The Kingdom of God is Bigger Than Us part 1 - Acts 6 - The Hellenist Controversy

(Read Acts 6)

The Gospel of Luke records the exciting expansion of Jesus' ministry from hometown Galilee to the cultural centre of Jerusalem City. Act's, Luke's follow-up continues the story of growth through his followers from Jerusalem to the heart of the Roman Empire.

These new and as-yet-unnamed Jesus People continue to proclaim the Gospel (good news) of the Kingdom of God, just as Jesus did. (Start with Luke 12 and Luke 13 for more on the Kingdom of God.) this proclamation was a personal and a political reality. In Jesus' execution by the empire, he utterly defeated the power of empire from the highest ranks of power to the deepest depths of the human soul. The Jesus followers proclaimed the truth that all humanity had been set free to live in justice and love, and demonstrated the New Kingdom in their communities of mutuality and generosity, empowered by the living Holy Spirit within them (see Acts 2 and Acts 4 for more on these radical and generous communities).

Acts 6-12 tells the story of the first steps of this early community toward an inclusive and universal message and practice. Luke's message of the gospel for the outsider is potently demonstrated in these chapters as the new community wrestles with their own boundaries, and rejoices as they gradually receive the revelation that the Good News of Jesus' Kingdom really is for everyone, everywhere, for all time. Every incident in this passage (Acts 6-12) serves to illustrate and reveal this truth and it's consequences for the early Jesus People.

(please see my expanded introduction to Acts 6-12)

The Hellenist Controversy (vv1-7)

The growth of the community and its challenges begin largely because of increased persecution in Jerusalem and dispersion of the Christians into other territories. This persecution is first demonstrated in Acts in the personal story of the first martyr, Stephen. Luke suggests that this first murder leads to increased violence that causes the dispersion. Paul, the early apostle responsible for writing much of the New Testament, is also introduced during this time of persecution. He is complicit in the death of Stephen.

Stephen is introduced as the first in a list of people chosen by the community to deal with conflicts in the distribution of food. All of the generosity described in Acts 2 and Acts 4 has grown to such a degree that widows receiving the support are arguing over the fairness of the distribution. Luke describes it as a conflict between “Jewish” and “Hellenist” widows. Hellenists were the Jewish people who lived among the Greeks and spoke Greek, so this was likely a simple problem of language barrier. Still, it shows at the beginning of this section how the community is already becoming more diverse as it grows.

The community chooses from among them the people who will be responsible for the administration of the food distribution. The apostles have been tasked with teaching the community. I love how they are able to prioritize, set personal boundaries, and enable others to lead by letting go of this responsibility to others, chosen from the community and by the community. The elders describe the work of these people as “waiting tables”. The Greek word “deacon” also suggests serving food, so these may be the church's first deacons. The apostles affirm the congregation's decision by laying hands on them.

It's good to notice that the early community considered the practical ministry of administration and service to be as important to affirm as preaching and teaching. The church picks people who are “full of the Spirit and wisdom” and “of good repute”. The apostles lay hands on them to commission them to their work. These are not lesser roles in the church, they are necessary, complementary, and equal to the other roles in the community.

Stephen is among them. Luke follows this introduction by saying the church continues to grow, showing approval of the decisions of the community organizing, and of Stephen himself. Stephen and the other food administrators are described as having a good reputation, full of the Spirit and wise.

Stephen's Arrest (vv8-15)

Luke wastes no time in describing the conspiracy to arrest Stephen. Verse 8 says that Stephen is performing miracles, as Jesus did. This is probably the reason he was described as “full of the Spirit” in verse 3. Stephen's ability to perform miracles in the power of the Spirit did not prevent his arrest. His arrest demonstrates that “power” in the Kingdom is very different from the “power” demonstrated by the old order, the authorities of the world. The Kingdom of God operates in a different way. It is an upside down Kingdom, not a Kingdom of oppression and corruption like the power of the world.

His arrest is closely comparable to that of Jesus. The religious elite could not stand the wisdom and authority by which he spoke of Jesus, just as the religious elite could not stand the authority in Jesus' open criticism of their corruption and hypocrisy. They create a false rumour that Stephen has spoken against Moses and the temple, the same accusation that had been made of Jesus. Stephen is arrested and brought before the council for questioning.

These events will continue to follow in Jesus' steps until his death. But unlike Jesus, Stephen will have a lot to say before his final breath.

Acts 6:12-15 (ESV)

12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

read the series intro
read part 2 - Stephen's Witness to God's Eternal Love for the Outsider

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v1 – always increasing

v2 – First deacons – waiters. This is what the word means

Also, responsible for distributing alms and benevolence.

v4 – Deacons enable elders to preach, study, and pray

v6 – Elders anointed and appointed deacons to do their jobs

v8 – Stephen – a deacon – wise – moves in the Spirit – bold

(Click here to read Acts 6)

The Kingdom of God is Bigger Than Us – series intro - Acts 6-12

The Kingdom of God is bigger than us. In fact, the story of the message, demonstration, and growth of the gospel in Luke and Acts is one of explosive power that simply cannot be contained to one people group or region, whatever the consequences. The good news is that the Good News is for everyone. Our lives are lived out for the justice and love of others, a community facing outward to neighbours, strangers, and even enemies.

It is hard to be inclusive. It is hard to invite someone new into your family. Adoption is emotionally complicated. In-laws are sometimes cause awkward relationships. Our communities and families have histories - shared memories both good and bad. With those we are closest we have experienced the same joys and the same sorrows.

When Jesus spoke to his neighbours and comrades about loving their enemies, he spoke to people whose very identity was formed as a people rescued from slavery. Their nation as a nation was birthed from deliverance out of an oppressive empire that had held them enslaved.

