Editor’s Note: The AMI QT devotionals from Jan. 18-22 are provided by Pastor Ryun Chang (Ph.D.) who is the AMI Teaching Pastor. He and Insil have been married for 28+ years and they have three children: Christy (teacher), Joshua (grad student) and Justin (college freshman). They live in Philadelphia.
Devotional Thoughts for Today
Acts 1:20-6
“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘May another take his place of leadership.’ 21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection. 23 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.’ 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.”
What’s harder than replacing Tom Brady as the quarterback for New England Patriots? Try replacing the father of a teenager girl. That’s the predicament an old friend faced when he married a woman with a daughter in the middle school. Unfortunately, to the daughter he was never more than an unworthy replacement—it didn’t end well.
Matthias also faced a similar situation. While he wasn’t exactly replacing a “Brady,” the position itself was a big shoe to fill. Now, it wasn’t as if he was under qualified, since he at least met the requirement of being with the Lord and the original disciples “the whole time” and a witness to the resurrection. But Matthias might not have met the higher criteria: “The thing that marks an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles” (2 Cor. 12:12), which apostle Paul, who came later, met.
Now, once Matthias was chosen to replace Judas by virtue of what, to some, appeared to be pure luck (casting lots), he promptly disappeared into the annals of obscurity; he is never mentioned again after Acts 1. Meanwhile, imagine what Matthias had to endure as a replacement, in view of the fact that some people had the gall to question Paul’s apostleship; so much so that he declared, “I do not think I am in the least inferior to those ‘super-apostles” (2 Cor. 11:5, 12:11). They probably called Matthias the “lucky” apostle.
So, whatever happened to him? Sometimes no news can be good news; and since we hear neither good nor bad news about Matthias, here is hoping that there was no bad news to report because he stayed out of trouble, unlike Judas. As for the absence of good news, perhaps his ministry philosophy was founded on Matthew 6:1: “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them.’” And then he might have clung to 1 Corinthians 4:5b: “Wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.” I hope Matthias was praised.
Meanwhile, let us cultivate a spirituality that does not seek attention from people. For instance, resist the urge to post your latest spiritual accomplishment on FB. How about keeping it just between you and Jesus.
Prayer
God, though I say You are the Chairman of the board of my life, I often seek to be noticed by men; I’m not even sure why I post what I post on my FB. Teach me to worship and serve You, my King, in secrecy. Teach me to cherish Your approval in Christ. May the Spirit fill me today for a fruitful labor. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Genesis 14
Lunch Break Study
Read Matt. 6:1-4: “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Col. 1:3-4: We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—
1 Cor. 14:18: I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.
Questions to Consider
- It is the new norm to expose ourselves to the whole world to witness what we are doing, including our private time spent with God. In light of the Matthew passage, what should we watch out for?
- Matthias, once chosen to be one of the twelve disciples, disappeared into obscurity as far as history is concerned. If you were Matthias, what would you have hoped as you breathed your last breath?
- In what ways did Paul “expose” his private spiritual life with the public? When it is okay to do it? How are you doing with this? Please think before you post on the social media; don’t do it mindlessly.
Notes
- We need to watch out for overexposing our spirituality and good deeds in the name of ministry or just wanting to “share.” As 1 Cor. 4:5 asserts, we need to check our motive before we publicly share what we do in private. It is something that we need to struggle with because we do need to share!
- Matthias might have said: “I don’t care what people think of me; as long as God approves of my life and rewards me in heaven for what little I did in His name, I am okay with being obscure among men.”
- Through these two verses, we find that Paul was praying for the Colossians and spoke in tongues more than anyone else. Here, Paul’s motive is more important than the act itself. In the case of the Colossians whom he had never met, his disclosure probably made his epistle more personable to them. With respect to the Corinthians who were abusing the practice of speaking in tongues, Paul was, in fact, saying, “Hey, I speak as a seasoned practitioner; stop abusing that gift!”
Evening Reflection
Everyday life is such that we say and do things without any rehearsal beforehand. Undoubtedly, the “raw” things we say and do as an unfiltered reaction to others show the core of our being. So, in looking back to today, what did you discover about yourself with respect to God? Do you care more about what men think of you than what God thinks? Do you love the praise from men more than from God? These are sobering questions—but necessary ones. Reflect. Make adjustments as you repent
Ironically, the Civil Rights Movement, led by Baptist minister Martin Luther King, wasn’t the most popular movement then, even among African-Americans. That honor was shared by the militant Black Panther Party that launched violence against the white power structure, and the Nation of Islam that aimed, not for racial desegregation, but a complete separation from whites. Its leader Malcolm X even called King a “‘chump’ and other civil rights leaders ‘stooges’ of the white establishment.’”
Over the holidays, I spent time with my extended family that included a little boy who is about to turn two. One activity he enjoyed was building with magnetic tiles. He made a tower taller than himself, but it was top-heavy and started swaying. We expected him to delight with glee when it fell over with a big crash; possibly tears when it fell over because his creation was no more. What we didn’t expect was for him to hang on to the tower, standing on his tiptoes to support it. He whimpered, on the verge of tears, because he clearly did not want the tower to fall and was holding it up with his own strength.
