A sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter on Acts 2:42-47
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There’s so many different varieties of Christian worship -
A mass in Mozambique with clapping and colourful robes and when people come to give their donation they dance up to the offertory plate.
A monastic service in somewhere like Mirfield or Taize. Very simple architecture. Chanting. Quiet. Solemn. Reflective.
A middle class British charismatic service at some where like KXC or HTB with soft rock music, 45 minutes of non stop singing, a congregation largely under 35 and lots arms waved in the air.
A Cathedral Eucharist with a choir singing renaissance polyphony and Mozart masses.
A small rural church with 6 ot 7 people holding their hymns ancient or modern, with the organ that’s a bit too big for the building rather drowning out their singing, but it’s their church and they are devoted to it.
Even places like St Barnabas Northolt with our unusual blend of Catholic and Charismatic.
I wonder.
I wonder what you miss about our worship from normal times?
It will be different for each one of us.
One person might miss the live music from our band.
One person might miss the taste of the bread and wine of communion.
One person might miss the familiar with it’s statues and altars and candlesticks.
One person might miss the smell of the incense.
One person might miss the hugs they receive at the peace.
One person might miss the chance to see old friends.
One person might miss saying hello to new people who turn up.
One person might miss the Easter flowers.
One person might miss the feeling of contributing that comes from doing their job on the rota.
It will be different for each one of us.
I wonder what you miss about our worship from normal times?
I wonder.
Today's reading describes the life transforming worship of the very earliest Christians. It comes from just after the day of Pentecost on Acts Chapter 2, beginning at verse 42.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
This passage comes from a time of change. It is a time of creativity. Genesis 1 tells us that God is creator and it also tells us that we are made in his image, so we are called to be creative. For the earliest Christians they had no worship pattern to look back to, so they had to create things from scratch. For us, our two thousand year old pattern of worship has been thrown into chaos by Corona Virus, so we have to reinvent it, we have to be creative too.
So as we look at these early Christians in Acts, we will see principles we can apply but will also see things that fill us with longing - they could do that, but we can’t at the moment.
The first verse - Acts 2:42 - one of my favourite verses in the whole bible - serves as a heading to the rest of the passage.
“42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. “
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
Teaching is probably the easiest thing not to lose out on during lockdown. It is easy for example for us to provide you with a sermon each week - whether via YouTube or for those who don’t have the internet a posted copy. We can reflect together on God’s word and and how we can apply it to this strange current situation. Several of you have generously commented on how helpful you are finding this.
There a very small number of people in the congregation who when the new GDPR rules came in a couple of years back, actively decided they did not want to receive pastoral emails from St Barnabas. They may be feeling quite isolated at the moment so if you are friends with anyone who is not receiving the weekly sermon from St Barnabas, please do encourage them to sign up - its not too late for them to do so.
Teaching is the easiest thing for us not to lose out on during lockdown. Some people are working harder than ever, but some are having a bit more time, why not read some Christian books? There are so many great things out by CS Lewis, Henri Nouwen, Nicky Gumbel, Philip Yancey and so many more writers.
At the moment I am reading “Talking about Jesus” by the Roman Catholic Priest Fr Jim McManus and “Shameless” by the Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber. What are you reading? If you are reading (or re-reading) something good why not write a little book review that we could include in our parish email?
“They devoted themselves… to Fellowship”
"All who believed were together"
"Day by day, as they spent much time together"
"they broke bread at home"
“They devoted themselves… to Fellowship”
This is far harder isn’t it?
I was speaking to one of you on the phone this week who said she really misses the hugs she got from people in church during the peace.
Mother Theresa once said “loneliness is the leprosy of modern society”. Church is fantastic at bringing people together. In our lonely modern world, people, particularly the retired, can go for days without seeing or touching another human being.
And now all that has to be reinvented.
I love the fact that some people are refusing to talk about “social distancing” - replacing the phrase with “Physical distancing but social closeness”
At times like this we need to be staying in touch with one another.
I also love the fact that so many people are offering to do shopping for so many of the vulnerable. It does feel that this awfulness is turning us into better people.
If I wanted to be controversial I’d say that back in the day when things were normal, we took for granted that we could invite people round to our house, It was always something we were going to do, but often something we didn't actually get around to doing. Covid makes you rethink your priorities.
Your mission if you choose to accept it - can you phone one member of the congregation this week who you would not normally phone? If you are on the phone sharing list, can you phone one person whom you don’t know very well or even don’t know at all? It might seem a bit scary but it is a great way for us to get to know one another better.
I have never phoned as many people in my life compared with before Covid struck - but even though it is exhausting, I am finding it is really positive. I am getting to know you far better through these phone calls. So I encourage you - phone each other. Try phoning someone you have never phoned before. It is worth it.
“They devoted themselves to ...The breaking of the bread”
“they spent much time together in the temple,“
“they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts,”
These earliest Christians met in small groups for the Mass - the breaking of the bread - but they also went to the Temple daily - with it’s incense and robes and statues and sacrifices - and we know from Revelation that when the early Christians pictured worship in heaven it is was very physical again with robes and lamps and incense and people throwing themselves to the floor. GK Chesterton described Christitianity as “the most materialistic of all religions”. We are based on God being born as a human baby, God saving us through dying physically on the cross. And of course, as we remember at this time of year - Jesus rising physically from the dead.
That’s why our worship normally is very physical. We clap, we kneel, we cross ourselves, we raise our arms in the air. We meet Jesus in bread and wine. We hug one another at the peace. We have robes and incense. We light prayer candles. Maybe we even dance.
And all this is gone
The mass is what we miss.
For some of you we were able to get the blessed sacrament out to you before lockdown began and we are able to give you communion by extension by Telephone or Zoom. But even that is not the same.
The mass is what we miss.
All I encourage you to do is embrace our pain. It is like a long lent - a time of enforced fasting. When we get back into church, let us never take the mass for granted again.
And also The disciples “Ate gladly and joyfully” - their physicality of worship extended to the little things in their own homes. We can all take a moment to say thank you as we eat our daily food. Many of you made your own palm crosses out of what you had in the garden. Can you find other little ways to bring physicality into our worship in our own homes? Do come back to me with your own suggestions.
“They devoted themselves to - The Prayers”
“ Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles”
What makes people of faith different from people with no faith? We are not better people than those with no faith - though we can say that we are better people than we would be if we had no faith. We are broken hurting people whom God has lifted out of the mess through the death of his son. So we even be more messed up than many people without faith.
Churches do many good things - run Toddler Groups, run food banks, run night shelters - but churches are not the only people to do those things.
But the one thing that people of faith have that other people don’t is that we can pray.
The war time Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple famously said “people often say that answers to prayer are just coincidences. But what I find is that when I pray coincidences happen. And when I don’t, they don’t.
In phoning around the congregation, one thing I have loved is hearing you pray. Some of you I have never heard pray before - and it has been a real encouragement to my faith to pray one on one with you.
While we miss the mass, prayer is something we can do more of at this time - so lets do more!
Joy of praying one on one with people over the phone
Finally - “And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
We may be locked in our homes, but I am encouraged that many of you are being outward looking in your faith. Some of you have told me of how family members who haven’t engaged with faith for years are now asking you questions. Several of you have told me how you are sharing these sermons with family members, colleagues and neighbours.
In this storm we are going through, faith gives us an anchor. Let’s not be selfish and keep that anchor for ourselves. In a respectful and generous way, let us share it with others.
Amen
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