PMC

November 8, 2009

Acts 6:1-7

We are continuing this morning our sermon series from the book of Acts. Acts tells the story of the birth of the church and its spread to the ends of the earth.

Our goal in these sermons is to learn from the early church about what it means to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and to carry on the ministry of Jesus in the world.

We learned earlier that the church birthed in Acts 2 was a multicultural, multilingual, and multinational church. There were 13 nations listed in Acts 2 as being present for Pentecost and many of these people became followers of Jesus.

So, the church from its very beginning crossed national boundaries and the barriers of culture, language, class, and race were being broken down by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 4 we also learned that the Holy Spirit is so transforming lives that people are selling homes, lands, cars, and other belongings and giving the money to the Apostles so that it could be shared with those in need.

People were so generous that Luke writes – “there were no needy persons among them.”

But then we come to our scripture for today from Acts 6.

Luke mentions in verse one that the church continues to increase in numbers. The church in Jerusalem is a dynamic, growing church.

Everything seems to be going great, except for one little problem. It is a problem of “food distribution”. And on top of that there is a charge of discrimination.

The Hellenists complain that the Hebrews – the ones in power – are neglecting to serve the Hellenist widows. The complaint is that the money coming in to the Apostles was not being distributed fairly to all the people.

The Hellenists in this passage are “Greek speaking Jews”. Hellenists were Jews that had been exiled to Babylon and other countries and then had remained there for most of their lives.

Over the years, many of these Hellenists or Diaspora Jews as they were called, returned regularly to Jerusalem for festivals and some remained there and made it their home.

These Hellenists, though, had developed a different culture and speech from those Jews born and educated in Palestine.

The problem that arises here in the early church is between these Hellenist Jews – with a different culture and language – and the Hebrew Jews.

The complaint is that the Hebrew widows are getting better care than the Hellenist widows.

Now, one helpful thing for me in this story is to know that from the beginning of the church – the church has always struggled with tensions that come from diversity of culture and language, diversity of viewpoints, and problems with organizational structures.

The sad part for me, though, is realizing how little, over 2000 years, things have changed in the church when it comes to addressing diversity issues.

I have come to realize how issues of diversity and prejudice and discrimination are part of the human condition. Even as long-time Christians we can find ourselves struggling with these things from time to time.

The challenge for each generation is to name the problem as it arises and to find ways, with the help of God’s Spirit, to repent and make changes that are healing and life-giving for all involved.

The good thing in this story is that when the complaint is raised – the church doesn’t try to cover it up, but it listens and they immediately act to address the problem.

In verse two Luke says – “the Apostles called together the whole community of the disciples and said it is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and serving the word.”

One of the major tenets of Jewish faith was providing for the “poor and disadvantaged”. The OT is full of God’s concern for the widow, the orphan, and the poor.

A Jewish custom of that day was to go from house to house collecting food on trays and distributing it to the needy.

The early church followed this same practice but they even did more. They also sold land and houses to help those in need. One of their core values was mutual aid and caring for the poor in their midst.

However, as the church grew the Apostles were finding it difficult to teach and preach and pray – and at the same time, to oversee the distribution of food and money to those in need.

It isn’t that the Apostles found “waiting on tables” a second rate job. Serving the word is not better than serving at tables. There is no hierarchy of value here.

In fact, Luke uses the Greek word “diakonia” to describe the task of both. The “distribution of food” and the “ministry of the word” are both seen as a ministry of “diakonia.”

The important thing here is that the Apostles are clear about their calling and priorities and they know their service to the community is best done through prayer and teaching.

The Apostles need help because the church is growing so fast that the infrastructure to support the church and minister to people’s needs is inadequate.

The Apostles can’t manage the distribution of food and keep up with their principal calling and ministry, so they call for the appointment of new leaders to help out.

Leadership roles have to change and structures have to change as the church grows.

Now, I find this brief story very helpful, because in it I see some things we can learn as a church about handling change, dealing with conflict, the role of leadership in the church, and about unity in the congregation.

1. The first thing I notice here is that when a problem arises – the leaders and church take it seriously.

The Apostles, instead of seeing this conflict as a sign of failure, use it as an opportunity to learn from the situation and to make the needed changes to grow their community.

As I have said here on numerous occasions, conflict is a part of congregational life. No one really likes conflict, but conflict is a normal part of a healthy church.

It isn’t a matter of “will we have conflict?”, but rather, “how will we deal with conflict when it comes?” How will we work it out together?

When the Hellenists complained about their widows not getting a fair share of the daily food distribution – the Apostles listen to the complaint and then they name the problem.

Sometimes the hardest thing is to acknowledge that we have a problem in the church. Often times churches spend enormous amounts of energy trying to keep problems or conflicts underground.

But in this case, the Apostles identify the problem and acknowledge to the whole community that something different has to be done.

They bring this particular conflict to the whole community because it is dealing with one of the church’s core values and mission.

