Discerning God's Will (Aug 30, 09)
ACTS M2 Sermon Notes August 30, 2009
Title: Discerning God’s Will in Times of Waiting
Text: Acts 1:12-26
Big Idea: We discern God’s will through prayer, the scriptures, common sense and the Holy Spirit.
I was living in southern California working to plant a new church and also part-time for one of the Orange County newspapers and my work visa expired. I returned to Canada. I was living in White Rock and ended-up living with a childhood friend of mine. Though we lived in this beautiful condo on Marine Drive not far from the pier overlooking the ocean, I was restless. There was a part of me that was anxious… eager to discover the next step I was supposed to take.
Have you ever been in a waiting time?— waiting to for a job to open up, waiting to be admitted to school, or waiting to begin a relationship, waiting to begin a family, waiting to retire? Waiting can feel like a frustrating “in between” experience.
We’ve just begun a new series in the Book of Acts. We are looking at how the early church expanded through the work of the Holy Spirit. As we see how this happened, we will find nourishment for our own spiritual journey, but also for our journey as a church as we grow into Kitsilano on September 13 and into places like Cambodia as well.
Today we are going to look at the early church in a waiting time.
In Acts Chapter 1 we saw how Jesus (in his last words) said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before the eyes of his followers and a cloud hid him from their sight. In Acts 1 vs. 9 we see that Jesus has ascended…. but the promised Holy Spirit has not yet come upon his followers. Then we read in Acts 1:12 how the disciples returned to Jerusalem. What do they do during this waiting time in Jerusalem?
If you have your Bibles, please turn to Acts 1:12.
12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk [a] from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, "Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in our ministry."
18 (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 "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,' [b]
and,
" 'May another take his place of leadership.' [c]
21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 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."
23 So they proposed the names of two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
How does the early church act in its waiting times?
They weren’t passive. They respond to Jesus’ call to wait for the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. But they don’t simply wait idly twiddling their thumbs and restlessly channel surfing. They unite in prayer in the upper room. In vs. 14 we read: 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women (presumably the women included the 3 named in the Gospel of Luke: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna) and Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus with his brothers.
In verse 15 we read there were about 120 joined in prayer community. The 120 included 11 of the original disciples. (They had lost one—Judas). In Jewish law a minimum of 120 was required to establish a community with its own council; so the group of those following Christ, though small in number at this point, was large enough, by the standards of Jewish tradition, to form a new community.)
These 120 people, we are told (in vs. 14), joined together constantly in prayer. They were following Jesus’ call in Luke 18 to pray and not give up. Jesus himself modeled this through his own consistent praying. Before the major events in his own life, Jesus prayed. He stayed up all night praying before choosing his disciples. He also spent the night praying before accomplishing his greatest work—his sacrifice for our sins on the cross. If it was important for Jesus as the unique son of God to pray and receive direction, how much more important is it for us.
We read in verse 24 that as the early church was discerning whom to choose as a replacement for the disciple Judas, they prayed specifically for direction.
As we spend time in the presence of God praying and we are drawn close to his heart, we find ourselves in a posture where we can be led by him…
As I have shared a number of times, when I was in that waiting time in White Rock, between southern California and Vancouver, I spent a five days fasting and praying for direction. And in that time of fasting and prayer, on day 3 God seemed to say, “Tenth Avenue Alliance Church…” and on day 5 “Senior pastor.” Now God does not guide me that dramatically most of the time. In fact, it is only a handful of times where I have sensed God speaking to me almost audibly. But like spending regular time in conversation with a friend, as we engage in prayer with God, we are positioned to know what is on God’s heart… to know what is most important to him. We are therefore in a better position to discern what God’s will is.
So, while we wait we can pray for direction.
In verse 15 we see how Peter, emerges as the leader of the early disciples:
15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, "Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in our ministry."
18 (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 "For," said Peter, "it is written in the Book of Psalms:
" 'May his place be deserted… (Psalm 69:25)
" 'May another take his place of leadership. (Psalm 109:8).
Judas betrayed Jesus to the Jewish authorities for 30 pieces of silver. Afterwards Judas felt remorse over it and he took his own life. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 27, he went away and hung himself and then apparently, when some someone cut the rope, his body had decomposed and burst open.
