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A Lectionary Resource for April 27 to June 1 2003

June 1

12 GOOD MEN AND . . .

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 The gamble of apostolic ministry

Psalm1 Wisdom is common sense

I John 5:9-13 Divine life is ours in Jesus

John 17:6-19. Set apart for service

This is also Asia Sunday, Queens Birthday weekend, Week of prayer for Christian Unity, and can be a celebration of the Ascension. How are you going to fit all these in? Find a key focus, and stick with it!

In this week before Pentecost we again have passages which emphasize the selection of some to be leaders in the community of faith. The fragile community of the early Church needed clear leaders when the presence of Jesus was no longer there to inspire. The prayer of Jesus for his disciples, and the strong statements in I John concerning the eternal status of believers were great encouragement.

Acts 1:15-26 has an even stronger emphasis on the need for the magical 12 disciples. It is a number which we know from Moses, the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 pillars on the altar. Tane climbed 12 heavens, there were 12 seats in the hall on Mount Olympus, Heracles had 12 stories and 12 pillars. And in our modern mythology we have 12 jurors, 12 hours, 12 inches. Obviously the number comes from 2 hands plus 10 digits. Do we still consider numbers as full of power and magic? Our society is enslaved by numbers, seen in the sport and financial scores in the TV news, and in the political question, "Have you got the numbers?"

The regular casualties of our number fascination are the gamblers. How ironic that a lottery was the religious ritual by which the twelfth apostle was called off the bench. I prefer the story of the deacons in Acts 6.

Again there is the contradiction between the teaching of equality which Jesus gave, and the emphasis on a few leaders which comes through in the early church. In today's church life there are countless seminars on leadership and the way "problems" of the church will all be solved if we have the right leaders. Leaders need followers, but do followers have to have leaders? Why can't the Judges formula (Judges 21:25) still apply?

Walter Wink's books on the Powers have a great analysis of the origins and nature of the Domination System which most people accept as the ruling world order and mythology. He claims that the liberating message of Jesus is a context-specific remedy for the evils of the Domination System. Through the gospel we can participate in resistance to the Powers which are the local manifestation of the Domination System.

The prayer of Jesus in John 17:6-19 identifies the "world" as the present Powers from which the disciples have been released. They are not of this world, Jesus is not of this world. We have often interpreted this to mean that Jesus is of heaven, out of this world, but the disciples are still earthbound. The term " world" does not mean "earth". It means the systems and structures and institutions that control the people in oppressive ways. It means the ideologies and idolatries which capture the minds and souls of people and enslave or domesticate them. It means the economic, political and social systems and structures which give some privilege and others poverty. Jesus prays that his disciples will be protected from this.

One Friday night in 1965 I met a member of the exclusive Brethren group in the street in Richmond. I could not help saying how wonderful it was to enter a hotel in Salvation Army uniform and witness to Christ in this way. His reply was that we must keep ourselves unspotted from the world. I am glad of Walter Wink's analysis. It makes more sense to me. The world of domination is alive and well in all aspects of human society, not least in its religions.

If you want a simpler topic, Psalm 1 is priceless. The opening psalm of each of the five books is usually a wisdom statement. This, the most familiar with its beautiful imagery of trees and water, can easily be homileticised. But please don't forget the sharp separation of the goodies and baddies. Are you confident as to which side you fit, and where the Pharisees might be?

A PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ, we bow before you as a serf before the lord of the manor, or a peasant before the king, because we always have this feeling of wanting to worship. Is that what you want from us?
Jesus our brother, we admire your passive resistance, your strong compassion, your impatient discipling, your other-worldly holiness. Can we stand with you?
Here we are in our strength and our weakness. There are many things we can do to change the power structures in our world. But we often fail or feel helpless. Please forgive us, turn us around and send us back to try again.
As our own energy gets low, we ask you to fill us again with your grace, your love, your Spirit. And help us to build into a community of faithful ones who will share our hurts and hopes, growth and pain, dreams and work.
Thank you for being our friend, our guide, our God-man. AMEN.