Acts 1, 2

Acts 1, 2

Overview:  Acts begins with the disciples seeing Jesus ascend to heaven and then getting about the work of organizing themselves for ministry, starting by finding a replacement for Judas.  Chapter two features the events of the Pentecost.

The disciples have a practical dilemma.  Judas, who betrayed Jesus and then committed suicide, has left them a person short in their ministry.  Having Jesus words of commission to them fresh in their ears and waiting as Jesus instructed them to for the gift of the Holy Spirit, they use the time to solve their personnel problem.  They find two individuals who had been around them throughout Jesus time with them and have the two draw straws, with Matthias winding up in the empty slot.  My mentor, Rev. Dr. Robert R. McGruther, used this passage when working with nominating committees.  His point was that whether through a deliberative process as a committee or through casting lots as the disciples did, the goal is to trust that God's Spirit is at work in the process
Early on in Acts there is mention that Peter stands and addresses the assembled believers and sets their number at about 120.  And then it grows.  Acts makes a point of routinely mentioning that the ministry of the disciples is drawing people to Jesus and at the end of the second chapter we have the first of what will be a regular statement - "And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved."  While numbers are not the be all and end all by which we measure the vitality of a ministry I am continually pursuaded by the witness in Acts that it is a legitimate measure and one we should pay attention to even when, perhaps especially when,  it challenges us.