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June 12, l999
THE APOSTLE (Matthew
9:35-l0:23)
Last Wednesday evening thirteen disciples concluded
their 33 weeks of Wednesday meetings for strengthening
their faith through in depth bible study. As part of
winding up our study, we looked at some of the first
century offices of the church as noted by Paul in l
Corinthians l2:28-3l. Some of the offices of the first
century church sounded quite contemporary: persons gifted
to be teachers, church helpers, and administrators. But
other ministries named by Paul had a traditional and
almost archaic sound to them: jobs such as prophets, and
miracle workers, and the one which Paul puts at the top
of his list: apostles.
The study book helped us demystify the meaning of
apostles by this straightforward definition: "Apostles
exercise general oversight and leadership in the church.
A person called to apostolic ministry shows signs of
spiritual power to lead others to Christ, to encourage,
and to build up others in faith and love. Pastors are
apostles ordained to preach the word, maintain order, and
administer the sacraments. Lay persons are equally called
to apostolic ministry." It sounds to me very much like
apostles are what we call church elders although
Community Church as yet has not adopted that title for
our more mature spiritual leaders.
I didn't hear anyone from our disciple group volunteer
to be an apostle, though fingers pointed to me as an
apostle, I suppose by virtue of being an ordained elder.
Secretly, I yearned for someone to suggest that I might
be "a miracle worker." (Actually when I look at the list
of fourteen qualities which you will be asked to rate
later in the service, it seems to me that anyone who
could measure up to even half those wonderful qualities
would be, in truth, "a miracle worker!"
******
Let me give some early church and New Testament
background on this office of apostle. There were twelve
apostles, all called by Jesus. The twelve are named in
our Gospel text of today and elsewhere; they are always
twelve though the list of the twelve varies slightly.
Paul became the thirteenth apostle when the Risen, not
earthly, Christ called him to witness for him. These
thirteen were chosen by Christ to represent him and with
the single exception of Paul they had all known
intimately the earthly Jesus. They were first hand
witnesses about Jesus as the Christ.
There is no scriptural evidence that the original l3
apostles ever formally designated anyone as their
successors. When Judas was replaced to keep the apostles
at the symbolic number of l2 (symbolic for the l2 tribes
of Israel) the only reason stated for his selection was
that he had known Jesus. There was no apostolic
succession. The apostolic era lingered on at least one
more generation after the last of the l3 apostles died so
long as there were persons alive in the churches who
personally had known one or more of the original l3
apostles. But by about the year l50 AD the name of
apostle ceases to circulate in the church; it is replaced
by other offices like elders and deacons and a bit later
bishops.
Much, much later, perhaps in the fifth or sixth
generation after the original apostles, the spiritual
leaders of the church in Rome developed the claim that
the Apostle Peter had passed all apostolic authority onto
his successor in the Roman congregation. That leader
eventually assumed the title bishop of Rome. And later
the broader title of Pope of the Church in the West.
At the Protestant Reformation in the l6th Century most
Protestants, led by the thinking of Luther and Calvin,
re-asserted that apostolic authority did not pass to any
one person or persons; rather apostolic authority was
transmitted through the apostolic writings attributed to
Paul and Peter and other apostles. Apostolic authority
thereby became defined as evangelical rather than
hierarchical. Anyone might claim to be an apostle of
Jesus Christ who can speak personally and with authority
of his or her salvation through faith and grace and who
is called by the Holy Spirit and with right understanding
of the scriptures to lead others to accept Christ.
The name apostle derives from the Greek word meaning
TO BE SENT OUT. The very first apostle was Jesus himself
who was sent out by God. Jesus called twelve men to
witness for him, he sent them out to others. Their
witness was recorded in the scriptures and apostolic
ministry became open to anyone with the spiritual power
to lead others to Christ, to encourage, and to build up
others in faith and love.
There are difficulties, which unless overcome, could
keep modern disciples from entertaining the possibility
that they are called by the Holy Spirit to be apostles. A
major difficulty is what, according to Matthew 9, Jesus
called the original apostles to do for him. 9: They were
sent by Jesus on a fourfold mission: "cure the sick,
raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons."
That is a tall order for Hong Kong Christians who tend to
leave curing the sick to doctors (who may in truth be
apostles as is the case with our Dr. T.Y. Ng); as for
raising the dead, it is little done; and lepers and
demons are not easily found, especially in our social
circles!
Someone among the disciples last Wednesday, in
identifying yours truly as an apostle, added this
contemporary comment in writing: "You are an apostle
because you are a good commentator on movies." Well, new
times teach new understanding of apostleship.
Soooooooooooo:
++++++
Last year there was a brilliant film produced and
directed by Robert Duvall who also starred in the film
which is called THE APOSTLE. Duvall plays a 20th century
fundamentalist charismatic evangelist named "Sonny" who,
as it turns out, is also guilty of manslaughter, having
killed his wife's lover in a rage. The opening scene
shows Sonny ministering to accident victims along the
highway. The final scene shows Sony preaching along a
highway to a prison road-gang of which he is a member. In
between, one fascinating scene after another unfolds the
tumultuous life of this gifted, emotional preacher who
appears to be sent by God to reach lost souls. He pours
all of his energy into preaching and singing and praying
for the Lord. All of his conversations are peppered with
"Jesus" talk. Being an apostle like Sonny is not easy and
it is not appealing to most Christians.
