Eastertide
May 11, 2015

Scripture Reading: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

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. –Acts 1:21-26

It is that time of year when my church, which is congregationally governed, elects new officers and elders, deacons, and deaconesses. Just a few years ago we went through a process of reorganizing our governance system primarily to reduce the number of meetings people were having to attend but also to shift the time commitment of our membership from governance to ministry.

It is hard to give up familiar ways, and any changes that are made in any organization must be accompanied with transparent and consistent communications. One of the greatest challenges facing the church and other organizations is the many varied ways we now communicate that may cause age isolation, if we fail to cover all the basis. I just spent time connecting my cell phone via Bluetooth to my new home phone system. I have stubbornly attempted to allocate my cell phone to my personal safety and communications needs, but have discovered that the rest of the world does not recognize my designated use. Once the number escaped my control, it morphed into everyone else’s designations. It took missing many calls and text messages causing me to hurt feelings and miss important meetings for me finally to give up trying to control it. I, however, do not want to constantly be checking several devices thus when my old home system bit the dust, I invested in one that could keep all my messaging together that is until the world changes again.

The disciples in our scripture today, recognized the need to reorder their organization to make it fit the new life situations in which they found themselves, and to continue the ministry Jesus has set before them. We have the same calling today. We must make decision together that always work to support that calling and that may require adjusting our lives in ways we never imagined to fulfill the trust Christ placed in us.

Prayer: Lord, you gifted me with the ability to be steadfast, guard me from taking the next step into stubbornness when it may imperil my service to you. And thank you so much for whoever writes those step by step instructions: push menu, press the down arrow, and select Bluetooth when I do not have a clue what Bluetooth is. Amen

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.