Peter speaks about the need to replace Judas as one of Jesus’ disciples so that there would be twelve disciples. Some commentators have observed how in Israel there were twelve tribes which represented the people of God; and so it was important for there to be twelve apostles, who would represent the new family of God, composed of people of every tongue, tribe and nation, that God was bringing together through his son Jesus Christ.
Peter turns to Scripture. He quotes Psalm 69 (“May his place be deserted”) and Psalm 109 (" 'May another take his place of leadership.'), explaining that Judas’s betrayal had been prophesied in Scripture, and that they were to replace him.
(Though Luke clearly names Judas’s sin of betrayal and subsequent suicide as wrong, he also makes it clear that even in sin and family dysfunction, as we saw so clearly in the series on the life and family of Joseph, God can weave these things for his purposes.)
God’s Scriptures can provide an important guide for us.
I know that for some followers of Christ reading the scriptures can feel like a bit of an obligation. And when you get to certain parts of the Bible, like the Book of Leviticus, the book of Numbers, the description of the temple or the genealogies (Adam begat Seth, Seth begat Enosh, Enosh begat Kenan….) --those part can feel about as inspiring as a wide yawn. But if we are regularly in the Scriptures provide us with the gift of guidance.
My own mentor, an older Presbyterian minister named Leighton Ford, tragically lost his son Sandy when he was just 21 years old. Sandy was a bright student at the University of North Carolina. He was an athlete and deeply devoted to Christ. He was actively involved with Inter-Varsity ministry on his school campus. He was hoping one day to become a minister of the Gospel. When he was only 21 years old, he died of a rare heart disease. It was a time of great grief for faith and his family, as you can imagine.
At the time, Leighton was the vice-president of the Billy Graham Association. He was speaking in large football stadiums around the world, and was Graham’s heir-apparent One day Leighton was reading in the Book of Isaiah 43:19 how God was about to do a new work: See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert.and streams in the wasteland. He sensed that this “new thing” applied to him and that he would be called to a new ministry. Not long after, he was reading in Isaiah 49:2 where God said, “I will make you into a polished arrow, concealed in my quiver.” And then in verse 6: God says:
"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."
These verses, combined with the loss of Sandy, led Leighton to begin something new, what is called “The Arrow Leadership Program,” which helps develop young, emerging Christian leaders in North America, around the world and other mentoring communities. I have been a part of these programs both as a student and as a leader. But it was a scripture that spoke to Leighton and guided him in a very significant way, time of grief.
My wife Sakiko, before we were married, had no vision of living outside of Japan because she loved her family, her job, her church, her country. But God spoke to her through John 15 where Jesus says, every branch in me that bears I prune and Sakiko didn’t know exactly how this would apply to her specifically, but she sensed that God wanted to prune something very significant in her life, that there would be some cataclysmic change. Then I came into her life and asked her if she would be open in leaving Japan (just before I was planning to propose to her)…. She said, “No…” to the possibility of her living outside Japan and then, as she reflected on John 15, she sensed that God was going to prune and guide her into a new chapter in her life… leave Japan, and that text prepared to do what she never imagined--marry and then move to Canada. Scripture guided her.
When I first came to Tenth I was guided in a time of prayer, but I was also encouraged through Scriptures. I heard just some stories about Tenth that made me wonder about our future viability. People talked about Tenth as a church with its glory years behind it…a church that had shrunk from over 1000 to under 200 at its lowest points. As a new pastor here, the secretary came into my office one day and said, “If everything sinks now, everyone will blame you because you were the last person at the helm.”
A long time member of our church named Elaine Salmond (who still attends,), shared with me a verse that she felt God had given her for Tenth—Isaiah 62… let me quote part of it (paraphrasing).
Because I love Tenth,
I will not keep still.
Because my heart yearns for Tenth,
I cannot remain silent.
I will not stop praying for her
until her righteousness shines like the dawn,
and her salvation blazes like a burning torch
And Tenth will be given a new name
by the Lord’s own mouth.
Your new name will be “The City of God’s Delight”[c]
and “The Bride of God,”[d]
for the Lord delights in you
and will claim you as his bride.
O Tenth I have posted watchmen on your walls;
they will pray day and night, continually.
Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord.
Tenth will be called “The Holy People”
and “The People Redeemed by the Lord.”
And Tenth will be known as “The Desirable Place”
and “The Place No Longer Forsaken.”
