Acts 6:1-5a
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. And 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 deal with these matters. Therefore, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.” What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit.
Last week we talked about Peter and John and their conflict with the Council (or Sanhedrin). We ended for the week with the priests and elders being forced to let Peter and John go free from prison because they couldn’t find a way to punish them that wouldn’t set the people against them.
Peter and the other apostles went out and continued to preach on the streets and on the very steps of the Temple and people came from all around to hear what they had to say. Scripture tells us that “many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles.” And more and more, the people came, and listened, and believe.
This is the core of Acts – this constant, repeated refrain that the apostles kept preaching and sharing and the people kept on coming and believing. Over and over, throughout the book – from Peter preaching in Jerusalem to Paul traveling across Europe and the near East – the people came to listen and the Spirit touched their hearts and minds and called them in them to Jesus.
But the more they drew in the new believers, the more infuriated the council became until the judges had enough and had the apostles arrested--again--and thrown into prison--again. But in the night an angel came and set them free and sent them back to the temple area to continue preaching and healing. By the time they were brought back in yet again, the elders, having found no way to control them, just wanted to kill them and be done with it.
But one of their number, a wise man named Gamaliel, a Pharisee, spoke up and counseled caution. He reminded them there had been “healers” before this who had caught the people’s attention for a while – but they each had eventually proven themselves false miracle workers, and faded away on their own, without the council’s intervention – doing no permanent harm. Further, he told them to “keep away from these men and let them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail on its own; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them, and you may even be found fighting against God!” And so the apostles were released – but this was only the beginning of the persecutions to follow.
The first of those who would follow Jesus himself, and then the apostles’ teachings, were generally Jews – people who shared a common heritage, a common God – people who were initially all seeking a Jewish messiah – and suddenly, they were exposed to the expanding diversity of ethnicities and customs among the growing new faith.
It's not that the Jews weren’t used to “others” around them in their business world—they traded with folks from all over. But until now they had managed to keep their religion fairly pure. In business, Jews and non-Jews might meet in the middle and be on equal footing, but in their faith life, non-Jews had always had to conform to Jewish ways and Jewish standards – and that was changing faster than was comfortable for many.
Meshing people from different cultures, different countries -- not to mention different religious backgrounds, was just as messy then as it is now – as it always has been. Sometimes we humans can manage to come together and live in peaceful sharing. Other times we kill each other -- either figuratively or literally.
In the first months and years of this new faith, the people lived together and shared everything together, but in today’s story a sub-group of one of these early communities – referred to in Acts as Hellenists, or those who spoke Greek -- felt they were not getting a proper portion of the shared goods, so they formed a committee to oversee distribution and assure that Jews and Greeks received equal portions. One of those chosen was Stephen, called, along with six others, to serve the growing community of Jesus followers.
Stephen is a Greek name, as are the names of the other seven men chosen here to serve their community, (Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus). Theologian William Willimon suggests they were most likely Greek-speaking Jews of the diaspora, that great scattering of the Jewish people from a time when their homeland was invaded and deliberately broken up.
Stephen was a devoted believer and a gifted and passionate speaker. He spoke of Jesus on the street and many were converted by his words and the Spirit. But not everyone came to believe. One group of traditionalist Jews in particular disagreed with everything he said. They kept arguing and speaking out against him – and when their arguments didn’t prevail, they turned to outright lies.
The council, of course, believed them, and everything Stephen said in answer to their questions further enraged them, until finally they condemned him to be taken out and stoned to death -- at which Stephen is quoted as crying out: “I saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’” ... St. Stephen, known as the first Christian martyr to our human inability to tolerate difference – an inability we see in full force in the world we are living in today.
As Luke tells it: “They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him, and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’”
And Saul approved of their killing him....
Peter and the other apostles went out and continued to preach on the streets and on the very steps of the Temple and people came from all around to hear what they had to say. Scripture tells us that “many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles.” And more and more, the people came, and listened, and believe.
This is the core of Acts – this constant, repeated refrain that the apostles kept preaching and sharing and the people kept on coming and believing. Over and over, throughout the book – from Peter preaching in Jerusalem to Paul traveling across Europe and the near East – the people came to listen and the Spirit touched their hearts and minds and called them in them to Jesus.
But the more they drew in the new believers, the more infuriated the council became until the judges had enough and had the apostles arrested--again--and thrown into prison--again. But in the night an angel came and set them free and sent them back to the temple area to continue preaching and healing. By the time they were brought back in yet again, the elders, having found no way to control them, just wanted to kill them and be done with it.
But one of their number, a wise man named Gamaliel, a Pharisee, spoke up and counseled caution. He reminded them there had been “healers” before this who had caught the people’s attention for a while – but they each had eventually proven themselves false miracle workers, and faded away on their own, without the council’s intervention – doing no permanent harm. Further, he told them to “keep away from these men and let them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail on its own; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them, and you may even be found fighting against God!” And so the apostles were released – but this was only the beginning of the persecutions to follow.
The first of those who would follow Jesus himself, and then the apostles’ teachings, were generally Jews – people who shared a common heritage, a common God – people who were initially all seeking a Jewish messiah – and suddenly, they were exposed to the expanding diversity of ethnicities and customs among the growing new faith.
It's not that the Jews weren’t used to “others” around them in their business world—they traded with folks from all over. But until now they had managed to keep their religion fairly pure. In business, Jews and non-Jews might meet in the middle and be on equal footing, but in their faith life, non-Jews had always had to conform to Jewish ways and Jewish standards – and that was changing faster than was comfortable for many.
Meshing people from different cultures, different countries -- not to mention different religious backgrounds, was just as messy then as it is now – as it always has been. Sometimes we humans can manage to come together and live in peaceful sharing. Other times we kill each other -- either figuratively or literally.
In the first months and years of this new faith, the people lived together and shared everything together, but in today’s story a sub-group of one of these early communities – referred to in Acts as Hellenists, or those who spoke Greek -- felt they were not getting a proper portion of the shared goods, so they formed a committee to oversee distribution and assure that Jews and Greeks received equal portions. One of those chosen was Stephen, called, along with six others, to serve the growing community of Jesus followers.
Stephen is a Greek name, as are the names of the other seven men chosen here to serve their community, (Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus). Theologian William Willimon suggests they were most likely Greek-speaking Jews of the diaspora, that great scattering of the Jewish people from a time when their homeland was invaded and deliberately broken up.
Stephen was a devoted believer and a gifted and passionate speaker. He spoke of Jesus on the street and many were converted by his words and the Spirit. But not everyone came to believe. One group of traditionalist Jews in particular disagreed with everything he said. They kept arguing and speaking out against him – and when their arguments didn’t prevail, they turned to outright lies.
The council, of course, believed them, and everything Stephen said in answer to their questions further enraged them, until finally they condemned him to be taken out and stoned to death -- at which Stephen is quoted as crying out: “I saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’” ... St. Stephen, known as the first Christian martyr to our human inability to tolerate difference – an inability we see in full force in the world we are living in today.
As Luke tells it: “They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him, and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’”
And Saul approved of their killing him....
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