The history of Jesus and all the Jewish people was one of wrestling. They wrestled with God as their forefather Jacob had wrestled with the angel of the Lord until he'd been blessed. His name was changed to Israel that night, which means the one who contends with God.

These Israelites, the God-wrestlers, knew what it meant to follow and honour their deliverer. Yahweh had delivered them from slavery in Egypt, and then clearly defined their relationship by his covenant law. When Israel disobeyed that covenant, they would become enslaved by empire, the Babylonians or the Persians. But then they would repent, and God would deliver them again.

Jesus now spoke to these people, with this rich history, under oppressive and violent occupation by Rome, the new empire and world power. This was a people who knew well who their enemies were. Their enemies had power. They had armies and kings and land upon land. They saw their enemies in uniforms. They were forced by their enemies to carry heavy loads without pay. They were taxed and abused.

It is no surprise that the Pharisees would emerge, this sect of religious people that taught the people to obey every aspect of the law code to the finest detail. They believed that God would rescue them from their enemies, as he had many times before, when Israel would just show their repentance and turn back to their faith, as they had many times before.

The sort of inclusion and universality of love that Jesus preached was so far beyond anything his people had ever imagined, even his disciples did not fully understand until long after Jesus was gone. When Jesus said they should love their enemies, he was including Romans. He was including forgiveness for all those who had ever done them wrong.

The Gospel, the good news of the New Kingdom wasn't only good news for the oppressed and the poor. If they would receive it, the Gospel was also for the oppressor. The good news was that they no longer needed to oppress. They could leave the empire. The good news meant that the rich didn't have to be rich anymore. The uncertain and transient foundation of wealth could be traded for the sure foundation of true, God-empowered life in the Eternal Kingdom. The Great Reversal was good news for any who would receive it, no matter what it cost them. Their power and riches were nothing.

Jesus died an innocent man, betrayed and accused of insurrection, executed unjustly by an oppressive empire like all the ones that had oppressed his people before them. And from the cross, he forgave them. He forgave those agents of the old empire that put him up there on the cross, beat and mocked him, the agents that had refused his message of love.

No injustice had ever been more severe than the one that was incurred by Jesus that day. In forgiving these outsiders, these enemies, Jesus opened the door for every one of those enemies and nations that had come before them. He opened the door to all who would come after.

He recognized the machine. He condemned the machine. He even raged against it. But he forgave the machinists.

This must have been unimaginably difficult for the early Jewish believers to accept. Even on the night of his betrayal and arrest, the followers of Jesus had shared Passover with him. They remembered vividly that they were a people who had been many times oppressed by other nations. Their history, their memory, their everyday experience, their very law code all told them that they must be exclusive to survive.

But Luke, the Greek doctor, writes his letters to the ranking Roman official, Theophilus, because from the first stroke of his pen, the story had already become universal. The code wasn't restricted to the words on stone carried from the mountain by Moses. Moses' first five books, the Torah, the Pentateuch, the Law, were celebrated every year at Pentecost. These boundaries defined in these books made it clear exactly who was in and who was out. They gave foundation for a history that bound families together tightly. But God's story was bigger than one people's history or one ethnicity or one country or piece of land.

This is the radical story of that great expansion of the boundaries of God's covenant. This is the last days, and the Holy Spirit is being poured out on all flesh (Acts 2). The new Pentecost is the law written on the hearts of humankind. The Holy Spirit is the living presence of God that could now speak directly to all people, without priests or veils or temples required. There is now only one mediator necessary, and no other human being or tradition can come between Jesus and those who put their trust in him.

We must never forget as Christians that the revolutionary and even offensively difficult challenge of radically inclusive love is the foundation of our faith. The early church in Acts was continuously challenged with how they may change to include others. They consistently denounced as heretics any who would place traditions or legal restrictions on people who would come to Jesus. The pattern of Luke through Acts is arms opened wider and wider, not boundaries strictly drawn.

Let us never forget how good our Good News is. Let us never forget the spirit in which our faith was planted. God's is a love big enough to include even his enemies. That includes us. The early church were challenged and rejoiced when they realized how wide the saving grace of God was. Let us do the same, welcoming and rejoicing when challenged with God's love for our enemies.

Who is beyond salvation? Who is beyond the love of God? 

Where are the limits of our own love?

I believe the challenge for each of us, and for us as a body is to ask this of ourselves. Is it a people group? A nation with which our empire is at war? Is it a certain people we've judged as especially sinful? Is it the ruling class? The military? The poor? Perhaps our challenge is the same as these early Christians. Let us rejoice to know that freedom from judgment and oppression and fear and even death has been offered as freely to those who we would call our enemies as to us.

Let us find ourselves among tax collectors and sinners and outcasts. Let us share our healing and our love with soldiers as much as widows. Let us live contrary to empire, and see it crumble from the roots of God's love through us. 

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part 1 - Acts 6 - The Hellenist Controversy
part 2 - Acts 7 - Stephen's Witness of a God who Loves Outsiders 
part 3  - Acts 8 - The Gospel to Samaritans 
part 4 - Acts 9 - Saul the Murderer Meets Jesus
**part 5 - Acts 10 - The Gospel to Gentiles. The Last Boundary Imaginable.**
part 6 - Acts 11 - The Gentile Controversy
part 7 - Acts 12 - The Authority of the Kingdom vs Powers of the Empire

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The Kingdom of God is Bigger Than Us
I'll be posting all this week on challenges of inclusivity in community growth and outreach, diversity, and the Gospel as a personal or corporate experience.
Acts 6-12

New entries in this seven-part series will be posted each day this week at 8am.