The Boring Business of the Church
Rev. Dr. Mark Porizky
5/27/06
Acts
1:15-17, 21-26
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) 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 he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”...
So
one of the men who have 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 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.
The story just read from Acts 1 couldn't be more anti-climatic. Before this story comes the dramatic ascension of the risen Christ into heaven. After it we receive the account of Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit descends in a mighty rush of wind and the church is born. In between comes this rather mundane story of how the apostles fill a vacancy for church office. Jesus ascends up into heaven, in the clouds, and the church responds with a business meeting.
It's anti-climatic and hardly a mountain top 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.
Jesus lives among us as we run the church.
Jesus’ presence, or lack thereof, can be felt as we go about doing his
work. Boards and committees and
budgets 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.
Believing this, such people become frustrated with church budgets, the
politics of the church, church business meetings, the raising of money, and the
election of leaders.
"When are we going to get on
with the real business of the church?" some might ask.
Perhaps your picture of church is 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 Jesus 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.
So let’s get back to the business
meeting in Acts 1. Jesus is gone,
ascended into the clouds. He has
left them. He has left the church to
its own devices, or so it seems. The
disciples organize a business meeting.
The first order of business is a
meeting of the nominating committee. Judas
has met an ignominious end, and needs 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 not yet a pattern or precedent.
But there were two candidates, Justus and Matthias. Both could be added to the team, but that was not to be. Only one. One to make eleven twelve again.
So
they did what we should do whenever we haven't a clue how to proceed or whom to
choose: they pray.
"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.
Did they know what they were doing?
No, probably not. Instead, 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, not
human chosen, 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 would like to share with you. (Anthony B. Robinson, "Lessons in Leadership," Christian Century, December 15, 1999, pp. 1230-1231).
First. 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
Second. Expect trouble.
The church typically value peace and reconciliation at all costs. We like to be liked. I know that I do. But conversion, an inherent part of Christian life, is sometimes quite painful. To let go of one belief and embrace another is necessarily conflictual. To be a Christian is to change. Change can lead to trouble.
Third.
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, these small things are where the Gospels say God lives.
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.
Fourth.
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. But I have
come to believe that this leads to "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?
Fifth.
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 Jesus without being transformed by him, without being part
of 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.
Is church business boring?
Yes, it can be. Church
business can become just a project punch list of to-do items in order to keep
the church going. But that isn’t a
strategy for growth, just a strategy for survival.
Jesus never meant for the church to ONLY survive.
The
business of the church is to grow. To
keep growing the church may have to sit still and simply pray.
And then throw our lot in with God’s lot, whatever that may be.
Risky,
yes.
Boring,
no.
But
that’s the kind of Church business I’d like to be a part of.
Will
you pray with me now?
St.
Andrew Presbyterian Church,
Web Site: SAPC-CT.HOME.ATT.NET
Office Email: SAPC-CT@ATT.NET
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