SELECTED

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word. 

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word.”

This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Acts 6:1-7

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Christian church was well on its way to establishment in Jerusalem. The apostles had worked tirelessly once they received the Holy Spirit to spread the Gospel in the name of Jesus and that work was bearing a great harvest of new believers. All this happened despite the attempts of the Jewish religious authorities to try and deter them from their ministry work.

Well, as the numbers of believers was growing, so too was the demand on the apostles. The needs of the people began to be much more than hearing a timely word preached or to be healed miraculously by a touch or even the shadow of Peter.

We know this because as the sixth chapter of Acts opens, we find a case of social inequity boil to the surface. Jesus had preached the importance of caring for the “least of these” and culturally, widows would certainly fit in that category. Many women experienced deep poverty after their husband’s death and needed the support of family which often was lacking. Thus, widows were often struggling financially and relied on the welfare of others to survive to include the daily distribution of food.

It was this provision that led to the flux within the widow community as the Greek (Hellenistic) widows felt as if favoritism was being showed to the Jewish widows when it came to food distribution. And so they complained to the apostles who needed to find a good solution while not subtracting from the Gospel ministry work that Jesus had called them to.

And we read where the apostles then did what good leaders sometimes do, including the people in the decision making process. In this case, they (the Twelve) gathered all the disciples together and said:

“It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word.”

Note here that the proposal was not for the apostles to overextend themselves as if they were the only ones who could carry out the work of Jesus. Rather, they decided to expand the number of servants by seven and specifically earmark the newly selected men to care for the physical needs of the believers (which would include food distribution). Meanwhile, the apostles would continue to give their attention to “prayer and the ministry of the Word”.

How did the people receive the proposal?

The scriptures tell us that it “pleased the whole group” which chose the following men who met the requirement to be full of the Spirit and wisdom:

Stephen, Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas.

All seven were “presented…to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.”

I was reminded after reading this passage about how Jesus chose His first twelve disciples. Of interest, Jesus didn’t list the specific qualities that he worked off of to select these men. He didn’t need to because Jesus never needed to justify His actions to any person. Ever.

But after Jesus ascended, there had to be some specific criteria to select the seven additional servants and that criteria involved choosing men who were full of the Spirit and wisdom. And the people did just that.

What was the outcome of these actions?

Well, we read where the newly selected seven worked to meet the peoples’ physical needs while the Twelve centered on the spiritual needs. As a result, the Word of God continued to spread and the number of Jerusalem disciples increased rapidly with even priests converting and becoming “obedient to the faith”.

Friends, today the Christian church still selects and ordains men who care for the physical needs of the people to allow the pastor to attend to the spiritual needs. These men, often called elders or deacons, play an important role in the life of the church as they work with a heart of a servant. And like back in New Testament times, their work plays an important role in the growth and health of the church.

Next time you get the chance, take a moment to thank men who have been selected and then appointed to me elders or deacons. They are men of wisdom and Spirit who follow the lead of the selected Seven in the sixth chapter of Acts and help others come to Christ through the work done in His holy name.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com