(a sermon for May 26, 2024, the 1st Sunday after Pentecost; third in a series, based on Acts 2:36-47)
Let me just say this up front: the church did not happen by accident.
Actually, in an age when the world routinely refers to post-modern people as being “spiritual but not religious,” or even if they are religious will list their tradition of faith as “none,” it’s truly astonishing what happened: that these 12 original followers of Jesus who had grown to 120 in the weeks following the resurrection, after a single sermon by Peter on the Day of Pentecost (the gist of which was “that God had made [Jesus] both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”), 3,000 people – three thousand (!) – “welcomed his message [and] were baptized.” Understanding, of course, that ultimately it wasn’t the sermon, but in fact God’s Holy Spirit that made it happen; a glorious reminder, in the words of the Rev Dr. Stan Mast, from the very beginning “the church was not a human invention, something dreamed up by the apostles to enforce rules, hammer home religious dogma, and pile responsibilities on already overtaxed lives.” The church, writes Mast, “is God’s plan for all his children.”
Like I said before: the church did not happen by accident.
Which is what makes our text for this morning all the more amazing: that this brand new “Christ-ian” community, first known as “The Way,” “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers.” Understand, friends, that literally from day one (!) these were the marks of the church: worship, compassion, time, meals and fellowship shared with one another with “glad and generous hearts,” all the while praising God. We’re even told in this brief passage from the Book of Acts that these early believers had “the goodwill of all the people.” In other words, even those outside of its membership – even those who had initially dismissed this so-called “Spirit” as the effects of “new wine” (2:13) – were now, to quote Leigh Spruill, sayng “’Wow! What is going on with these people? I’m having whatever they are having!’” Amazing things were happening in this new church, and we know it was having an unprecedented effect on the people, on Jerusalem and the world around them, for as Luke himself adds at the close of this second chapter of Acts, “And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” This was the church alive, the church on the move, and its growth and mission and its “great commission” was just getting started, as evidenced by “the many wonders and signs [that] were being done through the apostles!”
I’ll say it one more time: the church did not happen by accident.
Of course, the temptation for preachers such as I is for me to stand in this pulpit and ask the very pointed question, “Whatever happened to that kind of church? How come we aren’t like that today?” And to be fair, maybe you’re asking the same kinds of questions: after all, though we’re here a fair amount, the truth is that we don’t spend as much time together “in the temple” as they did back then; and though our fellowship together is pretty good, nonetheless we don’t “break bread” nearly as much as I would like; and no, selling all of our possessions and goods so to help “as any [have] need” is not a required part of church membership! Basically, we hear this very idealized description of the early church and, realizing that this is not exactly how we’ve experienced church, we start to wonder where things went wrong, and moreover if there’s any way possible that we 21st century Christians can even begin to epitomize that kind of Christian life!
And not to be a bummer on a beautiful Sunday morning, but let me just say that truth be told, a whole lot of us are not that concerned about actually living that kind of life! A great many of us, in fact, are pretty motivated in find reasons not to do so! I remember many years back as a young pastor having been dispatched by the Church Council to call one of our members and ask him if he would take on a particular leadership role in the congregation. Now, I knew this man fairly well and as I made this call I was feeling confident that this was going to be an easy “get,” and that surely he would accept this position; but alas, I was about to be sorely disappointed! Not only did this man give me a laundry list of reasons (excuses, really!) both personal and professional why he could not, would not possibly take on this responsibility, he ended it all by saying, “And besides… I come to church every Sunday morning for an hour and trust me, Michael, that is more than enough church for me!”
Okay… well, thanks anyway?
Do not misunderstand me here, friends, I’m not seeking to go on and on about how we latter day believers have fallen so short of the mark as regards that early embodiment of the church; nor would I want you to leave here thinking that you and I are somehow “lesser than” because we don’t check every box as set forth in our text today. Actually, I would suggest to you this morning that the fact that we don’t wholly live up to that very idealized vision is what makes us the church all the more!
