SERMON: THE ALMOST APOSTLE

14 September 2014

I.  INTRODUCTION

            -- if you have your Bibles, please join me in Acts 1:15-26

Acts 1:15-26 (NIV)

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

16 and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus--

17 he was one of our number and shared in this 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,' and, "'May another take his place of leadership.'

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 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 many of you in here know who Albert McMakin is?

            -- let me tell you the story of Albert -- Albert was a normal young man in Charlotte, North Carolina in the 1930's -- he spent time playing baseball with his friends, going hunting and fishing, and in the springtime, he helped tend his neighbor's garden -- but Albert had something in common with Peter and the other apostles we just read about in this passage -- he was a believer in Christ and he felt it was his calling in life to witness to the resurrection of Jesus and to tell all his friends what Jesus had done for him

            -- in that time in North Carolina, there wasn't much in the way of excitement or things to do -- so when something new or novel showed up in town, everyone paid attention -- this is the time in our country when the tent revivals were a really big deal -- the evangelists would come in, set up a tent in the middle of town, and everyone would come to listen -- not necessarily because they were believers, but because it was entertainment -- it was something new to do

            -- well, one day a fiery evangelist named Dr. Mordecai Hamm showed up and set up a tent right there in Charlotte -- so Albert started going to listen to him every night

            -- now in those days, revivals didn't just last three or four nights like they do in our churches today -- they could go on for weeks -- and Albert went every single night -- he kept trying to get his friends to go with him, but they never would -- they were more interested in chasing after the girls after school

            -- all the while, Dr. Hamm just kept on preaching and getting more and more in the town's business -- one day, he pointed out in his preaching that the town had a house of ill repute and then proceeded to name names -- well, this just set off the town folks, and several of those Dr. Hamm had named in his message decided to go to the tent where Dr. Hamm was preaching and publicly confront him

            -- this was the chance that Albert was waiting for -- he went to one of his friends who had been steadfastly refusing to go see this preacher and asked him if we wanted to go see a fighting preacher -- this got the other boy interested -- he said he might just go to see a fighter -- Albert then sealed the deal -- he said, "If you go, I'll even let you drive my truck to the meeting." -- so off they went, Albert and his friend

            -- well, Albert's friend heard the gospel in a new way that night, but he didn't get saved -- so Albert kept bringing him back night after night -- finally, one night, something about the message just gripped Albert's friend and shook him to the core, so he got up, went down front, and committed his life to the Lord

            -- as you've probably guessed, Albert's friend went on to make a name for himself as the 20th century's greatest preacher, Dr. Billy Graham -- but my sermon this morning isn't about the Billy Grahams of the world -- my sermon this morning is about the Albert McMakins of the world -- those individuals who go through life quietly -- never making a name for themselves -- just being content with living out the true gospel message and serving Christ where God had placed them [Previously used on 20020210]

II.  Scripture Lesson (Acts 1:15-26)

            -- in this passage we see the calling of a leader in the early church -- Jesus has already died and risen from the dead -- He has spent 40 days with the eleven apostles and the remaining disciples -- teaching them from the Scriptures and helping them to see and understand how the prophecies about the Messiah had been fulfilled through Him and how His resurrection had reconciled them to the Father

            -- at the end of this forty day crash course in Christianity, Jesus ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives, leaving the disciples in Jerusalem with the instructions to not go anywhere until the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon them, which would happen on the Day of Pentecost

            -- by this time, Peter had been restored by Jesus as the leader of the church -- and as the small group of disciples were gathered to pray and witness to Jesus' presence in their life, Peter stood up to address those gathered and suggested they select someone to take Judas' place as an apostle

            -- look back at verse 15-22

Acts 1:15-22 (NIV)

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

16 and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus--

17 he was one of our number and shared in this 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,' and, "'May another take his place of leadership.'

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."

