Acts 6: The Molt, No Longer Carrying Everything Alone

Introduction

"You will surely not forget the title of this morning's message: the molt." Brother Jun Kimura of Yonezawa Kojo Church in Japan preaches at the first service on October 25, 2026, on a rainy morning he calls "a rain of grace." His text is just two verses, Acts 6:3-4, where the apostles ask the church to choose seven men to serve tables so that they can devote themselves to prayer and the word.

He opens his message with a book, Extra Life by Steven Johnson. The subtitle of the Japanese edition asks a question: why has life expectancy gained 54 years in a hundred years? The preacher remembers that in his childhood people said life lasted fifty years, and that reaching sixty or seventy was long life. Today people speak of a hundred-year life.

Among the causes of this progress, the book tells of the fight against cholera, a disease spread by contaminated water that killed by dehydration. An Indian doctor understood that it was enough to give water back, boiled and mixed with sugar and salt, so that the body could absorb it. In 1972, in a camp of refugees who had come from Bangladesh to India, cholera spread among about 3,000 people. There was only one doctor. At the time, Jun Kimura explains, there was a certain pride that said only doctors should provide care. This doctor decided to call on volunteers. "Not everyone can operate on a brain tumor. But anyone can give someone water to drink." Thanks to this, all 3,000 people in the camp were saved.

"A small change, a small decision, can help a great many people." The preacher sees in this what happens in Acts 6, and he draws three points from it for learning to change: preparing a new vessel, sharing a new anointing, and surrendering to the new current.

Message Outline

1. A Church Full of Blessing Meets a Problem

After Jesus' ascension, the Holy Spirit comes down and the church begins. In one day, 3,000 people are saved, then 5,000. Beyond salvation, the sick who are brought are all healed, "not one left." "This is the ideal state of the church."
"But a problem arises." However flourishing a community may be, wherever human beings gather, problems appear, and all the more as they grow in number.
Rather than trying to avoid every problem, the preacher invites us to look further: when we run into a difficulty, a wall, when we feel our limit, God has often prepared the next blessing beyond it.
Acts 6:1 describes the problem: the Greek-speaking Jews complain that their widows are being neglected in the daily distribution. "Grudges about food are frightening," he jokes: he can be forgiven if he mixes up Peter and Paul while preaching, but if a church meal runs short of food, the complaints come quickly. Some also see a question of inequality between the two groups. Whatever the case, this is where a new current begins.

2. An Imagined Reading: Peter, John and Exodus 18

Jun Kimura offers what he humorously calls an "imagined reading" of the Bible, a method borrowed from a brother in the church, with his permission. He imagines Peter and John going home after a day of distribution.
"Peter, today's distribution was hard. At first we were happy to see thousands of people coming, but every single day, it wears you out." John says he received the complaint of the Greek-speaking Jews, who were very worked up, and that he took care of their feelings as he learned to do in counseling school: giving priority to the person in front of you rather than to the matter itself.
The two men admit that they have not yet had their devotional time. They open the Bible to the passage of the day: Exodus 18:13.
Moses sits alone to judge the people, who stand around him from morning to evening. His father-in-law tells him: "The thing that you do is not good. You will surely wear out, both you and this people." Jethro advises him to choose capable men who fear God, men of integrity who hate greed, and to appoint them as leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. They will judge the small matters, and the great ones will be brought to him. "Lighten your load, and let them bear it with you."
In the imagined dialogue, Peter and John recognize themselves: "This is exactly our situation. It is not good to do everything alone. Let's ask the others to help us. Let's try tomorrow."
The preacher makes clear that he does not know whether the apostles read Exodus 18 that day or whether God showed it to them in another way. "This is my imagination. But the content is the same." In Acts 6:2, the Twelve say: "It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables." In other words, as with Moses, the current organization is not good.