Those verses encouraged me. A few years later at the end of an elders’ retreat, we were in Elaine and Lorne Salmond’s home. I said, “Elaine, I want you to tell the board about the verse you felt God gave to you for Tenth years ago.” So she paraphrased Isaiah 62. And she said, “Years ago I felt like Tenth was like a woman who had lost her beauty, but now that beauty has been restored.” Isaiah 62 was a prophetic call for us as a community to pray and seek God, but also a promise that we would be a redeemed people, that we would be sought after…no longer called “deserted,” but “desired.”
The gift of regularly being in the word, I personally use the One Year Bible (with daily reading selections) is that we can receive guidance from God.
So we see in the text how in the in-between time for the early church they prayed. They turned to the Word for guidance. And they exercised common sense. The early church, based on scripture and Judas’s defection, felt that it was necessary to appoint another apostle so that there would be twelve apostles, perhaps so that like the children of Israel who had 12 tribes this new family of God being created by Christ would also have 12 apostles. And so, according to verse 23, they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.
Then they prayed for guidance. But, we see here the early church used their common sense. They felt that since all the apostles had actually been eye witnesses of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, it made sense in to their minds and hearts that the next apostle to be someone who had also actually witnessed the resurrection of Jesus. They prayed, used Scriptures, but also exercised their God-given judgment here.
When we are in waiting times we can pray, meditate on Scripture, use common sense.
We can ask, “What kind of gifts do I have that could serve others? What kind of needs are there in the community? Where do I experience joy in serving? How might I be stretched through serving?
Why have we chosen Kitsilano as a place to launch to? We are getting set to launch our new site in Kitsilano in response to Jesus’ call to make disciples of all people. But it makes sense from a common sense perspective, as well. The Canadian census shows that Kits is a community that shares the distinction of being one of the “least religious” communities in Canada. Yet, we have a number of people who attend here and live in Kitsilano. Kitsilano is also filled with people of all ages and is especially popular among the young. We are a multi-generational church but many newcomers express surprise at how many young people there are here (which is rare for churches, in general). So, there are a number of factors that make Kitsilano seem like the right place for us to launch… The leadership feels that to quote Acts 15:28 it seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us to launch in Kits. It seems good to you, come! Come and attend and come and serve. There are opportunities to serve in the areas of ushering, hospitality, kids ministry, set up… and many other areas. There is never the perfect time to serve….
Sometimes in our church life and in our personal life there are times when we will be concretely guided by God; and other times when it just makes sense in our minds and our hearts and as a result of spending time with God, we feel a sense of peace, and this way seems good to us and to the Holy Spirit.
When I was nearing a waiting time between seminary, and what to do next, I recall talking to a mentor about what I ought to do. There was no concrete guidance from God at that point. I had two opportunities before me—one was to take an administrative role in an international leadership organization, and another was to go out to southern California with a friend to start a church there.
I remember my mentor saying, “If you don’t have a clear and compelling sense of call what to do, and you need to make a decision, just make the decision. Think what you want to be at the end of your life and make a decision that will take you one small step in that direction, and trust that God will make it right.”
Some times we need to move based on what seems to good us, and from what we can discern, to the Holy Spirit as well. Pastor Earl Palmer has said, God cannot steer a parked car… sometimes we have to step out and trust that God will guide us….
Finally, we see here, when the early church discerns whether to choose, Joseph called Barabbas (v. 23) (also known as Justus), and Matthias. They prayed and asked the Lord to show which of the two the Lord had chosen. Then they cast lots (the lots may have been pebbles with names of Joseph and Matthias on them which put in vase and shaken and then the one whose name fell out first was chosen.) The lot fell to Matthias, and he was added to the disciples. Lots were used in decision-making in a variety of circumstances in the Old Testament (Leviticus 16:8-10; Numbers 26:25-56, etc.). In Proverbs 16:33 we read “A lot was cast and the decision was from the Lord.”
It is interesting to know, however, this is the last time that the use of lots in making a decision was used in the scriptures. The disappearance of casting lots in the scriptures is likely related to the coming of the Holy Spirit who is now, according to Jesus and Paul in Romans 8, the great guide for believers. Now we do not need to rely on the casting of lots for direction, but the Spirit.
Throughout the Book of Acts, we see how the Spirit led the early church in sending people like Paul and Barnabas. In Acts 13 we see how during the time of worship that Paul and Barnabas were set apart for the missionary work to which God had called them. In Acts 15 we see that the Holy Spirit guided the early church on gaining clarity on certain theological and ethical issues, like whether eating food that was sacrificed to idols and abstaining from sexual immorality. In the Book of Acts 16 the Spirit guides Paul to go to Macedonia, instead of Asia.