Over the holiday break, my husband and I visited Los Angeles with my parents. Our only non-food related destination was the Getty Villa, along the Pacific coast. It is a museum established by the late oil tycoon J. Paul Getty that showcases ancient artifacts from Greece and Rome. Among the many artifacts, we saw statues of household gods found in Roman empire from the first century. It was amazing to see what we had read in the Bible come to life before our eyes.
Seeing statues of golden calves, sacrificial altars and tangible likenesses of deities at the museum made me think of the things we bow down to in our modern day that may not be made of gold or wood. In our day, we can worship our careers, relationships, success in the eyes of the world as defined by money or approval, or even righteousness through religious duties. This happens when we let good things become the ultimate thing. It can happen when hard times that we don’t understand come our way and we decide God doesn’t know best, but we do. The Israelites struggled with this too, when they complained about their time in the desert and made the golden calf. Maybe we aren’t so different after all. Let us come to the Lord with humble hearts, asking Him to reveal our idols and the help of the Holy Spirit to return to our first love (Rev. 2:4)
Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College are leading institutions of higher learning for evangelicals. So, upon noting that the New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman studied there, we would expect to learn a great deal from him. That, unfortunately, is not what you will get from Ehrman, who heads the religious-studies department at the University of North Carolina.
This isn’t a forum for an in-depth discussion, but many Christians have erroneous notions about the inspiration of the Scripture. While no one is certain about what inspiration exactly entails, it doesn’t mean superseding differences in each writer’s observation, depending on the perspective taken and culture. It is quite plausible that “Judas hanged himself and that the rope broke, causing him to fall” (Baker). Regarding the field, Judas, in effect, bought it since the chief priest purchased it with his money. Evidently, Matthew accentuated the tragic end of the betrayer (suicide) while Luke focused on its irony: Judas was the first to be buried in the accursed field. Had Ehrman been taught right, perhaps he wouldn’t have taken that fatal road.
The TV show 48 Hours deals with murders involving middle-class Americans who have good jobs and live in nice houses. Viewing just a few episodes is all it would take to notice two repetitive themes regarding whodunit and why. As to who, likely your spouse; as to why, money! In one episode, a young professional with an M.B.A. kills his beautiful wife, even shooting himself 4 times to make the police believe that it was a robbery gone bad. But once the police discovered the $2 million life insurance on the wife, they had the motive to go with his inconsistent testimony.
The Bible, however, gives a simpler reason why Judas “served as guide for those who arrested Jesus”: greed. After all, Judas said to Jesus’ enemy, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you.” By all account, “thirty pieces of silver” was a large sum of money then (as much as $15,000 today). An older John, recalling the events that occurred some 50 years earlier, wrote, “. . . [Judas] was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it” (Jn. 12:6). In other words, betraying Jesus for a small fortune was too good of an opportunity for this small-time thief to pass up.
When I told my father, who was not even a churchgoer at the time, of my desire to enter the ministry, he was relieved, hoping that perhaps my partying days were over. On the other hand, the parents of my seminary roommate “Daniel,” who were good Christians by all accounts, weren’t happy when their MIT-attending son, whom they hoped would become a physician, told them the same. So to calm their displeasure, Daniel applied to several medical schools and prayed that none would accept him; God obliged, and that’s how he ended up in seminary.
This past December, I got to see an NBA game between San Antonio Spurs, a five-time champion, and Philadelphia 76ers, the league’s worst. Predictably, the game got of control fast and the Spurs won by 51 points!
Upon examining each roster, Jesus’ disciples would be more like the overmatched 76ers than the Spurs. It is said that, besides a handful of Philadelphia players with raw potential, the rest don’t belong in the league. And that’s who the disciples were. Being described by their detractors as “unschooled [and] ordinary” (Acts 4:5, 13) was merely scratching the surface. The disciples were initially divided not only from the rest of society but even among themselves. Simon belonged to a militant group called Zealots who violently opposed the Romans and those who worked for them, like tax collectors, among whom Matthew was one. The disciples’ favorite pastime was arguing about “who was the greatest” (Mk. 9:34); once, John and James sought to kill an inhospitable Samaritan (Lk. 9:51-5).
No one extolled the virtue of city life better than erstwhile Harvard professor Harvey Cox, who argued in his seminal work Secular City (1965) that modern city life is preferable over rural (traditional) life. Cox liked that in the city, “relationships are founded on free selection and common interest,” giving people a “wider range of alternatives,” unlike in rural life, where relationships are preset and any newcomer was held in suspicion unless one knew “where they came from and whether their family was any good.” Undoubtedly, he would prefer Sex and the City over The Waltons, a popular TV show in the 1970s featuring a large rural family.
My uncle had always been a man of bravado but not that day: he spoke slowly in a low voice following a grueling surgery to treat his cancer. A man of substantial wealth, he was living at a nice condominium during the treatment, but it paled in comparison to his house, a mansion. In fact, I had stayed at this sprawling property the night before while in town. As I was leaving, my uncle said, “Whenever you are in town, please stay at my house; in fact, it’s open for any Lord’s servant; I want my house to be used for the Lord’s work.”