Problems bring perspective Acts 6

The famous preacher, Henry Ward Beecher entered his Plymouth Church one Sunday to get ready for his sermon.

He found a letter addressed to him so he opened up to read it.

When he opened it up it only had one word written on it in large letters – FOOL

He took the pulpit that Sunday and addressed the issue of what seemed line an anonymous letter.

Beecher told his congregation- I have known many of an instance of a man writing a letter and forgetting to sign his name but I have never known of an instance where a man signed his name but didn’t write the letter.

Well I hope you guys don’t think I am such a fool today that you would address a letter to me like that.

Today we are going to look at Acts 6. 

In today’s lesson we see a church growing, a church growing so fast that they have growing pains. 

We will find that it will take a church that cooperates and works together to please God.

Back in 1957 the 1st Brethren Church of Sarasota, Florida had a groundbreaking service.

Ordinarily, a church will get a few shovels and certain people will turn over a few chunks of dirt.

 But recalling the words of Jesus, "Take my yoke upon you," this church decided to borrow an old one-horse plow and harness two of their strongest young men to it.

The signal was given and the men PULLED… but nothing happened.

They strained at the harness, but they were unable to pull the plow even an inch.

So then the entire Building Committee of the congregation took hold of the rope, and they PULLED. But the plow wouldn’t budge.

Even they couldn’t get the plow to move.

Other church officers were added, and the Sunday school officers and teachers, and they PULLED… but still they couldn’t get the plow to budge.

Finally every member of the congregation who was present each took hold of the rope. With every member pulling together, the plow moved, the ground was broken.

That is a great example of how congregations should do their work.

Congregational work with shared responsibility is a must for the church to thrive and succeed. 

But the Bible does give us examples and commands to show us that there needs to be demarcations of roles and responsibilities in the church.

I know in the game of football to be successful some have to play WR, Some OL, Some DL and other LB.

You cant walk out on Friday night and win if everyone plays the same position.  Each man must have a roll.

The same is true for the church.  Whereas the work of the Church is for all of us there are certain people marked out for a specific roll to play.

One preacher was quoted as saying God Can move mountains but don’t be surprised if He gives you a shovel.

Lets start with a look at the first verse in Acts 6

Acts 6: 1

1 Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.

1) Problems can come from the best places

Sometimes problems in a church can come from the best of all places and that is growth.

Sometimes in life things that we don’t even think about can complicate our lives.

I know when Anna Grace was born our family grew by only one person but it changed everything.

With the 3^rd child we officially became a van driving family.   I never thought I would be in the van club but I am.

Next thing you know she is mobile and you cant turn your back on her for a second because she is all over creation.

The same could be true for a church.  Growth happens, new people come in and problems arise that we never could expect.

I don’t know if the overlooking of the Hellenistic Jews by the Hebraic Jews was intentional but whether it was or it wasn’t – they still had a problem on their hands.

Growth often brings out hidden issues.

Here is something that we have to understand that when a person is saved they are placed in the Church.

That is Scriptural and we have already looked at that concept in the book of Acts.

Think of it this way – Noah’s ark may have been stinky on the inside but it sure beat being outside in the water.

The same is true for the church – it may not be perfect and we may have issues at time but it sure beats being out alone in the world. 

 Growth may not so much create the problem as reveal issues conveniently swept under the rug.

With rapid increase comes administrative problems.

The problem Luke describes requires us to understand that era. But it is emblematic of issues the church has always faced.

This was a conflict between the Hellenists and the Hebrews.

The term Hellenists refers to those Jews who over the previous 500 years had spread throughout the Mediterranean basin.

They remained Jewish, but spoke Greek and not Aramaic.

 Their diet remained kosher, but with a Cyprian twist or an Athenian flair.

It was not uncommon for Jews, living abroad, to make their way back to the mother country, especially in their twilight years.

As they would settle in Jerusalem, the husband would die, leaving a widow to fend for herself often without the extended family resources of those Aramaic-speaking Jews, here called the Hebrews.

Native speaking Aramaic Jews often discriminated against Hellenistic Jews, whom the Pharisees held in utter contempt, considering them second-class Israelites.

 What is more, ethnic groups tend to associate with those who share their language and cultural background.

This division is seen in verse 9 of chapter 6,  as the Hellenists had their own synagogues.

Then came Pentecost and thousands of Aramaic speaking Jews plus hundreds of Hellenistic Jews became one in Christ.

