During this time, as the disciples were increasing in numbers by leaps and bounds, hard feelings developed among the Greek-speaking believers—"Hellenists"—toward the Aramaic-speaking believers because their widows were being discriminated against in the daily food lines. So the Twelve called a meeting of the disciples. They said, "It wouldn't be right for us to abandon our responsibilities for preaching and teaching the Word of God to help with the care of the poor (lit. wait on tables). So, friends, choose seven men from among you whom everyone trusts, men full of the Holy Spirit and good sense, and we'll assign them this task.
Meanwhile, we'll stick to our assigned tasks of prayer and speaking God's Word."
The congregation thought this was a great idea. They went ahead and chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, Philip, Procorus, Nicanor,
Commentary:
This passage tells about those first house fellowships and provides wonderful insights for our Gatherings. In addition to those first Christian groups being made up of different kinds of people ...
2. The first Gathering encountered problems.
You know the old saying, "If you find the perfect church, don't join it because you'll ruin it." People can create for themselves and others very unrealistic assumptions and expectations about churches and other Christians. These expectations usually center around the demand that others behave better than they do, forgetting sometimes that the church was never made for perfect people, but strugglers and redeemed sinners coming to terms with Christ's claim upon their lives.
Acts 6 says that the Greek-speaking part of the fellowship was murmuring against the Aramaic-speaking believers. It's possible the Hellenists were simply raising legitimate questions, but what's more likely is that they were pulling each other aside and whispering allegations of unfairness and discrimination soto voce. We don't know how the Apostles heard of it, but hear about the growing dissension they did. This prejudice and discrimination becomes the second sin of the Church. The first was the lying greed of Ananias and Saphira.
But in spite of problems, the Apostles were learning to trust Christ for his Victory Cycle -- knowing that new opportunities are bound to cause problems, that problems are an invitation to prayer, that prayer opens us to God's character, inspires a new breakthrough, which leads to greater opportunities. Every problem the disciples have encountered so far in Acts shows this pattern. This problem will be no different -- it opens the fellowship to the very first division of labor among the believers and Apostles sharing their hands-on blessing and commissioning of new workers in the Kingdom.
(to be continued ...)
Heavenly Father:
Is it fair that we believers should be held to a higher standard
than that to which worldlings aspire?
How can we ever win if outsiders expect perfection;
when we know we are at best only sometime sin-dominators
and more typically sin-strugglers in our flesh?
So we get labelled hypocrites and rightly so, I guess,
if the standard is the Savior's love and not just how far I've come.
But such expectations just go to prove that every soul
carries within itself the God-shaped vacuum
that cries out to be filled and finds humanity a poor substitute.
And in the end it does not matter what others think.
Our reputation is not the magnet for the sin-sick heart
but grace that sees in problems Heaven's opportunities.
The house church has no building on a highly trafficked corner
with clever signage or inspiring architecture
to remind the sojourner of a higher calling.
Your cathedral is in our hearts, or it is nowhere,
travels from place to place, a nomadic sanctuary,
like Aaron's tabernacle at which Moses sits exhausted.
Lord, write your law upon our hearts and thus fulfill
the Scripture promise that you have claimed us, freed us
from the harsh expectations of those living under Law.
Be our freedom when errors haunt us,
when worldling expectations daunt us,
and by Your inner Spirit witness
to Christ's victory and fitness
to be our God,
to be our goal.
Amen
Amen
Commentary:
Acts 6 gives us insights into God's original intent and methodologies for his gatherings. Those first house fellowships were culturally diverse and they experienced very real problems. But what is perhaps most instructive is how they went about solving those problems.
3. The first Gathering was spiritual.
This is something easily overlooked and taken for granted. The first congregations were made up of spiritual people. What does that mean? We throw the word "spiritual" around like we know what it means, but do we? Christian spirituality is focused on the two disciplines by which this problem is approached and solved in Acts 6: the study of God's word and prayer.
A spiritual person is one who studies the Scriptures and prays to obey God's perspective on every problem. Every New Testament book is saturated with Scripture references. The Bible of the earliest Christians was the Jewish Bible as interpreted by Jesus and which our Lord passed on to his apostles. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament function for the Christian as a link to the spirituality of Jesus. Jesus said he would make the his Holy Spirit operational through the Word. The same Spirit who inspired it's writing inspires those who read.
