The Only Constant is Change (MPLS)

Acts 1:12-26

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred and twenty people) and said, ‘Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus — for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.’

(Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ‘For it is written in the book of Psalms, “Let his homestead become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it”; and “Let another take his position of overseer.”

So one of the men who have accompanied us throughout the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us — one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.’ So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

We live in a world of change. The stock market goes up and then down, and lately, way down. Gas prices go up and then further up still. Cool spring days lead to balmy summer days, but hey, when you live in Minnesota, you better keep your parka handy just in case.

Another change that can happen is a change in leadership. In my humble opinion, leadership is hard work. Maybe it’s always been hard, but toss in a pandemic and polarization and it can be enough to make one run for the door. Changes in leadership are bound to happen and the church is no exception.  

We get a picture of this in our lesson from Acts. We hear of an early church in turmoil after Jesus’ ascension. They’re getting ready to make some changes. As they do, there will be some leadership lessons for them to learn.

The first lesson? Leaders regularly need to return to their roots. Where did they come from? How were they formed? After Jesus left them, the disciples returned to the Upper Room. That’s where Jesus got down on his knees, washed their feet, and instructed them to love and serve one other. It’s where Jesus shared a meal to remember him by. Ironically, after the meal was over, the disciples got into a heated argument over which of them was the greatest. Imagine that — leaders squabbling over who’s got the power, and why. 

A second leadership lesson from Acts: the disciples devoted themselves to prayer. Jesus had told them to wait for power from on high. He was pointing ahead to Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Plain and simple, they were not going to be able to lead the young church on their own.

As they’re waiting and praying, notice that they break through a traditional barrier. And there will be others to follow. Luke mentions there were women in their gathering too. This might not seem like a big deal to us, but you know it was for Luke’s first readers. More than any other gospel, Luke highlights female disciples. To this day, it amazes and troubles me how many churches continue to bar the door for women to lead.

Luke goes on to say that the number of believers was close to 120. Why is that important? Because Jewish law required 120 males to form a legitimate synagogue community. After the Jerusalem temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., the synagogue became the center of their religious life. It still is today. Luke-Acts was written a decade or two after 70 A.D. Luke was looking ahead to a time when the temple would be gone, and this fledgling band of believers would be well on their way to becoming a legitimate community themselves.

A third leadership lesson from Acts: leaders regularly tell trustworthy stories to shape their community. Some of these stories are positive and uplifting, but not all of them. Peter, who denied being a disciple while Jesus stood trial, now prepares to address the group. He says: “We need to replace Judas. Our number must be 12.” This is not a random number, of course. It’s a fulfillment of scripture. Jesus had told them early on that their first outreach would be to the twelve tribes of Israel.  

Unlike many leaders today — including the Southern Baptists and their recently revealed cover-up of sexual abuse — Peter openly discusses the downfall of Judas. There is meant to be a cautionary tale. The stories told by Jesus’ followers should be trustworthy and true. 

Ever since Judas’ betrayal, people have speculated: Why did he do it? Was he at odds with Jesus’ direction for the kingdom? Was he impatient, trying to force Jesus’ hand? Was it just for the money — a mere 30 pieces of silver? We’ll never know for sure. But Luke, by including this story, is doing some truth-telling of his own. Everything is not so wonderful for these disciples. No, the possibility of denial and betrayal has been with the church and its leaders ever since the beginning.  

As the disciples consider Judas’ replacement, they set forth their main criteria. They want someone with experience; someone who’d been with Jesus ever since Galilee; someone who’d been an eyewitness of all that Jesus had said and done.  

Why is that significant? Think of the world in which we live. In an age of social media, competing news sources, and charges of “fake news,” our heads are spinning. The first century undoubtedly had many of these same issues, if not the same technology. Like us, they wondered who they were supposed to believe? There can be so many conflicting testimonies. We often need to see things to believe them.  

Judas’ replacement will not simply be filling a slot, Luke says, he’ll be someone who has walked with Jesus. He’ll be sharing a word that is trustworthy and true! That’s what leaders are supposed to do.  

