Acts 2:42-47 - 42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
I tried so so so hard to build community as a student. Yet, it seemed to always fail. I remember trying to get people to wake up at 7a to pray with me every week, that didn’t last long. I tried to have dinner twice a month with friends, that lasted a semester and stopped as we got busy. This is really embarrassing, but I remember when I was a freshman, I didn’t get into a fraternity, so me and a few friends in the same boat, created a fake fraternity, we called TBD, tau beta delta - for ‘to be determined’. It was very dumb and that was proven when we’d forgotten about it a month later…
The point is, all of these creations of community just didn’t quite work. I think that’s because there was a part of me who was selfishly trying to be noticed, a part of me who wanted to create exclusivity, and a part of me who was ‘too busy’ to spend time with people.
It left me wondering, how could true christian community ever take shape? It seemed like every attempt I made was futile. Perhaps, I would need to rely on something much deeper than my own desires and far more empowering than my own will.
As we read scripture each week, my hope is that you all catch a greater glimpse into the Kingdom of God. I hope that these passages help you understand what the Kingdom is like, what it could look like at University of Richmond and how you may be involved.
I have shared each week with the assumption that the Kingdom is already here. I acknowledge that assumption because it’s part of the Christian story....
We believe that God in his rich love, created this world and created man to reflect His glory in the world, however man chose to selfishly claim power, and control - over and over again - perpetuating sin and corruption in the world.
Those who still claimed to reflect God’s glory still held out hope. These were God’s people, the Israelites. They were the people that shared a connection with the first man and woman. They held on for years and years , hoping, and waiting to see God show up again and save them.
He did. His name was Jesus, our main character, and in his great love, redeemed the Israelites and He redeemed us.
That brings me back to the Kingdom of God. Jesus, throughout his life, kept mentioning the Kingdom of God. He said ‘the Kingdom of God is near’. As Jesus entered the world, so did His Kingdom. But he didn’t stop there. He claimed that His Kingdom would have no end. It wouldn’t only be for the Israelites, but for the entire world. That’s where we find ourselves. God’s Kingdom has come and it’s spreading to the entire world.
As it spreads, I’ve explained that we all have a role to play. We’re called to lose our lives as we follow Jesus. I’ve shared that we follow Jesus in and through the church - that’s where we live out this mission as God’s people sharing the good news to the world. Finally, last week, I shared that this process of following Jesus and inviting more to do the same is called discipleship. This is the answer to how we will follow Jesus and establish God’s Kingdom. Through discipleship.
But dang, this can be so hard. Because this is a process and it requires time and commitment to follow Jesus, we become exhausted, tired. I finished last week, by asking some questions. I asked - are you being discipled and are you discipling others? Are you leading others back to Jesus and are you being led back to Jesus in your weakness and in your sin?
Tonight, I am going to talk about what sustains discipleship. I’ve stated before that we can’t do this alone. We need others. We need that person discipling us and we need to be that person to someone else. But, we also need people to eat with us, pray with us, share with us, remind us we’re loved, and challenge us. Ultimately, we need community. In our passage tonight we learn what true community looks like.
Read the passage again
Okay, that’s beautiful right? You may have some questions, but like, that’s awesome. Yet, there’s something almost frustrating about it. After reading this passage a few times, I began to deeply desire this too. I wanted to be a part of a community that looked like this. But I was frustrated as I read this last week over and over again, because I was realizing how impossible it would be. I found myself, somewhat defeated, because I was like, welp true Christian community is impossible. This could only happen then, never could it happen now.
Here’s why - as sinful people, prone to wander from Jesus, and broken in all our tendencies, we can’t do what’s necessary for this true community to come to life. We are selfish, we don’t want to share. We are self-righteous, we don’t want to listen to someone else’s teaching and beliefs. We are envious, we want other people's stuff and belongings. We believe we are more special then everyone else and we want to define our own community. The community we just read is the antithesis to our human hearts. This community can’t be achieved, through human love. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, “human love wants to gain, to capture by every means; it uses force. It desires to be irresistible, to rule. This not only defines us, but it also defines the world we live in. And even defines the campus you all dwell in every day.
You may ask yourself - why doesn’t campus look like this community? There are fraternities and sororities seeking to be the most popular and be more special than everyone else. There are people who hate each other because they don’t share the same background, racially & ethnically. All students are wasteful, they don’t share, and instead throw out literal tons of food from dhall every year. There is a corruption that exists on your campus, driven by human love, that isn’t always obvious, that keeps this true community from coming to life. We can’t read this passage without stopping and examining ourselves and where we live and wondering if we can even do this - it will frustrate us, disappoint us, and maybe even sadden us.
