SERMONS

Acts 6
The Reverend Angela L. Ying
Bethany United Church of Christ
November 22, 2009

There is big difference between seven people doing one common thing and one person doing seven things.

The first is a team or community with one purpose.

The second is a Jack or Jane of all trades who will eventually burn out, freak out, or break out.

There is big difference between seven people doing one common thing and one person doing seven things.

On our journey to Taiwan, we had nine traveling together. Now, when nine family members travel together, we learned, we need to be clear where we are going together. If not, there was sure to be nine different opinions of where we were going and how we were going to get there.

When we knew where we were going and that our purpose was to listen and see what our ancestors were trying to teach us through their life and faith, we were all able to pray, to work, to see the justice and injustice and to share a meal together.

It wasn’t perfect and it was not always comfortable.
There was conflict. There was complaining.

And yet, both the conflict and the complaining were used to keep us clear on task.

When one of us was not aware of our own gifts and thus attempted to carry out what another person was gifted at, as in ordering the meal in Taiwanese, but not realizing there are eight different tones for the same word—we got dried fried fish eggs instead of fresh steamed dumplings!

Throughout our journey, one could tell when all of us came together to do one thing, rather than attempting to do it all at one time—individually.

You may ask, “Didn’t you get tired of each other’s company? Didn’t you get on each other’s nerves?”

Absolutely!

And yet, we also knew this was a journey of faith that people not in community do not get every week.

There is big difference between seven people doing one common thing and one person doing seven things.

We notice this in our Scripture reading for today.

The community of faith is on a journey together as the early church, and they need seven people doing one thing. The community has been growing because everyone has been praying and the word of God is being spread.

But then the community notices that the same people, namely the twelve disciples, who were able to pray and spread the word of God, are not able to also distribute food to those most in need, and therefore, the most vulnerable—the widows and immigrants are being neglected.

Now since the community has been clear that to pray and spread the word of God and to feed the people is what the community has been called to be and do, there is conflict and there is complaining.

But unlike modern churches who have a romantic view of church in which a community should never be in conflict and that the community is somehow bad if everyone is not happy – the early church sees their conflict and complaining as a way to rethink, reset and break open again to what God intends for their community.

The Hellenist Greek speaking Jews and the Hebrews, or Aramaic speaking Jews are given another opportunity to see together if they are moving in or away from the direction of God.

That is how the community of the early church saw the gift of conflict.

Now notice that when the conflict arises, the community does not tell the twelve disciples of Jesus to drop everything they are doing to take care of this particular conflict.

In fact, the twelve realize that their very gift to the community is to pray and to spread the word of God. And they do not let this conflict steer them away from the purpose of the whole community.

Wise enough to know that they need more people to serve, they ask the whole community to pray—to pray and from their prayers select seven to distribute the food to the most vulnerable in the community.

And as they asked the whole community to pray and discern who would best be called to carry out this task, this meant it did not happen instantaneously.

They prayed and prayed and prayed. For the disciples knew that only through hours upon hours and even more hours of prayers would the community find the courage to do something—to do something even foolish—to do something that would change their life, their community, their world.

In fact, the community has three criteria for selecting the seven people to serve on a team. The seven who will be appointed are to be active in the life of the community, full of the Spirit and of wisdom. They are prayed for, then appointed and the community’s hands our laid on them in more prayer.

The seven, oddly enough, are not self-appointed volunteers, who get to do as they please!

Now, I do not know about you, but this Scripture reading and the ways of the early church sure sounds like it has something to teach our Bethany community.

We are a community which we have agreed has a purpose. And what is that purpose?

[The congregation mumbles and whispers “to do justice, love kindness and walks humbly with our God”]

[The preacher says, “Right? That was clear as Charlie Brown in the classroom when the teacher says muffles, “rahrahrahrahrah” and we hear Charlie Brown say “yes, sir” not having a clue what was said!]

So, I ask you the community again, “What is our purpose?”

[This time the congregation responds loudly and clearly “To do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God.”]
That’s right. Our purpose is to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God. And in so doing, we as a community help each other grow in a faith that does justice, loves kindness and walks humbly with God.

On the first board meeting back from my sabbatical, it was clear the Holy Spirit was present, as it had been for the early church. For we each saw a connection of our purpose to that of our core ministry teams.

Listen.

