Included - Acts 6:1-7

Valentines for Widows

Every year on Valentine’s Day, hundreds of widows and widowers in Charlotte, North Carolina get gifts such as wine, candy, flowers, or jewelry. It started four years ago, when the owner of a flower shop decided to do something nice on Valentine’s Day for some widows that she had met online. This past Valentine’s Day, more than 1500 people who’ve lost a spouse got gifts. Most volunteers are widows themselves. One told a reporter this year there are simply too many widows. And by most counts, there are as many as 12 million widows living in the US.

Widows are at the heart of our story. For the same reason that the flower shop owner started her project in 2021. They are both a vulnerable group and a neglected group. They can be forgotten. In our story today, they are being excluded from daily meals. There’s more going on here, but of all the vulnerable groups, widows give us a window into the ways we think about outsiders.

Have you ever been to a party or a gathering and within minutes realized that you don’t belong? I’ve been to a few of these in my lifetime. More than a few had to do with me not being part of the theological or Christian camp of the meeting to which I’d been invited. I remember one such occasion in Florida, I was on the front row of a church service and immediately realized I was going to be uncomfortable all night so I spent 5 minutes devising a plan to get off the front row, back up the aisle and out to my car without making my friends feel bad.

Have you ever been in a situation or place where it was obvious that you were not wanted there? I can think of one instance in which that happened to me. And again, there is an awkwardness that you never forget. Or how about finding out that there is an event that has a guest list and you’re not on it? Also been there.

We all want to be included. In fact, it is a desire common to most human beings. We want to be accepted, we will do things that are out of our comfort zone in order to be accepted and included. We long to have a sense of belonging. And for me… I openly acknowledge I have a hard time with this, because I want to be included in everything. No one wants to be excluded.

That’s at the heart of our text today. We’re making our way through the book of Acts. And we happen upon chapter 6 and the story of the very first church is making a turn. It’s unexpected here, though if you know anything about human sociology this isn’t shocking.

First major problem - The Threat

In our study of the book of Acts, we’ve come to Acts 6. We find that after the church is birthed on the day of Pentecost, they begin meeting in homes throughout Jerusalem. They gather for the teaching and preaching of the Word. They gather for prayer. They gather for sharing meals… and this sharing, over time, becomes sharing of all things. Dr. Luke tells us that they shared all things in common and shared with those who had need. The picture is one of community and unity. This is a picture of the church as it is supposed to be.

But you give enough time, problems will develop wherever there are people. And sure enough, we get to chapter 6 and the first major problem shows up and it threatens to stop the spread of the Good News of Jesus.

Hellenists vs. Jews (Culture)

The unity is showing cracks. Here’s what Dr. Luke tells us:

Acts 6:1 In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

3 things to see here. First… the followers of Jesus are increasing in number. That has been a constant theme throughout Acts. Jesus is growing His church. At some point, that increase, though, is going to affect the infrastructure and the human element to all this growth.

The second thing to see here is the ethnic tension and cultural differences. The Hellenistic Jews are complaining against the Hebraic Jews. While there is some debate about the exact makeup of these groups, generally speaking, the Hellenistic Jews are Jews that are from all over the Roman empire who spoke primarily the Greek language. Hebraic Jews were mainly from Jerusalem and spoke Aramaic. The fact that the Hellenistic Jews are worshiping with the Hebraic Jews suggests that the Hellenistic Jews knew enough Aramaic to be part of the group. But the point is that there are significant cultural differences between the two groups… and the Hellenistic Jews are in the minority of this early church gathering.

Widows (Family)

The ethnic tension shows up in a very particular way. Hellenistic widows are being ignored in the daily meals. There’s not enough here to suggest that the slight is intentional. If you’re a Hellenistic widow, it probably feels that way. But it doesn’t matter… the slight is real and it is significant.

Widows face difficulty here in the U.S. But in this setting, this is a matter of life and death. Widows were among the most vulnerable of society and culture. Once the husband dies, there is no source of income. Widows were dependent on family for survival. It is such a significant problem in that culture, widows are mentioned all over the Bible as a group in need of care. In many parts of the world, it is still this way. You lose your husband, and your life is in danger for lack of provision.

That’s happening here. This isn’t just an slight that is a minor oversight. These widows are dependent on the daily distribution of meals and services for their survival. Their exclusion is a matter of life and death. And at the center of their exclusion is this ethnic tension. There is discrimination involved because they do not belong to the majority group.

Delegation and Assignments

As we read moments ago, this is all resolved through delegation and assignments. The 12 disciples of Jesus… 11 plus one that was added.. they point out that they need to be about the business of the Word. We’ll come back to this in a second. The important thing here is that the problem wasn’t swept under the rug. It was acknowledged. The threat against the community and unity is very real. So, the disciples and the entire church body chose 7 guys:

Acts 6:3 “Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty.”

