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Acts 1:23-26 – Not Chosen
Let’s go back to an uncomfortable time to an uncomfortable setting. For some, this might have happened this past week; for others, years or decades ago. The scene is a familiar one. Everyone one of us has probably experienced it from one side or the other. The game might have been kickball or dodge ball, basketball or baseball. It might have even been Red Rover Red Rover. What is the scene? Two captains are picked. They are the popular kids, athletic and good looking kids. Systematically each captain goes through each kid, picking their friends, picking the other popular, athletic and good looking kids. Picking the kids they want to be with, or those who can help them win. The number dwindles and dwindles until there is only one left. As the process lengthens each child still waiting fidgets…embarrassed and hurting, waiting for relief that comes from not being the last one still standing there. If you were the captain, what did you feel like being the captain? It felt good, didn’t it?! If you were not the captain, have you ever been the last one chosen, chosen only because there was no one else? Have you ever been totally left out because sides would not have been uneven?
Not being chosen hurts. We could expand the scene to include other scenarios. Friends leave you out, leave you behind when they go to see a movie or go to a party. Someone we are romantically involved with says, “I think we should see other people.” You and I can pick our own scene when we were left behind and wondered, “Why not me? What’s wrong with me?”
Not being chosen hurts. But what if we are not picked and God is the one choosing? What if God does not choose us?
Have you ever felt like a loser? If so, this article is for you. However, feeling like a loser and being a loser are not the same. Some losers are so arrogant that they never feel anything other than superiority over others. Some feel like losers, when in fact, they are not. Feelings and facts are not always the same.
There is a man, whom we all know through scripture, yet seldom is he emphasized or even spoken about. This is a man, whom we all know through experience, as we’ve gone through the same sad thing. Maybe that is why we don’t focus on him. It hurts too much. It’s too close to home.
And yet he is a great man, who is sadly somewhat forgotten; but there are valuable lessons for us all. In fact, in the past I have I chastised myself somewhat for never before focusing on this man. I chastise myself that I had to have someone else point out this valuable lesson. I chastise myself because I know I have made the same mistake in real life. And it is a mistake that hurts. But its something we all have to learn how to live with and deal with…even when we feel it is God who seems to be picking someone else.
And when this experience is from God, it is something I must accept and even glorify in – although personally disappointed.
Who is this forgotten man? Barsabbas. Why? He was not chosen to be an apostle. Often times in life we are not chosen and we might wonder, “Why not me?” Studying this example should help us deal with life’s disappointments.
How forgotten is Barsabbas? I “googled” images for Barsabbas to find a picture or painting of him and got nothing. That’s forgotten!
Let’s look at the text: Acts 1:26 – And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
Now let me Perryphrase the text: Acts 1:26 – And they drew lots for them, and the lot did not fall to Barsabbas; and he was not added to the eleven apostles.
They chose – God chose – because there was a need for choosing (Acts 1:15-19)
Why was there a need for choosing? Because the one previously chosen abandoned the work. Because the Chooser had work to be done. Because choices have to be made. And here is the reality of life – the need to choose results in the need not to be chosen.
In choosing, it is important that everyone do what is necessary. In looking at our text, we see necessary and essential qualities in congregations and individuals making choices: Devotion to Prayer (v.14); Unity with Believers (v.14); Knew Scripture (v.20); Applied Scripture (v.20); Made Expedient Decisions (v.21); Had People Ready (vv.21-22); Had Willing Volunteers (v.23); Prayed Specifically for Answer (v.24); Expected God to Answer (v.24); Looked for Answer (v.26); Got an Answer (v.26).
In being chosen, we also see some essential character traits in getting ready to be used by God: Not only do we see “congregational” unity, we see two individuals who kept themselves ready. These two individuals had been with them from the beginning, and yet they were not chosen then to be apostles. In fact, they are not even mentioned in the gospels, and yet they continued steadfastly. It is not wrong to not be chosen, but it is wrong not to be ready.
So as we look out among us, and as we look at ourselves, let us always:
- Be ready to be chosen.
- Be ready to be chosen by God.
- Be ready not to be chosen.
- Be ready not to be chosen by God.
- Be ready to be chosen the next time.
And if we are not chosen, be positive. It is easy not to be. Make a choice not to be bitter either towards God or the congregation. Sometimes, for example, men have been up for the appointment of an elder, and not been chosen. How should we handle such disappointment? We should handle it with the exact same qualifications that we believe qualify us: not soon angry, not self-willed; gentle; etc. If we handle ourselves spiritually, then we are staying ready to be chosen later if it is God’s will.
But most importantly, always remember this – we – you – are chosen of God (Colossians 3:12). Take comfort in that.
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