Let me explain: you see, one has to wonder what really happened when those 3,000 new believers joined the church; not to cast doubt on Luke’s account, but truly, there had to be at least a few amongst the original 120 wondering what all this growth was all going to mean for them. I love how Craig Barnes addresses this: in a sermon directed at seminarians and new pastors, he says that you have to know that once those 3,000 new members were on board, somebody responded by saying, “Well, there goes the parking… he’s sitting in my pew…” this isn’t the way things used to be (!), and what if it turns out that some of these new people, these people who we’ve let into our church, what if they turn out to be jerks, jerks that we’re now expected to love as we have been loved!
And for that matter, consider what actually happened on the Day of Pentecost; how God’s Holy Spirit had moved in and through people from so many nations, each one of them hearing the gospel proclaimed in the native language of each? Remember, these are the very same people who before that day was out had repented of their sin and were baptized into “the Way” of Jesus Christ! So right from the very start, then, you had Arabs and Jews who were each one part of the church; the one church! You had believers coming from vastly different backgrounds and experience and, dare I say it, differing opinions and socio-political affiliations (!), who were now one in baptism; you had those who, just one day before, mind you, were mortal enemies but who were now brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ; people who were wonderful alongside of people who were, shall we say, difficult; saints and sinners all seated right next to one another in the very same pew, so to speak, all receiving the same blessing of an all-inclusive and infinitely loving God.
And it’s all very messy, all very confusing, all very chaotic, and in many ways, be it logistically or structurally or even socially, it just doesn’t seem to make much sense. But as Craig Barnes puts it, “What do we call such confusion? We call it the Spirit filled Church!” In and through all the chaos created by this “Spirit of restlessness” we sang about last Sunday, a beautiful and truly astonishing Christian community was formed, a community of “glad and generous hearts” made up of “these first Jesus followers… trying to work out what it means being caught up in the Holy Spirit with the living Lord.” (Leigh Spruill)
And friends, that’s still who we are today.
The Lord truly knows we’re not perfect; but then again, we never have been. All it takes is a cursory reading of the Epistles to discover that almost from the very beginning there have been squabbles and fissures and deep divides within the church as regards theology and worship and practice and, yes, politics; and that continues, seemingly ad infinitum, in this generation. And even in our own local congregations, we struggle through the kinds of issues and personality conflicts that inevitably come about when you have such a diverse group of seekers and believers all coming together to worship and work and fellowship in the name of the Lord! If we’re being honest, there are times we wonder if we can ever live up to the model of the Church we’ve read about today. But nonetheless we keep going in “the Way,” don’t we – we keep growing in our faith and in true Christian community – understanding, as William Willimon has pointed out, “it takes just a few months to grow a squash. It takes 100 years to grow an oak tree.”
And why do we do it? It’s because we need it… we need the church of Jesus Christ; we need to be an integral part of Christian community and we need to be a part of a shared devotion to the same core practices of those very first believers: teaching… and fellowship (in the Greek, koinonia, which also translates as partnership… and communion)… and the breaking of bread (which includes the sacrament, yes, but also simply the sharing of a meal)… prayer, of course… and giving (but more about that later). These are the central facets of our Christianity and it’s what brings us together, as diverse as even we are in this church, as a family of faith. It’s what keeps us together even on those occasions when our human foibles lead us to bump heads or to knowingly or unknowingly head off in differing directions. The good news is that God’s Spirit is at work in this place, and even better, God’s Spirit is at work in us… healing us, strengthening us, empowering us even through some of the worst of our brokenness; and in and through all of that, beloved, and so much more, we end up getting it right.
And that’s because we are the church, you and I together; and that is no accident! It is by God’s design that we are here together on this and every Sunday morning; it is by God’s intent that we are Jesus’ disciples in this special time and place here on Mountain Road; and it is God’s plan, I believe with all my hear, to lead us into the future in ways we cannot even begin to imagine, bringing us closer and closer to the vision of that early church. Because right here – today, now – you and I are being led, both as believers and as the church, to not only do great things for Christ, but also to do everything we do for Christ in a great way.
And we know this to be true because this is what God can do for us, what God has already done in Jesus Christ and through his Holy Spirit, and what God continues to do for us again and again.
And so might it be for us, beloved. Thanks be to God that gives us life in Christ and by His Spirit, leads us into deeper devotion.
AMEN and AMEN!
© 2024 Rev. Michael W. Lowry. All Rights Reserved.
Pastoral Ponderings 