            -- as we begin to look at this passage, I think it's important to note that while everyone who is a Christian is a disciple -- a follower of Christ -- some in the body of Christ -- some in the church -- have been set apart and called to specialized ministry

            -- in Ephesians 4:11 we read that Christ himself gifted the church with individuals called to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers -- and while these are positions of leadership, as Steven Cole points out, these positions are not meant to serve as a base for power or prestige -- they are recognized in the New Testament as specialized ministries¹ -- as specialized giftings and callings by some individuals to serve specific functions in the church

            -- in other words these men and women called to this positions were called as ministers -- as servants -- in the church

            -- in this case Peter is suggesting another apostle be selected to replace Judas, who had betrayed Jesus to the hands of the chief priests and the Romans -- the main purpose of an apostle was to witness to the resurrected Christ and to plant churches -- to spread the gospel message throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the entire world, so that other communities of faith would spring up and grow under their oversight

            -- it was decided the man they selected to be an apostle had to meet certain spiritual qualifications -- first, he had to be a follower of Christ -- he had to have been with the group of disciples from the beginning -- from the time of Jesus' baptism by John in the Jordan River up to the moment when Jesus ascended from heaven on the Mount of Olives -- and, secondly, he had to be known as a witness of the faith -- someone who was gifted at sharing the gospel and sharing his faith with others

            -- verse 23-26

23 So they proposed 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.

            -- so Peter and the group of a hundred and twenty disciples looked at each other and asked themselves the question, "Who fits these qualifications? -- Who best meets the requirements of being an apostle?"

            -- and as they looked at the talents and the gifts of those around them -- as they considered who had always been there with them -- they came up with the names of two men -- Joseph, who was also called Barsabbas or Justus -- and Matthias

            -- and after they prayed to God for guidance, they cast lots to let God make the decision for them

            -- now just a quick side-note here -- why did the disciples cast lots to determine God's will in this matter? -- is that what we're supposed to do today?

            -- well, the answer is no -- it was a common practice in the Old Testament -- and it continued on until the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost -- without the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit to lead them and guide them, the disciples didn't have any other way to decide God's will in matters like this

            -- after they had prayed and searched the scriptures for answers, they would ask God to make the decision through lots -- or, as we read in the story of Gideon in the Book of Judges -- by making the fleece wet or dry -- that was just the best they could do

            -- but now that we have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit with us, we should not be casting lots to make decisions, but instead relying on God's presence and His Spirit to guide us into decisions in the church and in our individual lives

            -- in this case we see that the lot fell to Matthias and he was made the twelfth apostle

            -- and so the story ends there -- but Luke leaves us with an unanswered question -- what ever happened to Joseph -- or as I'm going to call him, Justus? -- we never hear about him again -- verse 23 is the only verse in the entire Bible where Justus is even mentioned and he's not mentioned in any of the extra-biblical sources of information we have from the early church fathers

            -- we really don't know a lot about him at all -- we know from this passage that "he did all the right things, saw all the right stuff -- [he] knew who Jesus was, and [he] was a faithful guy"² -- if he hadn't of been, he certainly wouldn't have been considered as an apostle

            -- so what happened to Justus? -- where did he go? -- what did he do after he was not selected to this position of leadership?

            -- as we take some time to ponder those questions -- to consider what Justus might have done -- to consider what we might have done if we were in his shoes -- there's some important spiritual principles we can glean from this passage

            -- the first is that not everyone is called to be in a position of leadership -- not everyone is called to be in the spotlight, so to speak -- in our churches today, especially in the larger churches, there is sometimes a distinction made between those in the spotlight -- in the more visible positions in the church -- and those who aren't

            -- a lot of people want to be in front -- they want to be in charge -- they want to be seen -- and sometimes they do that for the wrong reason

            -- I was a member of a church one time where we had someone join who was just like that -- after just a few weeks, this woman decided she wanted to lead worship -- she wanted to be at the front of the church leading the singing -- and so she went to the pastor and told her that God had called her to lead the singing at the church

