How do we truly serve others?
How do we truly help and care for people? I think instinctively we know a bit of this. We know that we need food and warmth at the most basic of levels and in some ways these needs are the easiest to care for. But, of course, we know there is more to it than that. We know that we need community, we need purpose, and we need safety. These needs already become a little harder to fulfill. There is an even more deep-rooted and important need that many don’t usually realize. And that is for a deep and life-giving relationship with God.
As the Apostles say, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables”, we can be taken aback at the seeming insult to our most basic needs. Yet, all we have to do is look a little forward to see that the disciples are not taking these needs lightly, instead they take a lot of care with these physical needs. First, they make it their problem. The complaint was to the Hebrew Jews not just to the disciples and yet they make it their problem. Second, the don’t choose just anyone to do this work, they lift up Godly, spirit-filled, wise people to do the work. The next best, so to speak. We will see their giftings later. Instead, in the midst of their care, we are meant to recognize in their comments that we have a surpassing need, far greater then our most obvious needs and that is to hear and share the word of God, so that others and we ourselves might grow in our relationship.
This need is fundamental. We don’t have to go far in the bible to see this. If God created everything then growing closer to our creator, means growing closer to everything else, ourselves included as we understand our source. But go a little further, if God order the light and darkness to create the day and night, if he separated the water from the dry earth so that trees and life could grow, if he ordered the cosmos to have this perfect balance to create life, then knowing him means knowing the order and patterns of the world and that which leads to life. Go even further still, if God created all of this and gave it order, then as the only outside force, he must be sustaining it, he must be keeping order and life. So being closer to him means finding sustained order and life, that we can trust in that casts out fear. Go one step further still, if God created this great bounty for us to live in and grow in. And if the story of Adam and Eve’s removal from the garden teaches us anything, it is that separation from God leads to separation from life, bounty, community, peace, and growth. So, growing closer to God means being closer to not just the source, but the reality of life, bounty, and growth.
I could go into so much more, but even at this basic level, we can see and begin to understand that all of our fundamental needs and more are actually spiritual needs. What we need so much is a deeper and richer relationship with God and let me be clear it really is a richer relationship than anything else.
That is why the apostles speak as they do. They call feeding people’s basic needs waiting on tables because that is the comparative importance to a far surpassing need.
This brings me to an even more difficult realization when asking the question, how do we truly care for people? If our spiritual needs are our surpassing needs then how might we care for those needs in others? I think we need to take note of the apostles, it is by sharing the word of God. This doesn’t just mean Scripture, because what were the disciples sharing? We are meant to share everything that God is speaking to you, giving to you, and directing you towards, sharing the Holy Spirit in you. It is about inviting people into your experience and journey with God.
This becomes very difficult in today’s world. We have felt the discomfort of talking about faith, we may have even experienced hostility. We know the history of violence when people have forced their faith on others. We have seen people sharing or using faith to their own ends, rather than Gods. All of these are very important realities that we need to be conscious of because sharing God in Jesus is a great responsibility, but just because there are worries doesn’t change the fact that it is our responsibility to share the faith. Who else will do it? As Paul says, “If no one tells them, how with they ever know”. Of course, the Holy Spirit moves ahead of us, but we are still called to be his physical and vocal body in this world.
So, if sharing the faith and bringing people closer to the bounty of God is how we care for them, then there is an even more difficult realization that I’ve had to come to terms with:
Our not sharing Jesus, is ultimately more about our selfishness or lack of faith, then our care or love for others (repeat). This not an easy fact, but one we have to come to terms with. Shouldn’t we want to go through the discomfort and even a bit of hostility if it meant actually bringing people to a greater life, health and community? This isn’t even taking into account what Jesus could and has changed in the world.
Each and every one of us really needs to think and pray about why it is that we aren’t sharing our faith. If we think we don’t know enough, we have to realize that we will never know everything. Instead, you do know enough, you have a relationship with God, you have seen the way he has worked in your life, and all you need to do is pray and act faithfully and you will see more. Your life with God is a bounty to share. If you struggle because someone is of another faith, it is true that this is better than no faith at all, but if we are truly looking for truth and life then we will still share and move together. If we are scared about being overbearing, realize that everything new or uncomfortable is to some degree overbearing, but that doesn’t mean that it is hostile or violent, which we do want to avoid - this discomfort just means that it is introducing something new into a life or place that may not have created space for it before. Each of us needs to take time with the why we don’t share and discern the how we might begin to.
That brings us back to our passage. We hear about these seven people that are chosen to help distribute food. We will hear about a few of them later in Acts. What is the result of the apostles sharing the work? The word spreads more, the church grows faster and even the leaders of another faith start to join. This reminds us that sharing the work is important, but also an obvious fact: the more people we have sharing the faith the farther reaching it is and impactful.
