When presented with a problem, what is your go to solution?
Fear and trembling? Anger? Denial? Or thoughtful
action?
Remember last week when I mentioned that while the community around the followers of Jesus loved them, they were a bit intimidated by them?
So much so, that they didn’t join in because they weren’t really sure if they were at the same spiritual level, if they were holy enough?
It sounds crazy. We are not more spiritual, we Otisville Church folks!
Remember last week when I mentioned that while the community around the followers of Jesus loved them, they were a bit intimidated by them?
So much so, that they didn’t join in because they weren’t really sure if they were at the same spiritual level, if they were holy enough?
It sounds crazy. We are not more spiritual, we Otisville Church folks!
But maybe, without intention, that is the vibe we give off? Sigh!
We want to be open, available, approachable, because we have something to share, to teach, to help others learn about, Jesus!
We are not more holy!
But we probably should be looking for more ways to share the amazing grace we have discovered with the community in less intimidating ways.
So, I guess I can understand some of the community’s awe. We are amazing. But what folks don’t see and didn’t see in Jerusalem was the problems of a growing church.
It turns out that some of the Greek speaking widows had begun complaining that in the distribution of the food, they were getting less than the Aramaic speaking widows.
And the irony is overwhelming!
On the one hand, lots of people were afraid to join the church because their perception was that the church people had their lives together and were way holier than them, while at the same time inside the church things were getting uncomfortable as some folks realized that part of the church’s basic mission failing.
And the problem was growth.
As a church grows the systems needed to keep it going, the leadership needed, even just the resources needed, have to grow as well. When you have a group of twelve disciples, one leader works.
When you have a community in the hundreds, you need all twelve of those Apostles teaching and leading smaller groups. But when you get to thousands, you need to expand the leadership exponentially.
In Jerusalem, there were now at least 2000 followers of Jesus!
And if those 2,000 were in house meeting groups of 20 people each, they would need 100 leaders, who knew and understood the gospel, including its amazing invitation to treat each and every person, no matter what, as if they were brothers and sisters of the Messiah, you know, just like Jesus did!
No exceptions because of their profession, their gender, even their status. In Christ there is no Jew nor Greek, no male nor female, no slave nor free.
You must treat them as siblings of Christ, even if _________. They are family! And it was going to get tougher.
Right now, the issue was widows, poor and in need, unsupported by their families, who needed food. But at least they were Jews who were following Jesus.
Yes, some had grown up as Jews in Israel and spoke a kind of a street Hebrew called Aramaic, so kind of like real Jews. And then there were the others, who might have been converts to Judaism, or who grew up outside Israel, who spoke Greek, so kind of like second class Jewish followers of Jesus.
And those kind of like second class followers of Jesus noticed that somehow in the crazy growth in leadership, the idea that all followers of Jesus are sisters and brothers to the Messiah was somehow being missed, particularly in the distribution of food, because the “real” Jewish widows were getting more and better food, than the “less real” Jewish widows.
The Apostles had a problem! A big problem!
And they needed quickly and definitely to establish that in the community of faith, no individual or group was to be treated with anything less than honor. They needed to find additional leadership that understood the faith clearly including it’s call to folks very different than the Aramaic speaking disciples.
Because the reality was that soon the faith community was going to include Samaritans, and Gentiles, and former soldiers, and even an Ethiopian government official.
They needed to find the best of the best of the followers of Jesus to see to the task of caring for the poor. So, they chose Deacons, that is servants.
They chose seven men, all who if you notice had Greek names, to lead the ministry. They were more than qualified by faith, but were chosen as well for this task because they could speak to those widows in their native language Greek, and assure them that their complaints had been heard and solved.
The seven: Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and also Nicolaus, were joined later by others, including women (sometimes it takes the church a while to see that while dealing well with one issue, we might be missing another – widows are women don’t you know).
And the church grew as more and more were being added daily to its number, So the need to grow more leaders was growing too; leaders who not only knew the gospel well, but who were willing to lead small groups in order to teach and share the faith.
Just the twelve were not enough!
Even in a church the size of ours we are badly under leader-ed.
Just to disciple and care for our 350 members, plus the many folks who are part of our family who are not members, we would need between 20-30 small group leaders. And to be honest, an additional pastor.
