He emerges from among the congregation because the twelve disciples asked for someone else to take over the task of feeding the hungry. They were looking for someone to "wait tables."
When candidates are put forward, they are described as being "of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom." These are wonderful attributes, but hardly the ones we might identify as essential in those whom we are asking to be wait staff.
But Stephen possesses these qualities. And they show through in everything that he does. And in rather short order Stephen is hauled away from his appointed task to become the focus point of the Council's distrust and suspicions of Jesus' followers.
Some of you may find yourself waiting tables. Or you might find yourself designing car parts. Or running a dairy business. Or designing packaging for shipping glass bowls. Remain prepared, in whatever task you are called, to be the one (like Stephen) who finds yourself being the spokesperson for Jesus and the community which follows Jesus' words. In Acts 6 it isn't one of the preachers or the teachers or the Apostles who are called upon to bear witness - it is the one who waited tables.
The opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus Christ certainly include Sunday morning worship services and those 12 minute sermons so carefully prepared. Those moments prepare us for the 167 hours in the week where God's Word becomes active in the world. Make the most of them. They happen in your lives more often than in mine.
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