Old Stories for a New Day: What a Church Oughta Be
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
David C. Wright
Acts 2:42-47
June 28, 2009
At my former church I became accustomed to preaching with the
support of PowerPoint slides. I found that people responded
well to this addition, so I thought I’d try it out with you
a few times over the summer. Since we were already using
some slides this morning, I thought I’d start today!
A couple months ago I
read Julia Dulin’s book, Quitting Church: Why the Faithful
are Fleeing and What to Do About It. Julia is a religion writer for
the Washington Times newspaper. She interviewed many folks who found church
to be irrelevant and boring, with no connection to the rest of their lives, especially
to their work life. Others, especially single folks, could find no sense
of community in the church. There seemed to be no place for them and they
felt lonely in their congregations. Still others were frustrated by divisions
and fights in the church as well as control and secrecy issues. Most found
a lack of spiritual vitality in the churches they attended. For
these reasons, many gave up and dropped out of church.
We may or may not agree
with these criticisms of the church, but the fact remains that many people have
left church and many others have never come at all. And that suggests there
are some issues we need to take a look at. But where do we start? Someone
once said that if you aim at nothing, you’re sure to hit it! Looking
at what the church ought to be like is a good way to direct our aim. So
that’s what we’re doing this morning, as we continue our series in
the book of Acts. Then we can better assess how we’re
doing at being the church God is calling us to be.
Last Sunday we talked
about the birth of the church when the Holy Spirit was given to Jesus’ followers
on Pentecost. Thousands of people became followers of Jesus on that day. The
very next verses describe what that early Christian community was
like.
42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43Awe came upon everyone,
because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44All
who believed were together and had all things in common; 45they
would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as
any had need. 46Day by day, as they spent much time together in
the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous
hearts, 47praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.
And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. (Acts
2:42-47)
Sounds like a pretty exciting
place, doesn’t it? I think many people would be attracted to a church
like that! Let’s look at it in a little more detail.
It was a learning church. We’re
told that they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. The
teaching of the apostles was based on what they had heard from Jesus himself. And
that teaching formed the spiritual foundation of the church. We, too, need
to learn and be reminded of Jesus’ teaching. For the world in which
we live constantly fills our hearts and minds with its messages everyday. Messages
like these: “Unless you are physically attractive, you aren’t
important. Your worth is measured by what you achieve. Always look
out for #1. The most important thing in life is your personal happiness.” Isn’t
that what we learn from the world?
Since we live and breathe
in a culture which tries to inculcate us with these kinds of human-centered messages,
we need regular Christian teaching to remind us who we really are and whose we
really are. We need to be reminded that we have great intrinsic worth,
regardless of what we look like or what we produce, simply because we were made
in the image of God. And, that real fulfillment is found by living as
the creatures we were created to be, living in service to God and others. We
need to regularly hear these counter-cultural teachings of Jesus, or we’ll
wind up converted to the world’s empty values and ways of
thinking.
The early church was a
learning church. They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching. How
are you doing with that? Do you read the Bible on your own? I strongly
encourage you to do that. You might find it helpful to use a devotional
guide or a study Bible- one of us pastors can help you find a good one. But,
you can only go so far on your own. The teachings of Jesus are learned
best in conversation with others, like you learn a language. Do you participate
in a Sunday school class or Bible study? A Small group? A women’s
circle? What could you do to learn more about Christian faith?
The early church was also
a worshiping church. We’re told that they devoted themselves to the
prayers, that they spent time in the temple, and that they praised God. A
few years ago the world watched as three lost gray whales struggled to survive
under a thick layer of ice near Point Barrow, Alaska. They could only breathe
at the one open hole that was left in the ice. The only way they could
survive was if they could somehow swim five miles under the ice pack to the open
sea. Rescuers began cutting breathing holes about 20 yards apart in the
ice, coaxing the whales to follow them from hole to hole, mile after mile. It
worked! A Russian icebreaker helped out for the final section,
and the whales were saved!
Worship is a little like
those breathing holes. In a world filled with selfishness, greed, and hardness
of heart, worship provides an opportunity for us to breathe in love and acceptance
and courage. Worship is a time in which we realign our lives with the reality
that God is our Creator and that we live under God’s reign and grace. Worship
is giving God his due. In worship we thank and praise God for who he is
and for all God has done for us. We ask for God’s help and direction
in our lives. We hear God’s Word read and interpreted. We
offer ourselves and our gifts to God for God’s service.
I encourage you to worship God each day, with personal prayer, Bible reading,
and reflection. But there is something unique that happens
when we worship God together, and I encourage you to develop the
discipline of regular worship attendance.