A fourth and final leadership lesson from Acts: they rely on a discernment process that instills confidence in those they are leading. This first-century call committee narrows down the choice to two candidates: Barsabbas and Matthias. There may have been more to begin with — we don’t know. But they ended up with two. Human nature being what it is, we like choices. We like to be able to contrast and compare. Tall or short? Galilean or Judean? Fisherman or farmer? Young or old? Man or woman? Serious or amusing? Decisive or reflective? Trustworthy or not?  

What happens next? How will they decide? They cast lots. Literally, they flip a coin or spin some dice. Casting lots was common in biblical times. They used it for everything from finding fault, to dividing up land for the twelve tribes, to selecting an individual for leadership. Honestly, we almost wince when we hear it. It sounds superstitious. But they firmly trusted God to guide the casting process.  

Would you believe that various churches have used this same process down through the ages, including the Amish. That said, I’m pretty sure that Bethlehem’s call committee — whenever it’s eventually formed — is not going to flip a coin. So, how will they go about making their decision? What criteria will they use? That’s not really my question to ask, but it might be one for you to consider, and ask of each other.  

After all, leadership is important. The task of selecting our leaders is vital. How these leaders have faced challenges along the way is crucial.  

One of the stories in Jim Collin’s book, “Good to Great,” was about Admiral Jim Stockdale, the highest-ranking U.S. military officer in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” POW camp. His story is a leadership lesson in itself. Stockdale was in the camp during the Vietnam War from 1965-1973. He was tortured at least 20 times. Despite intense suffering, he spent his days encouraging those around him to hang on.

This might sound counterintuitive, but Stockdale came to see that the prisoners who struggled the most were the optimists. They were the ones who said: I’m going to be out by Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or spring. Thanksgiving would come and go. Christmas would come and go. Spring would come and go. And after a while, they lost hope. And many of them gave up and died of a broken heart.  

I don’t think Stockdale was demeaning them. Nor was he against hope, per se. But he tried to put it in perspective. He lived out the war with no rights as a prisoner, no set release date, and no certainty whether he would ever see his family again. He shouldered the burden of command, doing everything he could to help his fellow prisoners survive unbroken. 

Stockdale’s efforts eventually came to be referred to as the Stockdale Paradox. Maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s a no-nonsense approach that goes something like this: Life is often unfair— we need to learn to deal with it! We all experience disappointments and crushing events along the way, setbacks for which there is no real reason and no one to blame. It might be a disease or an injury or an accident. It might be getting shot down over Vietnam and locked up in a POW camp for eight years.

What separates people, Stockdale maintained, is not the presence or absence of difficulty, but how you deal with the inevitable difficulties of life. Here’s Stockdale’s Paradox: In wrestling with life’s challenges, you must retain faith that you will prevail in the end and you must confront the brutal facts of your current reality.

That sounds a little like what’s happening to those early followers of Jesus. On the face of it, the facts were demoralizing. The events surrounding them probably didn’t seem fair, but there was no use feeling sorry for themselves. Jesus had predicted that one of them would betray him. Sure enough, it happened. It was Judas. One thing led to another. Jesus ended up on a cross. Afterward, his followers got a few fleeting glimpses that he came forth from the tomb. It wasn’t much to go on. And no sooner did they start believing it, than he was gone.

Then what? Could they keep the faith? Could they prevail in the end? Could they be the leaders Jesus wanted them to be? Hopefully yes. They had learned some leadership lessons. They returned to their roots in the Upper Room and were reminded of the need to serve. They immersed themselves in prayer and were cautioned that they could not do this on their own. They told trustworthy stories to shape their little gathering of believers. And they used a discernment process that instilled confidence in as many as possible. Would these lessons be enough? Read the Book of Acts and see.

Friends, any number of challenges will come on your journey of faith. One of those challenges is a change in pastoral leadership here at Bethlehem. While I don’t mean to downplay it — a change in leadership can be hard — it rarely rises to the level of cancer or the loss of a loved one or yet another horrific school shooting. Whatever challenges you are facing, you do well to keep Stockdale’s Paradox in mind: you must retain faith that you will prevail in the end and you must confront the brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might happen to be.

As you hold these two in tension, I encourage you to wait and trust for power from on high. God has not forgotten you. The Spirit will come and give you whatever strength you need to keep hanging on. And hopefully, you might even find yourself stronger in the end. Amen.