That brings us to our second passage. We have continuously seen the pattern we see today, the community of Christ followers does something or becomes the vision of something wonderful, and then it is met with resistance or temptation or something of that sort. Today, we hear about how Stephen one of these chosen 7 who were charged with feeding the poor has become even more. He has been filled with grace and wonder and begins doing signs and wonders.
Everything seems wonderful, yet this group from the synagogue of the freedmen begins to conspire against Stephen. They argue with him, lie about him, instigate others against him, confront him, seize him, and get false witnesses to testify against him. Why? If all he was doing was feeding the poor and doing signs and wonders who could want this stopped? Well, for one, I think it mattered who Stephen belonged to, Jesus. People will resist the good when it comes from the unknown or different. They didn’t want the other camp to gain ground. But on another level Stephen was performing signs, signs mean that his actions are pointing somewhere. The challenge with sharing Christ and pointing the way is that Christ’s way challenges people to live different lives to believe in different things. This is the change we need.
In some way, we know the changing of hearts and minds is necessary and yet we resist it and say those closest to us don’t need it as much. These freedmen probably had a lot of good reasons to protect what they had. As their names suggests, the freedmen were likely slaves who became free. We can only imagine what their faith in a God who sets people free has meant for them, remembering maybe the exodus from Egypt or the Babylonian exile. Now, changing that belief, even a little bit, to see that God has also come down in Jesus to set us free from our brokenness, evil, resentment, anger and so much more, as important, similar, and essential as it is, becomes a stumbling block for them. The result of their hearts not being freed in Christ is that they now become just like the perpetrators, the oppressors, the murderers that they had been freed from. The shift in truth might have seemed small, but it has dire consequences, as we will hear even more next week.
We can sadly become like these freedmen. We hold onto something so much that it gets in the way. It gets in the way of us helping people, or seeing others, it can even get in the way so much that we hurt others without our ever realizing the devastation we cause. This applies to a whole lot of things and again it would do us well to reflect on what we hold onto that gets in the way of God, but in the context of today, I want you to think about what it is that you are holding onto that gets in the way of your sharing faith in Christ. As we have already discussed, our lacking of sharing Christ can’t truly be our care or love for the other person. We are called to love and care for one another and the fundamental way we do that is by sharing Christ in everything, but especially in word. Through invitation to a relationship with God we are giving them the life, purpose and peace that we all long for and that ultimately, we long for them to have.
9:30am
What are people’s needs?
How can we care for people?
What do you take from the apostles’ statement: “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables”
Why would sharing the word be more important?
What does this tell us about how we can truly care for people?
What is the result of their splitting the work?
Read Acts 6:8-15
Stephen is designated as someone to serve food, but what happens, what does God lead him to?
Why do you think these freedmen have it out for Stephen?
What does this tell us about our or others' resistance to sharing or hearing the faith?
Bible Study: Acts 6:1-7, Acts 6:8-15
Acts 6:1-7,
Vs. 1 - Why is it an important piece of information that this story happens while the disciples were growing in number? What often happens with growth?
What is the difference between Hellenistic Jews and Hebrew Jews? Why would there be discontent between the two?
Why is it important that both of these groups are served? Why is it important that the disciples were serving those outside of their community?
Vs. 2 - Which do you think is more important service or the word?
Why do you think the disciples respond this way? Do you struggle with this? Why would the word be more important to the disciples? Should it be to us?
Vs. 3 - What does this verse say about how important service is to the disciples?
Where does the number 7 come up otherwise? What does this tell us about the newly appointed?
What does it mean to be in good standings and filled with Spirit and wisdom?
Vs. 4 - Why would they need to devote themselves to prayer and serving the word? Does prayer and serving the word still play a part in these 7’s lives?
What does this distinction of roles tell us about the faith community and how we fit in with it?
Vs. 5 - Do you remember any stories about these named disciples? What do these stories tell us about how their roles develop?
Vs. 6 - What does this standing before the apostles and the laying on of hands mean? Does this remind you of anything?
Who are the apostles?
Vs. 7 - Do you think these new roles had a part to play in the growth?
Why do you think that suddenly a great number more of the priests start coming to faith as well?
Acts 6:8-15
Vs. 8 - What does it mean that Stephen was full of Grace and power?
Stephen was tasked to serve, but now he is doing great wonders and signs. What does this tell us about his role and ours? How are the two similar and different?
Vs. 9 - What does it mean that they were from the synagogue of freedmen (Freed Slaves NLT translation)? How would this have shaped their identity?
Why would they stand up and argue with Stephen?
Vs. 10 - Where did this wisdom and Spirit come from? Why was it so powerful?
Vs. 11-12 - Why would they want to/need to instigate others to lie about Stephen? Why would they want to seize him and put him on trial?
What is blasphemy and why is it so bad?
Vs. 13-14 - Why might someone believe these things about the disciples/Jesus? Why are they not true?
Vs. 15 - What was Stephen doing this whole time? Why was he suddenly glowing like an angel? Do you remember anytime someone else glowed?
