The 7th Sunday after Easter Sermon

Easter 7B

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

St. Matthias

May 13, 2018

Last year, about this time, John Stewart reminded us how close our parish came to being named St. Joseph called Barsabbas, also known as Justus Episcopal Church!   We would have needed a bigger sign out front!  But instead - fortunately perhaps -  it was St. Matthias who became the 13^th Apostle.  Our first reading from Acts tells the story of how the two men were considered by the Apostles to replace Judas, then the apostles prayed, lots were cast, and Matthias was chosen.  Both of these men had been with Jesus throughout his ministry on earth.  They were each one of the 70 disciples called in the 10^th chapter of Luke and sent out in pairs to spread the Gospel.  Both were in Jerusalem and there at the crucifixion.  And perhaps most important of all, these 2 disciples were witnesses to the Resurrection. 

Now, of course, we usually focus on Matthias when this reading from the Book of Acts comes up since he is the patron Saint of our parish.  I hope that somewhere it is written how and why our parish is named St. Matthias instead of something else.  Matthias is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible and we don’t know much about what happens to him from this point on.  Some early Church historians say Matthias spread the Gospel in Cappadocia and along the Caspian Sea, others put him in Judea, and at least 1 historian said that Matthias ended up in what is now modern-day Ethiopia.  Some say he was a martyr of the faith and others that he died of old age in Jerusalem.

But it has been Joseph called Barsabbas also known as Justus who has sort of peaked my interest this week.  Justus is mentioned two more times in the New Testament, but there are no Churches that I could find named for him.  The Roman Catholics and the Orthodox Church still celebrate his life as a Saint on October 20, but we Anglicans dropped him from our calendar long ago.  But imagine what it must have been like for Justus after Matthias was chosen to be the 13^th Apostle.  Acts tells us that there were 120 followers in the room that day and everyone probably knew Justus well.  You don’t get picked to be one of the 2 candidates to be an Apostle unless you are already qualified.  But after the lot fell to Matthias, then Justus became and remains to this day - the one not chosen.

And what happened next – well we actually know more about Justus than we do about Matthias.  Justus went on to spread the Gospel in what is now modern-day Palestine.  He became a bishop.  He died a Christian martyr.  In other words, Justus kept right on doing what he was called to do – serving the Risen Christ.  I doubt seriously that Justus ever even considered the idea that somehow, he had lost that day.  Instead, Justus started looking for the open window. Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “When God closes a door, He opens a window!”  Some folks think it's in the Bible, but Helen Keller said it and more.  She actually said, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”

When I was about 14 years old, I read the book, The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson.  He was an Assembly of God minister who one day left his comfortable Pennsylvania church and went to New York City to work with young drug addicts and gang members.  The book had a profound impact on my life – even as a 14-year-old boy living in Kentucky.  I wrote David Wilkerson a letter telling him I was ready to come to New York City.  I was sure that God had also called me to give up everything and minister on the streets.  Soon there was a letter in the mailbox for me from New York.  I was certain it was my invitation to come and join the David Wilkerson ministry team.  The letter was from him – but instead of telling me to pack my bags – David Wilkerson told me God was ready to use me right where I was in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  I could help in Vacation Bible School, sing in the choir, and visit people who were sick.  I was devastated – just like a 14-year-old can be.  Surely, he did not understand – I knew God was calling me to New York City – not Bowling Green, Kentucky.  But summer came and there was Vacation Bible School and I helped.  My brother got sick and I visited him in the hospital.  Since that time, I have met drug addicts and gang members and sang in several church choirs.  I have even been to New York City.  Even now I am sure there are a lot more doors that God has opened and I just haven’t seen them yet!

The Christian life is meant to be lived in the sure and certain knowledge that God is always calling us to share His love with our world.  Right now, doors are being opened for each of us in Tuscaloosa and on Skyland Blvd.  We are St. Matthias Episcopal Church.  Let us also be the people of St. Justus and proclaim WE BELIEVE in open doors and then let us start looking.  AMEN.