“Brothers, 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.”
– Acts 6:3
Hi James and Ellen,
Are you always looking for a battle to win? Are you always looking for a problem to solve? Are you always looking for an inequity to fix? Do you know a widow? A widow is the wife of a guy who has died. What kinds of life challenges do you think that a widow might have? Who do you think should take care of a widow? Do you think that the family of a widow – if the widow has a kid or kids and/or siblings, should take of her? Do you think that the friends of a widow – if the widow has a network of close friendships, should take care of her? Do you think that the Christ-follower fellowship where the widow goes to, if the widow is a member of the Christ-follower fellowship, should take care of her? Your grandmaa’s and grandpaa’s mas both became widows. Your grandmaa’s ma said that when she became a widow, couples who had once been good friends with your grandmaa’s dad and ma did not know what to do with just being with her so they did nothing with her. Grecian Jew widows became an issue which the leaders of the Grecian Jews used to confront the apparent lack of compassion being shown by the leaders of the Hebraic Jews. Luke – in Acts 6, quickly moved on in the second wide-ranging letter that he sent to his good friend Theophilus – a missive in which he meticulously focused on the birth and growth of communities throughout the developing world that purposively identified with the teaching of an incarnate Man – Whose name is Jesus, when he wrote about Grecian Jews’ internalized concern – which was that widows were being overlooked in Christ-follower fellowships’ daily food distributions – which was brought to a satisfactory resolution when it was broached during a meeting with the twelve apostles. Seven guys were chosen by the Grecian and Hebraic Jew leaders to ensure that widows were being cared for so that the twelve apostles could totally dedicate all their time to teaching the new Christ-follower belief paradigm. One of the guys – whose name was Stephen, who was chosen by the Grecian and Hebraic Jew leaders, took his assigned responsibility so seriously that he ended up facing the Sanhedrin with a very real possibility of being stoned to death.
Would you want to be a Stephen one day? Verse 3 spells out the solution that the twelve apostles came up with that they asked the leaders of the Grecian and Hebraic Jews to adopt, “Brothers, 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.” The seven guys who were chosen were Stephen, Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch. These seven guy were all Grecian Jews. Grecian Jews were known as Hellenists. Grecian Jews spoke Greek. Grecian Jews were born in countries outside of Palestine or the land area that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land. Hebraic Jews were born in the country of Palestine or in the land area that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land. Guys who were Hebraic Jews spoke Aramaic and/or Hebrew languages. Guys who were Hebraic Jews closely identified with Jewish culture and customs. Stephen stood out among the seven guys who were chosen by the Grecian and Hebraic Jew leaders to see that widows were being cared for. Luke describes Stephen as being full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit, full of God’s grace and full of God’s power. Even though these seven guys were given the job title of deacon – with a specific task of being caregivers of windows, Stephen publicly began doing great wonders and performing miraculous signs. What Stephen began doing – which was outside his assigned responsibilities of caring for widows, really upset members of the Synagogue of the Freedom. The guys who were behind the creation of something that they called the Synagogue of the Freedom – which was centered in the city of Jerusalem, were freed Jewish slaves who lived in the cities of Cyrene and Alexandria and who were from the Cilicia and Asia provinces.
Would you like your face one day to be like the face of an angel? Instead of letting it get to him after some embittered guys from the Synagogue of the Freedom set up four dudes to tell falsehoods about him, Stephen did not flinch. Even though he knew that there was a very good chance that he was going to die – possibly within minutes, Stephen knew that his life was not his life to live but his life was God’s life to take if . . . the twelve apostles prayed for Stephen. The twelve apostles had laid hands on Stephen. What Stephen preached and taught, Stephan did for God’s sake and for no other reason. Do you always find it easy to be a faultfinder? Are you always wishing that something would just change? Do you always put your desires before the desires of other kids – or of guys or gals? Do you always find it easy to say what is – is? Are you always feeling happy or content with what is taking place or happening around you? Do you always put the feelings of other kids – and of guys and gals, before your feelings? Luke begins this chapter’s narrative with complaining Grecian Jews and he ends this chapter’s narrative with a very at peace Stephen. Grecian Jews found a battle to win. Grecian Jews found a problem to resolve. Grecian Jews found something to fix. Stephen was not looking for a battle to win. Stephen was not looking for a problem to resolve. Stephen was not looking for something to fix. Are your life quests like that of Grecian Jews or like that of Stephens?
Acts 6 (1073)