“Rolling the dice” or rather “casting lots” has an interesting place in the life of the Church from the Bible.
Every time I see those fuzzy dice, I am brought back to that old Chevy truck, or the board game played every summer without fail. When I see dice, I am transported through memory to places where life happened and I left changed.
That must be how Matthias felt in our rather grim and explicit reading today from Acts. I wonder if when he saw dice being rolled that he would be taken back to the moment when he would “take the place of another” and continue the ministry in the stead and by the commissioning of the Church?
“Rolling the dice” or rather “casting lots” has an interesting place in the life of the Church from the Bible. There are, typically, three reasons people cast lots in the Bible.
The first dealt with land distribution. We see this mostly in Joshua 18-19 and 21. I think there is an odd correlation to our reading today about this same kind of thing. Acts 1:18-19 makes a grim connection to the field, literally the “land distributed” to Judas which he acquired by his sin. This act of Judas, hanging on a tree on land given through sin, is in stark contrast to what Jesus Himself did in acquiring the forgiveness of sins for the whole world by His hanging from the tree of Calvary. It is an intentional contrast which might be a strange way to get at the gospel in an equally strange pericope for this Sunday.
The second instance of casting lots in the Bible had to do with priestly duties. You see it mostly in 1 Chronicles 24-26 and on the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16. Again, is it not odd that Matthias was chosen by casting lots to take over the apostolic/religious duties of Judas who was a part of the core followers of Jesus.
The third instance of casting lots in the Bible had to do with making specific decisions. You see this in Jonah, 1 Samuel 14, and Nehemiah 11. Every one of these instances had to do with casting lots over matters of life and death, of guilt or innocence, or even, in one strange case in Nehemiah 10:34, over the wood offering for the priests. This always brings to my mind the time when lots where cast near an offering made by Christ our great high priest on the wood of the cross (Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:24). There, Jesus was settling the matter of life and death, of guilt and innocence for all humankind.
Because “for such a time as this” God was working a mighty salvation for not just a specific group of people but for all people across all time and all space.
This brings me right back to Matthias, who was required to be a witness of Jesus in all things. As verse 21-22 of our reading says:
“One of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when He was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to His resurrection.”
Perhaps, since he was required to be a witness of these events that happened concerning Jesus, Matthias, when he would see “the roll of the dice” or the “casting of lots,” he was taken to a different spot every time he would see dice rolling across the ground. Maybe, he was taken to the spot where the soldiers cast lots for Jesus’ clothing. I wonder if in such reminiscence that he recalled the grim scene at Calvary. Was he there when they laid Him in the tomb? He certainly was a witness to His resurrection where the stone was rolled away from the grave! Possibly, he was there when He saw Jesus taken in the place of others, sinners, on their behalf. He was taken for the sins of the whole world, and then on to an eternal forgiveness won at the resurrection from the grave.
The soldiers at the crucifixion cast lots like Haman cast the Pur to witness the destruction of a king of the Jews (Esther 3:7; 9:24). But that is not what was going on there at that moment. Because “for such a time as this” God was working a mighty salvation for not just a specific group of people but for all people across all time and all space. Listen to how Jesus views His work from our Gospel lesson for today from John 17:1-11. Listen as Jesus prays, as our great High priest, knowing that the lot would be cast at the foot of the cross of Calvary where He would offer up on the wood of that tree the sacrifice for all sins to God on our behalf. Jesus prays in our Gospel lesson, interceding for His disciples (17:9). But He also prays for Matthias and for us and for all who come later to God through the proclaimed Word of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (17:20). Jesus went to the cross and tomb and rose because the hour had come to give us eternal life (17:2) and that was no roll of the dice. It was not a gamble or chance. It was a glorious plan, set forth before time in eternity (17:1, 4-5). What a strange image, the rolling of dice, to remind us of a time when God saved the whole world by mercy and grace on account of Christ alone.
An Image Based Structure will help guide our preaching on this text which focuses on the image of dice. There is an Image Based Structure called Frame and Refrain that will suit our purposes best.
“This sermon structure uses a single image in the opening and the closing of the sermon for the hearers. In the opening use of the image, the preacher describes the image and then offers a thematic statement that he associates with the image. The central body of the sermon then becomes a preaching of that thematic statement. The thematic statement becomes a refrain that holds the sermon together. The preacher uses that thematic statement to interpret the text and to apply that text to the lives of the hearers. It often helps if the refrain is gospel-centered, so it enables the preacher to proclaim the Gospel as it is heard in the text, the theological teaching, and the lives of the hearers today. The sermon concludes by returning to the image (creating a frame around the body of the sermon) and offering the hearers a final climactic statement of the refrain.”[1]
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Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Acts 1:12-26.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Acts 1:12-26.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
[1] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/dynamic/imagistic-structures/frame-refrain/