In our community life here at Tenth and in our individual Lives, and waiting times and at all times, we will also be guided and directed by the Holy Spirit. I recently spoke with Kevin Knight, a member here at Tenth, about his sense of how God has guided him.
Kevin is a plumber by trade and he first came here almost 2 years ago. He was not a believer in Christ at the time. He had a sense that there was a huge void in his life. He sat in the back of the church here one Sunday and when he was at the service, he felt deeply impressed that God wanted him to go to Cambodia. He sat in the back of the church and wept. A vision that he had two years before came to him: a prior vision of digging a ditch in arid soil…. which he now sense was Cambodia.
After a significant time of prayer, reflecting Son biblical teaching, he ended up going to Phnom Penh last December as part of a Tenth missions trip. Kevin is now preparing to go to Cambodia long-term with “Servants with the Asia’s Poor.” (I may interview Kevin.)
Kevin story illustrates how God can guide us directly by his Spirit, but and also that God’s plan for us may not be easy….
Richard Stearn’s story also illustrates this. Rich Stearns is one of the presidents of World Vision, the Christian development organization. Richard Stearns grew up in a poor and broken family. His father had been an alcoholic, his parents divorced.. Though his family had no money to send him to college, by working very hard in high school, Richard ended up attending Cornell University, an Ivy League college, on scholarships and student loans. He later graduated from Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. At the end of his time at Cornell, Rich committed his life to Christ, but his goal had been, and still was, to become a corporate CEO and become financially prosperous. When he was 33 years old, he became president and CEO of Parker Brothers, and then the CEO of Lenox, the fine tableware company. His salary and bonuses were in the 7-figure range.
He was happily married, had 5 kids and lived in a 10-bedroom house on 5 acres outside Philadelphia. He had a brand new company car, a Jaguar, and then through a series of extraordinary events, none of which Rich initiated, Rich was asked to serve as the president of World Vision. He was confronted with a very hard choice—to quit his job, one that he had worked 20 years to attain, take a 75% pay cut, sell his house, move his family across the continent to Seattle where he didn’t know anyone, and accept the job he didn’t want. He felt there was a strong likelihood that he would fail and become unemployed a year later.
As he was wrestling through the decision, the words of Jesus’ from the gospels came to him. “Rich, you lack one thing—sell everything you have and give it to the poor, then come follow me. Are you willing, Rich? Will you do this for me?” The next verse in the passage of scripture was devastating to Rich: “The rich man when confronted with the same question could not do what Jesus asked. He went away very sad because he had great wealth.”
In June 1998 Richard and his family moved to Seattle, and Rich has been serving as the president of World Vision ever since. He has been working on behalf of the poor, advocating for their physical, social, and spiritual well-being.
Most of us will not be called to do something quite so dramatic with our lives. But are we open to doing what God calls us to do? God will speak to us individually as a community through: as we pray, search scripture, through our common sense, and through a sense of the Spirit’s leading.
Most of us won’t be called into full-time ministry as missionaries like Kevin is being called, or into full-time Christian work like Rich Stearns, but we are called to do something--to consider our gifts and the needs in the world, and serve, as I said earlier. There are many opportunities to serve Kits in the areas of ushering, hospitality, kids ministry, set up… and many other areas and, as people go, many opportunities to serve here, too.
When we respond affirmatively to the call of God in our life, as was true of Matthias, no doubt as Kevin and Rich, we will find ourselves stretched or challenged, but also deeply fulfilled and discover and live out God’s call for us.
Several months after Rich had taken his position at World Vision, he was in his six-year-old minivan with his son high school-aged son Andy running some errands. They pulled up at a traffic light beside a shiny brand new Jaguar XK-8, just like his company car he had. Andy looked at his dad and sighed wistfully, “Dad, have you ever thought about getting back in the game for one last kill?” Rich replied, “Andy, for the first time in my life I feel like I am in the game…in God’s game.”
Not everyone will be called, as I said, to work in full-time Christian work, as Rich and Kevin have been called. But when we are open to the discerning God’s will through prayer, the Word, common sense, and the Spirit’s leading and then responding affirmatively we will find that we are in the greatest game of all—we are participating in the eternal work of God.
