It's Back... The Laying On Of Hands.

Dear Friends,

Have you gotten a chance to read Acts 6 and 7 yet? I'd encourage you to do so: these chapters are an amazing glimpse into the life of the early church. As Pastor Sam mentioned in Sunday's sermon, we see in this text a picture of the opposition that arises when God moves.

For today, though, let's just look at a few verses from chapter 6 of Acts.

"So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, 'It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.' This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them" (Acts 6:2-6).

Delegation. The apostles knew that they could not effectively minister if they took on the additional responsibility of running the church's food distribution program. So, they did what I call a 'double delegation': they decided that seven other men would oversee the food program, and they also delegated the selection process ("Brothers, choose seven men from among you...").

Identification. The community chose Stephen, and the Scripture tells us he was known to be "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit". What a combination! And what a commendation! If the pastoral staff of Bronx Bethany asked the congregation to choose some people for a delegated task, who would you tag as being full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit? Or, to be more blunt, would you be tagged as being one of those who is filled with the Holy Spirit?

Presentation. The community completed their assignment by presenting seven men to the apostles. In a young, fast-growing church, the twelve apostles were not in a position to have personal relationships with the thousands who were worshiping Jesus in the temple courts and in the private homes of believers. The community served as ears and eyes, and were able to say, Yes, I know someone who is a leader and who will be an asset to the kingdom of God.

Impartation. Here we see, once again, the laying on of hands as a normal part of the life of the believer. In this instance the laying on of hands was not for receiving the Holy Spirit, because the community had identified Stephen and his colleagues as men who were already full of the Spirit and wisdom. I believe that, as we saw last month with the examples of Moses/Joshua and Paul/Timothy, that through the laying on of hands these seven men received a measure of the spiritual authority that was resident in the apostles. And, like Joshua and Timothy, Stephen demonstrated authority and boldness in his ministry.

But, as I mentioned at the start of this blog, apostolic boldness usually carries with it the risk of opposition and persecution. We'll reflect on this aspect of ministry as the week progresses.