Our reading from the Acts of the Apostles says this: “But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them”. Peter, standing with the eleven. Let’s keep that number in mind.
Numbers are important these days. I’ve got a bit of routine going and maybe this sounds familiar: the BC briefing with Dr Bonnie Henry and Adrian Dix; the Alberta briefing with Dr Deena Hinshaw; and the national update from Chief Public Health Officer, Dr Theresa Tam. At each of these, I’m watching for the numbers: how many new positive cases in Vancouver? How many deaths in the province and across the country? How many known recoveries?
The numbers at these briefings function in a couple of ways. First, they reflect individuals. Dix and Henry, when they read a statistic, the number of new deaths in the province, for example, they pause to acknowledge that there are families and communities behind these numbers. The deaths aren’t just a point on a curve we’ve come to know too well. They represent—each one—a single meaningful story. The May 24th cover of the New York Times said it all. The headline was this: “US deaths near 100,000, an incalculable loss: They were not simply names on a list. They were us.” And then, each of the 100,000 named with a description:
“Joseph W. Hammond, 64, stopped working to look after his aging parents.”
“Louvenia Henderson, 44, proud single mother of three.”
“Jorge F. Casals, 75, put himself through college.”
Numbers represent individual lives and they also tell us a lot about who and what we value as a country, as a region, and as people. Earlier in May, Dr Deena Hinshaw confirmed the largest COVID 19 outbreak linked to a single facility in North America, the facility a meat packing plant in Alberta. 1,560 cases. 949 predominantly immigrant employees infected. Two deaths: Hiep Bui, a 67 year old woman who worked for 23 years at the plant and Armando Sallegue, a father visiting his son. The plant closed and reopened a mere two weeks later despite widespread protest from workers. Let me say it again: numbers tell us what we value, and who and what we struggle or neglect to value.
So let’s talk about that number in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles. All throughout the gospels, all throughout the ministry and life of Jesus, it’s Peter and the twelve disciples. But here, shortly after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, it’s not Peter standing with the twelve, it’s Peter standing with the eleven. Eleven individuals, each one a single story, each one meaningful: there’s Simon (whom Jesus named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James. Who’s missing?
Interesting that only a chapter ago, Peter and the eleven are gathered and Matthias is named the twelfth disciple to replace Judas Iscariot who had become a traitor among them. Matthias is named only a chapter ago and yet the author tells us that Peter is standing, not with the twelve, but with the eleven. The author’s commentary is this: even though a twelfth apostle was selected, Peter and his friends are struggling to accept the fact that their ideal, their desire for a line of “original followers” called by Jesus has been interrupted. They’d rather be an original eleven, than an imperfect twelve. The phrase, “Peter standing with the eleven” tells us what the disciples at that point in time valued and moreso, who and what they struggled or neglected to value.
But here’s the funny thing about numbers in the Christian tradition. It’s not just human stories and human values that lie behind them. The Spirit of God is also at work—her stories, her values, forever being told. Maybe you’ve heard it said that in the Bible the ‘twelve disciples’ is a literary tool used to refer the reader to the twelve tribes of Israel, linking the story of Jesus’ ministry in the New Testament to the revelation of God in the Hebrew scriptures, commonly called the Old Testament. Whenever the twelve tribes of Israel are referenced in the Hebrew scriptures, it’s typically a sign that God is about to do a new thing. There is the renewing of the Sinai covenant through theophanies, “the sound, fire, and speech” that we see in the Pentecost narrative present in many of these stories, too. Twelve is an important number in the Old Testament because it signals that God is about to make some room where God’s people had forgotten or neglected to do so. God reminds her people to act in ways that cut across borders and promote justice for the oppressed.
The author of the Acts of the Apostles reveals God’s values behind the numbers. The disciples see themselves as the eleven and not the twelve because they are afraid of expanding their worldview and the author wants us to see the irony in this: by clinging to eleven, not twelve, they have literally made room in their number! What human beings use as a tool for exclusion, God transforms into a sign of pending inclusion—a new thing is about to take place, a new way of being is about to be established.
Where there were twelve, now there are eleven and the author tells us that this eleven is in relation to the “Men of Judea”, religious officials of a particular gender, members of a particular socioeconomic class. This eleven is also in relation to “all who live in Jerusalem” (oh, and the women who were the first witnesses to the resurrection whom Peter forgets to mention in his opening remarks). And this is what Peter says to them: “The Spirit of God has been poured out on all flesh.”
The Spirit of God has been poured out on all flesh.
No one number, no one group of people, has ownership of the Spirit. The Spirit is meant to be shared. The Spirit that descended at Pentecost is a Hebrew, Old Testament kind of a Spirit. She divides herself into tongues of unwily flame, cutting across borders and promoting justice for the oppressed to the point that those who were once in conflict start speaking each other’s languages.
That’s the story behind the numbers in this text. What’s the story behind the numbers in yours?
In this time and place we are called to pay attention to the numbers. Behind the statistics we see day in and day out, the Spirit is resting and refuses to get up until we recognize who and what we value and the people we struggle or neglect to value.
On this feast of Pentecost, pay attention to the numbers and you will learn to value what God values. To quote the Rev. Traci Blackmon, Executive Minister of Justice & Witness Ministries of The United Church of Christ, pay attention to the numbers because “when you see the other you are less likely to throw them away.”
Our reading from the Acts of the Apostles says this: “But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them”. Peter, standing with the eleven. Let’s keep that number in mind.
