The beginnings of the Christian church

Our first reading today is from the beginning of the Chapter 6 of the Acts of the Apostles and we are witnessing some of the challenges of the beginnings of the Christian church. At this time, the Apostles were the primary authorities of the teachings of Jesus. Peter and John were often in the spotlight and had more than one major run-in with the Sanhedrin, the Jewish judicial and administrative body.

Image by Matthias Wewering

Challenges at the beginning of the Christian church

By Steve Leininger


https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042223.cfm
Acts 6:1-7
John 6:16-21


One of our favorite restaurants in our Colorado mountain community of Woodland Park is a true mom and pop operation. The mom and pop, both from Mexico, serve up some of the best Mexican food in the area. While the kids play, do homework, or sleep (new addition to the family) at a table in the corner, mom takes customer orders, pours and delivers the drinks, and serves the food with a cautionary “Careful, the plate is hot!” Dad is in the kitchen, prepping, cooking, and plating. Sometimes he has help, often it appears to be a one man show. When most of the tables are full, mom and pop occasionally get behind to the point of turning away new customers. They have more work than they can handle but have not taken on additional staff. This inability to delegate responsibilities is hurting their business in our community.

Our first reading today is from the beginning of the Chapter 6 of the Acts of the Apostles and we are witnessing some of the challenges of the beginnings of the Christian church. At this time, the Apostles were the primary authorities of the teachings of Jesus. Peter and John were often in the spotlight and had more than one major run-in with the Sanhedrin, the Jewish judicial and administrative body.

At what point does it become harder to do everything that might be required to serve a community of followers? It seems that we have reached that point in our first verse:

As the number of disciples continued to grow,
the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews
because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

[Acts 6:1]

Disciples, as we know, are generally all followers of Jesus. More every day, we are told. So who are the Hellenists and Hebrews in this verse? The Hellenists were probably Jews who spoke only Greek. The Hebrews, on the other hand, spoke mostly Hebrew or Aramaic and made up the largest part of the early disciples in the region. The Hellenists were displeased that the most needy of their community, the widows, were not receiving their fair share of the daily distribution, food or financial resources that were derived from tithes or donations to the apostles, as stated in Chapter 4:

There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.
[Acts 4:34-35]

Once aware of the problem, the apostles, recognizing that their own inability to tend to the community’s physical needs and their spiritual needs at the same time, while important, was becoming difficult to impossible to do by themselves. The reading continues:

So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said,
“It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table.
Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men,
filled with the Spirit and wisdom,
whom we shall appoint to this task,
whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer
and to the ministry of the word.”

[Act 6:2-4]

The Twelve, full of the Holy Spirit, have realized that they can’t do everything. They wanted to focus their time on prayer and ministry of the word. They needed a group to handle the daily distribution more effectively. Unlike our local Mexican restaurant, they have proposed a solution that transfers some of Apostle’s responsibilities to a trusted few. Problem solved!:

The proposal was acceptable to the whole community,
so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit,
also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas,
and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
They presented these men to the Apostles
who prayed and laid hands on them.

[Acts 6:5-6]

These men were ordained (the “laid hands on” part) as the first deacons of the church. The actual word “deacon” is not used in the reading, but this establishment of an office of the ministry of men ordained to perform service to the community is in fact considered to be the beginnings of what we now consider the deaconate. 

Of these seven deacons, only Stephen and Philip get further mention in the New Testament. Philip, sometimes referred to as Philip the Evangelist (notably NOT Philip the Apostle), preached and reportedly performed miracles in Samaria, and met and baptized an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, traditionally marking the start of the Ethiopian Church.

Stephen played a short but spectacular part in the early Christian church. He was the only one of the seven deacons to have his qualifications recorded -- a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit. If you continue reading beyond today’s reading in Acts, you will learn:

  • He was filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. [Acts 6:8]
  • Those who debated him could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. [Acts 6:10]
  • When brought before the Sanhedrin on false charges, those present looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel. [Acts 6:15]

Chapter 7 of the Acts of the Apostles is Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin, where he describes the history of Israel and how the Israelites have consistently misunderstood God’s intentions. It’s a great speech and I invite you to read more on your own. It ends with the stoning of Stephen, who becomes the first martyred saint.

Because of the stoning, the Christian church in Jerusalem scatters. It scatters but does not falter. It grows stronger because the Apostles carry the message of Jesus to a much wider audience, and they now have a model on how to ordain qualified help for their missions. 

Was Saint Stephen’s discourse before the Sanhedrin reckless disregard for his own safety? I’m thinking that he was familiar with the event detailed in our Gospel reading for today from John chapter 6. It tells the story of Jesus catching up with his disciples as they rowed across a choppy Sea of Galilee:

When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid.

But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” [John 6:19-20]

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