Kaleo San Diego Church

Acts 6:1-15: "Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.' 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.' 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."

INTRODUCTION

What do you think is most important in this passage? What is the big idea or main point of this passage? That the Word must go out? That those with need are taken care of? That the Church needs good organization to get things done?

What we've been looking at in the book of Acts is the phenomenon of the spread of the Church 2000 years ago. It is intriguing to us because it shows us how the Church came to be and the events that took place during these early days. But it also holds up a mirror to us to see if the Church today resembles the Church of this day. If the same Gospel is being preached, the same Holy Spirit is dwelling in the Church, why don't we see the explosive growth which was the hallmark of these first years?

A quote by a historian said:

Never in such short a time has any other religions faith or, for that matter, any other set of ideas, religious, political or economic, without the aid of physical force or of social or cultural prestige ever achieve so commanding a position in such an important culture.

In other words, there have been other important movements that have happened with political, military, or economic conquest, but nothing like this has ever been seen. It swept the empire in a relatively short period of time. Not only do millions come to faith and find themselves united to Christ in faith, but it actually changed the cultural landscape of the Greco-Roman world. There is an incidental but fascinating letter by a Roman businessman in this time who was writing to his wife as he was away. He wrote home to his pregnant wife and speaks to her about small-talk issues then says: "...And when the baby's born, if it's a girl throw it out."

That was the culture that the Gospel came into and changed because of its spread throughout the empire. Why? What was going on in the church that so gripped them that they lived in conformity to what they claimed to believe?

We've been looking at a few reasons, namely the Gospel, their view of truth, their view of what is valuable, their view of what Christ accomplished, and how that then changed everything in their life. We've been looking to see how it all flowed together.

What we begin to see is the lifestyle of the Christians was characterized by a spirit and attitude that was unprecedented and melted the hearts of those watching their lives, observing their pattern of life.

We call this a priestly spirit. This is what we're looking at today, the priestly spirit and ministry that shocked those around them.

Throughout these first few chapters we've already seen one of the major ways in which the Spirit shows its life off in the context of the Church is in its generosity. The generosity of our Father to pour out His Son from heaven into this world, so that He would pour out His life all the way up to the cross to then return to the Father and they both pour out the Spirit onto the Church so that the Church would pour out its life onto others in this world. This pattern is astounding! Our God is about inconveniencing Himself out of a compelled love to win us back at an infinite cost to Himself.

This kind of pouring out of generosity is then fitting for the Church if they are going to be shaped into the image of Christ. It is part of His character; radical, sacrificial, painful, self-sacrifice for the good of others. The Church has experienced this life-transforming generosity of God and it shaped how they viewed others that God placed in their lives.

We don't see the Apostles giving lectures after Pentecost on how to give, what giving is, the support of the Law to give to the work of the ministry. Why? Because generosity was a sign of life for the Church. We're told on two different occasions already that when the Holy Spirit filled them and the ground shook under them, they sold what they had and gave to the work of the ministry. No "how-to's," no "ten tips," just a Spirit-invaded church that saw their life was no longer their own and therefore what they had was all God's.

The commitment to one another and to the world was and is breathtaking when we put it up next to our modern shallow commitments to ministry and to the progress of the Gospel in our time.

The Church has already shown its great concern for those in need within and without the Church. They took care of them in ways that are today unheard of in the Church.

Part of their ministry was caring for widows within the Church who couldn't care for themselves. The Apostles knew that what grew the Church to even have this problem was the Gospel, God's Word being preached, breaking into the lives of outsiders who were now welcomed in by grace. This created tension in the Church as you have all these various groups coming together. Naturally some felt that those outsiders were being overlooked in the giving of help to the widows. This problem was probably true. It could have been a mere oversight, or it could have been a structural problem due to the rapid growth of the Church, or it could have been racial and cultural tensions between the Greek-speaking and Hebrew-speaking Jews. Either way the Apostles knew something had to be done.

They didn't want the word ministry of the Church to be slowed down so they appointed men that could literally "wait tables" for the economically weak and powerless to ensure they were cared for. This group specialized in caring for the powerless.

This was not just word ministry but deed ministry that joined the care for the soul and the body. It was holistic ministry which saw both as essential for the Gospel to be heard and seen.

