A Simple Assignment or is It?
Acts 6:7
"And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith."
Pastor's Blog
The task of serving the widows tables may at first glance seem needful but how could it possibly further the Gospel.
There is a single stream of thought from verse 1 through verse 10 which then flows into the trouble that starts in the 11th. The problem for the Hellenistic Jews was not just that their widows were being overlooked, but it in fact had become a point of division that was creeping into the Church. The Apostles saw their need for the Word and Prayer and at the same time saw the needs of the widows and the growing problem of racial tension. They rightly understood that the simple feeding of the widows would not heal all the troubles. They told the “all the congregation” Hellenistic and native Jew alike to select men to take charge of the task. Not just any men, men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of Wisdom. The disciples saw that the true need was greater than meeting the physical needs of the poor and helpless. By allowing the people to choose the men the racial tension would have been eased. The entire congregation would have felt their voice was heard and equal interest would be given to their situation. By giving the qualifications for the men the Apostles knew the Spirit of God would guide these men to bring about unity which was lacking between the two groups.
In other words the unequal distribution of food becomes an opportunity to bring about true unity which had never before existed in the Jewish community in Jerusalem.
Is it possible that by devoting themselves to the Word and to Prayer the apostles were able to discern all the needs, not just those needs that were manifest outwardly. What if we were to spend more of our time devoting ourselves to the Word and Prayer, not just doing them but really devoting ourselves, the totality of our being to them, would we then be able to discern the real true needs of those around us?
We are all given the “ministry of reconciliation” what we need is to be able to clearly see what the root problem is and how to heal it. This only comes when we devote ourselves to both the Word and Prayer.
It would seem this would bring a lot of attention to those around, outside, this community of Believers. Though it wasn't mentioned here, I do recall laws were set to search out the true needy widow. Even then there were those who would abuse the system. Why do Pharasees and Saducees come to mind?
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