The Safest Place On Earth
Experiencing Biblical Community: Acts 4:23-35
Intro:
For the last several weeks I’ve been talking about our need for community – for a place to love as Jesus loved, and to be loved for who we are. I’ve shared that I’ve been feeling lonely, like there is no one outside of my immediate family with whom I can share my life deeply. And so as a church we have been talking about getting together in smaller groups, called “family groups” not so much because they are groups of families, multi-generational groups of people in a geographic proximity – but because our vision is that these groups would become a “family” for each of us – a place of safety and care and authenticity.
So last week we began a bunch of family groups, and praise God we had 151 people involved in the introduction last week!! And there are still a few groups that haven’t yet started, and a number of people who have not yet been contacted – and as an aside, if you have NOT been contacted and invited yet, please please please take this little sheet of paper in your bulletin, fill it in and hand it to me at the back door. Even if you don’t want to be a part of a group, please do this anyway so that we can be sure you have been invited and included as much as you choose.
Because let me say it again: Jesus commanded us to love one another deeply. We have been created with a need to be surrounded by people who will love us and who we can also love – places where it is safe to be ourselves, to let down our pretensions and carefully crafted images making it look like we have it all together, when in fact we each carry burdens and pains – which God intended us to be able to share with one another.
Community in Acts:
So if we really have this inner need to be connected to one another, to really love one another deeply, we should be able to find God’s solution to this need in His Word. We are walking through the book of Acts, as a kind of weekly case-study in Biblical Community.
Last week we looked together at chapter 2, which begins with the 120 disciples of Jesus experiencing the incredible outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, then seeing 3000 people moved to accept Jesus as their Lord. And then we saw what their relationships were like – they were devoted to teaching, to building deep relationships with each other, to the Lord’s Supper, and to prayer.
Chapter 3
I want to look at the later part of chapter 4 today, but I can’t jump there without summarizing what happens in chapter 3. Peter and John head to the temple for the afternoon services, and on the way in heal a man who had been a cripple from birth. This man is excited, and runs around the temple praising God and drawing a large crowd. Peter seizes the opportunity, and starts to preach another fantastic sermon about Jesus and how He can save them, which upsets the temple religious leaders who seize Peter and John and throw them in jail overnight. The next day they stand in front of the Sanhedrin, and the end result is a very stern warning not to preach in Jesus’ name any longer. They are released, and that is where I want to pick up the story: Acts 4:23-35.
Acts 4:23-35
Immediately after their release from jail, Peter and John return to their community. It makes sense – we know that place was safe, it was full of people dedicated to the same cause and sharing in its effects. Peter and John reported what had happened, and then immediately they prayed. Notice that they prayed Scripture – basically they prayed the words of Psalm 2 and applied it to their own situation.
Bear one another’s burdens
This is a great reminder for us – when in trouble, pray. They took their burden to God immediately, they cried out together – note, in community – to God. I want us to notice that Peter and John did not bear this burden alone, the community bore the burden.
(illustrate with a sidewalk block - I had one strong young man come up and pick up a 150lb sidewalk block. As he struggled to hold it, I asked him to dance. Then I asked 3 more strong men to come, and each took a corner. The point sunk in well!)
Verse 31
Luke, the author of Acts, records the result of their prayer in vs 31. The Holy Spirit comes again, and “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit”, and were filled with boldness again. It is worth noting that the infilling of the Holy Spirit was not a one-time event at Pentecost for the disciples, but that it occurred at least this second time.
The main point is that they prayed together, and God answered. The same will be true for us as we pray for and with one another – God will answer.
Verses 32-35
In verses 32-35 we have the second description of the relationships between the believers - we saw the first last week in chapter 2. I see three main themes: they were united, they were generous, and they were powerful witnesses.