What was the result? In verse 7 we see that a bunch of priests came to the faith! This is incredible. Why are they mentioned and why did they come to faith? Because the priests saw an entire community doing what the priests should do. The priests were to care for the poor. They collected the tithe and they were supposed to distribute to those who had need. The priests saw this and realized that they were all acting like priests. The sympathy, the service and involvement in others' lives and needs was beautiful to them and they were converted.

We're told that isn't all. Stephen didn't just act like a priest; he said the Temple wasn't necessary anymore.

Verses 13-14: "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.'"

What they were claiming was that Stephen said that Jesus would make the temple unnecessary and the Priesthood unnecessary. That's exactly what Stephen was saying. As a result, they were about to stone him and he looked up to heaven at the end of his speech in chapter 7 and basically demonstrates that we don't need the temple and the priests the way they were.

Stephen looked up to heaven and said, "I see heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father." He saw Jesus as his priest. They couldn't stand it and they killed him.

Christians didn't change the empire because they were so "nice." They were kind and hospitable, but they weren't safe and nice. They weren't doing what they were doing as a matter of duty, they were changed by seeing Jesus as their High Priest.
They were given a priestly spirit. They were living as they were priests, as well. It was the priestly lifestyle that changed the empire and had such a profound impact on people.

Having said that, I know that many of us have interesting and varied ideas about what the word "priest" means.

What do you think when you consider the word "priest?" At worst you think of someone who is taking advantage of others in their position. At best you think of someone nice and safe and other-worldy, but for the most part insignificant in this life.

We have look back to what a priest was back in this time so that we begin to understand how Stephen and the early Church lived. One definition for a priest is someone who: 1) went in, 2) for others.

A priest was someone who went in to God for others.

1) A priest was someone who went to God for you. Even in other religions in different cultures, everyone felt unworthy of going to God as they were and needed someone better then them to go to God on their behalf. In every culture, you would go to the priest and give them your offering and the priest would go in on your behalf. The priest was more holy and spiritual and he would represent you and you would feel better.

People knew they couldn't go in on their own because they were defiled.

Today, people would say this sounds too old and remote. Of course people felt this way back then because they were living in an old culture of poor self-esteem. Back then people felt unacceptable and were afraid of going to god/God out of fear. Today we don't have that sense of fear and so we shouldn't be so worried. We no longer have that same sense of sinfulness and shame so we have moved up beyond this old way.

I don't think so! Have any of you been to Mille Fleurs, the French restaurant? It is considered one of the top two restaurants in San Diego, that and Delirios. I took Grace to Mille Fleurs for our anniversary several years ago and it was quite an experience.

When you look at the people going in and out of this restaurant, you realize that you wouldn't be tempted to go in walking by in jeans and sneakers. It just isn't a restaurant that you go in with a "come as you are" attitude. You don't just walk in without thinking about how you look.

When we have a sense of a place that is set-apart and holy from a human perspective, a place with powerful people, a place of influence and importance; you can't just go in. You have to look your best and be your best; you have to be put together first. You wouldn't just go in "natural."

We all sense this in a variety of ways. Entire departments at Saks, Nordstroms, Bloomingdales, and Neiman Marcus are dedicated to helping you look holy on a day when you need to present yourself.

When you are going to a special engagement, getting prepared for an important date, or getting married you don't just show up looking like a human hamper. You need to prepare yourself and cover your flaws. You attempt to minimize the bad things about yourself as you try to maximize some physical quality about yourself. We all sense this.

Spiritual Transference

Counselors use a word called "transference" to describe when you transfer your anxiety that you have about one authority figure from your past to someone today. Perhaps you have an anxiety of your father's overbearing and dominant control and today you are suspect and unwilling to listen to a pastor or employer in what appears to be a position of authority. This has happened on a number of occasions at Kaleo where the past sins of someone who hurt an attendee, perhaps they claimed to be Christian, is then transferred to one of the elders and they remind them of this person not because they've done anything wrong but because they may hurt the attendee.