Prayer for the benediction:
Title: Discerning God’s Will in Times of Waiting
Text: Acts 1:12-26
Big Idea: We discern God’s will through prayer, the scriptures, common sense and the Holy Spirit.
I was living in southern California working to plant a new church and also part-time for one of the Orange County newspapers and my work visa expired. I returned to Canada. I was living in White Rock and ended-up living with a childhood friend of mine. Though we lived in this beautiful condo on Marine Drive not far from the pier overlooking the ocean, I was restless. There was a part of me that was anxious… eager to discover the next step I was supposed to take.
Have you ever been in a waiting time?— waiting to for a job to open up, waiting to be admitted to school, or waiting to begin a relationship, waiting to begin a family, waiting to retire? Waiting can feel like a frustrating “in between” experience.
We’ve just begun a new series in the Book of Acts. We are looking at how the early church expanded through the work of the Holy Spirit. As we see how this happened, we will find nourishment for our own spiritual journey, but also for our journey as a church as we grow into Kitsilano on September 13 and into places like Cambodia as well.
Today we are going to look at the early church in a waiting time.
In Acts Chapter 1 we saw how Jesus (in his last words) said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before the eyes of his followers and a cloud hid him from their sight. In Acts 1 vs. 9 we see that Jesus has ascended…. but the promised Holy Spirit has not yet come upon his followers. Then we read in Acts 1:12 how the disciples returned to Jerusalem. What do they do during this waiting time in Jerusalem?
If you have your Bibles, please turn to Acts 1:12.
12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk [a] from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, "Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in our ministry."
18 (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 "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,' [b]
and,
" 'May another take his place of leadership.' [c]
21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 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."
23 So they proposed the names of two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
How does the early church act in its waiting times?
They weren’t passive. They respond to Jesus’ call to wait for the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. But they don’t simply wait idly twiddling their thumbs and restlessly channel surfing. They unite in prayer in the upper room. In vs. 14 we read: 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women (presumably the women included the 3 named in the Gospel of Luke: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna) and Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus with his brothers.
In verse 15 we read there were about 120 joined in prayer community. The 120 included 11 of the original disciples. (They had lost one—Judas). In Jewish law a minimum of 120 was required to establish a community with its own council; so the group of those following Christ, though small in number at this point, was large enough, by the standards of Jewish tradition, to form a new community.)
These 120 people, we are told (in vs. 14), joined together constantly in prayer. They were following Jesus’ call in Luke 18 to pray and not give up. Jesus himself modeled this through his own consistent praying. Before the major events in his own life, Jesus prayed. He stayed up all night praying before choosing his disciples. He also spent the night praying before accomplishing his greatest work—his sacrifice for our sins on the cross. If it was important for Jesus as the unique son of God to pray and receive direction, how much more important is it for us.
We read in verse 24 that as the early church was discerning whom to choose as a replacement for the disciple Judas, they prayed specifically for direction.
As we spend time in the presence of God praying and we are drawn close to his heart, we find ourselves in a posture where we can be led by him…
As I have shared a number of times, when I was in that waiting time in White Rock, between southern California and Vancouver, I spent a five days fasting and praying for direction. And in that time of fasting and prayer, on day 3 God seemed to say, “Tenth Avenue Alliance Church…” and on day 5 “Senior pastor.” Now God does not guide me that dramatically most of the time. In fact, it is only a handful of times where I have sensed God speaking to me almost audibly. But like spending regular time in conversation with a friend, as we engage in prayer with God, we are positioned to know what is on God’s heart… to know what is most important to him. We are therefore in a better position to discern what God’s will is.
So, while we wait we can pray for direction.
In verse 15 we see how Peter, emerges as the leader of the early disciples:
15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, "Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in our ministry."
18 (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 "For," said Peter, "it is written in the Book of Psalms:
" 'May his place be deserted… (Psalm 69:25)
" 'May another take his place of leadership. (Psalm 109:8).
Judas betrayed Jesus to the Jewish authorities for 30 pieces of silver. Afterwards Judas felt remorse over it and he took his own life. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 27, he went away and hung himself and then apparently, when some someone cut the rope, his body had decomposed and burst open.
Peter speaks about the need to replace Judas as one of Jesus’ disciples so that there would be twelve disciples. Some commentators have observed how in Israel there were twelve tribes which represented the people of God; and so it was important for there to be twelve apostles, who would represent the new family of God, composed of people of every tongue, tribe and nation, that God was bringing together through his son Jesus Christ.
