Pastor John's Message

Do you ever flip a coin in order to make a decision? Maybe your family can't agree on Handel's or Taggarts. So Dad breaks out a quarter. "All right," he says, "Heads for Handel's. Tails for Taggarts." The practice of flipping a coin, or what the Bible calls "casting lots," has been around for a long time.

The practice of casting lots is mentioned 70 times in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). No one knows exactly how the ancients did this. But the simplest explanation is to compare "casting lots" to "flipping a coin." The objects used as "lots" could have been flat stones, various length sticks, and early versions of dice.

Most of the time that lots were cast in the Bible, it was in connection to the division of land (Numbers 26:55; 33:54; 34:13; and 36:2). Lots were also cast to appoint various leaders in the Temple (1 Chronicles 25:8-9 and 26:13-14). The election of King Saul is one of the most bizarre forms of casting lots (1 Samuel 10:17-24). It's puzzling to me that God would both command and condone the practice of casting lots as a way to determine God's will.

The practice of casting lots is found twice in the New Testament. In a negative sense, the soldiers at the foot of the cross cast lots to determine who would possess Jesus' seamless tunic. Then in a positive sense: the apostles cast lots to find someone to take the place of Judas. Here's the story from Acts:

Two men were suggested: One of them was Joseph Barsabbas, known as Justus, and the other was Matthias. Then they all prayed, "Lord, you know what everyone is like! Show us the one you have chosen to be an apostle and to serve in place of Judas." They drew names, and the lot fell on Matthias and he was chosen to join the group of the eleven apostles (Acts 1:21-26).

It has always driven me crazy that the holy Apostles cast lots. And it wasn't a trivial thing like raffle tickets for a quilt. It was an important election of a church officer. They had to decide who would replace Judas as one of the Twelve. So led by the Holy Spirit, Matthias was chosen by casting of lots. I just can't imagine Saint Peter saying, "Let's flip a coin. Heads for Matthias, Tails for Joseph." It is not at all comforting to know this was the roll of the Holy Spirit in the first chapter of Acts. But maybe that's the point. Trusting the Holy Spirit is not always comfortable.

There is beauty in the apostles' method of using lots to decide an election. Once the coin was tossed, the Holy Spirit was trusted; and all members of the infant church were found on the Day of Pentecost "In one mind and in one accord." They made a decision and then they moved on in their mission. They understood that casting lots was a human process - a definite flawed system. Yet, they trusted that the Holy Spirit, who uses imperfect human beings, could also work through a flawed system.

Today, the Church is much larger than in the book of Acts. Instead of eleven apostles choosing one leader, there are millions of members electing thousands of leaders. Look at the way we elect our Presiding Bishop in the ELCA. We use a democratic system in which each congregation sends delegates to a Synod Assembly. At the Assembly the congregational delegates elect synod delegates, and the synod delegates are sent to the National Assembly. Each delegate casts a vote, and the lot falls on one of the candidates. A decision is made, a Bishop is elected, and the Church moves on in mission.

The ELCA's democratic system is only slightly more sophisticated than the system of casting lots that was used to appoint King Saul and Matthias. Watching an election through this system can leave the impression that God's will is determined by the whims of chance. Yet, as a church body, we trust that the Holy Spirit plays a vital roll in our democratic process. Through it all, God is sovereign.

What further complicates the dilemma of our democratic system is that we have to choose which human beings have the opportunity to cast a ballot. Should some Christians have a louder voice or a stronger vote. I don't believe so. No member of our church, whether lay or clergy, can be considered a "super-delegate." We cannot discount the convictions of other faithful Christians, even when they cast a different vote. In the epistles, Paul is adamant that individual Christians should not consider themselves to be of greater value than other members of the Church (Philippians 2:3-4). So in our system of electing officers, we cast lots in order to determine who will be chosen to cast lots.

For me personally, believing that the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding the church is a lot easier when the lots that are cast fall in the manner that I think is correct. If my favorite candidate wins, then our system for electing officers is perfect and God is easily seen as sovereign! But, if my candidate loses the election, then my faith is challenged and I begin to question whether the Holy Spirit is really playing a roll.

In the world of flawed humanity, there simply is no perfect way for a larger group to make decisions. My hopes and prayer for Shepherd of the Valley is that we understand that all our attempts to make decisions as a congregation will be flawed. There will always be disagreements in the Church that have no chance of gaining a perfect consensus. And so we will make decisions the best way we know how. Once the votes are cast; the decisions will be made; and we'll move forward in our mission. It's not that some of us are winners, and some are losers. We truly trust that the Holy Spirit is playing a vital roll in our modern version of casting lots.

So who wants ice cream? Heads for real ice cream; tails for the other. Whatever the outcome, let's trust that the Holy Spirit is playing a roll in our decision, even if that means we all have to go to the original Handel's in Youngstown!

Pastor John Paul Maroni