The Church Doesn't Like to Wait

"For," said Peter, "it is written in the Book of Psalms: "'May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,' and, "'May another take his place of leadership.'  Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection." So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, "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." Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles. (Acts 1:20-26) We often assume that the "early church" we are to strive to be is the Acts 2 church from Acts 2:42-47 where the believers shared "everything in common," devoted themselves to prayer and the apostle's teaching, broke bread together, and had people added to their number daily through the work of the Spirit.  In part that's right.  But it's also partly wrong.     You see the church was not constituted in chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts.  It was empowered on that day by the Spirit, yes.  But the church was constituted on the command of Jesus from Acts, chapter 1. Jesus had commissioned the church to "be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  But the Acts 2 church preferred to huddle rather than go out to the ends of the earth.  It takes the stoning of Stephen before they would scatter out as missionaries like yeast through the dough as Jesus had told them to do. Jesus had also commanded the church to "wait"—to wait for God to give what only God can.  This is the command Pastor Michael mentioned yesterday, and it is in fact the very first command the church is given.  But just as the empowered Acts 2 church preferred to huddle rather than go out as witnesses, so the huddling Acts 1 church preferred to get busy rather than wait.  That's the story from the text today. While they were supposed to be just waiting and praying—Peter decided to call the first church administration meeting.  Now, often when we read this story of the selection of Matthias as the 12th apostle, we assume that this is a good news story.  We assume we are told this story as a picture of God at work in his people.  But, you may recall from the gospels that the pre-Spirit-filled Peter often put the cart in front of the horse.  He often got out ahead of Jesus.  And its worth wondering if the very same thing isn't happening here.   You'll notice that Peter quotes scripture and declares what is necessary—he takes up the role of leadership in this vacuum that has come from Jesus' absence.  He just can't sit still any longer.  There apparently need to be 12 apostles, Peter thinks, if they are to appropriately "witness" to the resurrection as Jesus told them to.  Jesus told them to wait for his gift of power.  But surely it couldn't hurt to help Jesus out a little in the meantime, right?  The disciples don't disagree.  So they nominate two men, pray about it, throw the dice and assume Matthias has been chosen by God.     But oddly, God himself never shows up as an actor in this run of verses.  Nor does Peter yet have the Spirit-inspired interpretation of Old Testament texts that he will in Acts 2.  Perhaps most interestingly of all, we never hear of Matthias again in the whole of the New Testament. It's not that God slaps the disciples on the wrist.  But this action of administration that came when they were supposed to be waiting also doesn't seem to bear any fruit.   Not until Acts 9 will this mystery of Matthias get solved for us when Jesus himself chooses the 12th Apostle on the Damascus road, named Paul.  He was not among the disciples, was not witness to the things Peter thought he should be—but by the power and choosing of God he was made an apostle none-the-less.  And through Paul—half our New Testament was written and witness to Jesus Christ was brought to the ends of the earth.   Perhaps we really can wait on the Lord to accomplish his work after all.  Perhaps waiting and praying is more powerful than we thought.*   *We've got to credit Andrew Root and Blair Bertrand from their 2023 book When Church Stops Working for some of the insights they offered on Acts 1 and waiting!