Numbers are important these days. I’ve got a bit of routine going and maybe this sounds familiar: the BC briefing with Dr Bonnie Henry and Adrian Dix; the Alberta briefing with Dr Deena Hinshaw; and the national update from Chief Public Health Officer, Dr Theresa Tam. At each of these, I’m watching for the numbers: how many new positive cases in Vancouver? How many deaths in the province and across the country? How many known recoveries?
The numbers at these briefings function in a couple of ways. First, they reflect individuals. Dix and Henry, when they read a statistic, the number of new deaths in the province, for example, they pause to acknowledge that there are families and communities behind these numbers. The deaths aren’t just a point on a curve we’ve come to know too well. They represent—each one—a single meaningful story. The May 24th cover of the New York Times said it all. The headline was this: “US deaths near 100,000, an incalculable loss: They were not simply names on a list. They were us.” And then, each of the 100,000 named with a description:
“Joseph W. Hammond, 64, stopped working to look after his aging parents.”
“Louvenia Henderson, 44, proud single mother of three.”
“Jorge F. Casals, 75, put himself through college.”
Numbers represent individual lives and they also tell us a lot about who and what we value as a country, as a region, and as people. Earlier in May, Dr Deena Hinshaw confirmed the largest COVID 19 outbreak linked to a single facility in North America, the facility a meat packing plant in Alberta. 1,560 cases. 949 predominantly immigrant employees infected. Two deaths: Hiep Bui, a 67 year old woman who worked for 23 years at the plant and Armando Sallegue, a father visiting his son. The plant closed and reopened a mere two weeks later despite widespread protest from workers. Let me say it again: numbers tell us what we value, and who and what we struggle or neglect to value.
So let’s talk about that number in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles. All throughout the gospels, all throughout the ministry and life of Jesus, it’s Peter and the twelve disciples. But here, shortly after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, it’s not Peter standing with the twelve, it’s Peter standing with the eleven (2). Eleven individuals, each one a single story, each one meaningful: there’s Simon (whom Jesus named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James. Who’s missing?
Interesting that only a chapter ago, Peter and the eleven are gathered and Matthias is named the twelfth disciple to replace Judas Iscariot who had become a traitor among them. Matthias is named only a chapter ago and yet the author tells us that Peter is standing, not with the twelve, but with the eleven. The author’s commentary is this: even though a twelfth apostle was selected, Peter and his friends are struggling to accept the fact that their ideal, their desire for a line of “original followers” called by Jesus has been interrupted. They’d rather be an original eleven, than an imperfect twelve. The phrase, “Peter standing with the eleven” tells us what the disciples at that point in time valued and moreso, who and what they struggled or neglected to value.
But here’s the funny thing about numbers in the Christian tradition. It’s not just human stories and human values that lie behind them. The Spirit of God is also at work—her stories, her values, forever being told. Maybe you’ve heard it said that in the Bible the ‘twelve disciples’ is a literary tool used to refer the reader to the twelve tribes of Israel, linking the story of Jesus’ ministry in the New Testament to the revelation of God in the Hebrew scriptures, commonly called the Old Testament. Whenever the twelve tribes of Israel are referenced in the Hebrew scriptures, it’s typically a sign that God is about to do a new thing. There is the renewing of the Sinai covenant through theophanies, “the sound, fire, and speech” that we see in the Pentecost narrative present in many of these stories, too. Twelve is an important number in the Old Testament because it signals that God is about to make some room where God’s people had forgotten or neglected to do so. God reminds her people to act in ways that cut across borders and promote justice for the oppressed.
The author of the Acts of the Apostles reveals God’s values behind the numbers. The disciples see themselves as the eleven and not the twelve because they are afraid of expanding their worldview and the author wants us to see the irony in this: by clinging to eleven, not twelve, they have literally made room in their number! What human beings use as a tool for exclusion, God transforms into a sign of pending inclusion—a new thing is about to take place, a new way of being is about to be established.
Where there were twelve, now there are eleven and the author tells us that this eleven is in relation to the “Men of Judea”, religious officials of a particular gender, members of a particular socioeconomic class. This eleven is also in relation to “all who live in Jerusalem” (oh, and the women who were the first witnesses to the resurrection whom Peter forgets to mention in his opening remarks). And this is what Peter says to them: “The Spirit of God has been poured out on all flesh.”
The Spirit of God has been poured out on all flesh.
No one number, no one group of people, has ownership of the Spirit. The Spirit is meant to be shared. The Spirit that descended at Pentecost is a Hebrew, Old Testament kind of a Spirit. She divides herself into tongues of unwily flame, cutting across borders and promoting justice for the oppressed to the point that those who were once in conflict start speaking each other’s languages.
That’s the story behind the numbers in this text. What’s the story behind the numbers in yours?
In this time and place we are called to pay attention to the numbers. Behind the statistics we see day in and day out, the Spirit is resting and refuses to get up until we recognize who and what we value and the people we struggle or neglect to value.
On this feast of Pentecost, pay attention to the numbers and you will learn to value what God values. To quote the Rev. Traci Blackmon, Executive Minister of Justice & Witness Ministries of The United Church of Christ, pay attention to the numbers because “when you see the other you are less likely to throw them away.” (4)
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2.In the New Testament manuscript, Codex Bezae, the author makes this point even stronger, writing: “Peter standing with the ten”. Jenny Read-Heimerdinger and Josep Rius-Camps, The Message of Acts in Codex Bezae: A Comparison with the Alexandrian Tradition (Bloomsbury: London, 2004).
4. Traci Blackmon, “Recentering Jesus”, sermon preached on 18 May 2020 at the Luther Seminary Festival of Homiletics.