One of their core values is that “no one in the community is to go without basic necessities”. So, when that core value is not being met then the church needs to address it collectively.

An important role of church leadership is to determine which conflicts need to be dealt with by the whole church. Not every conflict or problem is worthy of bringing to the whole church.

Only those conflicts that go to the heart of the church’s identity and mission need to be addressed by everyone.

So one role of leadership is to listen to the people, take seriously the complaint, and determine if it is something the whole church should address or a particular group.

1. The Apostles, though, don’t just identify the problem as “some folks aren’t getting enough food”. They go deeper and see the problem as part of the rapid growth of the community.

The Apostles help the church reframe the issue from one of discrimination to one of rapid growth.

At one time the Apostles were able to serve the word and serve tables, but now they can’t anymore. They frame the issue as having been brought on by growth and change.

The conflict here helps the Apostles refocus their energy around their primary calling and to delegate some responsibilities to other leaders.

But if they hadn’t reframed the conflict to one of rapid growth they may have just tried to work harder as Apostles to make sure everyone got their share of food.

How many times have you been in a meeting and someone says – “I don’t think that’s the real issue. I think the real issue is…..”.

So many times conflicts fester and go unresolved because they have been misdiagnosed or misnamed at the beginning and the real issue never gets addressed.

The Apostles here help the church move forward by correctly identifying the “real issue” as one of rapid growth and a poor infrastructure.

The first step is to hear the complaint or conflict but the second step is being able to identify the “real issue” in the conflict and reframe it.

1. The next thing the Apostles do is they give some guiding principles for how the church will work through this conflict.

1. They clarify first of all their own calling and ministry to be one of serving the word and prayer. They admit they can’t do everything.

1. But next they lay out a set of qualifications for those who will serve tables.

In verse three they say – these must be persons of good standing – that is their reputations in the community must be outstanding.

They must also be full of the Holy Spirit – in other words they must be mature in their faith,

And lastly, they must be full of wisdom – they must possess some practical wisdom and organizational talent for this role.

These criteria are important because persons in leadership must be committed to the vision and faith of the community and must be gifted for the role.

By articulating these guiding principles everyone is clear about roles and expectations for making these important decisions.

1. But then the Apostles do something here that I think was really a leading of the Holy Spirit.

The Apostles tell the Hellenists – the ones who brought the complaint – to choose from their own group seven people who meet the criteria for leadership.

This potentially explosive issue of discrimination is partly resolved by empowering those who are being left out with leadership and trust.

The Apostles are letting go of the nomination process and entrusting that to the community. They are also letting go of the purse strings and turning that over to the Hellenists.

We kind of just read over the names of the seven men mentioned here and think nothing of it but these men are all Greek speaking Jews. They will now have the responsibility of dealing with the distribution of food to all people.

Empowering those who are being treated unfairly with responsibility and with resources is a huge step forward.

The church here in Acts 6 is growing and this new growth meant the inclusion of new ethnic and language groups.

The Apostles could have tried to stay in control but they broadened the leadership group to include these new people groups.

And then to authenticate the leadership of these seven new leaders – they had a public ceremony of laying on of hands and prayer.

It was important for the church to publicly confirm their calling and to ask God’s blessing on their work and ministry.

For me, this biblical passage of scripture gives us some helpful guidelines for handling conflict in a healthy way. We need to listen to the complaint, identify the real issue, outline the process for discernment, empower people with responsibility, and then confirm them in a public way.

But I think it also opens a window for us as the church today engages a diverse and multicultural society.

The Hellenists today who are getting left out of the food distribution may be a generation of young adults who feel like they have no say in the direction of the church.

The Hellenists may be an older generation who laments the loss of familiar music or hymnody which has been replaced by more contemporary music. Or it may be the younger generation who feel stuck in a church that says “this is the way we have always done it” and they feel completely powerless to change things.

Certainly, racial ethnic groups often feel like they do not have access to resources and leadership roles in predominantly Anglo churches.

And so the question for us today is – how does Acts 6 speak to us in the midst of generational changes, cultural changes, and diverse people groups?

I am sure that conflict will continue to be with us in the church. But I also hope that instead of lamenting it as a sign of failure – we will come to see conflict as an opportunity or occasion for change to do God’s will.

Luke ends this section in verse 7 by writing – “the word of God continued to spread and the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”

The complaint the Hellenists brought against the Hebrew Jews was threatening to derail the mission of the church. But Luke makes it clear here that the conflict has been resolved in such a way that the church continues to grow and carry on its mission.

This passage shows that conflict can be resolved faithfully – even though there will usually be some loss and pain involved.

I think this story has some important things to say to us today as we grapple with issues of diversity, unmet needs, structural changes, growth, and leadership.

My prayer is that God would give us clarity of vision and direction as we discern the Holy Spirit’s leading in our midst so that we can continue to carry on the ministry of Jesus in the world.

Amen.