They Were United: vs. 32a
The first descriptor is that “All the believers were one in heart and mind.” (32a). They were united, even in the face of opposition from the Sanhedrin, they banded together and agreed and were united. It is not at all like what Edward Dobson reports about a conversation between the Lone Ranger and Tonto: “Tonto and the Lone Ranger were riding through a canyon together when all of a sudden both sides were filled with Native American warriors on horses, dressed for battle. The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and asked, "What are we going to do?" Tonto replied, "What you mean ’we,’ Whiteman?"”
Unity is a difficult thing, especially in a society and a church as diverse as ours. We have different opinions, different preferences, different personalities and gifts. We have different backgrounds, different hurts, and are at different phases of life. All those differences are ok – they are good even – as long as we remain united in our mission.
I want to ask you directly this morning to unite. To unite together as this body of Christ, behind our mission: which is to make disciples for Christ according to Matt 28:19-20. And behind our vision, which is to fulfill that mission by becoming three things: first a “spiritual hospital”, where people with a broken relationship with God can find healing – this is a vision of evangelism. Second, a “spiritual greenhouse”, a vision of nurture and care where we can build one another up and become fruitful disciples of Jesus. This is the big initial thrust of our family groups – that they become places of care and nurture and growth towards fruitfulness. And third that we become like a festival, celebrating through worship all that God is and does.
There was great power in the early community, and I am completely confident that the unity they had was a significant part of that. I think we have fairly strong unity as a church in the pursuit of our mission and vision, and I know we have very strong unity as your leadership team. But maybe some of you haven’t yet really jumped on board and united behind the mission and vision; I want to ask you to do that so that we can see more of God’s power unleashed among us.
They Were Generous: vs 32b; 34-35
Luke’s attention then turns for a second time to the economic relationship of the early community. You might remember that last week I said I didn’t think we were being called to a “commune” type of life, where there is no private ownership of goods, and this passage shows that more clearly. Note first the wording in vs. 32: “No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.” They didn’t stop owning things, they just stopped hoarding them and being selfish about them. Even, as we see a little lower down, selling major holdings so that others’ needs would be met.
The main characteristic this describes to me is generosity. I think I can take it even further and call it “sacrificial generosity”. To such an extent that Luke can conclude that “there were no needy persons among them.”
And to me, this makes perfect sense. Think about it for a moment – we might give a little to people we do not know who are needy, and so we should. I believe we have a responsibility under God to give generously and wisely. Now what if you were part of a group of believers, who were committed to loving one another as Christ loved them, and a family in your group lost a job, or got injured, and they survived for awhile on their savings, they cut back their spending, then they sold their house and moved into an apartment, then they started to lose weight because they weren’t eating much, you notice the children wearing shoes that are worn out or too small, you hear a rumor that they visited the food bank. Suppose that happened. What would be the response of the group to this family that they know and love? Do you see why I say this makes perfect sense??
They Were Witnesses: vs 33
The final thing I want to point out about this early community was that they stayed focused on their mission. They did what they were called to do – testify to the death and resurrection of Jesus. And they did so with “much power” – the evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in and through their community.
Conclusion:
As I read about the early church – how they were united, generous, and powerful witnesses – and then as I look around at our world, I have this hunch that maybe the two could fit together really well today, just like it did then. If the church was known as a place of generosity, where there was “no needy people” in the community; if we were united in the singular pursuit of our mission to “make disciples”; and if we too would plead with God through prayer to fill us with the Holy Spirit, and to pour Himself out freshly upon us and upon our relationships and our worlds so that we could also be powerful witnesses of the power of God – well then I think we might not live in such a lonely world. I think we might not see as much resistance to the Gospel – in fact, I think we would see people eager to know more.
How we get there is partly our decisions – to obey, to use our time and resources in pursuit of God – but more than that it is God choosing to fill and empower and bring change. And that brings me right back to where the passage begins – with Peter and John and the others praying together. I’d like to close with that same prayer, with slight modifications.
“Sovereign Lord, you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. We see this in our world today, but we recognize that You are sovereign. Now, Lord, consider that opposition and enable us, your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Amen.
