Devotions on Acts
Act 6:1-15 NASB -
"1 Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a
complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews,
because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.
2 So the twelve
summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable
for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. 3 "Therefore,
brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the
Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. 4 "But we
will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."
5 The statement found
approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of
faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas
and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. 6 And these they brought before the
apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.
7 The word of God
kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase
greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to
the faith.
8 And Stephen, full
of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9
But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both
Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued
with Stephen. 10 But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit
with which he was speaking.
11 Then they secretly
induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against
Moses and against God." 12 And they stirred up the people, the elders and
the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him
before the Council. 13 They put forward false witnesses who said, "This
man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law; 14 for we have
heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the
customs which Moses handed down to us." 15 And fixing their gaze on him,
all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an
angel."
Two stories are in
this chapter. One deals with a problem
for the ministry among the disciples of Jesus and the other deals with a
problem caused because of rejection of the gospel from those outside the
church. This makes clear that we should
not be surprised when ministry is messy and hard. It has been since the days of the Apostles.
People have a strong
commitment to fairness. Especially when
it involves them or those they love.
This impression of fairness can easily be felt when two cultures or
races are together. It is easy for the
minority to be oppressed by the majority.
Now sometimes things like this are intentional and other times they just
happen that way. No unfairness was
planned but it may be happening.
The response of the
Apostles is not to get defensive, angry, and threatening. They see the need to delegate this ministry
to people who can focus on it since it is not their highest priority. They know they have to be focused on the
ministry of the Word of God and prayer.
So they set up an election of godly men to oversee and manage this
caring for the poorest among the community of disciples.
It is noteworthy that
all those elected seem to come from the Greek minority that felt
oppressed. The Hebrew disciples seem to
have voted for putting people into authority over this ministry of compassion
to the very people that felt that things were not being handled fairly. This shows compassion, grace, and the heart
desire to avoid all appearance of evil.
This is practical love.
It should be noted
that this church gives out food daily to those in need. This is a significant commitment to helping
the poor.
One of the leaders
chosen to help the poor is Stephen. He
is also involved in evangelism. His
witness is so powerful that some among the Jews plan to put up false charges
against him. They have either
misunderstood his words or are purposely twisting them to make up a charge
against him.
Stephen seems to have
responded to this persecution with calm faith.
His body language is speaking of godly presence and peace as he goes to
the court.
There are two
ministries focused on in this chapter.
One is caring for the poor fairly and effectively and the other is
evangelism. It would seem clear that it
is the will of the Lord to have these two expressions of our faith as a
church.
Most commentators,
see these men as the first
“deacons”. The idea of the deacon was
to serve the poor and share the gospel.
In time as the church began to have property then the care of the
physical facilities and finances of the church also came under the oversight of
the deacons.
How should we then
live?
What is your reaction
when someone accuses you of being unfair?
Are you defensive or open to correction?
Does the pain of the other person matter to you? Do you get angry?
Do you look for
solutions to problems or just try to justify what you are currently doing?
How can controversy
hurt the ministry? Why is it important
we find win/win solutions to problems?
Do you care about the
poor? Do you think we as a church do
enough to help the poor?
Are we ready to
suffer persecution for our faith? Could
we be calm and courageous if we faced a court trial like Stephen? How could we prepare for such a day?
Prayer
Lord, help me this
day to seek unity and peace with my fellow believers. Help me to be a peacemaker when controversy
occurs and not become angry. Keep me
from becoming defensive and self-serving.
Help me see how I can work towards the good for everyone and what would
be in the interest of the common good.
Forgive us our pride and teach us true humility.
Fill us with the Holy
Spirit that we might present your gospel to a watching world with loving
boldness and deep conviction. Increase
our faith and overcome our fears of sharing our faith. Lord, have mercy. Amen
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