Psalm 101, 109; 1 Samuel 7:2-17; Acts 6:1-15; Luke 22:14-23
The people repent and put away their other gods. While they are dealing with their sins, the Philistines see them in the open and decide to come against them. Their timing couldn’t have been worse in that this was a people returning their hearts to the God the Philistines feared and as they return to Him, He will renew His covenant of protection. What the writer tells us is that this day the Lord came with a mighty sound that sent confusion into the Philistine camp and allowed for a rout. We sing a song, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing and in that hymn is the line, Here I raise my Ebenezer, Here by Thy great help I’ve come. When Samuel raised the Ebenezer which means stone of help, it is our statement that we have gotten to the place we are not through our own effort alone but with God’s help, it is giving credit where credit is due.
The new covenant is instituted. In the new covenant there are no sacrifices for sin, Jesus, in His blood, has atoned for sin once and for all on the cross at Calvary. In the eucharist, or Holy Communion, we acknowledge that we have sinned and are in need of His sacrifice and we partake of His body and blood in the form of bread and wine to say that we accept His sacrifice as full atonement, once offered for our sins. It is our statement of the reality that we cannot get there by our own devices, we are unworthy of Him, but at the same time we are saying that we accept Jesus’ sacrifice, that it was acceptable to God the Father, and that we are indeed made worthy by His blood. In taking communion with the rest of the body of Christ, we accept that we are all sinners saved by grace, that none of us can stand apart as holy, only Jesus and there we are gathered into a community that shares a confession of who it is and who He is and then who we are because of Him. It is more than His help we need, it is His grace.
The apostles need help. The pastoral administrative roles threaten to overwhelm them and keep them from their primary responsibility to preach and teach and pray. Their solution is to have the people themselves raise up men to take on this particular role to free them up to fulfill their obligation to the mission they were given. One of the men chosen was Stephen and Luke tells us that Stephen was full of faith and the Holy Spirit and, as he begins to move in the work he was given, is described as full of grace and power and was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Stephen didn’t just help distribute food, he cared for them and walked in the Spirit anointing and it aroused the anger of a particular group, the Synagogue of the Freedmen. This group was composed of foreign Jews and perhaps some of the Greek widows Stephen was serving were converts from their ranks. We do know that God was with Stephen in his hour of need, we see it here in the face like the face of an angel. He would have all the help he needed for the trial ahead.
Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
But of all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
Take the veil from our faces, the vile from our heart.
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