"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 9:13-17) The theme of this week is waiting for God.  The founding story of the church from Acts tells us that the church is always firstly a community that waits for God's work and God's power to send it. Does God send the church?  Yes, always.  But only in God's own power.  Which means that we are always waiting in trust and hope on God to move his church.   Now I suggested that Matthias' selection was perhaps less a movement of God than a movement of anxious disciples who couldn't sit still and wait like they'd been told.  As it turned out, Jesus was more than capable of choosing a 12th disciple all on his own, as he did by knocking Saul off a horse on the Damascus road and calling him Paul. Now, you can argue with that interpretation.  Paul certainly didn't think of himself as one of the twelve.  In 1 Corinthians 15 he makes reference to them as he tells the story of Jesus' resurrection appearances.  He finishes by saying: "last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.  For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect."   The disciples chose Matthias as one of the twelve.  No one, including God argues with that action.  Jesus later choses Paul to be his "instrument to proclaim [his] name to the Gentiles."  Paul works harder than any of the twelve to spread the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth.  Somehow then, Paul becomes an apostle with an authority and ministry that is seemingly equal to that of the twelve, though he's never really counted among them.  So what are we to make of all this?   Well—through our waiting and our acting, whether from faith or unfaithfulness—there is always a God who, in Christ and through the Spirit, still winds up accomplishing more than we could ask or imagine.   Instead of Jesus removing Matthias and replacing him with Paul, we instead get a baker's dozen.  13 apostles instead of 12.  Just as David is the 8th son instead of the 7th.  God is that kind of a God—a God of blessing upon blessing.  A God who sees abundance where the 11 apostles initially saw scarcity.  A God who gives abundance in places where disciples like Ananias see only a threat to be feared.   God is accomplishing more than we could ask or imagine.  In places where we can't see a way—he makes a way.  In places where we don't feel we are enough or have enough, we discover that he is more than enough.  All we have ever needed to do is to wait in hope and in trust for him.   

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