The Bible speaks of a more powerful form of transference. The Bible teaches us that we all feel like outsiders and there is a reason for it. You see this when you go to a powerful restaurant. There are tables and then there are Tables. If I go in, I have a reservation for a table and it might even be nice, but when I get there I see that there are THE tables and those people are People who are in the inner circle of power and influence.

Some of you have moved to southern California to make it in some way and you feel like an outsider. In LA this is even more apparent. At one time I promoted a couple of night clubs, one in Beverly Hills and one on 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Because of this I was able to connect with other promoters and this meant I was on the "list" meaning that I didn't have be treated as an outsider any longer at the best clubs. I would show up and give my name and they would look on the list and let me in through the velvet rope.

But this wasn't the way it started in LA. When I first got there I would have to wait an hour and sometimes two just to get in a place, not because it was overly crowded, but because they only let the people on the "list" in first. The rest had to stand outside and look like idiots. It was a terrible feeling. I was an outsider, not an insider, and this meant that I really had to cover myself and look my best when I showed up or I wouldn't get in at all.

This feeling doesn't end at fancy restaurants or exclusive clubs. This feeling carries over into all that we do. We feel like outsiders to the world. We always have to cover up and look great so that others will choose us and accept us. But we know that we're unacceptable.

The Bible teaches us that we transfer our sense of being shut out from the Garden of Eden, shut out from THE circle around the throne of God. We know that because of our sin, God sees our hearts and doesn't like what He sees. Before Him we can't hide our flaws.

We transfer that feeling and try our best to get into other circles of power and influence, places of importance. But we know that if they see us for who we really are we'll be found out and they won't let us in.

So what do we have to do? We have to work out. We have to figure out a way to seem educated and sophisticated. We have to find name brand clothes at Loehmann's or Ross so it will look like we spent a ton of money. We have to know the right people who can introduce us to the right people. These are all ways of covering ourselves like Adam and Eve.

We sew our fig leaves to hide our shame and nakedness because we feel and know we're outsiders. It isn't just the old cultures that felt this way; we feel it too. We know you can't just go in to God. We know you can't just go in natural. We know there is something wrong with us.

What is so amazing is that we compensate by transferring these feelings. If you were a child and your father rejected you and made you feel like you would never live up and do enough to be accepted, you transfer this to others and constantly seek after approval and attention because you desperately desire to be accepted.

I don't want to minimize this because it is a terrible thing that happened to you. But let's not be so shallow and give such a shallow analysis and assume that this is the ultimate cause. It's aggravated your situation, but it isn't the primary reason.

Some of you are racial minorities in a culture dominated by another race and you feel the alienation and prejudice. This is a terrible evil and should never happen. But you must not blame all of your feeling as an outsider on the sociological evil in our culture. It isn't just a psychological issue here.

Depending upon which party you stand with, one will say, "I feel alienated because it's an unjust society and all power is bad," and the conservative will say, "I feel alienated and so I need to look moral and religious and get in a position of authority or power." Neither will do; they won't work. You see, you've transferred your sense of being an outsider.

The real door that we know is shut against us is the door of God's presence, the door of Eden. Because we feel that shame we transfer it everywhere else.

Stephen has the audacity to say:

Acts 7:56: "...Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

It's open! Stephen acts like he's a priest, like he's ok, like he has access. Here is Stephen acting like he's in the inner circle of power and acceptability. Not prideful, but grateful. He's not afraid of anything, not afraid of their power, not afraid of their hatred and anger, not afraid of their casting him out of their circle of power, not afraid of the rocks they lifted to stone him to death.

He acted like he had already gone in to God. If you can look at the face of God and feel the warm smile of your Father as He welcomes you to Himself, you don't have to be afraid of anything or anyone.

Stephen acted like a priest with incredible boldness and courage in the presence of God and they were furious at him because they still felt like outsiders.

Here's the point: priests go in! Stephen acted like anyone could go in before God. This is why they hated him. They accused him of speaking against the temple, but they also accused him of speaking against the law (v. 14).

You see, they didn't understand the Gospel. Stephen didn't break the law. As a matter of fact, towards the end of his speech in chapter 7 he says:

Acts 7:52-53: "Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it."

This is where they got mad and ground their teeth and wanted him murdered.

