Introduction
In these early chapters of the book of Acts, we’ve been seeing how the Risen and Exalted Lord Jesus Christ has been building his church in Jerusalem with lots and lots of people being convinced and converted to a true faith in Christ; and they’ve been added to the church, so that the membership of the church grew to be in the thousands. And we’ve seen that the church was a happy place: the believers ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the members cared for one another and they shared what they owned with one another. Some members even sold some of their property and they gave the proceeds from the sale to the apostles to be distributed to anyone who was in need. So, those who had much shared with those who had little. And so, the church was growing; and the church was a happy place, where the members loved and cared for one another. And they worshipped the Lord together.
But since we live in a fallen world, and not in the new creation to come, then the church in Jerusalem faced trouble. Last week we were thinking about the trouble they faced from outside, when the apostles were arrested and they were brought before the Jewish authorities, who ordered that they should be flogged and who commanded them not to speak in the name of the Lord Jesus ever again. And so, the early church faced persecution from those who did not believe.
And then there was also trouble from within when Ananias and Sapphira lied about the gift they gave to the church to support the poor. They were guilty of deceit, because they lied to the Holy Spirit and to the apostles; and they pretended to be more generous than they really were.
So, the church was growing. And the church was a happy place where the members loved and cared for one another and where they worshipped God together. But since we live in a fallen world, and not in the new creation, there was also trouble: trouble from outside and trouble from within. And today’s passage is also about trouble that rose up from within the church. It’s about something that happened which posed a threat to the peace and unity and the happiness of the church. But it’s also about how the apostles acted decisively to sort things out to maintain the peace and unity and the happiness of the church.
Verse 1
Luke tells us in verse 1 of chapter 6 that in those days, when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
Luke refers here to the daily distribution of food among the widows. Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord made clear to his people they he cares for widows and orphans. He cares for the weak and the vulnerable and he wanted his people to care for such people and not to ignore them. And so, in Old Testament times arrangements were made by the Jews for their support; and food was made available to widows in the temple in Jerusalem.
However, perhaps the members of the church were now prevented from receiving support from the temple. Or perhaps the members of the church simply wanted to establish their own system of support. But whatever the origins of the practice, the Christian church in Jerusalem now had a ministry of their own to widows; and food was made available to them every day. And that was a wonderful thing for them to do and it shows us just how the Holy Spirit was renewing God’s people, filling them with a love and a concern for the weakest members of their community who had no one else to rely on.
Instead of being selfish, they were being generous. Instead of thinking of themselves only, they were thinking of others. Just as God had been kind to them in Christ Jesus, so they wanted to show kindness to one another. And, of course, in the rest of the New Testament, we have commandments from the apostles to love one another in practical ways. So, John says: If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? And so, he tells us to love one another with actions and not with words only. James says: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. And Paul says about widows in particular that we should give proper recognition to them. In other words, we should help them. In these and other places in the New Testament, believers are commanded to love one another in practical ways and to care especially for weak and vulnerable members of the church. And since that was the case, then in the early days of the church, food was distributed daily to needy widows.
However, now that the church was growing, a complaint arose. The Grecian Jews complained against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked. So, the peace and unity and happiness of the church was under threat because of what was happening. The Grecian Jews were Greek-speaking Jews, whereas the Hebraic Jews spoke Aramaic. The Greek-speaking Jews probably grew up in another part of the Roman Empire, but they had now moved to Jerusalem. The Hebraic or Aramaic-speaking Jews had probably lived in and around Jerusalem all their lives. And people from both of these groups were now among the believers. They were members of the church.
Now Luke doesn’t say that the Greek-speaking widows were being overlooked deliberately. And so, it’s possible that they were overlooked simply because the church was growing and some of them went unnoticed in the crowd. However, since they were being overlooked as a group, then that suggests that it may have been intentional. It’s possible that they were being overlooked because of who and what they were.
I’ve said before that God has created a world which is wonderfully diverse. Instead of making a world of uniformity, where everyone and everything is the same, he has filled the world with variety. And that’s what makes going on holiday to another country so interesting, because we get to experience a different place where the people are different from us and their clothes are different and their language is different and their food and their customs and habits and their homes and buildings are different. And when people from other countries move here, they enrich our lives by introducing things that are new. In Belfast, we can now eat and enjoy food from all over the world. And that’s a good thing.
