Sermonette: July 31, 2023

Acts 2

If I were to say the word "church," what would you think? I’m guessing you might think of big brick buildings. Maybe some preaching. I think many of us would probably imagine an organ or piano. When we hear the word "church," we think about popes and pastors, dressed up people and the dreaded offering plates. We think about hymns and singing, Sunday mornings, and potlucks. The word "church" is an extremely loaded term, connected to dozens of thoughts, memories and feelings. Some of these are good, but many of them are at best not helpful. Lately, I’ve had my eyes opened to how the word "church" today doesn’t mean the same things that it meant to the Biblical authors. In an effort to rectify this schism, I turned to the place that made the most sense to me: the beginning.

The church traces its Biblical lineage back to Acts 2:42-47. This is where the first mention of people beyond the disciples gathering after Jesus’ ascension takes place. In other words, this little passage is like that first group photo of a church. You know what picture I’m talking about. The picture with all the members smiling and happy, sitting in front of their new building. Except, Acts 2:42-47 is the first first-church-photo, ever. These are the original Christians that sparked every other church anywhere. So it is relevant what Luke, the author of Acts, has to say about the very first church.

Luke states in the very first verse that the early church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer.” The passage continues by talking about how all the believers sold items and goods to make sure no one had need in their little community. They also gathered for meals, at people’s houses and in the temple courts.

This is what Luke tells us the original church cared about. Luke doesn’t mention a building, music or even an official leader or preacher. There is no mention of dressing up or offering plates. There is also absolutely no mention of gathering Sunday morning. In fact, this passage is crystal clear that they met every single day, if not multiple times a day.

So if the original church didn’t care about these things, what did they care about? Gathering. They gathered to hear the disciples. They gathered for meals, both communion and otherwise. They gathered for fellowship. They gathered for prayer. They gathered at home, they gathered at the temple. Luke starts to sound like a 1st century Dr. Seuss with his repetitiveness. Yes, there was teaching, communion and prayer; but Luke clearly emphasizes that the most important thing they did was gather and take care of each other. Period. End of story.

Actually, no, not end of story. Luke’s little narrative actually finishes with an astounding statement. He states that they “... enjoyed the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Both God and the rest of the community are clearly impressed with the church’s conduct. We live in a world today where statistics tell us that most people aren’t impressed by the church’s conduct. Most people (regardless of Christian or not) have more negative things than positive things to say about the church. But in Acts, people are impressed with the church. They’re impressed by how much they enjoy being together and how well they take care of each other. Even though most of Jerusalem isn’t in the church, everyone is happy to have the church around.

So, my thought today is a simple one: maybe we should take a page from the original church. Maybe instead of worrying about our buildings, music and preaching, we should worry about each other. Maybe instead of stressing about how full the offering plate is, we should stress about how full everyone’s stomachs are. And then, just maybe, we can reverse the trend and turn our churches around. Maybe if we start to look like we like each other, God (and America) will start liking us again.