They
Devoted Themselves… to the Breaking of Bread
October 6, 2013
BMC- Acts 2:42-47
Introduction:
Government Shutdown
Division,
separation, taking sides, holding our ground… it’s all around us isn’t it? We live in a world that is full of walls. We live in a world that continues to build
walls, a world that continues to divide with walls. And these divisions not only enforce
separation, but they also consume countless dollars and increasing time on
keeping out that which is different or of keeping together that which is the
same. We establish, maintain and enforce
boundaries of our own making. That is
the way of the world in which we live.
It
is also the way of the nation in which we reside. Even within our own nation we experience
division and discord. We disagree about
the best way to do something. And when
we disagree about how to do something, we find ourselves at an impasse that
seems insurmountable. Regardless of the
fact that we are all Americans, committed to the ideals of democracy and of
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; we are divided about what goes into
this and how to make it happen. We are
so divided in fact, that this week, our government shut down.
This
is the way that the world works. This is
the way that our nation functions. This
is what our leaders are inviting us to be a part of. This is what they are modeling for us as the
best way to move forward, to become enmeshed in an ideology and to bring the
discussion to a crisis point of division and taking sides. This is the way the world works. This is the way that our diverse nation is
engaging with our differences, using them to create discord.
Acts
2
- A Motley Crew[1]
You
know, the disciples were a motley crew of diverse individuals. Have you ever considered that? They came to Jesus from a variety of life
experiences and perspectives. We tend to
think of them simply as a group of fishermen that Jesus called to fish for
people, and that is how it began. But as
Matthew 10 tells us, Jesus also called Matthew who was a tax collector. And as Luke 6 tells us, He also called Simon
who was known as a zealot. Can you
imagine the evening discussions around their campfire?
Remember
that in those days, everyone would have regarded Matthew “as one who had sold
himself into the hands of his country’s masters for gain, the very reverse of a
patriot and a lover of his country.” And
within this same group we have Simon, a zealot.
As Josephus describes them, the zealots were a fourth party of the Jews
along with the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes. And they were incredibly loyal to their
country.
The
zealots saw God as their ruler and Lord and “they were prepared to face any
kind of death for their country.” “They
were prepared to go [to] the length of secret murder and stealthy assassination
to seek to rid their country of foreign rule.
They were the patriots par excellence among the Jews, the most
nationalist of all nationalists.”
Matthew and Simon, these were men who were beyond being on the opposite
sides of the aisle.
- The Day of Pentecost[2]
Fast
forward some three years. They have
spent three years with Jesus and with each other. Jesus had been crucified but He had also been
raised from the dead. He had appeared to
them repeatedly. He had ascended into
heaven leaving the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit. And they were all gathered in one place in
Jerusalem devoting themselves to prayer when the day of Pentecost arrived.
“Suddenly
from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled
the entire house where they were sitting.
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on
each of them. All of them were filled
with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave
them ability.
“Now
there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was
bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of
each. Amazed and astonished, they asked,
‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of
Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both
Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – in our own languages we hear them
speaking about God’s deeds of power.’
All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this
mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’
- Peter Addresses the Crowd[3]
Peter addressed
them “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to
you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you
suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was
spoken by the prophet Joel:
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of
Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs,
which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was
handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with
the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death,
because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David
said about him:
“‘I saw the Lord
always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you
confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here
to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had
promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing
what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not
abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God
has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the
right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and
has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven,
and yet he said,
“‘The Lord said to my
Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”’
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”’
“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this:
God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
- The First Converts[4]
“ When the people heard this, they were cut to
the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we
do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and
your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will
call.”
With many other
words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this
corrupt generation.” Those who accepted
his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number
that day.”
- Life Among the Believers
Everyone
was amazed because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. But perhaps the greatest sign of all was that
all who believed were together, all those from these various backgrounds,
places and languages were together. And
what’s more is that not only were they together, they also had all things in
common. They provided for each other’s
needs.
