve disciples were as un-unified, diverse, and random as they could’ve been.
But Jesus brought them together, unified that band of brothers, all through the power of love.
And that’s what Peter and the twelve apostles are doing now. Because they’ve seen what God can do when the Spirit brings people together. When everyone is welcome at the council meeting. When each person’s experience of the living God is welcome.
They’ve seen what God can do with groups of people we would never put together ourselves.
To be honest, it’s pretty clear that Peter and the disciples had no idea what they were doing during this meeting. Rolling dice to pick the new guy? Feels chaotic. Letting anyone come to the meeting? Too many cooks in the kitchen. I’m sure all of this is why church constitutions became a thing.
But though this all feels clumsy, haphazard, and inefficient, the truth is that God was still working through it all. Through them all.
These twelve guys may have no idea what to do next, but they know they’ve been gripped by the love of Jesus. They may have no idea what’s to come, but they know they have each other. Their team. Women beside them. Eyewitnesses who are in it with them. They may have no idea what to tell the 120 people in the crowd, except to invite them deeper into this big, indescribable, unimaginable work of God through the Holy Spirit.
And friends, that doesn’t feel all that different from where we stand. Gathered today, we are brought together into a random community in Minneapolis because we’ve been drawn into this story of God’s love for God’s people. We may find ourselves just as clueless about what to do next, throwing dice to see what sticks, unequipped for the challenges of the day, completely at a loss of what God might be doing in our world,
But here we are. Together. On the team of love. Gathered to worship a God who rose from the dead. Proclaiming the love God has for all of God’s people on a stage in the middle of the city. Supporting children and families in crisis through gifts to the Minneapolis Crisis Nursery.
That is the work of the Spirit. That’s what God makes possible through random communities like this. That’s the story that gripped the hearts of those meeting attendees all those years ago, and is still drawing us in to this day.
Only God could make something like that happen.
Amen.
🕊️