The early church was also
a sharing church. This is a major theme of the passage we
read. They
devoted themselves…to the fellowship… All who believed were
together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions
and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day…they
broke bread at home… (from Acts 2:42,44,45,46) The word translated “fellowship” here
is the Greek word “koinonia,” which can be translated as sharing. And
they certainly shared their lives together! They spent time with one another
daily. They ate together. Good things happen when people eat together! We
have the opportunity to make new acquaintances. Barriers or misconceptions
are broken down, and we have a chance to get better acquainted. But if
our fellowship goes no deeper than shared meals, we’re missing something. We
need to learn to talk together about that which we share in common- our faith
in Jesus Christ. That’s a level of fellowship that
changes our lives.
I was surprised to learn
that the giant Sequoia trees in California, which can grow to 300 feet in height,
have very shallow root systems, to allow them to take full advantage of surface
moisture. For that reason, you rarely see a redwood tree standing alone. They
grow in clusters, so that their intertwining roots can support one another in
storms. What a great picture of Christian fellowship! We
grow close together so we can support one another in the storms
of life as well as the spiritual storms and faith crises we all
experience from time to time.
The fellowship of those
early Christians also involved sharing their possessions with one another. Some
commentators believe that this is the biggest miracle in the entire book of Acts! The
church was a brand new group composed of ethnic groups which traditionally were
very suspicious and even antagonistic to one another. There were Jews and
Gentiles, Roman oppressors and those they oppressed, slaves and free people,
men and women. And yet the level of love and trust was so great that they
sold their possessions in order to provide for one another. That is truly
the work of God’s Spirit.
Those who live in an affluent society like ours face a significant
spiritual temptation. When it comes right down to it, we often depend on our things
for our sense of security, and not God. You know- our house, our bank account,
our medical insurance, our 401K. And so we hold tightly to all our stuff. Those
early Christians had learned a different way. They were no longer possessed
by their possessions, but offered them freely for God’s service. How
are you doing in this touchy area of sharing your money and wealth with others? How
could you change what you’re doing to make it reflect God’s
priorities?
Well, if talking about
your possessions didn’t make you a little uncomfortable, this last part
might! The early church was a growing, evangelistic church. Verse
47 says, “And day by day the Lord added to their number
those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47b) But if we look closely at this description
of evangelism, even we Presbyterians might be able to embrace it! It reminds
us that it is God who was ultimately doing the work of evangelism. “The
Lord added to their number.” How did God do this? It seems
to me that the Christian community itself embodied the gospel in its teaching,
worship, and fellowship. Their life together was a powerful witness to
those around them. And God used their attitude of gladness and generosity
to attract unbelievers. We’ll talk more about evangelism in a later
sermon this summer, but for now we’ll just point out that
sharing the good news with others has always been an essential
part of what it means to be the church.
A number of years ago,
I was invited to take part in a worship service led by mentally-handicapped young
adults. The church I served had a weekly Sunday School class for them as
well as a chime choir. Occasionally, the group would put together a worship
service and invite their families and other church members to come. My
role that day was to preach a short message and serve the Lord’s Supper
at the end of the service. Let me tell you about it.
Matthew directed the hymns,
but his arm motions had nothing to do with the tempo of the music! We took
an offering, but there was some difficulty in getting one young woman to give
her offering plate back to the head usher. The Scripture reader read in
a halting stumbling, barely discernable way, but I remember her excitedly yelling
out the word “Jesus” when she got to it, because it was a familiar
word. There was a minute for witness in which Andrew talked about going
on a mission project. He was so excited he hopped down off the stage in
the middle of it. He would later introduce the closing hymn, “Here
I am Lord,” telling us it was the “best hymn in the book!” And
I can’t even begin to explain the drama they performed called “The
Sunflower that Went Flop.”
But God’s Spirit
was powerfully at work in that service. By the end of it, several parents
and elders were crying. I was, too. As one elder served bread during
communion, he couldn’t get out the words, “The body of Christ, broken
for you.” And I think I saw a vision of what the church
ought to be like in that class of mentally-handicapped young adults.
They were a learning community. They
spent time each week learning about God’s Word together. They were
a sharing community. Everyone brought his or her gifts and abilities and
generously shared them with others. It was a worshipping community. They
sang and prayed and read God’s Word. And it was a growing community. People
and families were drawn to Jesus Christ through the love that the church had
for them and the love they and their families shared for one another. This
is what the church oughta be. How are we doing? How
are you doing?
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