Day 22: Acts 6

it’s remarkable how much i’ve done while gaining so little ground.  life and circumstances have just seemed to jump up all around me and demand my undivided attention.  and then when my energy is exhausted, i turn to more life-draining activities to “relax”.  i’ve grown perpetually tired by simply treading in circles.  all the while, my Guide is ready and willing to help me continue on, yet i have dug a trench with my footsteps.  fortunately my Guide’s reach is unparalleled, and i am faithful He can retrieve me.  the only thing in question is my willingness to hold tightly to His grip.

luke writes of a great lesson to those in ministry and the Church as a whole.  he gives us an account of the first structured hierarchy in the early Church.  the poor and widowed were being neglected, but the apostles were at capacity doing what they had been called to do.  it’s not that they couldn’t make time for the poor and widowed or that they didn’t want to.  but rather, their calling was to teach the Gospel.  and their time was filled by that calling.  so they appointed seven men to take over the responsibility of caring for people.  this tells me a few things.  first, as a minister, you can’t do it all.  you’re not supposed to!  we are to do what we are called to do.  Jesus talked about the Church being the Body of Christ with all of the parts functioning together, responsible for their own task.  well the apostles recognized this and acted accordingly.  also with that point, the church cannot expect its ministers to do everything on their own.  some roles need to be in the hands of staff members so the ministry can grow and flourish through full-time care.  other roles need to be filled by volunteers using the gifts the Spirit gives them to keep a ministry sustained.  second, the apostles recognized the need and moved to fill that need.  they were filling the need of the people to be taught the Gospel, but they couldn’t fill the need of caring for people.  so they did what was necessary to fill the need.  i think all too often we put together tasks in the church based on habits or good ideas and not always based on need.  instead of thinking of a ministry that would be really great to have, we should be seeing the needs of our community and making a ministry to fill that need.  as a minister, it is my duty to evaluate the tasks i perform and the ministries i support to make sure that i am meeting a need.  we do not have the resources to devote to fluff.

unfortunately, being in God’s will isn’t always the most pleasant place on earth.  sometimes it gets you in trouble with certain people.  such was the case with stephen.  luke tells us that stephen was “a man full of God’s grace and power”.  but, of course, there was opposition.  when they tried to argue with stephen, they could not match his Spirit-given wisdom.  what i like here is that there is no denial about the source of stephen’s wisdom.  luke doesn’t say that stephen was a smart guy and knew a lot more than those other guys.  he says that because stephen was full of the Holy Spirit, he was able to speak with great wisdom to knock down any argument against him.  so of course when the opposition couldn’t win a fair fight, they lied about him and gave him bad press in order to bring him before officials.  even when facing the judges, stephen wasn’t phased.  he still relied fully on the Spirit.  luke says that the officials “saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”  now personally, i think that would be enough for me to dismiss this guy as being completely ok, but i wasn’t there.  in the next passage stephen speaks to the officials.  but for now my lesson is clearly to take note of how Spirit-filled stephen was.  he spoke truth, performed miracles, won arguments, and stood before a threatening council with boldness and confidence because he was fueled by the greatest Power.

/prayer/  LORD, i ask that You fill me with Your Spirit.  i ask that Your presence be made known in my life.  show me how to live my life boldly for You.  teach me my place in the Body and allow me to perform my tasks with great ability.  /amen/

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