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Thursday
night I went out to watch our church’s co-ed softball team play in the
end of the season tournament. I sat on the bench and kept score. I
was kind of into the game, being on the bench and all. I cheered and
was happy to see our team win. Then I discovered that winning meant
there was another game. Penny Thomas, the team’s coach, asked if I
wanted to hit. I didn’t have to field just hit. I have to admit, I
got a little excited about playing ball again, at least my mind was
excited. My body was reminding me of all the woes it experiences when
I try to act like I’m twenty. We were behind by about four runs in
the last inning and came back to win the second game. I felt
excitement at a new level. I was a part of the team. Then I
discovered that winning meant we had to play again. This time we were
to play the team that beat our team the last time we played 34-1. We
kept it closer, but groaned a little when with the score 12-5, we had
to play one more inning. They scored seven runs in that inning. Now
we were behind 19-5 for our last at bat. We consoled ourselves much
like a boxer who lost the fight, but did not get knocked out. Then
something amazing happened. We scored 15 runs in our last at bat and
won the tournament. How did that happen? It was a combination of four
things: walks, errors, hits, running (lots of running) – these four
things combined to get each member of our team a championship
t-shirt. All I planned to do was keep score and I wound up a member
of the championship team.
I think the early church had this kind of excitement often. They
started out huddled in an upper room and the Spirit swept through
there causing amazing things to occur. Within a few days the church
had grown to over 5,000. People that had come out to watch, wound up
being part of the church. How did that happen? It was a combination
of four things: unity, power, grace, and generosity. Look for these
in the picture that Luke painted in Acts 4:32-37. Hear now the Word
of the Lord:
32Now the whole group of those
who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private
ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in
common.
33With great power the
apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great grace was upon them all.
34There
was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or
houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.
35They laid it at the
apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
36There was a Levite, a native
of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which
means “son of encouragement”). 37He sold a field that
belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’
feet.
The Word of God for
the people of God. Thanks be to God. In this passage Luke
recorded for his readers the extravagance of the early church.
Looking at this passage I see four things that combined to make the
early church a powerful force in the world. They were resourced by
unity, power, grace, and generosity. Look briefly at these four
factors that combined in perfect order to produce a relevant church.
It starts with unity.
Unity
The very first thing Luke lifted up about the church was that the
whole group was of one heart and soul. I love this expression. It
speaks of peace, not just the lack of conflict, but the presence of
purposeful movement. They were all part of the same team, moving in
the same direction, toward the same goal. It is an expression of
beautiful choreography. This is not an easy thing to do, because we
humans have some rough edges.
I love the story of the castaway who was discovered on a deserted
island years after being stranded there. His rescuers were surprised
to see how resourceful he had been. He had sustained himself by
finding his own food, making his own clothes, and even building his
own shelter. There were three huts. He gave the rescuers the tour,
pointing to the oldest hut, “That is my home, where I have lived for
the last several years. I built that shortly after arriving here.”
He pointed to the newest hut and said, “That is my church. I decided
I wanted to worship in a place separate from my house.” The rescuers
asked about the third hut and the castaway said with some derision,
“Oh that. That’s where I used to go to church.”
Unity in the church is not an automatic quality, but it is essential
if we truly seek to be about Fulfilling the Vision that God has
given to us.
Power
Luke wrote to his friend about the power of the church that followed
this sense of unity. Not only were the whole group of believers of
one heart and soul, the leaders gave their testimony about Jesus’
resurrection with great power. The Greek word for “power” is
“dunamis” and it is a wonderful word, from which we get our English
word, “dynamite”. There is ample evidence throughout the book of
Acts that power, God breathed power, permeated the group of
believers. It even caused individuals to release control of some of
their assets for the sake of the vision. Will Willimon wrote in his
commentary on the Book of Acts, “The power which broke the bonds of
death on Easter, shattered the divisions of speech at Pentecost, and
empowered one who was lame now releases the tight grip of private
property.”
