The Lot Fell On Matthias
Monologues
God's Great Trumpet Call
15 Monologues of New Testament People
In the film, The Silence, a young Mennonite farmer is chosen by lot to be the minister in his congregation, but later he is silenced by his bishop. Ministers are still picked that way among the Amish and some of the old order Mennonites. When it happens to a man, it changes his life drastically. Those ministers do not say, "I was chosen by lot." The usual expressions are "I was hit by the lot" or "The lot fell on me."
Why me?
Out of 120 believers,
why have they chosen me, Matthias?
Joseph Barsabbas is a good disciple,
as good as me and better.
How can I be part of this ministry:
stand next to Peter and James and John
and the others who were so close to Jesus?
Oh, I know they did not pick me carelessly.
They prayed for wisdom,
and they looked at us all -
we who had followed Jesus these three years:
not followed on every trip,
like that inner circle of twelve,
but we followed,
listened,
tried to obey.
And we saw him
after he had risen from the dead.
We are witnesses of his life
and his death
and his resurrection.
They chose Joseph and me.
Then they prayed -
asked God to make the final choice -
and they cast lots.
They wrote our names on stones
and put them in a jar.
When they shook the jar,
my stone fell out:
no accident,
for they had prayed for God to rule,
and they depended on God
to show them his choice.
They depended.
Dependence.
That's what it takes to be an apostle.
When Jesus took the twelve and sent them out,
they went without food, money, protection -
depending on God to supply their needs.
Dependence on God became their whole way of life.
They left everything and followed the Master.
Some of us still had our farms
or some had boats.
We followed him, off and on,
listening to him,
telling others of him,
between farming or fishing.
Now I must leave the farm
and depend on him alone.
I have
a new calling: apostle -
a witness to the resurrection.
Christ has risen. We have seen him alive.
That is the great, crowning proof.
He is the Messiah!
He is the King!
He is the Lord!
I can feel his power, his energy.
I feel it in the others.
I felt it when the lot fell on me!
I must fully depend on him,
for by the life of the living Christ,
I am a witness to the resurrection.
So I am taking Judas' place.
I admired Judas,
one of the chosen twelve.
He seemed so strong, so sure.
Now he has fallen,
and I am in his place.
Am I going to fall -
or stand?
And if I fall,
will I bring others down?
No!
God forbid!
An apostle must strengthen the believers,
care for them,
hold them up.
I must depend on Jesus -
on the living, risen Jesus.
I can stand only by his strength,
by his nearness,
by his grace.
This is what it means to live as a disciple.
We have seen him, felt him;
now we must trust him.
He has given us orders to wait -
wait until he gives us his spirit with power,
then obey him in that power.
He has his plan for this world,
and we have his promise
that he will come again in clouds of glory.
Look for that day;
and until that day, encourage each other
with the sure and certain hope of his coming.
What can I do to be a witness to the resurrection?
After Jesus gave us that commission,
he disappeared.
He made it plain we would not see him again
until he comes in glory.
He leaves it to us to show he is alive.
When I stand as a witness,
it must be by my own experience,
my own assurance he is here.
When a witness is in court,
the judge will not accept a secondhand story,
that I have heard about Jesus
or know about Jesus.
It must be my own report,
that I know him,
that I know he is alive,
that he lives in me.
I must have more than words.
My whole life must witness
that I have met the risen Lord.
Jesus said we would be his witnesses in Jerusalem,
in Judea,
in Samaria,
and in all the world.
It's a long way home to Galilee -
and he said Samaria -
those aliens, cultists, heretics -
then the world.
Can he really mean people of other nations?
Other races?
It's no use thinking of the world
unless I start where I am -
Jesus with me here:
Jesus with me in the house where I am lodging,
Jesus with me when I walk on the street,
Jesus with me whenever I meet people today.
I must start with myself:
with my own love for God,
my love for people,
my honesty.
What if Jesus makes no difference in my morality:
if I lie and cheat, steal, lust,
fail to cry out when I see a wrong?
Who then will believe me when I tell of Christ?
Zacchaeus stopped stealing and gave back the money:
my honesty must show that Jesus lives in me.
Let no one point to me and ask
what I would do differently if Jesus were here.
He is here.
I pray the power of his spirit
will let me show he is here.
How shall I witness to the resurrection in my family?
Yesterday I criticized my wife;
last night I scolded my daughter.
My brother will not speak to me:
he says I've made a fool of myself
by following Jesus.
Yet Jesus taught us to love.
He forgave.
How humbly I must ask forgiveness -
from him,
from my family!