Prayer must have been something different in the early church than what it has become in today's congregations. How much time do we actually spend in prayer as compared to the amount of time spent listening to a sermon? How much time do we devote to socializing as a church compared to the amount of time in earnest prayer with and for each other (and I'm not talking about rote prayers recited from a book).
The opposite of spiritual is not secular, but traditional. You are either a spiritual Christian or a traditional Christian. I do not want to be accused of dividing the Kingdom into first and second class citizens. But in fact, only the spiritual Christian is called into the Kingdom. In the absence of a call, many uncalled believers are left with the only other option -- to be a traditional Christian. Here's how you tell the difference. What is the microscope and what is the specimen? Do traditions judge the Scripture or does Scripture judge our traditions?
A church may have a tradition of praying to Mary and saints, but since this is in direct contradiction to the clear teaching of the Scriptures (1 Timothy 2:5), it isn't spiritual. This is not to say that tradition cannot be helpful or even inspirational. Traditions may provide guidance on those issues Scripture doesn't address, but tradition is only spiritual when it confirms the apostolic ministry of the Word and calls us into prayer, discovering God's character and purpose for these present days.
(to be continued)
Lord Jesus:
Bless our Gatherings with the deep spirituality
that hears Your Word and having heard
drives us to our knees confessing, repenting
hungry for empowered blessing
that drags us kicking, screaming from the past
into that which outlasts every human accomplishment.
Whether Wesley, Calvin or Augustine,
ancient tradition may guide a search
but cannot grow a spiritual church.
Spiritual or traditional -- Jesus past or present tense?
The church's seven last words of yore:
"We've never done it that way before."
So let our prayers be serious intercession
teach us that in our prayerful session
it is not how long we pray or how often
but does the praying our hard hearts soften
and we perceive with hearts aglow
God's truth undoes our status quo.
Help us face our problems as spiritual friends,
beings born from above;
since tradition cannot foster love.
Amen.
Commentary:
How decisions were made in the first house fellowships are instructive for how we should approach problems not only in our Gatherings but in our personal lives as well.
4) They assigned people to tasks according to spiritual gifts.
The apostles kept as their priority the Great Commission Jesus had given them -- to teach and preach the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20). It's not that they were too good to serve tables, but there were others with the gifts of administration and help who could better carry out this more localized ministry. By the way, 'serving tables" was not being a waiter, but more likely these were money tables and perhaps tables on which were spread vegetables, fruit, and sometimes meat. Think of it more like a community food pantry.
Why were these particular seven men chosen? Their qualifications are carefully outlined because they are to be guidelines for all who follow. First, the leadership of each congregation was chosen, not by the overseer (bishop), but by the congregation itself. The
Greek fellowships were to make the selection themselves. The earliest church was clearly congregational, and only hierarchical in as much as the apostles settled disputes and were instrumental in establishing new congregations on their missionary journeys.
Notice that all seven have Greek names, a tip of the hat to the core problem of perceived favoritism and/or discrimination. They were to be men. This is not because men were considered superior, but to ameliorate the Jewish Christians whose culture was only becoming familiar with the liberation Jesus intended for women. In Europe women served in leadership positions in the church.
These ministers were to have a good reputation. This means that they were acceptable to both parties to the disagreement. They were not part of the dissension. Many congregations become disabled by conflict when those who stir up dissension are put in charge to ameliorate them. In fact, the problem will often only get worse.
They were full of the Holy Spirit. This means they gave evidence of living the spirit-filled life by their devotion to Scripture and prayer. Their spiritual gifts were a match for the task.
They were full of wisdom. Wisdom is the practical application of God's truth to daily living. They were mature believers, not new-comers to the faith. This may also refer to the fact that they may have been older men who could better relate to the frailty and
concerns of the widows.
They were blessed by the apostles. The laying on of hands was not the kind of magical pedigree that Rome and their sycophants imagine. In fact, it may have been the exact opposite of conferring special status. It may have been more for the apostles than these table servers. The apostles pray and bless, releasing the ministry to these partners. The laying on of hands was never followed by a slap (as by today's bishops). This unscriptural practice came about with the corruption of the church by political power. Ordination was a release of power, not some feudal knighting ceremony.
