January 22, 2012
The Life of Community
- Acts 2:42-47
- Pat Smith
Does community happen at a café?
Each of the patrons of this particular café is definitely connected through place. They are seated in proximity to one another. Folks at this table actually spend time talking with each other, and it is obvious they are friends who share some connection beyond this place. Together, with the others at these tables, they are connected not only due to being in the same place, but they are here for similar purposes. Food and drink bring them together. Being near others they don’t know is a choice. The desire to be in this particular café as opposed to the one up the street or around the block shows they have common values because of the ambience or food or service. They are all connected by way of being human beings, breathing the same air, sitting under the same sun.
The patrons of this café have also been disconnected. They’ve chosen to connect with people who made the YouTube videos they are watching or with the recording artists whose songs are playing on their iPods. One was fully invested in another whole community centered on a sporting event. Over the people right around them, they connect to far away friends via voice or email or message or twitter. Even the friend at the most community-driven table disconnected by valuing someone else more than the people she was with.
Did community happen at this café?
It depends on how you define community. The word is derived from Latin and at its core it means the gift of with-ness. Some say that community is three or more people, or people who live in proximity to each other or people in some sort of value-based commitment to one another. We can speak of family, neighborhood, school, workplace, town or city as communities. We can affirm we are all part of the human family, the human experience, the human community.
But, being on the same planet or in the same room doesn’t mean we experience community with everyone. We can be in the same café within a few feet of another person and not experience the gift of with-ness. Husbands and wives live can live in the same households and not have community. Children and parents, classmates, co-workers, members of social clubs, sports teams and musical ensembles, people who work on a common project, all of these together-like relationships might still actually be bereft of true togetherness, the gift of with-ness, true community.
About six weeks ago, on a Sunday morning like this one, I made my way toward the doors after one of our services. I stopped to talk with a few folks along the way. In one of those conversations I became aware that someone seemed to be waiting, standing back just a little. As my conversation ended, he stepped up and gently expressed a most real need. Let me introduce you to a fellow zpcer, Simon de Hainault. Thanks for meeting me here, Simon. It’s a privilege to be with you.
- When you came up to me on that Sunday, Simon, what was on your mind?
- After you shared with me we agreed we ought to sit down for a while and let me have the opportunity to hear more. We did that a few weeks later.
- What are some of the things that created a hunger for community?
- Have there been some ways that community has grown to be more real for you?
- In what way are you still looking for community?
Thanks, Simon, for sharing with us this morning. Ah, look at the time. I’ve got to go. Can we get together soon? Drop me a few dates. I look forward to continuing our conversation.
I think what Simon has shared is every person’s story. God created us in and for community. Our ancestors mutinied against that community in the belief that there was something better. I’ve chosen the word, mutiny, quite purposefully, since its origin connotes a dramatic turning away from community. Adam and Eve’s community with God and each other was shattered as they turned their backs on God’s good gift of with-ness. We’ve been longing for it ever since.
Last Sunday, Jim took us to Acts chapter two to a text that describes when the Spirit of God was made fully available to everyone who believed that Jesus was the Messiah of God. Seven weeks after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, people in Jerusalem heard a sound like a great, stormy wind. Thousands of people rushed together to find out what was going on.
At the place they gathered, they encountered a group of Galileans each one speaking in one of the languages of the greater Jewish world. Then, one of the men explained the whole story of Jesus including the news that he was the Messiah. Several thousand people believed in their hearts that what Peter said was true and said so. They then walked over to the pools that people used for proving they were physically pure to go into the Temple. They went through the waters at Peter’s instruction, to show that they were far more than outwardly clean. They were purified on the inside by the saving presence of the Holy Spirit. And so began a new chapter in God’s loving work of drawing people to himself. This was the gift of with-ness, the community of the redeemed, the new fellowship of the Spirit.
Turn with me to the end of Acts chapter two. I want to read about the life this community shared as Luke describes it starting in verse forty-two. Please follow along in your bibles or the ones you’ll find under seats near you or by looking at the screen; Acts 2:42-47. This is God’s holy word. [READ ACTS 2:42-47.] Anytime we read God’s word, God intends that his Spirit will give us understanding. We pray that is true for each of us here this morning.
What is this life they had in common? Look at the text again with me. What we have here is a listing of all the things they did together, the particular habits they followed: they taught, learned and connected at a heart level; they ate together and prayed in the temple and in homes; a few of them did miracles that gave evidence that God was up to something big; those who had more than enough shared with those who had less.
For my entire ministry, I’ve called attention to these amazing marks of community. But, I’ve missed something very important. In truth, every observant Jew of the time did these same things. Rabbis taught and people learned. People went to the Temple and prayed. They prayed in their homes. They cared for the poor. They ate together. These very same people were practicing these very same ways of life as their norm already before Peter spoke to them. So, what made these normal things so amazingly, noticeably different?
Let’s back up for just a minute. Who are these thousands? We can assume there were some who were citizens of Jerusalem, though that is not specifically stated. Who are these people? Look back at verses five through eleven of chapter two. [MAP WITH EACH GROUP UP ON THE MAP AS I READ]. They were Jews from all the Jewish communities in the world: they were Parthians, Medes, Elamites; they were from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Rome (Jews and Gentile converts), Crete and Arabia. One would be hard pressed to have a more diverse group than this by geography and cultural context.