He has made us to love each other,
yet husband and wife love and fight,
are proud of each other
and disappoint each other -
and need to forgive in order to heal.
How we all need the risen Christ with us
in order to forgive and to heal!
How do I bring the resurrection to the poor?
Jesus cared for the poor,
and the early prophets of God
called out for justice to the poor
and the oppressed,
the homeless and the refugee,
the hopeless and the weak.
When I care for those in need,
I witness that Christ lives in me.
When I challenge the rulers of the people
to care for the helpless,
I witness that the living Christ cares
about those who hurt.
How shall I tell this government of the resurrection?
Here in Jerusalem we are under Roman rule,
and much of our taxes go to Rome's
far-flung armies.
The wheat of Galilee,
sheep from the hills of Bethlehem,
olive oil from the Mount of Olives,
all go to feed the Roman garrisons,
while the poor of Jerusalem beg.
Jesus, when we walked with him,
wept over every injustice:
spoke to Samaritans,
whom most people despised,
forgave sinners,
confronted the political authorities,
shook his head at the emptiness
of those who made money their god.
And Jesus still lives!
I must witness that the risen Christ -
living in me -
loves other races and nations,
offers new life,
new hope,
not only to the poor
but also to the rich,
not only to the weak
but also to the high-placed and powerful,
if only they will take him to their hearts.
The risen Christ speaks to the ill,
that God cares,
that he is the great Physician.
He reaches out through us to the lonely:
that he is present,
that he will be with them forever.
When I face death, may I do so
as a witness to the resurrection.
My Lord was crucified for me -
humiliated, tortured, slain.
If I am faithful to him,
will I also be persecuted?
If I approach death now, in my prime,
let it be with confidence in God
and the assurance I live
by the resurrection of Christ.
And if I live,
and the time comes when I have used up
my span of years,
God grant me confidence
that the living Christ is with me,
so that I shall live and die
a witness to the resurrection.
Brothers, sisters,
we gathered here in Jerusalem are 120 believers,
plus a few more up in Galilee,
in our nation of four million souls.
When we leave this room,
you may be the only Christian in your village -
in your marketplace -
in your caravan.
And beyond our nation is Samaria -
and Greece and Rome -
and the whole world.
How shall we ever start this task?
But if we do not start,
how shall it ever be done?
Christ our Lord lives,
and by the joy of his resurrection
we have joy day to day
and day to day courage
and day to day power.
Joy - courage - power
to bear witness to the resurrection.
What else could we want? The Lord is risen indeed!
Why me?
Out of 120 believers,
why have they chosen me, Matthias?
Joseph Barsabbas is a good disciple,
as good as me and better.
How can I be part of this ministry:
stand next to Peter and James and John
and the others who were so close to Jesus?
Oh, I know they did not pick me carelessly.
They prayed for wisdom,
and they looked at us all -
we who had followed Jesus these three years:
not followed on every trip,
like that inner circle of twelve,
but we followed,
listened,
tried to obey.
And we saw him
after he had risen from the dead.
We are witnesses of his life
and his death
and his resurrection.
They chose Joseph and me.
Then they prayed -
asked God to make the final choice -
and they cast lots.
They wrote our names on stones
and put them in a jar.
When they shook the jar,
my stone fell out:
no accident,
for they had prayed for God to rule,
and they depended on God
to show them his choice.
They depended.
Dependence.
That's what it takes to be an apostle.
When Jesus took the twelve and sent them out,
they went without food, money, protection -
depending on God to supply their needs.
Dependence on God became their whole way of life.
They left everything and followed the Master.
Some of us still had our farms
or some had boats.
We followed him, off and on,
listening to him,
telling others of him,
between farming or fishing.
Now I must leave the farm
and depend on him alone.
I have
a new calling: apostle -
a witness to the resurrection.
Christ has risen. We have seen him alive.
That is the great, crowning proof.
He is the Messiah!
He is the King!
He is the Lord!
I can feel his power, his energy.
I feel it in the others.
I felt it when the lot fell on me!
I must fully depend on him,
for by the life of the living Christ,
I am a witness to the resurrection.
So I am taking Judas' place.
I admired Judas,
one of the chosen twelve.
He seemed so strong, so sure.
Now he has fallen,
and I am in his place.
Am I going to fall -
or stand?
And if I fall,
will I bring others down?
No!
God forbid!
An apostle must strengthen the believers,
care for them,
hold them up.
I must depend on Jesus -
on the living, risen Jesus.
I can stand only by his strength,
by his nearness,
by his grace.