But sin turns differences into division. Sin turns differences into division. God has filled the world with all this variety so that we’re not all the same. But instead of loving one another, the world is divided because of our sin. When someone is different from us, we are suspicious of them or we are against them. People put up signs telling immigrants to go home. Or we disregard them.
And that’s perhaps what was happening in Jerusalem in those days: the Greek-speaking widows had come from another country and they spoke a different language and perhaps they looked different from the locals. And instead of being included, they were being excluded. It happens all the time and it’s wrong, because we’re commanded to love everyone.
Verses 2 to 4
Now, the apostles — or the Twelve as Luke calls them in verse 2 — were the leaders of the church in those days. And when they became aware of this problem, they acted decisively. So, instead of disregarding the problem, they called together a meeting of all the disciples. Since there were thousands of them now, then this must have been a large meeting. But when they all gathered together, the apostles announced what needed to be done so that this problem could be addressed.
And first of all, they laid down a principle that it would not be right for them — the apostles — to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. That’s the principle they employed to guide them in reaching a decision about what to do about this problem which has arisen.
Now, notice that they’re not saying that waiting on tables, or serving food to the widows, was unimportant. They’re not saying that. They’re not being dismissive and they’re not saying that serving the widows is a waste of time or a waste of resources. They’re not saying that this ministry to widows needs to be scrapped. They’re not saying that.
But what they’re saying is that it’s not what they have been called to do as apostles. After the Lord’s resurrection, he appointed the apostles to be his witnesses and to proclaim to the nations that Christ died and was raised and is coming again. They were to make known to people everywhere all that Christ had said and done while he was on the earth. That’s what the Lord Jesus Christ had appointed them to do. And since he appointed them to that work, then they must not allow themselves to be distracted by other worthwhile tasks. Distributing food to needy widows was worthwhile. It was important. Someone had to do it. But the apostles weren’t to do it, because they had received another calling from the Lord.
Remember what I said earlier? Instead of making a world of uniformity, where everyone and everything is the same, God has filled the world with variety. He has made us all different. And he gives the members of the church different abilities and talents and interests and he calls us to do different things. We’re not all the same, but he has made us different from one another and he has given us different abilities and he has called us to do different things. The apostles were called by Christ the Lord to preach. And he was now calling other people to oversee the daily distribution of the food. Both ministries were important: the ministry of the word and the ministry to widows. But Christ had called the apostles to preach and he was going to call other people to oversee the distribution of food.
And notice as well that this didn’t mean that no-one else was to care for the widows. The whole church was to care for the widows by supplying what was necessary. Everyone was to contribute what they could so that they always had enough money to buy enough food. But some people needed to be appointed to oversee the distribution of the food. And so, the apostles proposed to the believers that they should choose seven men to take on this responsibility.
The apostles said that they’ll turn over this responsibility to them so that they — the apostles — can give their attention to prayer and the ministry of the word. When they refer to prayer, they may be referring to personal prayer. So, they needed to spend time in prayer, seeking the Lord’s help to proclaim his word with boldness. But it’s also possible that what they mean by prayer is leading their meetings. When the believers gathered together, they worshipped the Lord by praying to him. And the apostles needed to give their attention to leading those meetings of believers, when they called out to God in prayer and when God spoke to them through the reading and preaching of his word.
So, the apostles were to give their attention to those two activities: prayer and preaching. And they proposed to the believers that they should appoint seven men to oversee the distribution of food. And although this was a practical ministry, the apostles wanted the believers to choose spiritual people to undertake it. So, they were to choose men who were known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.
Now, every believer is full of the Spirit, because it’s the Spirit who enables us to repent and believe in Christ for salvation. And the Spirit who enables us to repent and believe then works in us to renew us in God’s image. So, every believer is full of the Spirit. But what the apostles mean here is probably that they were to choose men who displayed the fruit of the Spirit in their lives and who were known for being full of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. They were looking for men who were like that. And they were looking for men with wisdom so that they would know what is the best thing to do in any situation. When problems arose in the daily distribution of food, then these men would know what to do about it. And, of course, wisdom comes from God, who is himself infinitely and eternally and unchangeable wise; and he gives wisdom to his people so that we can serve him in the world and in the church.
Verses 5 and 6
So, that was their proposal: choose seven men who were known for being full of the Spirit and wisdom. Though they were being chosen for a practical ministry, they needed to be full of the Spirit so that they would do the work well and for God’s glory and not for their own.
