A Burden Off My Shoulders | Acts 6:1-8 | The fourth Sunday after Pentecost
June 20, 2021 | 10:45 a.m.
The fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Communion will be celebrated during this service. If you plan to visit with us, please read our communion statement.
READINGS
Psalm 50:13-15, 23
Acts 6:1-8
Romans 12:1-8
John 13:31-35
Message presented by Rev. Frank C. Ruffatto
Message begins at 21:31
Stephen Ministers Installation begins at 54:12
+Points to ponder
- What might the lesson in Acts say about you using your gifts and talents for your Christian community?
- Does your congregation use the various gifts of its members? How can the congregation improve on this?
- What is the primary mission of your congregation? Is it in alignment with the early church?
+Sermon Transcript
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto each of you from God our Father and our Lord and King, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
: Almighty God, You have broken the tyranny of sin and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts whereby we call You Father: give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service, that we would glorify the name of Jesus. Amen.
“Several years ago, a reader of the British Weekly wrote a letter to the editor as follows: ‘Dear Sir! I notice that ministers seem to set a great deal of importance on their sermons and spend a great deal of time in preparing them. I have been attending services quite regularly for the past thirty years and during that time, If I estimate correctly, I have listened to no less than three thousand sermons. But to my consternation, I discover I cannot remember a single one of them. I wonder if a minister’s time might be more profitably spent on something else. Sincerely …’
The letter kicked up quite an editorial storm of angry responses for weeks. The pros and cons of sermons were tossed back and forth until, finally, one letter ended the debate. This letter said: ‘My Dear Sir: I have been married for thirty years. During that time, I have eaten 32,850 meals – mostly of my wife’s cooking. Suddenly, I have discovered that I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet, I received nourishment from every one of them. I have the distinct impression that without them I would have starved to death long ago. Sincerely …’”
Caviling is nothing new even and maybe especially among Christians. Consider our reading from Acts this morning: “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.”
Not only did the early church suffer affliction from without, but they experienced internal strife as well. Luke is describing a Christian community that is becoming more complex as God grows it. And more, it is here that we see how the Apostles handle this friction among God’s people.
First, we should note that there is nothing in the text that implies that there were premeditated purposeful or malicious acts of ‘neglect.’ More than likely, there was some misunderstanding between the Hebrew group and the Hellenists who came to faith through the Apostles’ teaching in the aftermath of Pentecost.
What is noteworthy is that this was not merely Apostolic sermonizing going on. These new Christians – Hebrews and Greeks – were learning how to live in and to be a Christian Community.
Second, we will discover that as the Apostles’ – the twelve – addressed this complaint, they took responsibility and action. That is, they did not look to assign blame but evaluated the situation and sought a solution that would not put at risk the primary mission and ministry for which they were responsible.
Luke tells us: “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.” The Apostles knew that to neglect Word and Sacrament could be fatal to the mission and ministry Jesus gave to them – they knew that Christians were meant to be in community together and so they looked to commission others to participate in the service to that community. They continue: “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.”
This duty was to help as St. Paul put it to the Christians in Galatia – that they were to “bear one another’s burdens.”
As we here at Redeemer seek to be Help, Hope, Home in the Body of Christ, we seek to follow the ancient church, not only in worship – in Word and Sacrament – but in bearing each other’s burdens – to bring help, hope, and healing to those of us who need it. And if we have a modicum of honesty, we know that we all need it at one point or another.
And so, as we hear in our reading that the community “chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” among others to take up this service, this ministry, we, again, want to emulate that for God’s people today. And this personal care for each other is as needful as it has ever been.
Video -- "It Was Such a Burden Off My Shoulders"
This man in our vignette, spoke of the ‘Stephen Minister’ who helped him in his time of need. This is the ministry we commission today. Or better said we are commissioning five people who have had extensive training over the past year to help our congregation in ‘bearing one another’s burdens.’ Moreover, this comports with what Paul encourages in our epistle lesson, that as the body of Christ, “we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.”
Now, beloved, Stephen Ministry is not a replacement for pastoral ministry – it is an extension of it. This training our soon-to-be commissioned Stephen Ministers have received has equipped them to walk along side those in need – and not just for a moment or in passing – but, for the long haul as they help those dealing with various crises and life events.
Moreover, this is supervised and confidential care. Those who receive this care shape the direction in which it goes. The ‘Stephen Minister’ is to, again, come alongside the one needing care, not to tell that person what to do – but to be that calm and loving presence which the Spirit works in and through them.
“Finally, brothers [and sisters], rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, be of the same mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” Amen.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
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