3. First Point: Preparing a New Vessel

The apostles do not appoint the seven themselves, and they do not bring in people from outside. They say: "Choose from among you." "This is an important point. God has already prepared, within the gathered flock, the coworkers and helpers that are needed."
This is true in the church, at work and in our personal difficulties: God places companions in the work around us. Yet we tell ourselves that we must manage alone. We hesitate to ask, we are afraid of being a burden, and we keep everything in our own hands.
Jun Kimura recognizes himself: "I am that kind of person. I can't manage to entrust things to others." There are plenty of people around him, and yet the words come out of his mouth: "We don't have enough people."
This is not about handing everything over to others: those who are chosen are presented to the apostles, who lay hands on them in prayer. It is in this balance that God gives new people.
"The vessel that most needs to be prepared is you yourself." Within us there are habits, certainties, sometimes pride, as with the doctor in the camp, or a misplaced sense of responsibility: "I'm the one who has to do it."
There are also unconscious habits. Someone who heard his parents repeat "it's not like that, that's not done right" has internalized that image. In his head he knows that others are capable, but the closer people are, whether his children or those who work under his responsibility, the more the unconscious takes over: he becomes harsh, or takes things back as soon as something goes wrong. Someone told of a younger colleague who said to him, years later: "You were really strict back then." He had never realized it.
The preacher speaks of "making the unconscious conscious": noticing that we always repeat the same thing, that we fall back into the same pattern, that we feel the urge to control everything. Then acknowledging it. We often go straight to self-criticism, but there is a world of grace here: this is the place where we meet Jesus. "That's you, that's how you are." By letting Jesus come and touch us there, we are set free.

4. "Since You Left, Everyone Is Full of Life"

While preparing this message, Jun Kimura remembers a scene. He served for about twenty years in a church in Tokyo before God led him to Kojo Church and to Yonezawa. About three years after his arrival, toward the end of the Covid period, a young man from his former church, passing through the Yamagata region, comes to see him.
Sitting in the lobby, he secretly hopes to hear: "Since you left, it's been hard, but we're holding on," or a memory of what he did for them. The young man says to him: "Since you left, everyone is full of life."
He adds news of a Filipino group in Ichihara, in Chiba Prefecture, where Jun Kimura used to go to teach the children almost every month. Those children have grown up, some are students, and the group is making progress too.
The preacher smiles and answers that he is glad. But after the young man leaves, he feels uneasy. "Ah, I was the one holding everything in my hands." That is his true feeling, the stage he is at. He then hands it over to Jesus: it is God who makes things grow.

5. The Molt: The Same Life, a New Form

Every change requires that the inner vessel be changed. Hence the title: the molt. The caterpillar becomes a chrysalis, then a butterfly. "Did you know? The caterpillar, the chrysalis and the butterfly have the same DNA. It is the same being. Only the form changes."
The caterpillar is made to eat a great deal and take in nourishment. The butterfly no longer eats, it sips nectar. Its constitution changes, but its DNA stays the same.
"We too are changed in the Lord, but your being always remains the same." Right now, you are loved by God. And in the middle of what you are facing, he is transforming you for an even greater blessing.
"Let's molt together this morning. Jesus is reshaping us."

6. Second Point: Sharing a New Anointing

The seven are chosen because they are "full of the Spirit and of wisdom." Filled with the Spirit, they received power. Wisdom enables them to face difficulties with God's strength. "Having power and drive without wisdom..." The preacher stops, laughing, but insists on the importance of both.
They are also "of good reputation": people whom others trust. Once they are prepared as vessels, the anointing of the Holy Spirit is poured out on them.
"To be filled with the Spirit and with wisdom is to be an empty vessel." When an empty vessel is available, God pours his power into it.
He recalls the story of Elisha (2 Kings 4:1-7). The widow of one of the sons of the prophets comes to him, buried in debt: her children are about to be taken away. Elisha tells her to gather empty vessels, at her home and from her neighbors. The oil flows and fills all the vessels. When the child says there is no vessel left, the oil stops. She sells the oil, pays her debt and lives on the rest with her sons.
"The secret is to empty yourself." When we tell ourselves "I already know, I can do it," the vessel is turned upside down, as Pastor Tanaka often says. It must be set upright again: "I don't truly understand yet. Lord, teach me. Help me." The empty vessel means humbling ourselves before God and leaning on him.