And according to verse 5, the proposal pleased the whole group of believers. What the apostles said made sense to them, because they understood that God had called the apostles to the ministry of the word and that other people needed to take on the responsibility of overseeing the distribution of food. So, what they said pleased the believers. And the apostles then left it to the members to choose the seven men. So, instead of dictating who it should be, the apostles left it to the people to choose the seven men. They said: here’s what we need; now you choose who it should be.
Luke doesn’t tell us how they went about choosing the men. But seven men were duly chosen and their names are recorded for us. And one of the interesting things about the list is that all of the seven men have Greek names. And that suggests that they were Greek-speaking. So, the original complaint was that Greek-speaking widows were being overlooked. But these Greek-speaking men will make sure that the Greek-speaking widows will not be overlooked again. And it also sends a signal that Greek-speakers were not second-class members of the church. They were eligible for leadership roles within the church on the same basis as everyone else.
And Luke tells us in verse 6 that once the congregation had chosen them, the apostles prayed for them and laid their hands on them to indicate that they had been chosen and set apart for this special work. Luke doesn’t use the word deacon to describe these seven men, but it’s likely that this is what these men were appointed to be. So, Paul refers to the office of deacon in his letter to the Philippians and in his first letter to Timothy. And in his letter to Timothy, he lists the qualifications for serving as a deacon in the church. Whereas the elders oversee the spiritual well-being of the members, the deacons are to oversee the physical well-being of the members. And in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the work of the deacons is carried out by the members of the Congregational Committee, who are chosen by the congregation and appointed by the elders. While their work today tends to be focused on finances and property, part of their role is to look out for members who are in need and to ensure they receive adequate help. Since God has made us body and soul, he has appointed elders to minister to our souls and deacons to minister to our bodies.
Verse 7
And look how the passage ends in verse 7. Luke tells us that the word of God spread. The word of God spread because the apostles were enabled to give their attention to prayer and to the ministry of the word. The widows were not neglected, because people were appointed to take care of them. And the apostles were enabled to continue their work of praying and preaching.
And so, the word of God spread. More literally, the word of God continued to increase. It increased as more and more people believed the word of God about Jesus Christ and were added to the church. And so, as Luke goes on to say, the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. That is to say, they obeyed the command to repent and believe the good news about Jesus Christ, who died and was raised for sinners.
So, the church continued to grow among the Jews in Jerusalem. But when Luke says that the word of God continued to increase, he perhaps also means that it increased as more and more believers obeyed it and were shaped by it. They were gripped by the good news of the Lord Jesus who loved us and who gave up his life for us. They were gripped by the good news and they were transformed by it so that, out of love and gratitude to Christ, they gave up their sins and they obeyed God’s laws and commandments more and more, living lives which brought glory and honour to Christ their Saviour. Their lives were being reformed and transformed by the word of God.
Conclusion
And while we no longer have apostles to preach God’s word, Christ our King has given the church pastors and teachers or elders and ministers. The elders shepherd God’s people by looking after their spiritual well-being and by leading them according to God’s word. And ministers are set aside for the public ministry of word and sacrament. By preaching God’s word and by conducting the sacraments, ministers proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that sinners will be convinced and converted to faith in Christ; and believers will be built up in holiness and comfort through faith in Christ. And believers are built up in the faith and unbelievers are converted through the reading and preaching of God’s word. The apostles understood this, which is why they made it a principle that it would not be right for them to neglect the ministry of the word in order to wait on tables. Waiting on tables was a worthwhile task and there are many worthwhile tasks that need to be done in the church. People need to be appointed to care for the physical well-being of God’s people. Someone has to look after our finances. Someone has to maintain the property. But the apostles understood that someone must preach God’s word, because without the preaching of God’s word, believers will not grow in faith and love and unbelievers will not be converted.
And so, we must pray that Christ our King will continue to supply his church around the world with deacons and with elders and also with more and more and more ministers to proclaim the good news of salvation. There’s something for you to pray for: for God to raise up more and more ministers and for God to send them out across this island and throughout the world to declare the unsearchable riches of Christ to all. Pray that the word of God will increase throughout the world as more and more men and women and children are converted to faith in Christ who loved us and who gave up his life for us and for our salvation. And pray that the word of God will increase among us here in Immanuel: that many people will be converted and that our lives will be reformed and transformed by his word.
Sermons and Stuff 