Acts 1:12-26
May 13, 2018
Easter 7B
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus~
To fully appreciate and understand today’s sermon it’s necessary that you know a little math. It’s nothing too complex. You won’t need a calculator. All you need to know is this: Twelve minus one equals eleven; and eleven plus one equals twelve. And that’s it! No square roots. No numbers to borrow or carry over. None of that new math. Just twelve minus one equals eleven. And eleven plus one equals twelve.
During Jesus’ earthly ministry there were twelve—twelve men who were known as apostles—men who were called and sent by the Lord. Can you name all twelve? Some are quite memorable; others not so much. But what’s important is that there were twelve. Why twelve? Well, think back to the Old Testament, to the twelve sons of Israel, who eventually became the twelve tribes of Israel. Names like Reuben, Judah, and Benjamin should at least sound a little familiar. Back in the day, those twelve tribes constituted God’s chosen people—God’s kingdom on earth.
Could it be that in the New Testament Jesus chose twelve apostles because He was making a new Israel—a new kingdom, full of men and women who would live together under a new covenant that would be sealed with His blood shed on the cross? That number—twelve—signified completeness and perfection—the totality of God’s kingdom on earth. Through those twelve men called apostles—through their doctrine, through their preaching, through their baptizing and in the Breaking of the Bread—the Holy Spirit would bring people to faith in Jesus Christ and cause the one, holy, Christian and apostolic church to grow and blossom to the four corners of the earth. And it would all start with the Twelve on the day of Pentecost. But Pentecost is next Sunday.
Today as we pick things up in Acts chapter one, there are not twelve. Today’s first reading takes place during those ten days between Jesus’ Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. And what we learn, first of all, is that there were not twelve, but eleven—eleven apostles. St. Luke spells out for us in rather graphic detail just what became of Judas—Judas who betrayed Jesus. The Twelve minus Judas equaled only eleven. And eleven simply would not do.
So the believers (there were about 120 of them) did what the Old Testament Scriptures directed them to do—they held a call meeting through which God would call a new man to take the place of Judas. A short list of two candidates was put forward. It was between Joseph and Matthias. First, they prayed. And then they cast lots. And the Lord chose Matthias. The Twelve minus Judas equaled only eleven. But the eleven plus Matthias equaled twelve. The Lord Jesus is not going to not have Himself a twelve! Matthias became apostle number twelve . . . and we never, ever hear of him again.
Why spill all this ink and all these words about Matthias? You can’t be much more of an also-ran than St. Matthias. Humanly
The selection of Matthias as the Lord’s man tells us two things. For one, it highlights the nameless, faceless, unknown servants who have been called by our Lord down through the ages to serve as His pastors. Some are well known. Some are ensconced in stained glass and iconography and statuary. But about most of these men we know next to nothing—like with Matthias. The fact that we heard everything about Matthias’s call, but nothing about his ministry just goes to show that the ministry is the Lord’s ministry. Those men called by God to fill this holy office are nothing in and of themselves—poor, miserable sinners. And yet our Lord uses them for holy purposes—to preach His Word in its truth and purity, to absolve penitent sinners, to administer the watery rebirth of Holy Baptism, and to feed those who hunger and thirst for righteousness with the very bread of life. The ministry into which Matthias was called continues today. It’s continued in this congregation for 85 years with men like Schwertfeger and Ankerberg and Wittmayer and Henrichs and Wohlrabe. These men aren’t apostles, but they are part of the "plus one" that our Lord uses to strengthen His saints and build His church.
And this is where you come in. You are the saints of the church. Eleven plus one equals twelve . . . Eleven plus one equals YOU! I said earlier that twelve signifies completeness, perfection, the totality of God’s church. And that’s you! You’re part of that twelve. You are one of the “plus ones” that our Lord has called to faith. To some, it might seem insignificant and minor that God called Matthias to get His twelve. But it was clearly important to our Lord—important enough that the Holy Spirit inspired Saint Luke to write about and record that first New Testament call meeting. And just as important is the fact that our Lord has made you a part of His perfect twelve—His holy church. Matthias also teaches us that God wants to grow His church—that His forgiveness and mercy is intended for all.
And this is all by grace. If our Lord kept a record of sins, who could stand? (Ps. 130). If our Lord counted and kept track and charged our every offense against us, then things would be far different. Instead of eleven plus one, the story of life in the church would be a story of minus one, and minus another and another and another. To each one of us the verdict would be “not good enough.” And our sentence would be separation from God and eternal death. And you do have the power to separate yourself from the Savior—to subtract yourself from the grip of His grace—by refusing to repent and by rejecting His love and His gifts.
But that’s not what Jesus wants. Jesus wants addition, not subtraction—to seek and save sinners, not to cast them out. He’s going to get His twelve. He has staked His life on getting His twelve. All of your worst—all of your sin that should rightly subtract you from the ranks of the redeemed—it was all laid upon Jesus. Do the math! Take the whole rotten load of your sin and multiply it by every human who has ever lived, and you’ll begin to see the burden Jesus bore on that dark day. They nailed Him to the cross. Jesus was cut off from the land of the living—subtracted from His Father’s presence. Jesus suffered hell as He hung derelict and damned as your sacred substitute.
But God raised Him from the dead—accepted His sacrifice on your behalf. The Bible says that Jesus is the “firstfruits” of those who sleep. That means that His resurrection is the first of many resurrections. To His resurrection will be added millions more—including your own resurrection. Our Lord will have Himself a Twelve—a new Israel—a holy church. And you will be there. Eleven plus one equals you . . . for all eternity!
Now, if you turn to the end of the Bible—to the book of Revelation—you will discover lots of numbers which signify and symbolize many different things. But in the book of Revelation the most significant number of all is perhaps 144,000. It’s symbolic. It corresponds to all those who will be saved by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. The math isn’t too hard, but I needed a calculator: Twelve times twelve is 144. And one thousand is ten cubed—ten times ten times ten—then times 144. It all adds up to 144,000. You can’t get a fuller, more complete, more perfect number than that. The 144,000 symbolize all those who are purchased, redeemed, and (best of all) blameless through faith in Jesus Christ. Among that great number will be you and me and, oh yes, Matthias. Don’t forget Saint Matthias. He’ll be there too. The Lord added Matthias to the eleven and got His perfect twelve. And the Lord has added you to His church to get His perfect 144,000. In Jesus Christ you’ve been added. You might not be remembered in stained glass or statuary; but you will be remembered by the Lord—remembered and loved and forgiven, now and forever. Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment