9th Day of Easter, Monday April 20: Acts 6:1-7

Some of you were a bit skeptical of the early commune – today you might say you told us so. The Hellenists, the Greek speaking folks, complained against the Hebrews, the Aramaic or Hebrew speakers. The distribution of charity to the needy seemed to be favouring the needy (‘widows’ means more than gender and marital status – but vulnerable or marginal folks) who were of the same ethnicity as the distributors.

The 12 reframed the issue, not addressing the accusation, but saying that ‘waiting on tables’ was distracting them from preaching. They proposed delegating to a new group of servant leaders, ‘deacons’ – who just happened to all have Greek names to reassure the original complainers. Do you think that was wise leadership, or evasion?

Distributive justice, or charitable redistribution, is hard work. Who are the ‘deserving’ poor? What bias – or appearance of bias - is there in our offering of help to those in need? Who takes responsibility for making choices, and who accepts the job of implementation? What do you expect from government social service, how much from charity, and how much from individual generosity or initiative?