This is what it means to live as a disciple.
We have seen him, felt him;
now we must trust him.
He has given us orders to wait -
wait until he gives us his spirit with power,
then obey him in that power.
He has his plan for this world,
and we have his promise
that he will come again in clouds of glory.
Look for that day;
and until that day, encourage each other
with the sure and certain hope of his coming.
What can I do to be a witness to the resurrection?
After Jesus gave us that commission,
he disappeared.
He made it plain we would not see him again
until he comes in glory.
He leaves it to us to show he is alive.
When I stand as a witness,
it must be by my own experience,
my own assurance he is here.
When a witness is in court,
the judge will not accept a secondhand story,
that I have heard about Jesus
or know about Jesus.
It must be my own report,
that I know him,
that I know he is alive,
that he lives in me.
I must have more than words.
My whole life must witness
that I have met the risen Lord.
Jesus said we would be his witnesses in Jerusalem,
in Judea,
in Samaria,
and in all the world.
It's a long way home to Galilee -
and he said Samaria -
those aliens, cultists, heretics -
then the world.
Can he really mean people of other nations?
Other races?
It's no use thinking of the world
unless I start where I am -
Jesus with me here:
Jesus with me in the house where I am lodging,
Jesus with me when I walk on the street,
Jesus with me whenever I meet people today.
I must start with myself:
with my own love for God,
my love for people,
my honesty.
What if Jesus makes no difference in my morality:
if I lie and cheat, steal, lust,
fail to cry out when I see a wrong?
Who then will believe me when I tell of Christ?
Zacchaeus stopped stealing and gave back the money:
my honesty must show that Jesus lives in me.
Let no one point to me and ask
what I would do differently if Jesus were here.
He is here.
I pray the power of his spirit
will let me show he is here.
How shall I witness to the resurrection in my family?
Yesterday I criticized my wife;
last night I scolded my daughter.
My brother will not speak to me:
he says I've made a fool of myself
by following Jesus.
Yet Jesus taught us to love.
He forgave.
How humbly I must ask forgiveness -
from him,
from my family!
He has made us to love each other,
yet husband and wife love and fight,
are proud of each other
and disappoint each other -
and need to forgive in order to heal.
How we all need the risen Christ with us
in order to forgive and to heal!
How do I bring the resurrection to the poor?
Jesus cared for the poor,
and the early prophets of God
called out for justice to the poor
and the oppressed,
the homeless and the refugee,
the hopeless and the weak.
When I care for those in need,
I witness that Christ lives in me.
When I challenge the rulers of the people
to care for the helpless,
I witness that the living Christ cares
about those who hurt.
How shall I tell this government of the resurrection?
Here in Jerusalem we are under Roman rule,
and much of our taxes go to Rome's
far-flung armies.
The wheat of Galilee,
sheep from the hills of Bethlehem,
olive oil from the Mount of Olives,
all go to feed the Roman garrisons,
while the poor of Jerusalem beg.
Jesus, when we walked with him,
wept over every injustice:
spoke to Samaritans,
whom most people despised,
forgave sinners,
confronted the political authorities,
shook his head at the emptiness
of those who made money their god.
And Jesus still lives!
I must witness that the risen Christ -
living in me -
loves other races and nations,
offers new life,
new hope,
not only to the poor
but also to the rich,
not only to the weak
but also to the high-placed and powerful,
if only they will take him to their hearts.
The risen Christ speaks to the ill,
that God cares,
that he is the great Physician.
He reaches out through us to the lonely:
that he is present,
that he will be with them forever.
When I face death, may I do so
as a witness to the resurrection.
My Lord was crucified for me -
humiliated, tortured, slain.
If I am faithful to him,
will I also be persecuted?
If I approach death now, in my prime,
let it be with confidence in God
and the assurance I live
by the resurrection of Christ.
And if I live,
and the time comes when I have used up
my span of years,
God grant me confidence
that the living Christ is with me,
so that I shall live and die
a witness to the resurrection.
Brothers, sisters,
we gathered here in Jerusalem are 120 believers,
plus a few more up in Galilee,
in our nation of four million souls.
When we leave this room,
you may be the only Christian in your village -
in your marketplace -
in your caravan.
And beyond our nation is Samaria -
and Greece and Rome -
and the whole world.
How shall we ever start this task?
But if we do not start,
how shall it ever be done?
Christ our Lord lives,
and by the joy of his resurrection
we have joy day to day
and day to day courage
and day to day power.
Joy - courage - power
to bear witness to the resurrection.
What else could we want? The Lord is risen indeed!