But friends there is great hope. Though true community cannot exist on our own terms and by our own love - we can experience true community through Christ. He makes it possible! If we take a step back from this passage we’ll understand. We find ourselves in the book of Acts, which is an extension of the Gospel of Luke. At the end of Luke's Gospel, Jesus has resurrected and He has appeared to the disciples, like we read last week. Then he leaves his earthly ministry in the ascension. Luke says, ‘he blessed them, and parted for them and was carried up into heaven’. We pick up the story in Acts, and Jesus commands them to stay where they are and wait for the promise of the Father - the Holy Spirit.
This was the plan all along. To redeem the world the Father sent forth his son to die and carry the weight and sin of the world. Then, in His resurrection, He gave life to those who truly believed in Him. He promised eternal life. But then as I just shared, he also promised the Holy Spirit! The spirit that would give life to our mortal bodies AND our mortal, human community. Here friends is what makes a true Christian community possible. When we believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and receive the spirit that gives life. The disciples in Acts 2, right before our passage, were given the Holy Spirit and it changed everything. He helps make a true Christian community possible.
If you’re a Christian in this room, you should find what Bonhoeffer calls, ‘indescribable joy’. A joy rooted in the reality that Christ has died and been raised and He’s sent his Spirit - AND, there’s people who ALSO believe in this reality. If you’re not a Christian in this room, my hope and prayer is that you’d recognize the indescribable joy present here among us. I hope that you’d see that true community is NOT possible, without Christ dying, being raised, and sending His Spirit. That’s what made this picture possible for the disciples as we read, and it’s what will make true community possible at UofR as well…
All I have shared with you thus far is how this passage about community is impossible on our own human power. BUT, that Christ and the help of the Holy Spirit, make such a community possible. There is no Christian community without Christ.
However, I wanted to finish by moving to the practical. If we are united in Christ’s death and resurrection and we rely on the Holy Spirit. What would Christian community look like? If we were empowered in the same ways the first disciples were and the first christians were, then what would change? AND ultimately, if we believed that the Kingdom of God had no end, and that ultimately, there would come a day, when all of the world looked like this and all of campus looked like this, then what would we do differently, starting tomorrow?
That brings us to this passage again. We no longer need to remain frustrated and confused. We understand why this passage doesn’t make sense - corruption and sin have defiled our community. But Christ has given us a way forward. The Holy Spirit allows us to have hope and power. AND our scriptures can teach us what we can do about it. Now, there’s so much I can say about this passage and examples I can give. But I want to just give us three ways forward in Christian community…
First, eat with one another. Two times in this passage, ‘breaking bread’ is mentioned. Both are in conjunction with a group. A core practice of a true christian community, is simply eating together. Doing the most natural and needed thing for us to sustain life. However, so often we rush to class with a clif bar in hand or we sit down at Tyler’s for 2 minutes and wolf down a breakfast wrap. We eat alone or we let others eat alone. We neglect to do the most human thing we can possibly do together. While we’re united in Christ as Christians, we’re also united to any and every human being when we eat. Therefore, we should do it together, christian or non-christian. Most importantly, as believers, this humbles us. We need food to live and it is graciously provided to us by God, therefore we thank him. That’s why we share a meal together here each Monday night. We believe eating together is a glimpse into the Kingdom of God.
Second, pray with one another. There’s a prayer Tori and I pray every single morning and it goes like this - “Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will grant their requests”. Every time we pray this prayer, we delight, because we’re reminded of the power of praying together. Jesus says, he is among us, when we pray together. This is the picture of a true christian community. People who are praying together everyday - knowing that Christ and God’s Spirit is there with them.
Third, share with one another. I think one of the most criticized parts of this passage is verse 45. Often folks point out that this was some kind of socialist dynamic and that all Christians were communists. However, if you actually have a right understanding of political philosophy, you’d know that communism is a forced construct. The first Christians shared with one another, voluntarily. They gave away what they knew they didn’t need. They still owned their own property as we can tell from later on in the passage, opening their own homes. However, everything else, the excess, they gave away. To those in need, inside and outside their community.
What would this look like on campus? I vaguely referenced the amount of food waste we create at dhall. Maybe we help sustain initiatives that actually share this excess food with the hungry. Academically, we can offer our time and notes and expertise and help out a struggling classmate. Relationally, we can share our friends! If there is someone lost and lonely among you, invite them, share your relationships with them. They too need to feel known and loved.
Friends, this is what true Christian community can look like. We can glean some excellent examples from this passage and move forward knowing we have been united by Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to eat with one another, pray with one another, and share with one another - and much much more.
This passage ends with the author saying this community, these christians, had favor with all people and more people were saved and added, day by day. Friends, the good news of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit, is for the whole world, it’s for your entire campus! The Kingdom of God will have no end!
Therefore, have confidence as you’re rooted in this reality, to build this community. When you do, it will not be in vain...
