Small Steps

Tuesday, November 11 2014

Reconciliation. It´s God´s heart for people to be restored in relationship with one another across differences in culture, race and class. This is vital, but sometimes it feels so big that we don´t know where to start.

The answer is to start small.

In Acts 6 we find an issue that was about more than food distribution. It involved a bitter cultural and ideological conflict between Hebraic and Grecian Jews - people who not only spoke different languages but shared other differences too (v.1). The conflict between groups was a recurring problem in the early church, and other accounts can be found in Acts 9, 11, and 22. In light of this the apostles' decision to place some men in charge of the food distribution seemed woefully inadequate.

But these were Spirit-led followers of Jesus, including Stephen, the first martyr of the church (Acts 7), and Philip, one of the early church´s most powerful evangelists (Acts 8). What´s more their simple efforts to make sure food was equitably distributed minimised the potential for conflict. This pave the way for healing to take place between the two groups.

No reconciliation would have been possible without that practical first step of appointing seven men for the food distribution. In fact, after their installation, the renown of the church spread even further (6:7).

We can take great encouragement from this example. Yes, reconciliation is a difficult pursuit. But it´s also one that can begin with simple acts of generosity, fairness and hospitality. These actions might seem small, but they create an environment where relationships can begin to heal, discussions can take place and - with God´s leading - true reconciliation can occur. - Peter Chin

Read
Acts 6:1-7
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. 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 i order to wait on tables. 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 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
The 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. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 
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.

Luke 19:1-10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter. "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner."
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord. "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."
Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Question to ponder
In what small ways can you begin to lay the foundation for reconciliation in your personal life?
How about in your church?

** Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) Sept - Nov 2014 issue