Saint Matthias the Apostle

The Collect
Almighty God, who in the place of Judas chose your faithful servant Matthias to be numbered among the Twelve: Grant that your Church, being delivered from false apostles, may always be guided and governed by faithful and true pastors; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Psalm
15

The Readings
Acts 1:1-15     +     Philippians 3:13-21     +     John 15:1,6-16

". . . I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last . . ."
~John 15:15-16

In our home we have a prayer corner. It is a designated space for family or individual prayer, Bible reading, or just being. The corner includes a number of icons--holy images of Christ and the saints such as have been venerated by generations of Christians as aides and companions in prayer. Among these is the first icon I ever received--a small image known as Christ Pantokrator ("Almighty" or "Ruler of All"). In this particular version (there are many such icons, with varying details), Christ is seated with an open book, and on the page can be read a portion from today's Gospel: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen ye."

It is, perhaps, a puzzling statement. The setting is the Last Supper, and Jesus is speaking here to the disciples, his closest friends and companions. Did they not indeed choose Jesus, in deciding to follow him? Well, yes, they did. But their decision to follow Jesus was a response to his call. Christ's work and action preceded their own--he chose them before they even knew.

This is how it is for each of us. No matter the circumstance, God has always been present and at work in our lives, even before we knew. Our part is always that of response to the grace-filled work of Christ that is already there. As the First Letter of John puts it, in a passage that bears overtones of today's Gospel, we love, because he first loved us (I John 4:19).

The small icon of Christ that hangs in our prayer corner was given to me by a family friend when I was a young boy. I actually don't remember receiving it, so in my mind it has always been with me. It is an image that bears the truth of Christ's call and claim on me before I even knew what or how to answer. On one level, of course, that was the work of my family and friends. But that is also how Christ works, in and through us, to draw us and others ever closer to himself.

Consider your own life in Christ. Can you look back and see places where God was at work in you before you even knew? Consider also your response to God's loving work--what fruit are you bearing in your life?


Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for calling us friends, and for revealing the very life and love of your Father to us; give us wisdom to know your presence with us now, as always, that our lives may bear the fruit of salvation. Amen.