Acts 6:8,9 - A man full of God's grace and power

6:8

Stephen was one of the seven, one those chosen to “serve at tables”. Nothing spiritual there then? We could not be more wrong, for he was “full of grace and power” and “was doing great wonders and signs among the people”. We need to question our presuppositions about serving in the church, both about ourselves and about others. So often we think that if we are really “going to make it” then we need to be a preacher, prophet or evangelist. And, of course, our concepts of what “going to make it” means are often pretty flawed as well. “Full of grace”. A point I have made a number of times, and will continue to make, is that we often have a way too passive view of what grace means. Grace is active, as we see here in the life of Stephen. It had effect, and people noticed. We should also note, as we will soon find out, that being “full of grace and power”, and full of the “spirit and wisdom”, led to Stephen’s death. When we are truly full of the Spirit we will walk along Christ’s path, and that may well lead to a cross.

6:9

The gospel challenges the structures of society. It challenges individuals, and it challenges groups in society. At this time it was largely religious power that was challenged, later it would be the political power in Rome (though it is important to note that it was not challenged in a political way). The prophets challenged to rich and powerful. So when we are “full of the Spirit” we should not be surprised if we encounter serious opposition. When the church pretty well goes along with society’s thinking it is fairly certain that the church is not walking in step with the Spirit. The “Freedmen” were people who had been taken prisoner by the Romans, but had later gained their freedom.