God of grace:
You give gifts to every believer by which we may serve,
by which we may find our way
to live in the moment of Your eternity of love and joy.
How often we must surely disappoint You and ourselves
by long carrying burdens and responsibilites
You have bid us by Your spirit drop at Jesus feet.
In questionings, doubts, and adversities
help us pause to review the ways of Your problem solvers;
drive us to prayer and discovery of Your Word and will.
Fill us with your Holy Spirit and thereby evidence
whatever gifts we need to bless each other and the world
with Your authority and benediction.
Save us from the twisted notions of powerful elite
who would make of Your Gospel an excuse for rule
and ignore the widows and washing of Your feet.
Help us true servanthood to grasp
and renounce whatever gain would interfere
with your sanctifying grace and cheer.
Amen.
The Word of God prospered. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased dramatically. Not least, a great many priests submitted themselves to the faith.
Stephen, brimming with God's grace and energy, was doing wonderful things among the people, unmistakable signs that God was among them. But then some men from the Freedman's Synagogue whose membership was made up of freed slaves, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and some others from Cilicia and Asia, went up against him trying to argue him down. But they were no match for his wisdom and spirit when he spoke.
So in secret they bribed men to lie: "We heard him cursing Moses and God." That stirred up the people, the religious leaders, and religion scholars. They grabbed Stephen and took him before the High Council. They put forward their bribed witnesses to testify: "This man talks nonstop against this Holy Place and God's Law. We even heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth would tear this place down and throw out all the customs Moses gave us."
As all those who sat on the High Council looked at Stephen, they found they couldn't take their eyes off him—his face was like the face of an angel!
(Acts 6:7-15)
Commentary:
The number of Christians in Jerusalem had grown to perhaps 25,000 in what was probably less than a year. But it's not the church that we're told propsered, but the Word of God. The Church is not the cause of anything (except maybe tradition and dissention); the church is always and only a result,a by-product of the action agent which is the Word of God calling God's elect to repentance and faith. The priorty of any spiritual gathering is the primacy of the Word of God, not creating traditions and not humanitarian effort.
So the disciples have maybe 25,000 people from whom to enlist the table servers. And Stephen is listed first. He was their first choice. He is an amazing figure whose ministry never produced a single convert, but who changed the church forever. Most people know Stephen as the first Christian martyr. But he was so much more.
It's interesting that Luke includes the historical detail about many priests becoming obedient to the faith, meaning they quit their day job and became students of the Gospel. But the next wave of persecution erupts from Freedmans Synagogue, a worship place for foreign Jews who were visiting Jerusalem.
Stephen's ministry forms a bridge between the ministry of Peter and the ministry of Paul.
God of Angelic Hosts:
How wonderful that Temple priests came to know You, and trust in Jesus;
those who wielded the bloody knife at the daily sacrifice
found true forgiveness in the blood of the perfect Lamb of God.
Priests who sung Your Psalms each day in Temple choirs
finally praise the Ancient of Days who Psalmists did inspire:
Jesus, David's Rock and Refuge, David's Son whom He calls Lord. (Luke 20:41-44)
Your Word has prospered, conquered all Jerusalem,
even Temple courts sprout a hotbed of Gospel followers. (Psalm 92:12-13)
Your mission in David's Holy City is just about complete.
Who will take Your Gospel farther afield but a Greek-speaking believer is revealed,
who is nothing but Spirit-controlled and wise,
who counts the task of helping widows his great prize.
But still he makes the rounds to debate and preach at his old haunts,
the synagogue of Greek-speakers, where he hopes to find some seekers,
but finds instead hatred from former slaves bound up by what tradition wants.
Your enemies deliberately suppress Your truth with lies (Romans 1:18-19)
to protect their fabled franchise and their power-lust disguise
from those who only wish to serve Your Word they've heard.
Angel face -- would my critics see in my countenance
serenity and solid faith in Your Sovereign Providence;
Angels face one way only - toward God who is their confidence.
As Stephen, let us turn and face You without alarm from enemies;
may your Word and Spirit be to us Spirit-blessed remedies
for anxious care and dread, and give us in those desparate places
angel faces.
Amen.
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