            -- well, the pastor prayed about it and said she didn't think that was what God was saying -- she suggested that perhaps this woman was being called to help in another ministry behind-the-scenes -- but she didn't want to do that -- she wanted to be in front -- she wanted to lead -- and when the pastor said, "no," this woman left the church

            -- as David Vardaman points out, a lot of times we try to tell God what we will and what we won't do in the church -- we have a list of duties that are beneath us and we kind of ascribe to positions of leadership -- we want to be in a place where we can be seen and recognized for what we do³

            -- this passage points out the truth that not everyone is called to be a leader in the church -- Matthias was chosen to become an apostle -- Justus was not -- so what do you think he did? -- do you think Justus walked off the job? -- do you think he left the church to find another group that would let him lead? -- based on what we're told of his spiritual character in this passage, I don't think Justus did that -- but the bigger question is what will we do when we're passed over for a leadership position we think we deserve? -- will we allow Christ to use us wherever He wishes, even if that is not in a visible role in the church?³

            -- the next spiritual principle we can glean from this passage is that we are all called to be servants of Christ, regardless of our position in the church

            -- Justus was already recognized for his spiritual qualities -- he was considered as an apostle because of the ministry he was already doing -- and I am willing to wager that when Justus was not chosen to be an apostle, he didn't quit doing ministry, but kept right on sharing the good news of Christ and serving in the church where he could

            -- I like what Bob Goff had to say about Justus in his book, "Love Does" -- Goff wrote, "'Justus” sounds a lot to me like “just us.” -- God’s plans are full of just-us kind of people. I would say probably the majority of us are just-us people, folks who don’t get capes or stained-glass windows. We just get the opportunity to do what God wants us to do without a lot of fanfare."²

            -- that's one of the things I really struggled with when I became a pastor -- I quickly discovered that a lot of people don't know they are called to ministry even though they are not in positions of leadership -- in a lot of churches I've been in, the general mood of the congregation is "that's the pastor's job -- that's why we pay him or her"

            -- when I started in the ministry, I was really excited about growing the church and reaching the community for Christ -- I came into the church expecting the people to just follow me into ministry and thinking we would go forth and do great things -- but when I suggested going into some areas in the county and witnessing to people and inviting them to church, I was told, "Oh, yeah, our last pastor went there, but nobody ever came to church" -- I said, "Well, did any of you go and follow up with them or give them a call?" -- "No, that's just something he did"

            -- that's one of the reasons I'm so thankful to be serving here at Koinonia -- people here don't have that mindset -- you see it more in larger, more established churches -- everyone here wants to minister and to serve God where they can -- I would say we certainly have that "Justus -- Just-Us" mindset here -- but we need to help our brothers and sisters in Christ in other communities of faith see that in their own lives and in their own churches -- we are all called to serve Christ, no matter our position or role in the church

            -- which brings me to my final point from this passage -- God places everyone in the body of Christ where He wants them to be -- God chose Matthias over Justus to be the twelfth apostle in the case -- not because Justus wasn't qualified -- he certainly was -- he had the same spiritual pedigree as Matthias -- no, I think God chose Matthias over Justus because He wanted Justus to serve in another position in the church

            -- and I think the message there for us is the old cliche we sometimes hear:  "Bloom where you are planted."

            -- God puts us where He wants us -- and if we are serving God where He has placed us -- whether that's as a janitor or a dish washer or a Sunday School teacher -- then we are just as valuable and worthy in His eyes as Billy Graham or the preacher behind the pulpit

            -- my favorite quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., talks about this -- he wrote, "If you are called to be a street sweeper, sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry -- Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'"

            -- the important thing is that we are serving God where He wants us serve -- God has called all of us to work in His body -- we all have a role to play -- some roles are visible -- some roles are less visible -- but they all are important

            -- as the old saying goes, "there's not any small parts -- only small actors" -- when someone writes a play, they write every role for a reason -- Every role, regardless of stage time or number of lines, is important, otherwise it wouldn't have been written