7. The Ninjas and the Passing of the Baton Between Generations

In Japan, in the church as elsewhere, the population is aging and there is much talk of passing the baton between generations. Jun Kimura listened to a seminar from another church on this theme. The conclusion fit in one sentence: passing the baton means that the older and the younger do things together.
One image struck him, that of ninjas climbing a high wall. An experienced ninja stands at the foot of the wall, a young one runs, steps onto his hands and is launched to the top. When everyone has climbed up, the young ones pull the elder up. "That is the passing of the baton."
If the young ones go ahead and leave the elder at the bottom, there is a problem. If the elder refuses to serve as a stepping stone, there is also a problem. "We do it together."
God will give his anointing to many people and use them all, the many veterans as well as those who are growing. Jesus said it: new wine is put into new wineskins (Matthew 9:17). An old, hardened wineskin bursts when the new wine ferments. With a supple heart, ready to say "let's do it together," the anointing spreads.
Acts 6:7 shows the result: the word of God spreads more and more, the number of disciples increases greatly in Jerusalem, and a great crowd of priests obeys the faith. "It was already wonderful before. But when they met this problem and changed their way of doing things, the blessing spread even further." The same is true on the personal level: by accepting the Lord's challenge, the blessing on your life grows wider.

8. Third Point: Surrendering to the New Current

The account does not stop at a better organized distribution. The apostles return to prayer and the ministry of the word. When a church grows, we can be overwhelmed by tasks. That is not bad in itself, but the most important things, prayer and the word, end up being neglected. They go back to them.
The seven, filled with the anointing of the Spirit, do not stay at the tables. Stephen performs wonders and proclaims the gospel to the point of martyrdom. A young man named Saul witnesses his death. He will become Paul, used for the evangelization of the world. Philip, for his part, sparks a revival in Samaria, where many are saved.
Jesus had said: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The blessing does not stop at Jerusalem, and this episode in Acts 6 is a turning point.
The preacher reads the words of a song presented during the service: "A stream of water we long for in thirst, a new stream that never runs dry, the Word that never changes, the stream of Christ that gives life." We see this stream of Christ spreading through the early church.
This stream also begins in each of us when we return to Jesus Christ. Even saved, we remain influenced by this world, by our parents. Romans 12:2 says not to be conformed to this present age; some translations say not to let ourselves be carried along. We hear phrases like "you're useless," "you won't survive in society," "you have no value." Living out one's faith with these false images of oneself, "is painful."
This is where the new current begins: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Freed from the images and lies that led you astray, you are loved by God, a magnificent work of his hands, and your life can move forward in his will.
When you think the future will be hard, that this or that is lacking, God has the best plan for you and works all things together for your good (Romans 8:28). He gives you the radiance that belongs to his work, a life that only you can live.

Key Takeaways

Problems arise wherever people gather, but God has often prepared a blessing beyond the difficulty.
It is not good to carry everything alone: God has already placed coworkers among those around us.
The first vessel to renew is ourselves: our habits, our pride and our unconscious reflexes, which Jesus comes to touch and set free.
Like the caterpillar that becomes a butterfly, we change form without changing identity: we remain loved by God.
The empty vessel receives the anointing: humility before God, flexibility and working together across generations open a new current.

Personal Application

In what area of your life are you keeping everything in your own hands, even though God has placed capable people around you to help you?
Which unconscious habit, received from your upbringing or your background, shows up most with those close to you? Are you ready to bring it to Jesus rather than condemn yourself?
Is your vessel turned upside down because you think you already know, or is it empty and ready to receive what God wants to pour into it?
With which person from another generation could you "climb the wall" together this week?
What false word about your worth do you need to leave behind in order to enter the new current of Christ?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens in Acts 6?

As the number of disciples grew, the Greek-speaking Jews complained that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. The twelve apostles asked the assembly to choose from among themselves seven men full of the Spirit and of wisdom, and of good reputation, so that the apostles could devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. After that, the word of God spread more and more.

Why does Jun Kimura speak of a "molt"?

The caterpillar, the chrysalis and the butterfly have the same DNA: it is the same being, but its form and way of living change. For the preacher, God transforms us in the same way: our identity as a child loved by God stays the same, but our habits and ways of doing things must change so that we can enter a greater blessing.

What is the link between Acts 6 and Exodus 18?

In Exodus 18, Jethro tells Moses that what he is doing is not good, because he judges the people alone from morning to evening and will wear himself out. He advises him to appoint capable men to share the load. Jun Kimura sees the same principle at work as in Acts 6: it is not good to do everything alone, and God has already placed coworkers among his people.