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First Presbyterian Church of Inglewood

100 North Hillcrest Ave

Inglewood, California 90301

Telephone numbers: (310) 677-5133

Fax (310) 330-8342         Electronic mail: PRESBYTS@SBCGLOBAL.NET

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Rev. Dr. Harold E Kidd

A GOOD NAME

Acts 6: 1 - 6

"This 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."

Acts 6:5

In the text that is before us, the background of verse five is that the Jerusalem Church was growing. The larger the church grew the harder it became to maintain the warm, free fellowship that had marked its beginning. Spontaneity has its place, but when you look at how God grew the church in Acts, as the church grew they saw the need for more organization.

In the sharing of goods, some system was needed to replace occasional spontaneous acts of generosity. Acts 2: 42 tells us, "All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need." The problem was that the church was growing at a rate that led to disunity over the unequal distribution of food. Needs were not being ministered to fairly.

A daily distribution of food had been organized, but before long this led to a bitter dispute. The widows who spoke Greek were complaining that they were being neglected in the distribution of bread and food. They accused the Hebrew-speaking widows of receiving preferential treatment. The controversy reached such proportions that the apostles themselves had to be called in to mediate this situation.

And here we have perhaps the first division of responsibility within the church based upon spiritual gifts and the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon one's life. The apostles recognized a more organized church was needed. For in verse 2 of our text they gather the disciples together, and say to the assembly, "It would not be good for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables."

We all need to recognize that we can't do it all. God gives to everyone spiritual gifts for the growth and development in a certain area in the life of the church. Amen. Everyone has a place in the work of the kingdom.

The apostles correctly understood that they could not continue to grow the church to the vision of Christ and be personally involved in the distribution of bread.

So they instructed the assembly who were concerned with this issue to select seven persons from among themselves who were individuals of good standing, who were filled with the Holy Spirit, and who with wisdom could oversee the daily distribution to those who needed this ministry.

Among those selected, Stephen is the first person mentioned. Now interestingly, the Bible does not tell us anything about Stephen's background. We don't know who his parents were or where he came from. We do not know anything about his profession or education or how long he had been a member of the church. We do not know whose preaching or witnessing (as in the case of Saul of Tarsus) led to his conversion or who baptized him.

What stands out about Stephen is his good name. What stands out about Stephen was his reputation, that "He was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit". What stands out about Stephen was that on the basis of his good name, on the basis of his reputation among his peers, on the basis of how his life and witness had already had an impact among those who knew Him well, the Jerusalem Church selected him as one of God's first deacons.

I would imagine that as the apostles and the church began to go into prayer and discussion concerning likely candidates for this new ministry, names were suggested and questions concerning the character of those persons began to be discussed.

What do you think about Stephen? Whom do you think we should select for this ministry of care? Verse 2 of the text informs us that the 12 gathered all the disciples together and said "Choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom." The anointing and the Spirit of God was so at work in his life that God was able to bless others through him.

And isn't that what its really all about? Of how God can bless others through us. "If I can help somebody as I pass along this way, then my living will not be in vain. "

When you read Acts 6-8 you find the Holy Spirit did many signs and wonders through Stephen. He was a mighty man of God. Stephen did not have the title of an apostle, but he had a good name. He could not boast that he walked with Jesus by the Sea of Galilee, but he had a good name. He could not boast that he was one of the original twelve, but he had a good name. He could not boast that he had seen the master perform mighty acts of healing and miracles which defied the natural laws of nature, but he had a good name. He could not give a testimony that he had seen the Resurrected Jesus as had the others, but he had a good name.

Our names become synonymous with our reputations. And our reputations --others’ estimations of us -- are built upon who they know us to be, based upon our words, our deeds, and the we kind of life we have tried to live. So that a good name is based upon a reputation of our deeds and having lived a Christ-like life. Even the Bible declares that, after we have gone on to be with the Lord, our reputations continue to live on with influence. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they do rest from their labors and their good works do follow them." (Rev. 14:13)

Which is to say we can have a posthumous influence upon the lives of others. We may be dead and buried, but how we have lived continues to impact the lives of those still living. Saint Francis of Assisi, writer of the Serenity Prayer and Lord Make Me An Instrument, which we will be using in our commissioning and blessing this morning, died in 1226, but the spirituality of his life and writings live on.

Franklin D. Roosevelt is considered one of this nation's most beloved Presidents, architect of the New Deal of Social Security, 32^nd president of the United States, died in 1945, but the influence of his life continues to

live on. So Mr. Bush, please stop messing with Social Security.