Peter turns to Scripture. He quotes Psalm 69 (“May his place be deserted”) and Psalm 109 (" 'May another take his place of leadership.'), explaining that Judas’s betrayal had been prophesied in Scripture, and that they were to replace him.
(Though Luke clearly names Judas’s sin of betrayal and subsequent suicide as wrong, he also makes it clear that even in sin and family dysfunction, as we saw so clearly in the series on the life and family of Joseph, God can weave these things for his purposes.)
God’s Scriptures can provide an important guide for us.
I know that for some followers of Christ reading the scriptures can feel like a bit of an obligation. And when you get to certain parts of the Bible, like the Book of Leviticus, the book of Numbers, the description of the temple or the genealogies (Adam begat Seth, Seth begat Enosh, Enosh begat Kenan….) --those part can feel about as inspiring as a wide yawn. But if we are regularly in the Scriptures provide us with the gift of guidance.
My own mentor, an older Presbyterian minister named Leighton Ford, tragically lost his son Sandy when he was just 21 years old. Sandy was a bright student at the University of North Carolina. He was an athlete and deeply devoted to Christ. He was actively involved with Inter-Varsity ministry on his school campus. He was hoping one day to become a minister of the Gospel. When he was only 21 years old, he died of a rare heart disease. It was a time of great grief for faith and his family, as you can imagine.
At the time, Leighton was the vice-president of the Billy Graham Association. He was speaking in large football stadiums around the world, and was Graham’s heir-apparent One day Leighton was reading in the Book of Isaiah 43:19 how God was about to do a new work: See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert.and streams in the wasteland. He sensed that this “new thing” applied to him and that he would be called to a new ministry. Not long after, he was reading in Isaiah 49:2 where God said, “I will make you into a polished arrow, concealed in my quiver.” And then in verse 6: God says:
"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."
These verses, combined with the loss of Sandy, led Leighton to begin something new, what is called “The Arrow Leadership Program,” which helps develop young, emerging Christian leaders in North America, around the world and other mentoring communities. I have been a part of these programs both as a student and as a leader. But it was a scripture that spoke to Leighton and guided him in a very significant way, time of grief.
My wife Sakiko, before we were married, had no vision of living outside of Japan because she loved her family, her job, her church, her country. But God spoke to her through John 15 where Jesus says, every branch in me that bears I prune and Sakiko didn’t know exactly how this would apply to her specifically, but she sensed that God wanted to prune something very significant in her life, that there would be some cataclysmic change. Then I came into her life and asked her if she would be open in leaving Japan (just before I was planning to propose to her)…. She said, “No…” to the possibility of her living outside Japan and then, as she reflected on John 15, she sensed that God was going to prune and guide her into a new chapter in her life… leave Japan, and that text prepared to do what she never imagined--marry and then move to Canada. Scripture guided her.
When I first came to Tenth I was guided in a time of prayer, but I was also encouraged through Scriptures. I heard just some stories about Tenth that made me wonder about our future viability. People talked about Tenth as a church with its glory years behind it…a church that had shrunk from over 1000 to under 200 at its lowest points. As a new pastor here, the secretary came into my office one day and said, “If everything sinks now, everyone will blame you because you were the last person at the helm.”
A long time member of our church named Elaine Salmond (who still attends,), shared with me a verse that she felt God had given her for Tenth—Isaiah 62… let me quote part of it (paraphrasing).
Because I love Tenth,
I will not keep still.
Because my heart yearns for Tenth,
I cannot remain silent.
I will not stop praying for her
until her righteousness shines like the dawn,
and her salvation blazes like a burning torch
And Tenth will be given a new name
by the Lord’s own mouth.
Your new name will be “The City of God’s Delight”[c]
and “The Bride of God,”[d]
for the Lord delights in you
and will claim you as his bride.
O Tenth I have posted watchmen on your walls;
they will pray day and night, continually.
Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord.
Tenth will be called “The Holy People”
and “The People Redeemed by the Lord.”
And Tenth will be known as “The Desirable Place”
and “The Place No Longer Forsaken.”