We grow in faith as we:

*Do Justice (Peace and Justice and Outreach)
*Love Kindness (Hospitality and Care of the Community)
*Walk Humbly with our God (Intergenerational Worship and Intergenerational Faith Formation)

Just as the early church, if we are to be church, Bethany will need seven people on a team doing one ministry—not one person doing seven ministries or even one person in each of seven ministry teams.

Have you ever played on a team?

Well, if you want to be on a team and play soccer, even at the young age of seven, you have two practices and a game every week.

In other words, no one on the team gets to just show up for the game and expect to play well. If you do, you may find yourself off course or running in the direction of a different goal.

I learned this first hand while traveling in Japan. My parents who were the only ones fluent in the Japanese language were brilliant in choosing to remain in Taipei while sending my sisters and I with our families on a journey to Tokyo.

Not knowing the language and being in a country that had very little need to speak English, we realized once again that we needed to work as a team—as we attempted to get to where we wanted to go by the very complex Japanese rail system where every bullet train or shinkanshen came exactly on time and you had only 30 seconds to get in and out before the doors would close and the train would move.

Rather than crowding around the train, as in New York or DC, the people in Tokyo would form a line single file. So with seven of us, we had two adults in front with the three children in the middle and two adults behind in case the Japanese shinkanshen doors would close leaving us separated from each us.

There were many times during the journey when it would have been easy to go in the wrong direction and get very lost if we did not stick together. On one trip to the Meiji Temple which required three transfers, we rushed to catch our train. With everyone ahead of me, I suddenly realized that I did not have the correct change in Japanese yen. Looking for more change to purchase my ticket, I watched as the train in front of us came and went. For a moment we all stood there disappointed until—my elder sister looking more closely at the map said, “Hey, if this is where we want to go, then we are on the wrong platform!”

As a soccer mom, which was another gift revealed to me during the sabbatical, I watched as some on the team actually ran in the direction of the wrong goal and we had to teach them that if they wanted to get to the goal they wanted, they had to turn and go the other way—other way!

So too, if we remember Jesus’ words that the last will be first and the first last, we find at the core of our purpose: Walking Humbly with God can be our Intergenerational Worship and Intergenerational Faith Formation (from cradle to grave) at Bethany Church. And intergenerational worship and faith formation needs practice.

Practice, practice, practice, and yes, showing up for practice every Sunday, so that you and I can get through life Monday -Saturday alive! Practice, so that you not only know what and where the goal in life is, but what game you are going to play in life!

Isn’t that why we gather every week—to practice for life—a faith with God in community?

And just as one person on the soccer team cannot play all the positions, one person on a ministry team cannot do all the work. He/she will need, and this is biblical, at least six more people with him/her—not only to share the work, but to be in community.

Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.”

Jesus did not say where one is gathered, as in “just you and me Jesus,” because one is not a team nor a community. Ask any rabbi or minister, one is plain lonely.

Love Kindness. If this also is a part of our purpose and is seen through this community’s Hospitality and Care for the Community, then looking to the Scriptures for guidance, this means:

Every One shares and prepares the meal and Every One eats and breaks bread not some share and some eat.

There is even a story in the gospel warning us against this—it is the story of two sisters, Martha and Mary—and while the community hears Jesus speak to Martha, the disciples know Jesus also speaks to the community as Martha misses out on sitting at Jesus’ feet and hearing the word of God because she is the only one in the kitchen.

We are not little red hens who do it all by ourselves. We are people of God sharing faith and being in community.

Walk Humbly with God through Intergenerational Worship and Faith Formation

Love Kindness through Intergenerational Hospitality and Care of the Community

And Do Justice through Peace and Justice and Intergenerational Outreach in Spreading God’s Word.

Could we rethink, reset and break open to God—moving in the direction of God as a community?

Absolutely.

And to be church, we will need everyone, not just some, in the community, on the team—where each team of seven people is prayed for, appointed and laid hands on for more prayer in a common ministry.

You do not have to stay on the same team for life. Look at the scriptures with Stephen and Phillip. Once called and appointed as one of the seven to distribute food to the most vulnerable—God lets them spread the word. For the Greek word for ministry of the Word and “distribution” of food are the same word, diakonia – and thus, the same ministry.

Just as twenty years ago this week the Berlin Wall did not fall on its own through one person, but through many people—the whole community is engaged in the ministry together.

Now that is the difference!