This last week I was visiting with confirmands about their upcoming
declarations of faith. All year long this group of 13 young people
has been meeting to discuss things like creation, the church, God,
Jesus, the Holy Spirit, prayer, worship, and many other subjects. One
of the things I ask in my individual time with these young people is,
“Is there any question you have of me regarding faith, Christianity,
confirmation, or the church?” One of them asked me, “Can you describe
for me the Holy Spirit?” We talked a little about Romans 8:11 where
Paul said that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells
in us. The confirmand looked at me with wide eyes as if she really
got that. That’s power. Do you realize that as the church we possess
that kind of power?
Unity and power were the first two factors that resourced the vision
of Christ’s early church.
Grace
Luke painted this picture of the early church
so masterfully. He spoke of unity and throughout the passage he
speaks of the whole group, no one claiming private ownership, everyone
doing what he or she could do for the kingdom, and then he wrote,
“Great grace was upon them all.” While there is some discussion about
whether Luke meant the favor of men and women or the favor of God,
most commentators believe that Luke was referring to the favor of
God. This favor, this lavish love poured out from the creator of the
universe was not reserved for only some in the church, it was upon
them all. It was great grace upon them all.
It has been just in the last year that I have
started beginning letters, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is taken from Paul’s letters to the
Corinthians, but I think it sums up all the wonder of God bestowed on
us, and all the yearning of our souls. Let those words sink into your
soul and see what impact they have on you. God’s grace – love,
acceptance, forgiveness, belonging - great grace was upon them all.
It is no wonder the early church was such an amazing force. It is no
wonder the church has such amazing potential in our world. Unity,
power, and grace were all factors in the success of the early church,
but there was also generosity.
Generosity
It does not seem that the early church simply
liquidated all of its resources and pooled them together in one big
fund, but there was generosity. As needs arose people gave
extravagantly to meet those needs. One such man was Barnabas. His
real name was Joseph, but all the apostles gave him the nickname
Barnabas, because Barnabas means, “son of encouragement”. Nicknames
are merited not inherited and every time we meet Barnabas in the
scriptures he is living up to that nickname. He provided a legacy
gift, that is a gift that he would always remember as a significant
act of faith and for which he continues to remembered as an example of
generosity for his act of faith.
Do you realize that people are watching you?
You are setting an example. I became painfully aware of this fact
years ago on the golf course. That’s right, I used to play golf until
I realized that it produced more stress than it relieved in my life.
Zac was still a little boy, too young to even play much, though he
liked to go out with me if I promised he could drive the cart some.
This happened to be one of the holes that I promised he could drive
the cart. I was facing the dreaded ravine, that looked more like a
canyon to me. As often happened in my golfing days, I hit the big
blue ball (earth) before I hit the little white ball and the little
white ball dribbled into the hungry canyon. I was more than a little
frustrated. I banged my club on the ground, slammed it into the bag,
and slumped into the seat of the golf cart. Zac smiled at me and
said, “Don’t worry, Daddy, I’ll drive like you do when you’re mad!”
Yikes! That’s not the kind of example that I want to set. I want to
be more like Barnabas, a child of encouragement.
Like it or not, people are watching you. You
are an example to some of what it means to be a Christian, of what it
means to be the church. I am confident that if we model these four
factors that brought such health and growth to the early church, that
we can move toward Fulfilling the Vision that God has given to
us. Unity, power, grace, and generosity. They are very significant
parts of what it means to be the church. I hope that you have already
experienced these at A&M United Methodist Church, I know I have. In
recent weeks I have heard of members selling property and giving to
the Fulfilling the Vision effort of this church. I have heard
of families committing assets of stocks, oil and gas royalties,
savings, and many other expressions of generosity. Some individuals
and families have committed unexpected income as steps of faith -
confident that God will provide the resources.
I don’t have championship t-shirts for
everyone here, but I wish I did, because God has promised us success.
Our task is to keep the most important things in the right order and
important. Unity (be of one heart and soul with each
other), power (the spirit that raised Christ from the
dead dwells in you), grace (the feast is already set for
you and the invitation has already been extended), generosity
(open your hands and let God use what you have been given for
opportunities that God is giving you). The same thing is true for the
church that I discovered on the softball field Thursday night - it is
always more exciting to play than to keep score.
Amen. |
