In the passage that we read today the grittiness of the world is crashing in on the Apostles. They are realizing that being the community of Jesus is more than just preaching, there are basic human needs that have to be met. In a way we are peeling back the layers and seeing the inner workings of the early church.
The Hellenists (Greek speaking Jews) came to the apostles complaining that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. At this time widows were completely dependent on others and without someone to take care of them they were left destitute. The new community of Jesus followers had combined all of their possessions and as part of their common life together it was their job to take care of each other, but it seems that these widows are being forgotten. The apostles are faced with a problem--their mandate was to preach the Gospel and teach, but how could they do that and take care of the every day needs of the community.
The solution that they came up with was to appoint seven men to take care of these needs of the community. The inclination might be to choose those who didn't have great gifts for teaching or preaching, but Acts tells us that they chose men who were in good standing, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. This job of dealing with the everyday needs of the community was no less important than the job of preaching and teaching. All of the people's needs had to be met, not just their spiritual growth.
It is easy to think that we don't have gifts to offer or that what we have to offer is not really ministry. We all have ministry to do and God has gifted each of us with a special task of ministry. For the church to function we have to be sure that we are addressing all of our needs whether they be spiritual, financial, pastoral care or any number of other important tasks that need to be done. The ministry that we do is not confined to the walls of the church. Whatever we are doing is ministry. How do you go about your day at work or school or home doing ministry? God constantly gives us the tools we need to reach out to others and to carry out the mission of the Gospel in our daily lives. Our job is to be open to the Holy Spirit's leading and to be willing to take part in the work of God in the world.
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