“They devoted
themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled
with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had
everything in common. They sold property and possessions to
give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet
together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together
with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the
people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”[5]
And They Devoted
Themselves to…
a. The Apostles
Teaching
So
we have diverse group of people that saw the world very differently. The disciples themselves included a tax
collector and a zealot, both Jews but at odds with each other. And after Pentecost we have the inclusion of
a variety of people from many places who
spoke different languages coming together all united by faith in Jesus
Christ and the movement of the Holy Spirit.
And what did they do as a diverse group of people?
They
shared everything in common, selling all of their possessions to provide for
those among them that were in need. And
they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. They devoted themselves to learning about
Jesus, to understanding what God was calling them to, grasping how Jesus fit
into the story that they already knew but didn’t fully comprehend.
We
can see this in Peter’s address to the crowd.
In his words he recounted the Old Testament words from Joel and David
that put these events into context. And
he named the place that Jesus had in the midst of these realties. He recounted the story and he invited them to
participate in the story, to join in God’s story as their own story. He invited
them to become part of one story, the story of God relating to the people of
the world, one story despite their divisions and their differences.
b.
Prayer
They
devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to prayer. Prayer was central to who they were and it is
central to who we are. This seems
especially true to me in a world of divisions, a world of taking sides. Because I am sure that I am not the only one
who has been changed by the power of praying for those that we disagree with,
for those who are at odds with us, for those who have hurt us.
Jesus
tells us in Matthew 5 that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who
persecute us. At first reading we may
interpret that as a way of asking for God to change our enemies, and perhaps to
some degree it is. But it seems to me
that when we commit ourselves to praying for our enemies, for those who differ
from us; what really happens is that we are changed. When we pray for people that are different
from us, our eyes are opened and we become more able to see their humanity and
God’s love for them. Prayer changes the
world, but prayer also changes us as we dwell with God and as we seek God’s
leading.
c.
Fellowship and the Breaking of Bread
They
devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to prayer and to fellowship and
the breaking of bread. They gathered in
homes and they fellowshipped together.
They broke bread together. In a
world of divisions and separations, this seems significant to me. It seems significant to me that of all the
things that they could have devoted themselves to, one of the primary things
that they did was to devote themselves to fellowship and the breaking of bread.
On
membership Sunday a little over a month ago, we heard the testimonies of six
people who are now members of our fellowship.
And it is significant to me that within their testimony a consistent
theme that arose in one way or another was the importance of relationships and
fellowship among us. Each one of them had
experienced this. This is a part of who
we are as a body of believers, a welcoming and caring fellowship; and it is a
part of what drew them to taking the step of membership, of joining us.
Last
Sunday at the end of our listening session about our congregational restructure,
we talked some about our community around us.
We talked about the needs that we see and one of the needs that rose to
the surface is the need for meaningful, deep, and personal relationships. In a world of technology and electronic
communication, there is also a void of personal relationships. This was named as a need within our community
and it was named as a need which we have the gifting to meet. It is a need that the early church devoted
themselves to as well.
And
this morning on this world communion Sunday, we enact this fellowship, this
breaking of bread, in a very tangible way as we literally participate in it
through sharing communion together around these tables. Because when the time comes, those who are
able will be invited to come forward, to gather around the table and to share
the communion elements with one another.
In so doing, we overcome the national barriers that the world would place
between us. And in so doing, we overcome
the international barriers that exist around the world.
Because
as we share in communion together on this day and with brothers and sisters
around the world, we declare that the kingdom of God is bigger than any national
boundaries. We declare that our
citizenship in the kingdom of God is stronger than that of our nation. And we participate in the kingdom of God, a
kingdom that does not shutdown but that has existed, does exist and will
continue to exist and operate for time in eternity without end. Ultimately, we are citizens of God’s kingdom.
Conclusion:
Division is the way of the world, and at times like this
the way of our nation. Unity is the way
of Christ, the way of the kingdom of God.
As the church was born, they devoted themselves to the apostles
teaching, to prayer and to fellowship and the breaking of bread.
As we prepare to gather around these tables, as we
prepare to break bread together, take a moment to consider what this means for
you and for us as a congregation in the midst of the world in which we live, in
the midst of the nation in which we reside, in the midst of the community in
which we dwell. Take a moment to
consider this for yourself.
{Pause} {Pray inviting people unity in
Christ}
Amen
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