Today's devotion is by CHRISTOPHER JUDELSOHN who serves at Midrand Presbyterian Church.
--------------------------
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 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. 3 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 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
5 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. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. Acts6:1-7
Although it may seem from this passage that the Apostles felt that caring for the widows or the poor was demeaning work because they had the more important task of praying and preaching the gospel; the fact is that the leaders of the Church realised that part of the mission of God's people, part of God's mission, is to serve the poor. To 'wait on' the widows.
Mission, amongst other things (as we will discover in the coming weeks), means service to the poor.
And often this service is very practical. In Matt 25 Jesus tells the parable of the sheep and goats in which He emphasises the importance of practical social outreach!
One of the questions we have to ask ourselves as congregations of the UPCSA is this: "If we closed our doors tomorrow, would anyone, besides you and I as members, miss our presence in the community?" If the answer is, "No," then we are not fulfilling God's mission of serving the poor.
And notice the result of the work of the deacons... We are told, the word of God spread, not only through the preaching, but also through action of serving the community. And more and more people began to join this amazing group of sinners who had been saved and transformed, and who had joined God's mission in the world.
Steve Sjogren writes in the book, Seeing Beyond Church Walls:"We love, serve and care for others because that is normal behaviour for people who are filled with God's Spirit. We are Christians. Christ was the ultimate servant. We can't help but serve because the Spirit of the Servant has filled our hearts. When we serve we are just being who we naturally are."
Whether you change someone's tyre, make a cup of coffee, offer someone a lift or make a meal for somebody - Serving never gets old.
We are made for this. We are most satisfied and at peace and full of joy, when we offer our lives for others and join God in his mission of transforming and serving society.
Mission is about service.
---
--------------------------
Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