What’s fascinating about the choice… you look at the list of 7 names and all 7 have Greek names. They chose Hellenist leaders to make sure that the Hellenist widows were not being neglected in the daily meals. The 12 delegate the tasks and assign the responsibility of the widows to these 7 who have a good reputation, and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. They select the best of the best to handle this problem.

One thing to note here.. twice in this text we have some variation of the Greek word diaconia… in our translation: distribution and waiting on tables. That word as a noun is our word for “deacon”. The 2000 year old question that is always a debate is whether these are the first deacons of the church. In a sense, they are.. they are assigned the duty of serving as deacons. In a sense they are not.. in the cases of Stephen and Philip, it becomes obvious later in Acts that both guys are much more than table waiters or deacons. Stephen is an amazing orator and theologian, and Philip is the first active missionary in that early church. What we can say here.. is that the delegation of roles that is part of the story between the 12 apostles and these 7 suggests that these 7 are the prototype for what later became the deacon role in the church.

The priority of inclusion

Before we get to the main point of what the disciples say, we have to state the obvious: their efforts highlight the priority of inclusion. Nobody left behind.

Widows and ethnic minorities are included in the very fabric of what it means to be church.

There’s no way around this. Two different cultures. Different languages. Different lifestyles. Different values. And for the most part, they have unity around the Gospel. They are worshiping together. But the daily needs and daily concerns are different for each group, and in this instance, the widows are falling through the cracks and most likely facing survival questions. It’s important for that church, including the Hebraic Jews… the majority, to make sure all are included in everything that the church is doing. Inclusion is a value. So much so… they stop everything they are doing to make sure no one is left behind.

Church is to be church for everybody. Centered on the Gospel.

In way to many cases, inclusion is a dirty word. I see biblical defenses made just about every week for exclusion. Along ethnic lines. Along theological lines. And often against fellow believers in Jesus. All in the name of Jesus. And we wonder why the church is shrinking. And I get it. We’re most comfortable with our own culture. Our own way of life. Inclusion forces us out of our comfort zone.

But our world needs us. Exclusion isn’t unique to the church. It’s everywhere.. and in many instances gets brought into the church. I remember having a conversation with an individual who was convinced that church should be made up of individuals of one political party. I know of churches who forced out people who had publicly stated they weren’t voting for a particular candidate. Exclusion is everywhere. And in its wake are thousands of people, many of them our neighbors, who just want to belong. They want to be included. And they are being told church isn’t for you, unless you conform to this idea or that idea.

How important is inclusion? That’s actually answered in the point of the entire episode. But too often we miss it. Here’s how it all goes down in this passage

Priority of the Word and its Increase

When faced with this problem of widows being neglected the 12 apostles state twice what is front and center for everything that happens:

Acts 6:2–4 The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables...Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men...But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

“We will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” is at the center of the story and it is the main point of the story. The church has grown to the point that the daily distribution of meals is more than the disciples can handle and it is pulling them away from their primary responsibility of preaching and teaching the word. Last week we saw the church pray for boldness so that the proclamation of the Word would continue. Here, again, that’s the main idea. Any obstacles to maximizing the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus should be dealt with.

This delegation of tasks in the early church is no small thing. It’s not just for the inclusion of the widows. It’s so that prayer and proclamation can continue? Why? Because it’s the Word that changes the world. It’s the Gospel that changes lives. The priority of church is the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus, before it is anything else. The delegation of responsibilities in church all serve the bigger point: making sure there are no obstacles to maximizing the preaching and teaching of the Good News of Jesus.

This is why inclusion is so important. In this context of this text, who is most at risk of missing out on the Good News of Jesus and all the forgiveness, life, and salvation that Good News provides? The widows. In the maximizing of the Gospel to all people in all places, the church works hard at maximizing the audience.

And what happens as the result of making sure that all were included and people were assigned to that task?

Acts 6:7 So the word of God spread, (and) the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number.

Freeing up the apostles to do the ministry of the Word and making sure church was for everybody results in an increase of Word ministry and in turn, an increase of the number of Jesus followers. Funny how that works. Maximizing the Gospel is at the heart of kingdom expansion.

This is who we are at The Table. A church for everybody. And one of the big reasons we have a Leadership team tasked with various responsibilities is to free up the pastor for the Word and Sacrament ministry. This doesn’t mean there isn’t overlap both directions. It simply means that the primary purpose for dividing up and delegating the tasks is so that the Gospel will be maximized for the maximum number of people.

People want to belong. People want to belong to something that is bigger than themselves. And the church is where Jesus invites people to belong to something bigger than themselves. Church is for everybody because everybody needs what Jesus provides here: life, salvation, forgiveness… community, and belonging. That’s all here. Nobody left behind, because everybody needs Jesus.

Let’s pray.

The Table

Here is where Jesus expands his kingdom. When the 12 disciples say they need to focus on the ministry of the Word, this is what they were talking about… the irony is that the Sacrament of the Table at that time was part of waiting on tables.. it was all one meal. Maximum Jesus for maximum sinners. It’s all here.

Benediction