Today's Meditation
Read Acts 6:1-15
Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 2And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, 4while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.” 5What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 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.
8Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. 9Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. 10But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. 11Then they secretly instigated some men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. 13They set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; 14for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us.” 15And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Chapter 6 of Acts contain two important sections, church order, verses 1-7 and the arrest of Stephen, verses 8-15. The first verses are about church order. Our own denomination (PCUSA) as well as some other denominations, has taken the beginning of this passage as the sign for the church to ordain, what we call, deacons. Deacons are those in the church who have been set aside to serve. As the new fledgling church began to add numbers of believers to a growing movement, the original leaders could no longer take care of everything. One of the duties that was being neglected was one of the hallmarks of the church, caring for its members. The Hellenists, or the Greek speaking Jews, noticed this and brought it to the attention of the disciples, or the elders. In so doing, they realized that they couldn't lay aside other critical aspects of the ministry to also care for the community, so they appointed several others whom they prayed for and laid their hands on them, to care for the community.
One of these chosen deacons was Stephen. In the second half of this chapter, Stephen has proven to be a man full of grace and power who did many wonders and signs among the people. As is true of all organizations, there will be disagreements on how things are being done. Some of the people argued with Stephen, although we don't know what their argument was specifically about, it caused a great rift between the people, the elders and the scribes. Eventually, they confronted him and brought him before the council. From what we are given in the text, it doesn't sound like Stephen did or said anything necessarily wrong, however it did challenge the status quo, it did challenge what they currently believed and thought.
This happens when someone, regardless of their proven character, stands up against the current belief system, or mentions a different interpretation of well-known passages or ideas. In the following chapter, Stephen gives an impassioned speech that is full of "connecting the dots" from the time of Abraham all the way through to the present age. There couldn't be a single item in that speech that would be construed as providing a false testimony, however, what incited the council and the people to riot and to eventually stone Stephen was his interpretation at the end, regarding their views of the workings of the Holy Spirit, their lack of faith in believing that the Righteous One would return, of the council and people not keeping the law throughout their history, and what all that currently meant for the people of Israel. Stephen will be forever known as the first martyr for the Christian faith.
What current belief systems are being challenged today? What different interpretations of the Scriptures have led to schisms? It happened in first century Christianity and is continuing today, can we ever return to a more humble, unified Christian faith?
They'll Know We are Christians by Our Love by Jars of Clay
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