Memorial United Methodist Church

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Acts 1:15-26

¹⁵ In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred and twenty people) and said, ¹⁶‘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— ¹⁷for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.’ ¹⁸(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. ¹⁹This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ²⁰‘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.” ²¹So one of the men who have accompanied us throughout the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²²beginning 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.’ ²³So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. ²⁴Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen ²⁵to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ ²⁶And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.^-

 

The election of a new apostle.

There were a number of ways to hold an election to choose a 12th apostle as a successor to Judas:

• Peter could have chosen the successor to Judas. This would have been a “selection.”
• The eleven apostles could have voted.
• All 120 of the disciples could have voted.
• They could cast lots from all 120.
• They could cast lots from among nominees.

It appears that Peter and the others in charge decided to have 2 nominees who met the one criterion mentioned – they had been with Jesus at his baptism and since his baptism. Then they drew lots. Justus lost. Matthias joined the inner circle. We don’t hear of either of them ever again in scripture. Judas – we hear a lot about. Today, let’s remember Justus, who lost the election, and Judas, who lost his life and continues to be maligned throughout history.

Remembering Justus

We are going to make up a story about Justus. Although it is never recorded he became known for feeding hungry people, giving a drink to thirsty people, caring for sick people, visiting people in prison and welcoming undocumented persons. Justus gained no notoriety. He just carefully kept doing the ministry that he had learned from Jesus. Church history is filled with people, without notoriety, who just keep doing the ministry learned from being with Jesus.

Richard Lisher wrote a book called, Open Secrets: A Spiritual Journey through a Country Church. He starts the book expressing his disdain for his first church. He had a PhD in theology and a congregation of farmers. He resented that his denomination had so misunderstood his extraordinary giftedness. His first sermon was filled with quotes from James Joyce, Heidegger, Camus and Walker Percy. He spoke about meaninglessness (his own, probably, not theirs) and he told the farmers of Marx’s critique of religion. Twenty years later he knew he had failed to honor the ordinary people of faith sitting in his first pews:

Why couldn’t I see the revelation of God in our little Church? In our community everyone pitched in and learned how to “pattern” a little girl with cerebral palsy. We helped one another put up hay before the rains came. We grieved when a neighbor lost his farm, and we refused to buy his tools at the auction. As a people , we walked into the fields every April and blessed the seeds before planting them. Weren’t these all signs of a “Church” that were worthy of mention in the Sunday homily? Whatever lay closest to the soul of the congregation I unfailingly omitted from my sermons. I didn’t despise these practices. I simple didn’t see them. (Richard Lisher)

Lisher was looking for Peter, James and John. He failed to notice Justus and Justus was sitting there in his congregation every Sunday.

 

Remembering Judas

Take a look at the scripture passage at the top of this sermon. Do you see the bolded verses – 18-20? The people who created the lectionary left out these verses. I put them back in. Why were they left out? Some say these verses are different to the Gospel account that says Judas hung himself and that congregations should not have to deal with inconsistencies in the scriptures. Others say that the left-out verses are too gruesome to be read in worship. At any rate this might represent the ways in which the “real” Judas is left out of the Judas story. Judas is reduced to the “betrayer.” All betrayers of history have a chance of being called “Judas.” If we want to scapegoat a person or a people, they have been called “Judas,” as the Nazis did with the Jews. Judas has gotten a raw deal in history. A new book, Judas: A Biography, by Susan Gubar, is an account of the life of Judas, showing the different ways he has been treated in each place and century. Only recently are people seeing Judas as a person who was very close to Jesus and became disenchanted with the political path Jesus was taking. In this view Judas’ interest was not in 30 coins but in fomenting a confrontation that would force Jesus to change his direction. At any rate we have no idea of Judas’ real motivations. He has become archetypal and iconic. Gubar presents art work and stories that give the varying perspectives on Judas.

I have a friend that says we will never come to grips with who Judas really is until we find ourselves naming our children, “Judas.” I told my son about this view and he asked, “You would never have named me “Judas,” would you Dad?” The thought of his name being “Judas” chilled him 38 years after his birth. We have noted that throughout history people were scapegoated by being called “Judas.” We also know that scapegoating is often a form of projection. When he can’t deal with something inside of ourselves, we are sure so see it in others. We don’t want to deal with our shadow side for which Judas has become the icon. There would be a lot less violence in the world if we could deal with our shadow side as part of us and stop chasing our shadow as we think we find it in others. Judas, as he has been created, though disconnected from his reality, is among us and is us. We would do well to remember Judas.

 

At the end of this service we are going to sing “Rosa Sat” with the help of Jenny. It raises three iconic names from our recent history: Rosa Parks sat. Martin Luther King walked. Barack Obama ran and won. It ends with a non-iconic, “Now our children can fly.” People have attempted to destroy the icons of this song by pointing out imperfections, real and imagined. They don’t want any leaders, they say, that have any “Judas” or less-than-perfect qualities. We would do well to accept leaders as they are, not as we imagine them. We need to remember Judas, as he really was. The movement in Montgomery in the mid-fifties, was created and implemented by people whose names we don’t know. They are not in the history books. They include thousands of White and Black people who boycotted a segregated bus system for a year and changed this country. I can tell you their names – Justus. The author Richard Lisher knows them and so do you.