Pasadena Presbyterian Church Sermon Text
June 1, 2003

"Short Straw or Long Straw: 
Lessons in Spiritual Leadership"

Preached by The Rev. Dr. Mark Smutny

Scripture:  Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

(15) In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, (16) "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 - (17) for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry." (21) So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, (22) 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." (23) So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. (24) Then they prayed and said, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen (25) to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." (26) And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

- Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

The story just read from Acts 1 couldn't be more anti-climatic. Sandwiched between the dramatic ascension of the risen Christ into heaven and the account of Pentecost,  where the Holy Spirit descends in a mighty rush of wind and the church is born, comes the rather mundane story of how the apostles fill a vacancy in the office of apostle.  Christ ascends up into heaven, in the clouds, and the church responds with a business meeting.

It's anti-climatic and hardly a mountaintop experience.  So soon after the sizzle and flash of the resurrection and the ascension, both deeply "spiritual" events, the disciples must touch down on earth.  Jesus is in heaven.  Meanwhile down here there are chores to be done, jobs to be filled, budget problems to fix, and someone has to take responsibility to keep the church going from day to day.

So a meeting is called to order, something Presbyterians perfected 16 centuries later.  We have been meeting and meeting ever since.

However, I think Luke, the writer of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, is onto something here.  Between the glory of Easter and the power of Pentecost, he is reminding us that Christ is present in the ordinary circumstances of life, how we run the church, and how we are together as we go about doing his work.  Boards and committees and budgets can also bear witness to the one we seek to follow.

There are always some who say the church should not bother itself with mundane, human matters and that the church is mostly about spiritual and religious matters.  They get frustrated with church budgets, the politics of the church, church business meetings, raising of money, and elections of leaders.

"When are we going to get on with the real business of the church?" they ask.  Maybe they picture a spiritual retreat, a transcendent moment in a discussion group or a brass quintet.

But there is no way to get on with the spiritual business of the church without taking care of this other business, too.  In order to serve Christ and bear witness to his love, we must become the body of Christ, organize the blessed thing, take on an ordered form and make sure the proclamation and practice of the Gospel has continuity for our generation and the generations to come.

Back to the story.  Jesus is gone, ascended into the clouds.  He had left them.  He had left the church to its own devices, or so it may have seemed.  The disciples organize a business meeting. 

The first order of business is a meeting of the nominating committee.  Judas having met an ignominious end, needed to be replaced.  There were 12 disciples, one is gone, therefore someone needs to take his place.  Why?  Because we've always done it that way?  No, that wasn't it.  They were inventing it as they went along.  There was no pattern or precedent.

There were two candidates, Justus and Matthias.  Both could be added to the team, but that was not to be. 

So they did what we should do whenever we haven't a clue:  they prayed.  "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." 

They finished their prayer and then they cast lots to determine the outcome.  How strange! Casting lots is a lot like throwing the dice or drawing straws or maybe it was putting God in the voting booth to make the appropriate choice.  They had done their humanly best to draw up the agenda, developed a decision-making process and then trusted that God would work in it all.

The election of Matthias was an answer to their prayer.  The church was not left in the lurch without leadership.  A new apostle was selected for a new age.  They did not remain mired in the past, but confronted with new challenges, they prayed and cast their lot with a God who was about to do a new thing, where their past conventions were blown away with the power of Pentecost and people who spoke Farsi and Spanish and English and Korean and many other languages would all be in one place testifying to the mighty power of God.

Did they know what they were doing?  No. They prayed and cast lots.  They drew straws.  They trusted the future of their church into the hands of a God who had great plans for them, plans they couldn't begin to discern.  The story of the election of Matthias is a story about God-given, transformative leadership.

I believe the greatest need for the church in this age is for leaders and congregations who are willing to be transformed into a new way of being church.  The cultural props have been kicked out.  The church has been disestablished.  We live in an immensely competitive, multicultural, multi-faith, pluralistic environment, and only with courageous, transformative leaders and followers who cast their lot and trust in a wildly imaginative God is there hope.

Anthony Robinson has developed a short list of principles of transformative church leadership that I commend to you.  (Anthony B. Robinson, "Lessons in Leadership," Christian Century, December 15, 1999, pp. 1230-1231).

~Give responsibility back. 

When somebody says, "Somebody ought to be doing this," say to them, "that's just the thing God may be calling you do to."  Ministry is your responsibility, not only the pastors.  The historic commitment of the Protestant church to the priesthood of all believers compels every Christian to be engaged in ministry. The professionalization of ministry can undermine the strength of the church.

~Expect trouble. 

The church and its pastors typically value peace and reconciliation at all costs.  We like to be liked.  But conversion, an inherent part of Christian life, is painful.  To let go of one belief and embrace another is necessarily conflictual.  To be a Christian is to change.

~Value small steps. 

Long range plans are great.  Strategic vision is great.  It is also important to realize that we build the church only by series of many small steps.  The Gospels apparently value small things, the widow's coin, the pearl of great price, the few seeds that fell on rich soil.  These small things that the world regards as insignificant are where the Gospels say God is.  The one-on-one conversation in the nursing home, the two children that showed up for Sunday school, the simple prayer uttered at just the right time for another in great need.  Step by step the church is built.  The Exodus from slavery into the promised land began with one small step and another and another.

~Don't overvalue consensus. 

For too many of my years in the pastorate I have thought that absolutely everyone had to get on board before we could move on anything.  I call this "consensus paralysis."  If we wait for everyone to be on board, we might as well go into the museum business. Thousands of empty churches litter the American landscape because congregations died from consensus paralysis.  Sometimes we need to ask those among ourselves who have grave reservations about some course of new action to trust those who are convinced.  Evaluation can come later.  If the apostles cast lots to select their leadership, can we not cast our lot without everyone being on board?

~Count the yes votes.

Robinson says that we might worry too much about those who may not be ready to move, or may never be ready to move.  Let the enthusiastic go ahead.  Rarely will a majority support a new ministry, if the new ministry entails risk. Count the yes votes.

~Be persistent. 

Change, no matter how obviously needed, always provokes resistance.  Resistance, particularly when the matter is about our relationship with God and our most cherished values and traditions, can be deep and unrelenting.  Constancy and perseverance are Christian virtues.  When you believe deeply that God is doing a new thing, don't give up too soon.  The Gospel is threatening.  Persistence in service to the Gospel, particularly if you are among those who have been long silenced, gives new life.

The heart of the Christian gospel is that on Easter, Jesus was raised from the dead.  This power of new life launched a great movement that changed the world.  This same power seeks to transform us now, as individuals and as the church, into new life.  There is no way for us to follow him without being transformed, without being part of the a church that is always on the move, adapting, changing.  Not all are called to be leaders of the church, but all of us are called to be Easter people, to be people willing to cast our lot into the hands of a just and gracious God.

Behind today's lesson in the Book of Acts is a promise.  When Jesus rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, he did not leave us alone.  In the election of Matthias, as a fresh new leader of the church, Christ showed us that he would continue to be with us: in our prayers, our leaders, our small steps, in our worship and hymns and meetings, in our conflicts and in our risky ventures.  Christ will continue to be with us, so that we can be his body, the church, his presence in a needy world.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.     

 

(c) Copyright 2003 by Mark K. Smutny.  All rights reserved.  Permission granted for non-profit use with attribution.