"The Face Of An Angel- Defending Jesus” Series

In Jesus Holy Name July 10, 2022

Text: Acts 6 Redeemer Lutheran

“The Face of an Angel- Defending Jesus”

In the 4th chapter of Acts we are told that if we want to be saved, we should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter was clear: “Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name given under haven by which we can be saved.”

Those simple words are true and easy to understand. And, as far as heaven is concerned, those words need no amplification. Acts chapter 5 ends with this comment by Luke: “Day after day in the temple courts and from house to house, (the disciples) never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news about Jesus, who is the (long expected) Messiah.” The numbers increased and a large number of priests became believers because of the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, convicting them that the Old Testament bible passages pointed to Jesus.

The disciples taught that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah. “On Easter morning the earth shook. The heavens shook. And the body of Jesus of Nazareth, who had been crucified and buried, came to life. Jesus did not raise Himself from the dead…no, it was the Father through the work of the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. The resurrection is something that happened to Jesus. It was the Father’s vindication of His life, message and ministry.

Death could not hold the Son of God in its endless domain. Jesus rose from the grave victorious over death. He shook off the chains, no longer bound by space and time and history. His resurrection created a “new people of God, no Jew, no Gentile, no slave or free, no black or white or brown. A new kingdom of people imitating the love of Jesus with one another. (Jesus Theography, Leonard Sweet p. 264,265)

Now when you have the number of Christians in Jerusalem growing past 5000 to 6000 or 7000 you are going to have logistic problems and jealousy. And they did. The 12 needed help. The Christian community chose six men to help serve the community. One of them was Stephen.

“Anyone can be great because anyone can serve.” Those are the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They remind us of the words of Jesus who declared that he did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Dr. King is right. Greatness is open to all because anyone can be a servant. We generally don’t realize this until a crisis comes. Most of the time we rock along contentedly, knowing that someone else will do the serving. Serving is fine with us as long as someone else does most of the work.

Then a crisis comes and we begin to see things differently. I am told that the Chinese word for “crisis” is made up of two word-symbols – one meaning “danger” and the other “opportunity.” That’s what a crisis is: a danger and an opportunity rolled up together.

Our text tells the story of a sudden and unexpected controversy that threatened to rip apart the early church. How it was handled and how the crisis became an opportunity makes for a fascinating story.

Acts 4 tells us it was a time of unusual spiritual unity and sharing of possessions. Acts 5 told us about two people who were selfish. This should not surprise us. Satan often attacks at the moment when things are finally going well. David Wilkerson calls this unplanned interruption a “Satanic conspiracy” to divert the church from its God-appointed mission.

The devil’s 3rd attack against the new “Jesus movement” was clever. Having failed to overcome the church by persecution(The arrest of Peter and John) or corruption, (Ananias and Sapphira) he now tried distraction. If he could preoccupy the apostles with social administration, which was essential but not their calling, they would neglect their responsibilities to pray and to preach.

The problem: “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food” (Acts 6:1).

This is the first case of racial prejudice in the Christian church. It comes about primarily because the church has grown so fast that it has outstripped its leadership base. In the early days the apostles and their helpers could easily care for everyone in the congregation. As thousands joined the growing movement, it was inevitable that some people (or groups of people) would fall through the cracks.

The problem stemmed from the fact that the early church was entirely Jewish, it was made up of two different groups of Jews. The Hebraic Jews were Jewish-Christians who spoke Hebrew as their main language. They had been born and raised in Israel, were native to the land, knew the customs of the synagogue intimately, and brought their extensive culture with them when they entered the temple.