Those verses encouraged me. A few years later at the end of an elders’ retreat, we were in Elaine and Lorne Salmond’s home. I said, “Elaine, I want you to tell the board about the verse you felt God gave to you for Tenth years ago.” So she paraphrased Isaiah 62. And she said, “Years ago I felt like Tenth was like a woman who had lost her beauty, but now that beauty has been restored.” Isaiah 62 was a prophetic call for us as a community to pray and seek God, but also a promise that we would be a redeemed people, that we would be sought after…no longer called “deserted,” but “desired.”
The gift of regularly being in the word, I personally use the One Year Bible (with daily reading selections) is that we can receive guidance from God.
So we see in the text how in the in-between time for the early church they prayed. They turned to the Word for guidance. And they exercised common sense. The early church, based on scripture and Judas’s defection, felt that it was necessary to appoint another apostle so that there would be twelve apostles, perhaps so that like the children of Israel who had 12 tribes this new family of God being created by Christ would also have 12 apostles. And so, according to verse 23, they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.
Then they prayed for guidance. But, we see here the early church used their common sense. They felt that since all the apostles had actually been eye witnesses of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, it made sense in to their minds and hearts that the next apostle to be someone who had also actually witnessed the resurrection of Jesus. They prayed, used Scriptures, but also exercised their God-given judgment here.
When we are in waiting times we can pray, meditate on Scripture, use common sense.
We can ask, “What kind of gifts do I have that could serve others? What kind of needs are there in the community? Where do I experience joy in serving? How might I be stretched through serving?
Why have we chosen Kitsilano as a place to launch to? We are getting set to launch our new site in Kitsilano in response to Jesus’ call to make disciples of all people. But it makes sense from a common sense perspective, as well. The Canadian census shows that Kits is a community that shares the distinction of being one of the “least religious” communities in Canada. Yet, we have a number of people who attend here and live in Kitsilano. Kitsilano is also filled with people of all ages and is especially popular among the young. We are a multi-generational church but many newcomers express surprise at how many young people there are here (which is rare for churches, in general). So, there are a number of factors that make Kitsilano seem like the right place for us to launch… The leadership feels that to quote Acts 15:28 it seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us to launch in Kits. It seems good to you, come! Come and attend and come and serve. There are opportunities to serve in the areas of ushering, hospitality, kids ministry, set up… and many other areas. There is never the perfect time to serve….
Sometimes in our church life and in our personal life there are times when we will be concretely guided by God; and other times when it just makes sense in our minds and our hearts and as a result of spending time with God, we feel a sense of peace, and this way seems good to us and to the Holy Spirit.
When I was nearing a waiting time between seminary, and what to do next, I recall talking to a mentor about what I ought to do. There was no concrete guidance from God at that point. I had two opportunities before me—one was to take an administrative role in an international leadership organization, and another was to go out to southern California with a friend to start a church there.
I remember my mentor saying, “If you don’t have a clear and compelling sense of call what to do, and you need to make a decision, just make the decision. Think what you want to be at the end of your life and make a decision that will take you one small step in that direction, and trust that God will make it right.”
Some times we need to move based on what seems to good us, and from what we can discern, to the Holy Spirit as well. Pastor Earl Palmer has said, God cannot steer a parked car… sometimes we have to step out and trust that God will guide us….
Finally, we see here, when the early church discerns whether to choose, Joseph called Barabbas (v. 23) (also known as Justus), and Matthias. They prayed and asked the Lord to show which of the two the Lord had chosen. Then they cast lots (the lots may have been pebbles with names of Joseph and Matthias on them which put in vase and shaken and then the one whose name fell out first was chosen.) The lot fell to Matthias, and he was added to the disciples. Lots were used in decision-making in a variety of circumstances in the Old Testament (Leviticus 16:8-10; Numbers 26:25-56, etc.). In Proverbs 16:33 we read “A lot was cast and the decision was from the Lord.”
It is interesting to know, however, this is the last time that the use of lots in making a decision was used in the scriptures. The disappearance of casting lots in the scriptures is likely related to the coming of the Holy Spirit who is now, according to Jesus and Paul in Romans 8, the great guide for believers. Now we do not need to rely on the casting of lots for direction, but the Spirit.
Throughout the Book of Acts, we see how the Spirit led the early church in sending people like Paul and Barnabas. In Acts 13 we see how during the time of worship that Paul and Barnabas were set apart for the missionary work to which God had called them. In Acts 15 we see that the Holy Spirit guided the early church on gaining clarity on certain theological and ethical issues, like whether eating food that was sacrificed to idols and abstaining from sexual immorality. In the Book of Acts 16 the Spirit guides Paul to go to Macedonia, instead of Asia.