Stephen is saying that they've never kept the law. The Temple and the Law is a failure to make you acceptable before God. The Law pointed to the only One who could ultimately keep the Law and make us acceptable to God, Jesus Christ the Righteous One, whom they betrayed and murdered.

The priests and the sacrifices prayed and tried to get their hearts as good as they could, but even the most holy things made and done by man still are stained with iniquity and need a holy One who is perfect. Look at Exodus 28 with me:

Exodus 28:36-38 "You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, 'Holy to the LORD.' 37 And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD."

There are some who think they can live by the Golden Rule and this will bring them to God or will be the standard by which to govern their lives as good people. If we knew the Golden Rule, we'd never really say this because we would know that all the work of our hands is filled with iniquity.

What does the Golden rule say? It says that you meet the needs of other people with all the joy, energy, creativity, and resources as with which you meet your own needs. Do you do that? I don't. Not like that! Anyone who says, "just live by the Golden Rule" has never lived by it nor understood it.

Do you know the iniquity of your holy gifts? When I try to look at my own repentance I realize that my own repentance is filled with false motives because there is iniquity even in my holy things. I try to obey and even when I'm half way there I check my motives and see that they are filled with selfish reasons. Oh the iniquity of my holy things!

Stephen says even the holy priests failed to obey the Law and couldn't bring us ultimately to God. But God sent us a Righteous One on our behalf and those who should have welcomed Him rejected Him. The priests rejected the True Priest.

If you reject the Righteous One there's no hope for you. Why?

Christianity has the highest and the lowest standards of any religion. Stephen's accusers were claiming that Stephen was saying there was no need for the law and had rejected it. They thought he dismissed it and therefore was breaking it.

Every other religion says, "try your best and maybe God will accept you." Stephen was saying that he had a higher view of the law than they did because he was claiming that God was saying that He would only accept the perfect! God is pure and is Holy and He won't allow imperfection to dwell with Him forever. God demands perfection. Here's what is so incredible, the Gospel teaches us that you have to be perfect to get in and no longer be an outsider, but Jesus has done it for you.

On the one hand, it means that Christianity has the highest standards of all because these other religions just tell us to try out best. But Christianity says, "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect!" Nobody gets in through just trying our best. But we have a Righteous One who has fulfilled that. We belong to Him because He's done it for us.

Pascal said something incredible when He was struggling with whether or not Christianity was the true religion. He finally concluded Christianity was so amazing because: Every other religion can deal with either your human pride or human despair, but not both. Only Christianity can make you incredibly humble and yet fill you with incredible hope. It destroys your pride and swallows up your despair. This is why we have a priest who lived our perfect life and gives us this life to bring us in.

We have a priest that goes all the way in for us!

This deals with the iniquity of our holy things! If you live assuming that you've lived up in your good deeds and behavior you will end up with an attitude of superiority towards others. You will not love them. You will not be a priest to them. You will look down your nose at those "sinful, lost people" and disdain them because you worked so hard to maintain your standing and how dare someone just trample on the things you think are important?

If you know that you're a sinner saved by grace alone, if you know that Jesus was your High Priest, if you know that your good deeds will never save you and that only the Righteous One who went in for you can bring you to God, then you'll pour your life out in service and love to others. The Gospel will be your power to love others who are not lovely.

How do we deal with a passage like the one in Matthew 25?

Matthew 25:31-46: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' 40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' 41 Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' 45 Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

This is how He will tell the false Christians from the true Christians. How can He say this? He'll see those who poured themselves out for the needy and He knows that if you know you're saved through His grace as your Priest, you'll be a priest to others. Priests have their hearts bound up to others. They are advocates for others. They know that the only reason they are before the Father is because Jesus had His heart bound up for them and He is their advocate.

A priestly person is someone who is deeply sympathetic for even their enemies.

Look at Jesus' prayer for those who had crucified Him: Luke 23:33-34: "And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' And they cast lots to divide his garments."

Look at Stephen's priestly heart as he's being stoned: Acts 7:59-60: "And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep."

When you see what Jesus has done for you it turns you into a priest for others. You go them to bring them and love them as you bring them before God. Priests encourage and make you feel like God is for you. The old priests were absolutely beautiful before God. Do you know you are?

0 Comments | Login to Post Comments

• Calendar
• Agenda