We should not get hung up over dramatic and
unrealistic images of apostleship. The truth is we do not
know to what degree and in what ways the original
apostles accomplished the fourfold goal tasks Jesus asked
of them. We do know they tried and their success is
evidenced in the growth of the church.
The need for modern apostles to witness to the power
of Christ, is as great today as in the first century. The
times are as pagan now and then, and apostles are called,
in Jesus phrase, to be both cunning and innocent, and the
office of apostle is shared among diverse persons. Even
fundamentalist Sonny in the movie recognised the
function of diversity in witnessing, for in one scene he
notices Catholic priests sprinkling holy water on boats
in the harbor - this is something quite different from
anything Sonny would do - and he muses to himself, "your
way, my way…together we get it done." (That sounds
like an equally good attitude on the part of the NATO
countries having to deal this weekend with the surprising
presence of the Russian troops in Kosovo. One way or
another, let us hope together they get it done!)
What are apostles supposed to get done. According to
Paul, apostle is called and sent by Jesus through the
confirmation of the Holy Spirit to proclaim in word and
deed that "WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS
CHRIST.' (Romans 5:l)
*************
As apostles, what are the strategic options that lie
before us. Well, we work them out according to our style
of evangelism and there are three options: Hard sell,
soft sell, and life style sale.
Hard sell means functioning like Sonny, talking
excitedly about Jesus most of the time. Soft sell is a
calmer approach noted by a milder witness offered every
once in a while. Life style sale means there is no sell
in sense of talking about your faith. Rather the
Christian apostle ties to demonstrate a Christian
life-style through sacrificial actions. And there is
nothing inferior in apostleship which witnesses through
life-style. Mother Teresa of Calcutta seldom did any
direct evangelising; she couldn't in Hindu Calcutta
evangelize like a Sonny in the film. Rather she and her
sisters lived a sacrificial life of love which informed
those who knew her for whom she was witnessing.
Most of us apostles in Community Church will recognise
that we are called to witness in ways that may include
all three traditions, though most likely some combination
of the second and third will be the main form our
apostleship takes.
But while we may prefer witnessing to our faith
through acting it out, we are also called to witness out
loud to our faith at some strategic moments.
Reading on in Matthew 9 we can deduce some practical
guidelines for our apostolic witness. Jesus told his
friends to GO TO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. I
interpret this as a strategic order from Jesus, and not
an exclusive one. Jesus could not have been excluding
non-Jews from his concern because in other contexts he
showed intensely personal commitment to non-orthodox Jews
like the Samaritans. Rather Jesus was advising, as a
strategy, that apostles work, normally, with those
closest and nearest to them. Not always, of course, or
the historic missionary movement would have had no reason
for existence.
That translates for our apostleship this way: I say to
you in the name of Jesus go to persons in your families
and your apartment complex and your places of work. First
witness in act and, when possible, in word to those who
live around yout. Jesus said: PROCLAIM GOOD NEWS - THE
KINGDOM IS NEAR. Let others know that God's kingdom is
near through your words and your life. Care for your
neighbours in Jesus' name and the kingdom will begin to
come upon them. They will know you are Christian by your
love and deeds, and many will inquire about the Christ
you follow.
Jesus said, CURE, RAISE THE DEAD, CLEANSE, CAST OUR
DEMONS. I say to you: don't shirk from this tall order;
go right over to the conflicted family in your apartment
building, or to the visibly troubled person in your
office, and become a healing influence in their lives.
Through your presence and your witness those who are dead
in spirit and relationship can have new life and
rise.
If you want further guidance on how to serve as an
apostle, continue to read the remainder of chapter 9
where Jesus gives more guidance.
Last week I met Margie Kinsella who is an apostle in
the Protestant understanding of apostleship. She is
witnessing Christ to the Jews. Her ministry is to pray
for peace in Israel, reconciliation between Jews and
Arabs, and intercessory prayer that Jews will come to
understand that Jesus is their Messiah too, a Jewish
Messiah. She operates somewhat as a prophet, too, but
these roles of apostle, prophet, teacher, healer, helper
often overlap. We humans may make greater distinctions of
the gifts than does the Holy Spirit. I like to introduce
Margie because she represents how democratic apostleship
is: she is a woman, she is not ordained, she is not
financially sponsored by any church or denomination, yet
she is a witness to Christ and with persons and with
concerns that the main church ignores. God bless you,
Margie, in your apostleship.
For those who are completely committed to Christ
there is no greater duty, nor greater thrill, than taking
up the cross of apostleship and going simply, sincerely,
shrewdly, strategically to our friends, neighbors and, on
occasion, to strangers near and far off to witness that
we are sent by Christ to them. God grant that apostles
will arise and flourish in our congregation. May the
Spirit in the years ahead lead us often to say: There is
an apostle among us! Here is another. And there are even
more apostles!
And now we are going to recognize our disciples among
whom are certainly church helpers, administrators, and
teachers, and there may even be a couple of apostles
among them.
(The sermon was followed with presentation of
certificates and DISCIPLE lapel pins to the twelve
disciples who completed the program known as DISCIPLE).
Pastor Gene Preston
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