The Family of God, Blended, extended and never upended

Sermon by Pastor Larry Vilardo 

Several years ago Feherty, the golf channel host, interviewed Bill Russel, the Boston Celtics Basketball icon. Mr. Russell said this when asked about his life’s philosophy. “There are no other people’s children, that’s it”.  Luke holds that same view in Acts.

In Peter’s Pentecost Sermon he wraps it up by saying “The promises are to you and your children who are far off.”

In the two of Lukes’ conversion stories, one with the unnamed Philippian Jailor and one with Lydia the seller of purple their whole households are baptized. This would indicate every generation in the household, including children. There are also two places: Acts 2 and in Acts 4 where it mentions that folks had everything in common and no one was in need. Families and their children were provided for.  And here in Acts six it talks about the daily distribution for widows. Many widows were elderly but some were younger with young children. So whole families, Jew and Greek were baptized and taken in and cared for.  Luke paints a picture of the early church as a blended, extended, family, that by God’s grace is never upended. But there is a hiccup, a little bit of a conflict like there can be in any  blended families. The Hellenists complain that their widows are getting neglected in the daily distribution.

So the disciples address this. They call the whole community of disciples together, which would have been a very large group by this time, probably between five and ten thousand people. They propose a solution. Select men from among you who have are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and let them take this task on.

Now because of the names of the folks they chose, which have a Greek or Hellenistic shade to them, many commentators thought they were pulled only from the Greek side of the church. But the Cambridge commentary writer thinks that there were three Greek speakers, three Hebrew speakers and one convert, (the proselyte) who did not grow up in the Jewish faith as either a Greek or Jew. So there was a perfect balance with a tie breaker. They then laid hands on them and trusted them with real leadership. Waiting on tables can also refer to money management, like the “tables” where money was exchanged in theTemple. One of the seven, Stephen, does great signs and wonders, and another, Philip, became an evangelist preaching and baptizing the Ethiopian Eunuch. This group shared pastoral leadership along with the early Jerusalem disciples.  The early church is a blended family, an extended family but never an upended family. At the end of this chapter Steven begins his long speech. At the end of it he is murdered for his faith. The disciples who had been centered in and around the  Temple in Jerusalem now spread everywhere, showing the next step in extending the early church family even farther. Chapter six, like almost all of Acts, shared all these elements, a familial group blended and extended but never upended when faced with some controversy or challenge from within or from without. That in a nutshell is the story of acts. It is also our story. 

This pattern is very true here at Bonny Doon both in the town and in this church. When I first came up to Higher Grounds, I was impressed with how many different types of folks interacted, and how many social, economic and national locations were represented. It was a family blended and extended. Since I have been attending Zoom church, I have been struck with how strong the family of God is here.  There are folks from all walks of life and from many nations and nationalities, all working together. I was really impressed when I first got involved in Higher Grounds that this church began that wonderful ministry in one of the toughest economic times in the history of the US, the 2008 economic crisis. You can read about those early days in “Faith on the Mountain”. 

For a while I lost touch with the folks here as I served as a fill in pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church. When I returned I learned of the incredible, heroic and faithful efforts of this community after the truly devastating fires. Higher grounds was open six days a week, and food, clothing, and spiritual care was provided. The church worked with other churches, the Presbytery and the denomination. Clearly everyone here felt, like Bill Russel, “that there are no other people’s children”. I could hardly believe how resilient everyone was here, even in the face of their own losses, and I am sure I don’t know even a small percentage of the  story.  I know this, that at the end of every sermon Edd pronounces a blessing on this community of faith. I have to end by saying how much I have been blessed by the family of God at this place which is like the one in the book of Acts, blended, extended and never upended.God bless you and thank you, for being such faithful Christians, and welcoming Lorraine and me.