Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

You guys know the drill.

We’re looking at Acts at the moment, with the continuing work of Jesus Christ through the Church by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We’ve seen some crazy things along the way, with miraculous healings, jail breaks, government oppression and even a beating last week that was celebrated!

The crazy events of this absurd book only make sense when you take into account the reality of Jesus Christ being actually bodily raised from the dead, and the real Son of God.

He changes people so that they do weird things.

One of the characteristics of the growing Church that we have seen in acts is the way that people love one another.

They give up their own possessions and are very generous so that no one was in need.

They served one another self-sacrificially.

You know what?

This loving sacrificial community was not an end it itself, but was rather the outcome, the effect of the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The people came together, probably partly because it was an attractive community, but primarily because they were joined together in Jesus Christ, just like us here!

There are some cool perks to belonging to the local church body, but we don’t do it for the friendships, the spiritual support, or the moving crews that Eastgate is known for, we come here because we are a spiritual family united under Christ.

Unfortunately, like any family, problems will arise.

Arguments will happen.

People will nurse grudges.

It’s happened here in our short history, but its nothing new, because it happened in the Acts church too.

Growing church.

Natural outworking of Gospel change is a spiritual family that cares for one another.

The Problem

v1-2

It is inevitable that when sinful human beings get together, live in proximity together and get entangled with each other lives that conflict will arise.

While we have been saved by Jesus, and changed by his life giving good news, we aren’t perfected when join God’s team.

Becoming loyal to Jesus our Lord wipes away our guilt, but it doesn’t make us instantly perfected in our thoughts actions and attitudes.

Instead, God begins a process of perfecting us, sanctifying us, over time.

He knew what he was getting when he chose us and saved us, and he works with us to grow us into maturity.

We know that the best things take time.

The best friendships are built over years and years, the best wines are well aged, the best experts have practiced their craft for decades, the wisest counsel comes from the oldest people, and the best nations are built on time.

God makes his believers better over time, conforming them, purifying them into the image of Christ.

That means that at every step along the way he will be dealing with less than ideal people.

People who still sin and carry their worldly baggage around.

This is the scene in our passage today in Acts.

There is a new gospel shaped community called the Church, where people who are made a spiritual family run into problems.

It’s not clear if the problems are deliberate or accidental, but the Apostles step in to sort it out so that the church can stay on track.

Lets have a look at verse 1 & 2 to see the problem:

So the church is vibrant.

Things are going swimmingly in terms of church growth and there is a great mercy ministry happening to feed the widows.

You see in those days your daily needs were met in connection to the family, and if you didn’t have family, like husband, older kids or close relatives, you would quickly end up on the street.

You couldn’t pop down to Centerlink and get on Newstart, or grab an aged pension: the family was the social service for ensuring people didn’t fall into poverty, so when people didn’t have a family they needed outside help.

This is why God carries on about the widows and the orphan in the Bible, they were, and often today still are, the destitute and poor who need most help.

So the church is being Godly in their food program to help the widows who were part of the church.

There was only one problem with the system: it was racist.

Ok, maybe racist is a bit over the top to use here, but its the same kind of thing.

One group of widows, who had a more Greek influenced background were being treated worse than the widows who had the more “pure” Hebrew background.

They were playing favorites.

The Greek widows were getting less or none compared to the Hebrew widows.

This is all the more ludicrous because they are all ethnically Jewish!

The Gospel hasn’t even gone to the Gentiles yet, it’s only really a language difference between the two groups.

Unsurprisingly, the Greek-background believers start to kick up a stink!

“Why are our widows being neglected?”

SO, the apostles say “Look, lets have a church meeting where we can sort this out.”

They get every one together and say “this is an important issue which needs to be remedied, but we can’t let this high importance issue overshadow the top priority issue to proclaim the Gospel.”

With the growing numbers of believers the Apostles clearly needed to figure out a way that they could fulfill their God-given role while making sure the other important church stuff was taken care of.

So they put forward a proposal.

No centerlink.

Those who had no family would quickly become destitute.

Cared for by the church.

Our sinful nature still affects us, despite the change.

Unfairness in the daily sharing.

COuld be accidental, but may have been deliberate.

The apostles can’t give up their highest priority jobs, but, the other issue is still important

The Proposal

v3-4

“We’ve got our job to do, so select some blokes from among you that we can ordain to the work so we can be freed up to focus on our work.”

That Samuel’s Paraphrased version, lets look at the text in verse 3 & 4:

It shouldn’t need to be said here, but a quick reminder to put your ancient literature glasses on because here “brothers” is an umbrella term for both men and women of the church.

So the apostles are speaking to their spiritual family.

So they put forward the proposal, but there are some qualifications that need to be met.

It’s not just any old seven fellas, they have to: (click slide)

Have a good reputation

be Spirit filled

be wisdom filled

All in all these are pretty good pre-requisites for any position with responsibility, and it makes sense that the people who will take on some power and authority amongst the people have a good track record and proven ability coupled with christian living.

Now the authority and power that these guys will receive is for the good of the Church.

Power and authority themselves are not bad, don’t forget that.

Our culture has a particular problem with authority structures, and we should be aware of our own weaknesses that come with being a modern Australian.

So don’t try to avoid the fact that these guys will be given a level of authority, but as I said, it is for the good of the church.

They’re going to be responsible to make sure that the poor believers get a fair share of the support that the generous church is providing.

It will mean taking care of the practical matter of logistics and amounts, but also catering to the needs of those they will serve, possibly even having to say “no” to people who are rorting the the system.

These guys weren’t part of a hierarchy, they were just going to be assigned to look after specific practical matters in the church.

put forward trustworthy men who can be in charge of this task

I should also comment here on the way the disciples say: “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.” .

he implication here is not that there is something wrong with menial or ordinary ministry, but that their role as Apostles meant that they were supposed to be devoted specifically to publicly preaching the Gospel.

All Christians are supposed to be devoted to the spread of the Gospel, but God has gifted us in different ways, and in different stages of life we have different God given roles.

The Church is described as a body, where we each play our part in making the whole thing work.

There are some jobs that seem to be more honorable and classy, but they are only one part of the whole

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016), .

In this case in acts, the Apostles had the more “prestigious” position as Gospel mouthpieces, but that does not diminish the need for folks to wait on tables, empty rubbish bins and prepare communion.

Our roles as different parts of the body aren’t just about what happens on Sunday either, but about how the church lives and moves throughout the whole week.

We care for one another and serve one another, and use our gospel gifts wherever we find ourselves.

I hate to labor the point about different gifts and skills God has given us, but I thought that it is also important to remind ourselves that different stages of life will bring different roles in the Church body.

The apostles weren’t always apostles, they were just disciples before that, and even before that they were simple folk working regular jobs and trying to follow God.

Throughout life we will find ourselves in different circumstances by God’s providence where we serve in different ways.

A mother or father for instance will find themselves in a place where one of their roles is the physical and spiritual nurturing of a young soul for 20-or-so years.

But after their kids are grown up their role will change the way that they serve God and the Church.

You may find yourself serving the church though generosity while you have that high paying secular job, but then a few years down the track you may be supporting the local church on the Thai-Burma border by translating the bible, or laying sewer pipes.

The world is dynamic, and God’s use for us is dynamic too.

We ought to serve God

in the roles he has given us,

in the place he has put us,