The disciples were endowed by their Creator with all the basic elements needed to carry forth God’s mission. Common sense (although when it came to Peter, sometimes you wonder!), faith, a good reputation (dubious with Matthew, the tax collector), and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Those qualifications are very present at Joy. All of us have checkers in our past, skeletons in our closet. Our occasional lapses in judgment were also a bugaboo of those first disciples. Acts 6 records that the original twelve soon became overwhelmed. Being a pastor, I can relate! The issue seemed innocuous – widows were getting bumped out of line for food. It sounds coarse, but they didn’t have time to personally deal with the poor; there were just too many. Like Moses needing Aaron, they set about identifying seven more helpers, underlings, to handle making sure that the dear, sweet Gladys’s got head-of-the-line privilege, for starters. It didn’t take long for their duties and witness to exponentially grow. They became front-liners of a different, more powerful sort. Philip evangelized Ethiopia, for God’s sake.  

There is much we can learn from those stories, all part of the bigger story of how God through Jesus employs the church, both pastors and lay, to proclaim through Word, service, and fellowship. The disciples were filled with their Lord’s truth and grace. It started with, and always encompassed, servanthood. In the faith community, there is no place for competition. There is mutual ministry, mutual benefit. There is no task too mundane. Dishing up soup for a starving soul. Helping someone in and out of the bathroom. These are included, and may also lead to, other acts of God’s grace. We are the unmistakable sign of the kingdom of God. Numbers of people will be added when they see the value, the JOY, the reason for the hope that is in us. The Word of God prospers where it is rightly planted. We lead others to experiencing God’s unconditional love.

Pastor Art