Acts 6,1-7. 13. Trinity

Acts 6,1-7          5020 

13. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 058

Amatus, Bishop of Sitten in Wallis, ✠ 690. 

6. September 2020

1. O gracious and Merciful Lord, who has graciously preserved us during the past week; grant that we may spend this Sunday in Your mercy, so that we may gladly hear and learn from Your Word this day.  Amen. (Starck 2 ¶ 3.4) 

2. »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. And theTwelve 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. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you 7 men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.“ And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon Parmenas and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the Word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.« 

3. Last week we heard that Jesus opened the ears of those who were physically or spiritually deaf. Today we hear that we should love God and our neighbor. 

4. We see this unfold in Acts 6: there is preaching and there is ministry to the temporal needs. In both, love is shown to God and the neighbor. But the apostles could not do all of this. They would focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word; the deacons would serve tables. Their titles tell us what they are to be about. Apostle, άποστέλλω, those set apart to send out to preach the gospel of the risen Christ. Deacon, διακονέω, to wait upon and serve, those set apart to care for the physical needs of the Church. We find the two working in tandem to further the ministry of the Church. 

5. As Jesus develops His teaching that we are to love God and our neighbor, He uses the Parable of the Good Samaritan to draw out the response from a lawyer. This lawyer was a Pharisee, and he admitted that in the parable the one who showed mercy on the destitute man proved to be a neighbor to him. Mercy, έλεος, also means compassion. The concept is found throughout the Scriptures.»Yahweh our God is a Merciful (ελεήμων) God« (Deuteronomy 4,31). »Yahweh is good to all, and His compassion (οικτιρμοί) is over all He has made« (Psalm 145,9). »Yahweh declares: I am merciful (ελεήμων); I will not be angry forever« (Jeremiah 3,12). The apostles proclaimed this mercy: »Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy (έλεος), He has caused us to be born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead« (1.Peter 1,3). »God saved us, not because of work done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy (έλεον), by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit« (Titus 3,5). »For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life« (John 3,16). 

6. In showing us His mercy, God shows us that He is our neighbor who is compassionate and loving to us. The apostolic preaching of the gospel affirms that our Merciful God has redeemed us. As His chosen people, we do justice (κρίμα), love mercy (έλεον) and walk with our God (Micah 6:8). The Prophet Micah emphasizes how loving God and neighbor go together. Walking with God and studying His Word shows our love of Him and this in turn encourages us to seek justice across-the-board for all people in our society; rejoice in God’s mercy to us, we show mercy to our neighbor and serve them. 

7. Yahweh pardons iniquity and passes over transgression. He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love. He will have compassion on us and trample our iniquities. He has cast all our sins away. He shows us faithfulness and steadfast love (Micah 7,18-20). Jesus accomplished this through His death and resurrection. The apostles preached this gospel, and the deacons handed it out with their table service. 2000 years later it is still the same preaching and service, whereby we recognize that Christ is our neighbor to us and pours out His love and charity upon us. Next week we will hear this again as Jesus is a neighbor to 10 lepers.  Amen. 

10. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, who serves His creation; we praise You for Your providence shown to us, so that as we are blessed we may be a blessing to others.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. 

Starck, Johann. Starck’s Prayer Book. Copyright © 2009 Concordia Publishing House.