In our community life here at Tenth and in our individual Lives, and waiting times and at all times, we will also be guided and directed by the Holy Spirit. I recently spoke with Kevin Knight, a member here at Tenth, about his sense of how God has guided him.
Kevin is a plumber by trade and he first came here almost 2 years ago. He was not a believer in Christ at the time. He had a sense that there was a huge void in his life. He sat in the back of the church here one Sunday and when he was at the service, he felt deeply impressed that God wanted him to go to Cambodia. He sat in the back of the church and wept. A vision that he had two years before came to him: a prior vision of digging a ditch in arid soil…. which he now sense was Cambodia.
After a significant time of prayer, reflecting Son biblical teaching, he ended up going to Phnom Penh last December as part of a Tenth missions trip. Kevin is now preparing to go to Cambodia long-term with “Servants with the Asia’s Poor.” (I may interview Kevin.)
Kevin story illustrates how God can guide us directly by his Spirit, but and also that God’s plan for us may not be easy….
Richard Stearn’s story also illustrates this. Rich Stearns is one of the presidents of World Vision, the Christian development organization. Richard Stearns grew up in a poor and broken family. His father had been an alcoholic, his parents divorced.. Though his family had no money to send him to college, by working very hard in high school, Richard ended up attending Cornell University, an Ivy League college, on scholarships and student loans. He later graduated from Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. At the end of his time at Cornell, Rich committed his life to Christ, but his goal had been, and still was, to become a corporate CEO and become financially prosperous. When he was 33 years old, he became president and CEO of Parker Brothers, and then the CEO of Lenox, the fine tableware company. His salary and bonuses were in the 7-figure range.
He was happily married, had 5 kids and lived in a 10-bedroom house on 5 acres outside Philadelphia. He had a brand new company car, a Jaguar, and then through a series of extraordinary events, none of which Rich initiated, Rich was asked to serve as the president of World Vision. He was confronted with a very hard choice—to quit his job, one that he had worked 20 years to attain, take a 75% pay cut, sell his house, move his family across the continent to Seattle where he didn’t know anyone, and accept the job he didn’t want. He felt there was a strong likelihood that he would fail and become unemployed a year later.
As he was wrestling through the decision, the words of Jesus’ from the gospels came to him. “Rich, you lack one thing—sell everything you have and give it to the poor, then come follow me. Are you willing, Rich? Will you do this for me?” The next verse in the passage of scripture was devastating to Rich: “The rich man when confronted with the same question could not do what Jesus asked. He went away very sad because he had great wealth.”
In June 1998 Richard and his family moved to Seattle, and Rich has been serving as the president of World Vision ever since. He has been working on behalf of the poor, advocating for their physical, social, and spiritual well-being.
Most of us will not be called to do something quite so dramatic with our lives. But are we open to doing what God calls us to do? God will speak to us individually as a community through: as we pray, search scripture, through our common sense, and through a sense of the Spirit’s leading.
Most of us won’t be called into full-time ministry as missionaries like Kevin is being called, or into full-time Christian work like Rich Stearns, but we are called to do something--to consider our gifts and the needs in the world, and serve, as I said earlier. There are many opportunities to serve Kits in the areas of ushering, hospitality, kids ministry, set up… and many other areas and, as people go, many opportunities to serve here, too.
When we respond affirmatively to the call of God in our life, as was true of Matthias, no doubt as Kevin and Rich, we will find ourselves stretched or challenged, but also deeply fulfilled and discover and live out God’s call for us.
Several months after Rich had taken his position at World Vision, he was in his six-year-old minivan with his son high school-aged son Andy running some errands. They pulled up at a traffic light beside a shiny brand new Jaguar XK-8, just like his company car he had. Andy looked at his dad and sighed wistfully, “Dad, have you ever thought about getting back in the game for one last kill?” Rich replied, “Andy, for the first time in my life I feel like I am in the game…in God’s game.”
Not everyone will be called, as I said, to work in full-time Christian work, as Rich and Kevin have been called. But when we are open to the discerning God’s will through prayer, the Word, common sense, and the Spirit’s leading and then responding affirmatively we will find that we are in the greatest game of all—we are participating in the eternal work of God.
Prayer for the benediction:
posted by Shigematsu at 10:07 AM
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