Proverbs chapter 22:1 tells us, "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver and gold." Meaning there is something about our name and what people think of us, the kind of person they believe and know us to be when our name is mentioned, that money cannot buy. The hope that people have in us, the faith that people have in us, the trust that people have in us, the confidence that people have in us, all based upon a good name that money cannot buy nor restore.

Let me see if I can put it another way. A good name is built through acts and deeds and a quality of living rather than by a place of birth, a nationality, a social-economic level, a position, or a title. Stephen didn't have the title of apostle, but he had a good name, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. The Bible doesn't tell us anything about his nationality, his profession, or his education, as it does with Simon Peter. We know that Peter was a fisherman, a Jew, and an unlearned man, but Stephen had a good name.

Our good name says more about who we are than our money, our profession, what kind of car we drive, what kind of house we live in, what kind of clothes we wear. Our good name says more about us than our titles, degrees, or positions. And he was chosen to be a deacon in the early church because of his good name. A name which was the result of how he had lived. Amen.

There is something about a good name that lives on after our silver and gold is now being worn by somebody else. I don't know about you, but Lord help me to work out my soul salvation with fear and trembling, lest I mess up the

good name given to me by my family. Lord, help me to keep the good name that was given to me. Lord, I pray that I will never bring shame to my name. Lord, I don't want my name to end up bringing grief instead of happiness, or sorrow rather than joy, or suspicion rather than trust.

I remember watching an interview with Herman Edwards, who coaches the New York Jets; they were discussing the kind of person he is. Highly respected, admired, and loved by friends off the field as well as players on the field, he made the comment his father once said to him, "Son, if there is anything of value I've tried to pass on to you, leave you with, it’s your good name." Names do have a way of carrying influence.

Stephen was held in such high regard because of how he lived, and how he lived gave him the influence of a good name.

Well, Stephen had a good name. Mary, the mother of our Lord, had a good name. Joseph, the earthly father of our Lord, had a good name. John the Baptist had a good name. Dorcas, who in the book Acts is described as a woman who went about her community doing good, had a good name. Barnabas, whose name means "Son of Encouragement", had a good name. The husband and wife team of Aquila and Priscilla, who labored with Paul in Corinth, had good names. Paul had a good name. Peter had a good name. Two sisters, Mary and Martha, one who was a worshipper of the Lord, the other who was a server to the Lord, both had good names, But,

There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth; It sounds like music to my ear, the sweetest name on earth. It tells me of a Savior's love, Who died to set me free; It tells me of His precious blood, The sinner's perfect plea. O how I love Jesus! O How I love Jesus, Because He first loved me!

Yes, there is a name which is above all other names. And there is salvation in that name. For the Bible tells us in Acts 4:12 that “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved … but Jesus." And Romans 10: 13 declares, "Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved."

Well, not only is the salvation in the name of Jesus, but there is also authority. "And I will do whatever you ask in my name." (John 14:13) What we ask in the name of Jesus that is according to the purpose and will of God will be done. Paul says it this way in Philippians 2:9, that “God has given Jesus a name above every other name and, in the second coming of Christ, at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

We are instructed in Colossians 3:17, "And whatever you do, whether it’s in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus." Yes, there is something about that name! And what we learn about that one name, Jesus, is that Jesus is able to take a name that has been tarnished, kicked-to the curb, shamed, outcast and give it new meaning.

Simon Peter denied Jesus but was given a new name. Saul of Tarsus was a murderer but was given a new name -- Paul. Zacchaeus, the tax collector, was a thief but got a new name, a giver of his goods to the poor and the needy. Hallelujah! Jesus can take an old name and make it brand new! Even when we mess up badly, if we just give our mess-ups and mistakes to the Name that is above every other name, JESUS is able to give us a new name. Hallelujah! Some people may never forget, but thank God Jesus is not some people. Jesus forgives. Hallelujah!

Consider the name of Charles Colson. Some of you may remember that when his name became sullied and muddied in connection with the Watergate scandal, Colson gave his life and his mistakes to Jesus, and the Lord gave him a new name as founder of the Prison Fellowship ministry.

And we are informed in the book of Revelations that when this world is over, when Christ has set up His New Jerusalem, that we'll all be given a new name. As the spiritual records it, "I've got a new name, over in heaven, and it’s mine, mine, mine. I've got a new name over in heaven and it’s mine, mine, mine."

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