Acts 1:15-26
Jesus had originally called twelve disciples including Judas. So after Judas’s betrayal and his subsequent death there was a void that the Christians community felt led to fill. “And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles” (Acts 1:26). Matthias does not play a significant role in the story that Acts tells. In fact the deacons set aside in chapter 6––Stephen and Philip especially––will be far more prominent in the account as it unfolds. But as is so often the case in scripture it is not the who that is important so much as the what.
Choosing a replacement for Judas was an act of faith based on the assumption that there was work to be done, even if Jesus was no longer bodily present to guide that work. Not only that, but the believers trusted God to lead them to the right person, someone with a heart for ministry, someone who had known Jesus and had witnessed first hand the things the Lord accomplished. Here, also, was a household of faith working to set things right.
From time to time your or I may be called upon to fill a gap, to offer our talents to the use of the wider community and meet a particular need. When we do so we demonstrate our awareness that there is work to be done, we display confidence in God to lead us to the place we are needed, and we support the household of faith as it seeks to set things right. The church will always need people like Matthias and by God’s grace I believe we will find them.
Prayer: Lord, help us each to serve you in faithful obedience and according to your will. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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