… and the lot fell to Matthias
Acts of the Apostles 1:23, 26 NRSV
Welcome!
On Wednesday, May 8, 2024, we explored Acts 1:15-17, 21-26, the first reading appointed for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year B (May 12, 2024). Our handout included commentaries on the other appointed texts from the First Letter of John (1 John 5:9-13), the Psalms (Psalm 1), and the Gospel according to John (John 17:6-19).
In her commentary on the text from Acts—from a homiletical perspective—Barbara K. Lundblad highlights the two men put forward by the group gathered together after the Ascension but before the Day of Pentecost. We are asked to “acknowledge and celebrate the ordinary people who have carried the extraordinary gospel from one generation to the next.”
Pause, remember, acknowledge, and even celebrate, the ordinary people you have met in your faith journey who have shared the Good News of God in Christ with you.
From a commentary on Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Matthias becomes part of the inner circle; the other loses the toss of the dice. Even his name seems to be in question: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus. The truth is that we know very little about either one of these men.
Their lack of renown is a wondrous reality. In the next chapter Peter stands with the eleven to preach his Pentecost sermon. That would mean that Matthias must have been there even though he is not named. Where was Justus? Perhaps he was there too, for the narrator tells us that all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. …
Rather than being disappointed by having so little information, we can be grateful for the witness of those who are so little known. [The sermon this Sunday] can be a time to acknowledge and celebrate the ordinary people who have carried the extraordinary gospel from one generation to the next. Who is Justus in your faith journey?
Source: Barbara K. Lundblad, “Homiletical Perspective on Acts 1:15–17, 21–26,” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B, ed. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, vol. 2 (Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008).
The Rev. Dr. Barbara K. Lundblad is the former Joe R. Engle Professor of Preaching Emerita at Union Theological Seminary.
Most Wednesday mornings a group of us gather online to explore the readings that will be used in worship the following Sunday. Our handout this week features readings, commentaries, and notes for the Seventh Sunday of Easter (May 12, 2024) in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary. Please: View or download the handout we used to guide our discussion and tune our hearts to the Spirit.
View the Revised Common Lectionary readings appointed for Sunday, May 12, 2024, on the Revised Common Lectionary site curated by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.
Please return to this site throughout the week to keep learning.
About casting lots
Be well. Do good. Pay attention. Keep learning.
Hear what the Spirit is saying 