What united them was their Jewish belief in the one, true God, either by birth or by choice. They were in Jerusalem for one of the major feast days of the year. This one was called Pentecost because it came on the fiftieth day after the feast of Passover. Pentecost was the celebration of God’s giving Moses the Law at Sinai. So, pilgrims came from all Jewish communities to celebrate this festival every year. Their unity was in their religious institutional system centered on the temple and the ritual.
It was like the celebration of Christmas in our day. People in most every nation live with anticipation of this annual celebration. The focus is on shopping, presents, family and friends. People gather for concerts and step into church buildings. Christmas music is everywhere. Movies and television specials tout the wonder of Christmas. People from all walks of life greet each other with, “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” and they do so out of tradition, ritual, habit. People, followers of Jesus and not, celebrate Christmas.
So, what brought these Jews together? Tradition, temple, feast. They came to go through the motions. To do what they knew to do. Sincere or not, was that enough? On one episode of the History Channel’s “Pawn Stars”, the owners of the shop are presented with a near-perfect violin, discovered in an old chest in an old barn on a recently purchased run down farm. The owner’s hopes were high because inscribed on the violin was the word “Stradivarius”. If it was indeed one of these rare violins, it could be worth a million dollars or more. The owner of the pawn shop consulted an expert who determined the violin was an early Twentieth Century imitation worth perhaps $500. As this news was shared with the hopeful owner, the proprietor of the pawn shop offered this sage word: “Just because something has the label doesn’t mean it’s real.”
A $500 imitation violin is still a violin. It’s not a Stradivarius. Faithful, obedient, God-and-others-focused Jewish life was real to them. They honored the Scriptures, cared for each other, worshiped, prayed and spent time with each other. But it wasn’t the real deal because their hearts were not renewed. With the Spirit’s arrival the real came. And so, their lives were transformed, they were infused by the Spirit. And, everything was changed.
This past week I was in Florida for a meeting related to new movements toward greater community and purpose in the Presbyterian Church. Twenty-one hundred elders and pastors from all over the country were there. I’ve a fair number of friends who were there. I saw Bill for a brief conversation early in my stay and, since he is someone with whom I’ve experienced the gift of with-ness, I texted him Friday morning to see if we could have lunch that day. He responded and said, “Do you mind if I bring Bob along?” “That would be great!” I replied. So, I enjoyed true community with my friends, the Reverends Bill Azbell and Bob Jordan, both vital parts of our ministry here for many years.
During our time of rich fellowship, I told them about this fresh insight into this event when a new community was flexing its wings, the wings of Spirit with-ness. Bob shared that it wasn’t like people hadn’t done these things with all their heart before, but they now did it in a full way, the fullness of the presence of God. And Bill jumped in with something he had read about this real community really being another incarnation of Jesus. As we talked we affirmed this marvelous reality that the Church began to live out the fullness of God through the indwelling Spirit of God and that bears the marks of devotion, awe, gladness and sincerity.
It was the Spirit who lived in them through belief. They were new because they believed Jesus was the Messiah and gave their hearts to him. The life they shared was new because it was now made real trough the presence of God inside them. The true evidence was not new actions for those were old actions. The true evidence was how they undertook these actions. They did so with devotion, awe, gladness and sincerity, “and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
What does this mean to us? We need to live by the Spirit and it will show in devotion, awe, gladness and sincerity.
This life isn’t available to you unless you have repented and believed in the name of Jesus for forgiveness of your sin. Tell God you are ready to follow Jesus. The Spirit will take up his place in you. And you will have the capacity to live the gifted with-ness life God always intended.
We should ask the Spirit’s help to know where and how we can walk in community with him and with each other. Open yourself without reservation to the Spirit. Be alert, aware and attentive to all that he prompts in you. This likely will mean you need to drop something from your life and add something to your life. The Spirit will make this clear to you, if you pay attention.
Third, do the life from the heart, under the control of the Spirit. Just like the Jerusalem based community in Acts 2,
- Submit to good teaching in worship, small groups and one2one settings.
- Constantly connect with God
- Do the right thing
- Invest in others
- You could start by stopping by the Welcome Center and take a moment to personalize a card that will be sent as a touch of love to people we pray for each week. Love Letters is a brand new connecting opportunity in our family.
- Participate in one of the Capps coffees. Laura and I hosted a group of zpcers in our home two weeks ago so Jim and Alice Capps could get to know us and us them. Many of us didn’t know one another at all. And the sense of with-ness grew with each passing moment. Make every effort to say “Yes” when you get an invitation. Sign up to host one of these gatherings.
- If your employment situation is shaky or non-existent, you should attend the Faith and Hope dinner and worship this Saturday evening.
Last week I learned a bit of airline lingo.
SEQUENCE
FAILED
CONTINUITY
This is code for a flight that does not reach its destination. The Spirit of God comes to each person who believes in Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of sin. We are a new community. And you can reach your destination of Spirit-gifted with-ness. Make a move toward someone. Invest in a new experience. You might find you are spending time in a café, sharing, listening, exploring and investing in real community. Your life will be filled with greater meaning. ZPC will grow stronger. The world will see us and want to come along with us because we walk in step with the Spirit. And who can object to that? There’s a café table ready for you.