The synagogue obligation to care for widows and poor described
in Acts is rooted in the Law. This obligation goes back to the flight from
Egypt in the Sinai desert. The book of Exodus (22:21-22) tells us that the Lord
commanded Moses to tell the Israelites, “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in
the land of Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan.” In Deuteronomy (10:12-13,17-18), Moses delivered the ten commandments and asks the people, “So now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God require of
you? Only to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to
serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep
the commandments of the LORD your God and his decrees that I am commanding you
today, For the LORD your God
is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not
partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow,
and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.”
And in chapter 24 (vv17-19),
The Lord had Moses repeat to all Israel, “You shall not deprive a resident
alien or an orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow’s garment in
pledge. Remember that you were a slave
in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you
to do this. When you reap your harvest
in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it;
it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the LORD
your God may bless you in all your undertakings.” And if that is not enough, in Deuteronomy 27:17 - 19, Moses warns them, “Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind
person on the road. All the people shall
say, ‘Amen!’ Cursed be anyone who
deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.” All the people shall
say, ‘Amen!’”
The psalmist proclaims
the same message (146:7-9), “Happy is the one who has faith in the Lord (who) sets
the prisoners free; (who) opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those
who are bowed down and loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the
widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.”
The prophet Isaiah
says (1:16,17): “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean, seek justice, rescue
the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”
Jeremiah delivered
the words of the Lord to Israel (7:1-2,6-7), “ (This is) The word that came to
Jeremiah from the LORD: Stand in the
gate of the LORD’S house and proclaim there this word, … if you do not oppress
the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and
if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you
in this place in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and
ever.”
I think God intends a
message here, don’t you? The message is “Never forget but for the grace of God,
go I.”
There is something at
the heart of God’s grace that expects compassion for widows and the destitute
and a thanksgiving to the Lord that brought us out of slavery. Jesus said that not only are we obligated to
honor the widows, but everyone who is spiritually and physically hurting those
suffering the slavery of physical poverty and spiritual poverty. Jesus points
to the generosity and sacrifice of the widow as an example. Luke (20:46-47) criticized the scribes who
profess a false piety, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long
robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the
best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets. They devour
widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will
receive the greater condemnation.”
And in Mark (12:44) Jesus
uses the widow’s gift and the scribes’ hypocrisy as an example, saying, “For
all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty
has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Since the entire first believers were drawn from the
Jews of Jerusalem, it is no wonder that the Twelve disciples with their Jewish
heritage and the words of the crucified Jesus still ringing in their ears took
seriously the complaint of the immigrant Greek Jews that their widows were
being shortchanged at meals.
But the Twelve already faced a great challenge trying to
continue the mission of proclaiming the Good News and administering to those in
the congregation who had physical and spiritual needs. They proposed to appoint some members of the
congregation who were “full of the Spirit and wisdom” to help the Twelve in the
mission of proclamation of the Good News. They selected 7 men to help. We know all seven had a powerful effect, and
two of them will be large figures in the evolving history of the early
Christian believers, Stephen, a man full of the Spirit and wisdom who was
martyred, and Philip.
While the Twelve clearly intended these seven were to
help with the feeding, it also shows they had full support of the congregation
and were part of the proclamation of the Good News. Our text says (v5) this proposal “pleased the
whole community,” and (v7) “The
word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly
in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”
These seven were called
or “ordained” because the Apostles laid hands on them. That is a symbolic
tradition that indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit. In modern times we
use this passage as the basis for our deacons, but this passage only broadly
points to the tradition of ordained ministry. But the significance of these
seven people has a deeper meaning.
One significant point
of the call of these seven is the critical importance of congregational
leadership in our ministry. It tells us
that the congregation itself must be part of the leadership and its
activities in the community. Leaders are called to meet the needs of the people
through guidance and service. This decision by the Twelve apostles to call on
the congregation to help was clearly effective because it enlarged the
congregation beyond expectation. Verse 7 tells us,
“7The
word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased
greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the
faith.
