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Acts 6: 1 - 9 John 14: 1-14
Act on It – Caring for others
Today we continue to explore how we can Act on our Faith…. How we can “Be church” and not just go to church.
Let me start off with just a little “straw poll” and ask you this.
How many of you think that it is important for the church to care for people? (Show hands!)
Just imagine the opposite. “Nah – who cares about people?”
Caring for one another is a part of what the church does.
If you were here last week, you remember we looked at the passage from Acts, Acts 2: 42-47, that acts as a blueprint for the church: The first part goes like this:
Acts 2:42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
In the earliest church, caring for one another seemed to happen organically, just it did with Jesus and his disciples, as they travelled together with a common purse.
Churches and individual Christians throughout the centuries have fed and clothed the poor, and cared for those in need.
That work continues today.
Our care for each other happens both within the church, and out in the world. Care happens on a practical and physical levels, as well as on emotional and spiritual levels.
Eventually though, as the church grew, some organization and structure had to develop around this value of providing for all.
That’s where our passage from Acts comes in today.
Those in the church realized that not everyone was being cared for. Certain widows were being overlooked. It sounds like there may have even been some ethnic discrimination creeping into the way food was being distributed. The Greek Jews started complaining against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being ignored.
Just as an historical aside, you have to remember that all followers of Jesus at the very beginning were Jews… no matter what country they were from. It wouldn’t be until a couple of years later that the apostles started actively sharing the good news of Jesus with gentiles or non-Jews.
The early Jesus movement was seen as a part of Judaism. In fact, the first big church controversy, requiring the first church Council of the apostles, was the question of whether believers in Jesus had to become Jews first, taking on the dietary laws and being circumcised. You can read all about it in the Book of Acts, chapter 10&11, and 15 & 16. But basically, the answer was “no.”
So the early church organized itself, setting apart certain people as Deacons within the body who would offer servant leadership, helping the church to care for others.
This teaching has many implications for us today.
This passage points to two aspects of caring for each other: a) We need to let others know about our needs and b) We need to organize the church so that we can care for others:
All churches are organized in both organic and more systematic ways to provide care. In our church, there are the official structures for care in the church – like the priest and the Life Care or Pastoral Care Team.
Then there is the natural care that happens as friendships and relationships develop between people. In the church, friendships and relationships can be built by participating in fellowship events together, by serving together in various aspects of ministry, and most deeply, by participating in a healthy small group.
Let’s talk briefly about how care happens in each of these.
Most people know that it’s ok to call a priest when someone dies, or is about to die, but then, people can get a little fuzzy about other issues.
The key is, I can’t respond at all to issues I don’t know about.
Please know that it is an honor for me to serve as your pastor. It is a privilege for me to be allowed into your lives at what often are the most intimate moments of life and death. So please don’t feel like you are imposing when you call or ask for help.
I’ll be the one to worry about balancing the calls on my time. That’s why I am glad that as the ordained pastor, I’m not the only pastor in the church.
In many ways, we are called to pastor one another.
Our life care team is St. Gabriel's organized way of making sure we can be there for you in times of joy and times of need. The team has people who can visit you in the hospital or at home. They are glad to make meals for after you have a baby or come home from the hospital. They add you to the prayer list, and can call to see if any other support is needed.
Right now, the team is small. Four people to be exact. Caring for the people of the church is a role for all of us though, not just 4 people. That’s why there is a Life Care survey in you bulletin. We want to invite you, if you are willing to help the life care team care for others. We’ll come back to that in a minute.
Finally, it is a goal of St. Gabriel’s that “Being church”, that caring for each other, is not simply a job of the priest or the life care team, but something all of us do together naturally.
Care happens as you all are church to each other, and you develop and deepen friendships that make it pretty obvious how you can ask for and receive help. You know how that happens. If you have close bonds in your neighborhood or at work, they pitch in to show they care… whether that is sending flowers to new parents, or helping their co-worker move, or taking turns driving their neighbor to her chemotherapy appointments. Those relationships happen in the church as well.
They develop naturally as people spend time together, and they develop intentionally in the context of small groups.
Those of you who are regular at St. Gabriel’s know that we are beginning a new small group series this coming week. It’s an opportunity to gather together to discuss the previous Sunday’s lessons, and grow in your understanding of what they mean to you, but more importantly, small groups give you a change to be known, and to know others. A place to share the highs and lows of the week. Like the old sitcom “Cheers”, a place where everyone knows your name.
Now your turn.
How are you being called for others. How are you being called to allow others to care for you?
So often we don’t want to pry. We don’t want to burden others. We keep to ourselves. “Being church” means not prying, but offering to pray, Not being a burden, but sharing our burdens with others.
I’m going to give you time now to consider how you can care and be cared for. Respond – small group - Care survey - Prayer request
END with time to respond. (Survey, and Prayer Card)
Silence / Instrumental – Fill out Care for one another
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