            -- what this is telling us is that in the body of Christ, there are no extras -- there are no unnecessary parts -- everyone is vital and important to the kingdom of God

[Excerpted from Sermon 20090913 WHAT ABOUT HIM]

III. CLOSING

            -- the key point from this passage is you don't have to a leader -- you don't have to be in the spotlight -- to make a difference for Christ

            -- Albert McMakin certainly made a difference when he introduced his friend Billy Graham to Christ, although nobody knew his name until Dr. Graham wrote about him in his autobiography

            -- I want to close by leaving you with a final thought about someone else the world didn't pay a lot of attention to, especially in death, but who made an eternal difference in the lives of so many

            -- everyone here has probably heard of Mother Teresa -- the saintly woman who ministered to the orphans and lepers in the slums of India -- but not many know her story

            -- Mother Teresa's real name was Agnes Bojaxhiu (boy-AX-ee-oo) -- she left her home in Yugoslavia when she was 18 years old to become a nun, and the church placed her in a middle-class high school as a teacher -- but this was not where God really wanted her -- she was just an average teacher and could have spent her whole career there, but in 1946 she heard God calling her to serve India's poor -- so she requested permission for a transfer and was sent to India to begin her mission there

            -- most of the world had no idea of who she was until she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 -- she humbly served for 33 years in anonymity until that point, but even the notoriety did not change her position before God -- she continued to serve in the same way -- never once seeking the spotlight -- never once trying to exalt herself -- although she had now become a house-hold name

            -- and despite her remarkable service for the Lord and her somewhat fame as a godly woman, her death was unremarked upon -- most people don't even remember when she died, because there wasn't a lot of media coverage about it -- you would think the death of someone like Mother Teresa would have been the lead news story and sparked countless TV specials about her life and ministry

            -- does anyone here remember where you were when she died? -- do you remember the date? -- what about the year? -- she died on September 5th, 1997 -- no one remembers because the death of this unassuming, humble servant of God was eclipsed by the death of a celebrity, Princess Diana

            -- while television, radio, magazines, and newspapers were saturated with the continuous coverage of Diana Spencer's life -- while the world mourned the passing of someone who lived in the spotlight -- the death of Mother Teresa went unnoticed -- unnoticed, that is, here on earth -- but I would say her life was celebrated more in heaven that day than any other more worldly celebrity⁴

            -- Ray Bolz wrote a song called, "Thank You," that talks about people like Mother Teresa and Justus and us -- we may not be known here on earth and the things we do may not be noticed, but in heaven they will be celebrated -- the song talks about walking in heaven with someone who has just died and how they are being approached by scores of people whose lives they had touched on earth

            -- let me share with you a few of the lyrics:

                        "One by one they came -- far as the eye could see -- each life somehow touched by your generosity -- little things that you had done -- sacrifices made -- unnoticed on the earth -- in heaven now proclaimed -- thank you for giving to the Lord -- I am a life that was changed -- that you for giving to the Lord -- I am so glad you gave"

            -- whatever happened to Justus? -- what did he do? -- where did he go? -- what was the impact of his life and ministry? -- we'll never know, this side of heaven -- and more than likely, no one will ever know the impact of our lives and our ministry and our service for God in this world

            -- we won't be celebrated on the front pages of the newspaper -- our lives won't be the topic of special broadcasts on the TV -- but the impact of our service to God will be recognized and remembered in the one place it counts -- before the throne of God Himself -- if we go forth and serve Him where He has placed us

            -- let us pray

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1 Steven Cole sermon: "Why Christianity is Credible"

http://www.fcfonline.org/content/1/sermons/091700m.pdf

2 Bob Goff -- "Love Does"

3 "Wanted" by David L. Vardaman, Discipleship Journal, May/June 1989

4 Illustration modified from Text Illustration shared by Austin Mansfield, Holy Faith Anglican Church, April 2007; http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-austin-mansfield-stories-32103.asp