How do we apply this experience to our present day? We
have pastors (called teaching elders now) and session members (called ruling elders now) and some
congregations still have deacons. Congregations need
leaders – they need pastors who read, interpret and proclaim the Word - that was the motivating factor for the
Twelve to bring in the new seven. But
like many things that have happened in the first days of the congregation, the
Lord has a way of shaping events to have consequences that go far beyond what
the original plan intended.
The Apostles thought they were
getting people to support their work of proclaiming the Gospel that would freei
them from having to feed the widows.
What they got were congregational leaders who by supporting the twelve and
their own proclamation caused a great increase in believers, even bringing
Jewish priests into the fold.
Had I read on in Acts, like I
did last Wednesday night, we would hear how Stephen took on the whole priestly
establishment with a full testimony to the Gospel from Abraham to Jesus that
led to his martyrdom as Saul stood by. Rather than silence Stephen, it
scattered the disciples and leaders carrying the Good News into Samaria and far
beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem, if you will, starting the missionary
movement of our Church.
The congregation of believers
was becoming the “C”hurch of Jesus Christ that was calling its newly selected congregational
leaders to a vocation of Christian leadership. Christianity not only survived
(as we know), it expanded rapidly. This was caused in large part by the
devotion of its lay leaders who were inspired and led by the Holy Spirit. How much of the compassion for widows by those
seven from the congregation was the testimony to the whole community?
Today, many take the “C”hurch
for granted and let their obligation to personal leadership wane. We live in a
society overgrown with material culture. It shapes our values and diverts our
attention from our history. Some folks say
Christianity is so widely spread that virtually everyone in the world knows
about it and has an opportunity to embrace its teaching. There isn’t much need
for a calling to service in mission.
Many of us don’t think that
way. We bring our gifts, both money and spirit to the congregation to further
its work in the world. Unfortunately in
our society, the number of those that understand that obligation is decreasing.
Some young families (and churches) see the church the same way they see the
YMCA. You pay your $100 annual dues and enjoy its benefits, whether it is childcare
while you relax in worship, playing basketball in the nice gym, eating at
cookouts or just the enjoying the social interaction. This isn’t a particular problem
for First Presbyterian Church but it is
a pervasive problem throughout our “C”hurch.
The only way we can combat
this mindset is to remember we are a congregation of believers just like that
early one in Jerusalem. When our congregants are called to service, it is a
holy calling. The Lord expects us to
have the mindset of Stephen, and even Paul.
It is a very remote chance any
of us will have to face martyrdom in order to stand for our faith as Stephen
and later Paul. But everyday, the world looks at us with a skeptical and
questioning eye. It particularly looks to our leaders. Some of those skeptical
and questioning eyes are our children’s. Some are our neighbors. Some may be even
the congregations down the road.
The story of the first seven
disciples called into service for the Lord tells us today is that each of us
who have made an ordination or baptismal vow are obligated to strong and exemplary leadership. Strong and exemplary leadership is self-giving
to build Christ’s church. It may be teaching the lesson in Sunday School,
working with our youthful visitors on Wednesday night, following up with a
visitor to be sure they know we want them to return, or inviting a friend or
neighbor to worship with us, or even coming down to turn the sound on for a
memorial service and checking to see if the doors are unlocked or making an act
of compassion for a neighbor in need of help.
It is not an opportunity to
allow others to take advantage of you - though that might happen. Remember our
passage on 2 Corinthians last week, “God loves a cheerful giver.”
We also must realize and
recognize that some of those who fulfill this obligation most zealously do it
in such a private and unassuming way that we overlook them or abuse their
willingness to serve.
That is why it can be hard to
get people to “volunteer.” People are daunted by the task, fearful, or perhaps unable
to step up to strong leadership. But, all the prophets learned, to name a few, Moses,
Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Stephen, that the Holy spirit empowers those
who are called (notice I did not say are prepared) to follow its leadership. Those
who put more back into the world than they remove are blessed. This is our
vocation, welcome aboard. AMEN.
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