Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 23
John 10:1-10
“Devoted to God and One Another”
This fourth Sunday in the season of Easter is also known as “Good Shepherd Sunday” because of the readings from Psalm 23 and John 10 which compare God and Jesus to a shepherd who cares for the sheep. As individual believers, these passages assure us of God’s loving care and guidance throughout our lives.
God leads us towards green pastures and still waters. God guides us through the darkest valleys. Jesus calls each one of us by name. We know his voice, and we trust that he will lead us out towards nourishment and freedom, and back home to a place of safety.
When we are experiencing difficult times, or when we are afraid for ourselves, for our families, or for the wider world, these passages are a source of hope and strength for us who know ourselves as sheep of the Good Shepherd.
But I think that one of the most important things to notice about the imagery of God or Jesus as a shepherd and God’s people as the sheep is the fact that it means each one of us belongs to the flock. Yes, God cares about us individually too. The Parable of the Lost Sheep comes to mind, in which Jesus says that the good shepherd leaves the 99 sheep in order to go and search for the one sheep that has become lost. And that’s great.
But the other great thing about being a sheep is that we are together. We belong to the flock. We are safe in the sheep fold. We belong to the community of the church.
Acts 2:42-47 is one of my favourite passages about what it means to be the church. It’s a beautiful picture of unity, with that great line: “All who believed were together and had all things in common.”
In commenting on this text, Jerusha Matsen Neal writes that “Luke is recounting communal memory in these verses, and a church’s stories of “the way things used to be” are often idealized.” I think that’s probably true of some of our recollections of church in our younger years, when we remember the best parts of life in the church community and block out the times when conflicts and disagreements made community life a struggle.
Neal points out that “there has been much scholarly debate about how seriously to take this description [of the earliest church community]. Selling one’s possessions to provide for those in need may seem like a radical act to many, as does ‘common’ ownership of goods.”
Many commentators notice that the idyllic church doesn’t last long in the Book of Acts. In the following chapters, the church already begins to face persecution from the authorities who don’t appreciate the apostles’ public preaching and teaching about Jesus. And in chapter five, a serious conflict arises over wealthy members of the congregation who resist sharing their resources generously for the good of all.
I expect that the earliest Christian congregation was actually just as imperfect as the congregations that have followed over the centuries since that time. But the Jesus-followers who came to believe and began practicing their faith together in community did have a powerful experience of unity, fellowship, sharing, and common purpose that both changed their lives and inspired this description of what the church is meant to be.
When we discussed the passage in our Wednesday Bible study this week, I asked everyone to read the text and look for descriptions of what the church was like, and then to consider whether and how our church is like that too.
They noticed that the Christian community seemed to be the main priority in the lives of its members. We read: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” These practices of faith were central to the community and to the people, not extra things that they might choose to do in their spare time.
I read a statistic once that said that in North American Christian churches 20% of the people do 80% of the work of ministry. In other words, some of the people are deeply devoted to the community of faith, and a lot of other people spend most of their time devoted to other pursuits and pop into the church when it’s helpful to them.
I wonder what our church’s ministry would look like if the devotion of our most active members was matched by every member of the community – whether that be in generous giving, in faithful prayer, in offerings of time and talent, in outreach beyond our community, or in pastoral care for one another.
The members of our Bible study noticed the radical generosity that is described in the text, and particularly the phrase about distributing resources to all, as any had need. It was hard to imagine how we could ask a wealthy church member to sell their big house and give the money to others who were struggling to pay their rent. But I am also aware that some among us who do have more resources give generously without being asked – contributing a great deal both to the church’s budget and to the various missions we support in the community and around the world.
But when it comes to the question of sharing with each other to meet each other’s needs, someone pointed out that we need to know each other well enough to actually know when a fellow church member is in need. They might need some practical help like a ride to church or a gift card when groceries are getting too expensive to manage. Or they might need a friend to visit with, or an elder with whom they can talk about faith and doubt and their wonderings about life. Or they might need a way to serve in the community, gaining new purpose and meaning through the offering of their unique gifts.
I think that in many church communities that 20%/80% statistic not only applies to the work that the members do in the church, but also to the number of people who engage deeply enough with each other at church that they can actually get to know each other’s needs.
I mean deeply enough that we get beyond talking about the weather or how the local sports team is doing. Deeply enough that we hear about what’s going on in each other’s lives, that we share with each other about both our joys and struggles, our questions and our convictions.
I’m reminded of a song by the Canadian Christian songwriter Carolyn Arends, which is titled, “Just Pretending.” Carolyn sings about the tendency we often have to want to present ourselves to the world as happy, healthy, and successful. You know, like the way that many people present themselves on Facebook or other social media – where you only see the happy, smiling faces from their best moments in life.
Carolyn sings:
Why do we try so hard?
Life’s not some greeting card
Models and movie stars
They’re just pretending
They’re just pretending
Family full of achievers
Beat the Jones and be the Cleavers
Give the lawn a manicure
No rough edges, that’s for sure
Sunday the whole congregation
Doesn’t seem to need salvation
Everybody’s just terrific
All the time
All the time
Everybody’s under pressure
Got to get our acts together
Living out these scripted roles
Tidy and predictable
What if we just all agreed
To wear our hearts on wrinkled sleeves
And live the mess and mystery
Of a real life
Live real life
Now, I should say that I don’t think our congregation is the worst when it comes to creating a space where people feel free to be who they are, to not always be feeling great, and to share each other’s struggles in Christian love and care for one another.
I am deeply honoured that so many of you have invited me into your lives when you share honestly about your hurts, your hopes, your questions, and your struggles. And it makes me proud and happy when I hear about the ways that you are caring for each other, whether through the formal pastoral care ministries of our church or informally as Christian friends in the community.
Although there may never have been a Christian church that was quite as perfect as the one described in Acts chapter two, the picture of that church can still be an inspiration for us, a picture of the church that we strive to become together.
In our Bible study, one suggestion was that we could be praying for each other more, sharing with each other more often and more freely about our needs and concerns, and lifting each other up in prayer, even as we keep our eyes open for the practical ways that we can help and share to meet each other’s needs.
As one way to lean into that desire to pray for each other more, I put a book for prayer requests in the narthex today. Some of you started adding your prayer requests to the book already this morning, and I hope that others will feel free to add your prayers whenever we gather together to worship. If you add a prayer in the book, I’ll be sure to include it in the Prayers of the People during worship, and we’ll all be able to keep those prayers in our minds and hearts throughout the week as well.
For confidentiality, I’ll ask you not to name particular people for prayer without asking their permission to share the prayer request publicly. Think of that not as a limitation, but as an encouragement to connect with your family members or friends and offer to pray for them with your church family.
This morning let’s sing the next hymn before we move into the Prayers of the People. And if you haven’t had a chance to write your prayer in the book, or if you are worshipping with us online this morning, you can also text your prayer request to me.
In the weeks and months ahead, let’s remember today’s description of the earliest Christian congregation. Let’s particularly remember how they were devoted to God and one another. Let’s give thanks that we also are sheep of the Good Shepherd and that we are in the flock together, as we grow in our devotion to God and one another as we share in worship, fellowship, the breaking of the bread, and the prayers.