However, conversion did not erase all their prejudices.

The Greek speaking widows soon felt they were being shorted. It was the Jewish practice was to take care of their own,

as there were no social security or welfare programs.

In a society where women could not support themselves and, as Christians, they may well have lost all support from the Temple, they were in need. 

The church may have followed the precedents set in Judaism, which had a double system of distribution to the needy.

 The Jews had a weekly dole for needy residents.

It was given out every Friday and consisted of enough money for 14 meals.

 There was also a daily distribution.

It was for nonresidents and transients and consisted of food and drink, which were delivered from house to house to the needy.

It would be easy to imagine how some would be overlooked, perhaps due to language or status.

It may have been intentional or purely an oversight.

 But the hurt was the same.

2) The problem did not turn into a bigger problem.

Acts 6: 2-7

2 So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. 3 "Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. 4 "But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." 5 The statement found approval with the whole congregation ; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. 6 And these they brought before the apostles ; and after praying, they laid their hands on them. 7 The word of God kept on spreading ; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

Notice how the people reacted to this issues.

Notice that the church continues to grow and the word of God kept on spreading after this problem.

The Hellenistic widows did not go off and form their own church.

Think about it from modern terms – we tend to divide churches and form new denominations whenever we cant see eye to eye.

Do you think from a modern perspective they had good reason to divide up.

Think about it – the Hellenistic Jews could have easily had the first church of the Hellenists down the road from the first church of the Hebrew Jews.

But they didn’t do that, they toughed it out together.

And here is the key component they trusted their leadership to do something about it.

So many times we get seduced by popular culture and want an answer immediately to our problems.

God doesn’t operate that way sometimes – it takes time, discernment and patience when dealing with an issue like we see in our text today.

They stay unified and they don’t fracture.

3) The problem brings perspective.

The apostles focus on what is important when they deal with this issue.

I find this story strikingly similar to the story of Moses. 

Exodus 18: 14-23

14 Now when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, "What is this thing that you are doing for the people ? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening ?" 15 Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 "When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws." 17 Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you are doing is not good. 18 "You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. 19 "Now listen to me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people's representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, 20 then teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do. 21 "Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain ; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. 22 "Let them judge the people at all times ; and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 "If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace."

Jethro the father in Law of Moses comes and sees Moses in the wilderness with the Israelite people. 

He sees something that disturbs him.  Moses is doing way too much.

He tells Moses to delegate some authority.

Train other people at this job – and pick trustworthy people.

You see the precedent – Moses needs to be focused on the task of leading Israel and not being distracted by other problems.

Moses cannot be caught up in every dispute among the people.

The situation in the church was a little different.  The problem arises and they need a solution.

Training must take place.   In the time of Moses as well as in our time.

The Apostles must keep their perspective straight.

Their primary purpose is to preach and minister the word.

The Apostles have a roll to play and they must stay on task.  They cannot get caught up in this dispute because the Gospel call is urgent.

In other words one overarching organizational principle for a church should be driven by this – the Word of God must be taught and proclaimed.

I think the perspective of the Apostles is 100 correct.

It is two fold:

1)    the needs of the flock is important to them.

2)    The ministry of the word is important to them.

Heed to the flock:

The apostles show us a key to leadership and that is listening to God and to God's people.

In his book Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists of listening to them. Just as love for God begins with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brothers is learning to listen to them. It is [because of] God's love for us that He not only gives us His Word but also lends us His ear."

In the church at Jerusalem you can look at the church make up as the following:

The Apostles – served as the Evangelist – spreading the word

The deacons – were the hands and feet of the church – serving needs of the members.

Eventually we will learn in Acts 15 that the church in Jerusalem has elders.

The elders are the pastoral leaders of the church.

If someone asks you if you have pastors – you answer them yes- they are elders.

The same office in the New Testament is the elder/presbyter/bishop/ pastor. 

They are one in the same office.  Each term describes a roll of an elder.

Elders of course provide pastoral care for the sheep and also safeguard doctrine.  They make sure the flock develops spiritually.

That seems to be the primary role of an elder in the New Testament – pastoral care – spiritual development and doctrinal purity.

Elders were also to teach – that is why some churches have a teaching elder that acts as a minister in their role.  We see that with Peter the apostle who was also and elder.

The passage today though gives us the prototype of our deacons today and their qualifications and rolls.

 "Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task."

