Wanted: Waiters for God

Preached by Michael Cheuk
October 19, 2008
Acts 6:1-7

This morning, as we prepare to ordain Don Kyper as a deacon and to install a new slate of deacons, we read in Acts that the early church was also looking for good waiters.  It seems that in the midst of rapid growth right after Pentecost, the early church found itself in a potentially contentious situation in which the Greek-speaking widows of the church were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.  And in order to meet this growing need without sacrificing their duty to preach and to pray, the apostles decided that they needed disciples who could perform the service of “diakonía,” which literally means “waiting on tables” or “table service.”  And the person doing this kind of service is a “diákonos,” from which we get the word “deacon.”  Now, I must note here that aside from the literal meaning, the word “diakonía” has also a wider meaning of “the exercise of a loving service” which includes all kinds of sacrificial activities on behalf of others.

Now, recruiting “waiters” or “servers” to serve among Greek-speaking people would generally be a pretty tough assignment.  Because for many Greeks believed that serving others was beneath them. 

The Ten Commandments

Preached by Michael Cheuk
October 5, 2008, Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost
Exodus 20:1-17

Today, our Old Testament lectionary text is taken from Exodus chapter 20, which is an account of God giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses.  When it comes to the Ten Commandments, people have a wide range of reactions to it.  For many, especially Christians, they feel that a whole lot of individual and societal problems could be avoided if people adhered to them.  Others see the Ten Commandments as the stern pronouncements of a kill-joy God.  Christian writer Kathleen Norris recalled that “for years, I dreaded hearing the Ten Commandments read aloud in church.  They seemed overwhelmingly negative.”  For Norris, the Ten Commandments became a symbol of a legalistic religion where good Christians are known by what they don’t do: they don’t drink, don’t play cards, don’t go to the movies, and they “don’t smoke or chew or date girls that do.”  As a result, many times these commandments elicit feelings of guilt and disapproval.  While some get hung up by perceived negativity of the Ten Commandments, others don’t see what the big deal is all about.  They don’t believe that any moral code should be imposed by someone or something from outside of themselves.  As long as they’re not hurting other people, they should be free to do whatever they feel like doing.  The Ten Commandments for them aren’t even the Ten Suggestions; they are just trivial and irrelevant.

But are the Ten Commandments just a legalistic litany of “thou shalt nots”?  Are they just some trivial and irrelevant rules that a kill-joy God wants to impose upon us to take all the fun out of life?  I don’t think so, and today, I’d like to show you why.