Not because the one you have isn’t amazing, but because this community of faith is itself so amazing that it needs an additional pastor to continue to grow. And what stands in the way of that additional preacher/teacher, money.
Our youth are going to Purdue! Thank you, Kelly! Our Mission Team is going to North Carolina. Thank you, Allison! But there are so many other opportunities to put our faith to work. Are you ready to lead? Let’s talk!
Amen.
We want to be open, available, approachable, because we have something to share, to teach, to help others learn about, Jesus!
We are not more holy!
But we probably should be looking for more ways to share the amazing grace we have discovered with the community in less intimidating ways.
So, I guess I can understand some of the community’s awe. We are amazing. But what folks don’t see and didn’t see in Jerusalem was the problems of a growing church.
It turns out that some of the Greek speaking widows had begun complaining that in the distribution of the food, they were getting less than the Aramaic speaking widows.
And the irony is overwhelming!
On the one hand, lots of people were afraid to join the church because their perception was that the church people had their lives together and were way holier than them, while at the same time inside the church things were getting uncomfortable as some folks realized that part of the church’s basic mission failing.
And the problem was growth.
As a church grows the systems needed to keep it going, the leadership needed, even just the resources needed, have to grow as well. When you have a group of twelve disciples, one leader works.
When you have a community in the hundreds, you need all twelve of those Apostles teaching and leading smaller groups. But when you get to thousands, you need to expand the leadership exponentially.
In Jerusalem, there were now at least 2000 followers of Jesus!
And if those 2,000 were in house meeting groups of 20 people each, they would need 100 leaders, who knew and understood the gospel, including its amazing invitation to treat each and every person, no matter what, as if they were brothers and sisters of the Messiah, you know, just like Jesus did!
No exceptions because of their profession, their gender, even their status. In Christ there is no Jew nor Greek, no male nor female, no slave nor free.
You must treat them as siblings of Christ, even if _________. They are family! And it was going to get tougher.
Right now, the issue was widows, poor and in need, unsupported by their families, who needed food. But at least they were Jews who were following Jesus.
Yes, some had grown up as Jews in Israel and spoke a kind of a street Hebrew called Aramaic, so kind of like real Jews. And then there were the others, who might have been converts to Judaism, or who grew up outside Israel, who spoke Greek, so kind of like second class Jewish followers of Jesus.
And those kind of like second class followers of Jesus noticed that somehow in the crazy growth in leadership, the idea that all followers of Jesus are sisters and brothers to the Messiah was somehow being missed, particularly in the distribution of food, because the “real” Jewish widows were getting more and better food, than the “less real” Jewish widows.
The Apostles had a problem! A big problem!
And they needed quickly and definitely to establish that in the community of faith, no individual or group was to be treated with anything less than honor. They needed to find additional leadership that understood the faith clearly including it’s call to folks very different than the Aramaic speaking disciples.
Because the reality was that soon the faith community was going to include Samaritans, and Gentiles, and former soldiers, and even an Ethiopian government official.
They needed to find the best of the best of the followers of Jesus to see to the task of caring for the poor. So, they chose Deacons, that is servants.
They chose seven men, all who if you notice had Greek names, to lead the ministry. They were more than qualified by faith, but were chosen as well for this task because they could speak to those widows in their native language Greek, and assure them that their complaints had been heard and solved.
The seven: Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and also Nicolaus, were joined later by others, including women (sometimes it takes the church a while to see that while dealing well with one issue, we might be missing another – widows are women don’t you know).
And the church grew as more and more were being added daily to its number, So the need to grow more leaders was growing too; leaders who not only knew the gospel well, but who were willing to lead small groups in order to teach and share the faith.
Just the twelve were not enough!
Even in a church the size of ours we are badly under leader-ed.
Just to disciple and care for our 350 members, plus the many folks who are part of our family who are not members, we would need between 20-30 small group leaders. And to be honest, an additional pastor.
Not because the one you have isn’t amazing, but because this community of faith is itself so amazing that it needs an additional pastor to continue to grow. And what stands in the way of that additional preacher/teacher, money.
Our youth are going to Purdue! Thank you, Kelly! Our Mission Team is going to North Carolina. Thank you, Allison! But there are so many other opportunities to put our faith to work. Are you ready to lead? Let’s talk!
Amen.
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