Therefore, because the duties are incompatible and one has the strongest claim on us.

Therefore brethren, or those of like faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Therefore brethren select, look out among you, inspect yourselves. There are five requirements listed in this brief verse.

They concern the infant church establishment of the office of deacons.
The first qualification is that deacons are to be known members of the local congregation.

They were selected from among themselves.

 Second they were to be men, not in the vague sense of persons but in the specific sense of males.

Certainly women have vital roles to fill (Titus 2:3-5).

In the early church women such as Dorcas, Lydia, Phoebe, Priscilla and Phillip's evangelistic daughters were greatly used by God.

Nevertheless God's design for the set aside deacons of the church is men.

A third requirement is that they be men of good reputation.

The Greek word is ma'rtus (from marturomenous) meaning witness.

The word can mean a person about whom a good witness is given and also a person who is a good witness.

The apostles wanted people of character who were involved in communicating Christ' love to others.

A fourth prerequisite is that they be full of the Spirit. They must be fully yielded to His control in every area of their lives.

This would be evidenced by the Spirit's sanctifying influence as well as by His giftedness.

They were also to be full of wisdom.

Men competent concerning the spiritual priorities of life, and also qualified to deal wisely with a situation in which there are many factors to consider.

These are men that apply biblical truth to everyday life situations.

Men of heavenly prudence knowing how to spiritually act and react to life.

The apostolic plan found approval and seven men were selected. That all are Greek names suggest they were Hellenists.

If true it was a demonstration of loving unity. Since the Hellenists felt slighted men are appointed from among themselves to rectify the situation.

 Division was avoided and Satan's attack was thwarted.

This passage also teaches how deacons are selected as well as their qualifications. The congregation is to nominate scripturally qualified men.

The qualifications for leadership in the church have not changed. We can do church work without them, but not the real work of the church.

That is why our church government is such as it is.

It is set up to be two fold – the safeguard and care for the flock and to the ministry of the word – the outreach and teaching of God’s word to the community.

4) The problems bring about prosperity and unity

I like good endings to stories.  This passage this morning ends well. 

It ends with the church being unified and working toward the goal.

The church is only held up in its work momentarily but each member saw what was at stake and got back to work.

So many problems in churches are just simple misunderstandings. 

People loose perspective and they think they are bigger than the whole, they even forget that the Gospel’s proclamation is bigger than their problems.

The story is told about a small, country church where the pastor called a special meeting of the congregation to approve the purchase of a brand new chandelier.

 After some discussion pro and con, an old farmer stood up and said, "Buying a new chandelier may seem like a good idea to you, but I’m against it for three reasons.

First of all, it’s too expensive and we can’t afford one.

Second, there isn’t anybody around here who knows how to play one. And third, what we really need in this church is a new light fixture."

Many of our problems are the same way – we just don’t listen to each other – we don’t give one another the benefit of the doubt.

I definetly think the early church put each other’s feelings first before their own.

I want to end with this thought and this is something near and dear to me.

And this is training the next generation of God’s men and women.

I will say that this is a place the modern church is failing miserably.  We are stuck in a rut of what has been passed down in many American churches and it isn’t working.

More and more churches are having a hard time finding deacons, elders and ministers.

Why is that so?  We are not training young men to desire these offices. 

Most young ladies have never considered committing themselves to the training of this next generation through bible class teaching or mentoring.

We need to look to pass on our faith. 

The true mark of spiritual maturity is being able to teach others.  How many churches are turning out adult people that can teach others?

Lets be honest about this issue- I believe we must change – not some type of liberal change – I am talking about a commitment change.

The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between rails) is four feet, eight-and-one-half inches.
Why such an odd number?

 Because that’s the way they built them in England, and American railroads were built by British expatriates.
Why did the English adopt that particular gauge?

Because the people who built the pre-railroad tramways used that gauge.
They in turn were locked into that gauge because the people who built tramways used the same standards and tools they had used for building wagons,

which were set on a gauge of four feet, eight-and-one-half inches.

Why were wagons built to that scale? Because with any other size, the wheels did not match the old wheel ruts on the roads.

So who built these old rutted roads?

The first long-distance highways in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions.

The roads have been in use ever since. The ruts were first made by Roman war chariots.

Four feet, eight-and-one-half inches was the width a chariot needed to be to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses.

Maybe "that’s the way it’s always been" isn’t the great excuse for not changing that some people believe it to be.