Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a, 51-60

            {Prayer}

            Tis the season of celebration meals. Graduation parties. Confirmation celebrations. Family and friends gathered around long tables. Kids running around. Someone asking where the buns are. Someone realizing there aren’t enough plates. Someone busy in the kitchen. Enviably … someone already eating dessert. If you’ve ever hosted one of these, you know this truth … joy and chaos often arrive together.

            Family meals are joyful, but they’re also hectic and messy.

            And this isn’t too far off from what we see in today’s readings from Acts.

            In Acts 6, the early church was like a growing family gathering.

            People are coming to faith. Lives are being changed. But some are being overlooked. Some of the widows are not getting their daily distribution of food. In other words, someone at the table is being missed. They are there, but they have no plate. Imagine being hungry, grieving, dependent on others … and watching others receive what never reaches you.

            Being missed is a valid frustration. These are real people. There is a real need here. People need to eat. It happens. Not on purpose. Not because Christ failed them. Not because the Gospel failed them. This happens because sinners still live within the church.

            This should not surprise us. This happens today. Even healthy churches have messy moments. Sometimes the needs of individuals get missed. Sometimes people feel unseen. Sometimes frustrations grow. Sometimes someone may say, “Doesn’t anybody notice?”

            You’ve all been to big family meals, you know that there are messy moments. Even loving families can miss things. A plate doesn’t get passed around. Someone is sitting off by themselves. One or two people are doing all the work while the others are sitting in the living room talking or playing games. The tension that comes with family meals doesn’t mean that there is no family … it simply means that there are real people there.

            This happens within the church as well. Sometimes we assume that someone else will take care of it. We say that we’ve put in our time or I’m too old for that and so we wait for others to serve. Sometimes we criticize or complain more than we help or when someone does it differently than we would have done it. Sometimes we notice needs only when they affect us individually. In all this, we forget that the church is a family. That we are a family. We’re a family … not a service provider. We often prefer being served to serving. We want church available when we need it, but costly discipleship only when it’s convenient.

            So how does Christ care for His church? … He answers with more hands, not more blame.

            When confronted with this problem, notice what the disciples don’t do? They don’t search out for who is to blame for certain widows not getting their distribution of food. They don’t shrug it off and pretend there isn’t a problem. They don’t say that this or that person ought to be working harder. Instead, “the Twelve”, the central core group, “gathered all the disciples together” (Acts 6:2). Gathering the congregation together, they call on people within their midst, on faithful servants to rise up and help.   

            We’ve all heard the phrase, “many hands make light work.” That is what the disciples are encouraging within their midst. Plus, more hands mean there are more hearts involved. More hearts means that care is shared among many.

            This is how healthy families work as well. At a celebration meal, when things get busy, different people step up to refill drinks. They carry plates. They check on grandma and grandpa. They clean up messes. Someone takes out the trash. Someone welcomes those who arrive late. Everyone contributes. They do so because they are part of the family.

            And that is how the Church works too! Christ did not design His church around one or two exhausted people. He gives gifts to many members for the good of all people.

            As pastors … we’re called to preach, teach, and administer the Sacraments. Those are our main tasks. And as the body of Christ, you are called to serve, visit, pray, encourage, care for others, and … notice who is missing.

            Today, we celebrate our confirmands. Today is not graduation from church. Today is a joyful step into a fuller life in the family of God. Today you make vows before God and His Church … not because faith is easy, but because Christ is worthy. There is no kid’s table here. You’re growing into lives of faith, worship, service, prayer, witness, and love. You belong here. You have gifts and talents that are needed here. There is room for you to use your gifts here.

            In our reading, one of those servants was Stephen.

            Stephen is chosen and may have begun with food distribution … but God had something else planned for him. Stephen stepped up and served. He spoke words of wisdom. He confessed Christ boldly to others. The one chosen to serve tables becomes the one who shows how to live faithfully … and even die faithfully. Never underestimate simple service in the Church.

            We tend to think that the “important” work within the Church only happens in front of people and because of that we can’t do it.

            But think about it … in families … some of the holiest work happens quietly. Someone washes the dishes. One sets the chairs. One calls the lonely relative and makes sure they make it. One checks on the widow. One stays late to clean.

            Same in the church. Meals are delivered. People are visited. Cards are written. Children are taught. Hands fold together in prayer. Encouragement is spoken to others. Christ works through these simple things.

            But Stephen’s work becomes hard. He is opposed by the leaders. He suffers. He is killed. But what does he see? … He sees Jesus. He sees the risen and ascended Christ standing at God’s right hand.

            Here’s what this means for you. When the world rejects you … Christ receives you. When others forget you … Christ remembers you. When your strength fails … Christ stands for you. Outside the city walls, Christ was rejected. Rejected so that you could be welcomed at the Father’s table.

            Unlike our earthly gatherings where we scramble to find a seat for you … Christ’s banquet table never runs out of room. At Christ’s table … no one is overlooked. There is no shortage of seats. No forgotten invitations. No one too unworthy to come in repentance and faith. Jesus made room for you and others through His cross.

            Think about it … Jesus was cast out so that you could be brought in. Jesus bore the weight of your sin, of all sin so you could receive His undeserved mercy. Jesus died and rose so that sinners like you and me could be welcomed home.

            So, whether you’re a confirmand, a parent, a lifelong member, a tired volunteer, a visitor today, or someone feeling unnoticed … Here’s the good news … There is a place for you at Christ’s table.

            Jesus welcomes you. He feeds you. He forgives you. He joins you to His family. And because there is a place for you there, you’re called to make room for others here. Notice the overlooked. Encourage the weary. Welcome the absent. Serve with joy, so that no one is forgotten. May all that you do and say always be done to the glory and honor of our risen, victorious, sending Savior. Amen.

            The peace of God, that surpasses all human understanding, guard your thoughts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.