Acts 2:42-47
Karoline Lewis teaches preaching at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. She writes about this morning’s Gospel:
Liturgically sensitive preachers will immediately take note that the 4th Sunday of Easter in the Revised Common Lectionary is always “Good Shepherd Sunday” and perhaps will then let out an audible sigh of despair. It’s not that we don’t like Jesus as the Good Shepherd. After all, probably half of Christian art would disappear were it not for this popular image of Jesus. The hint of exasperation arises when we find ourselves asking, what more is there to say about Jesus, the Good Shepherd? How many times can I talk about shepherding practices in ancient Palestine? Do my congregants really want to hear again that they are all a bunch of dimwitted sheep? Please, anything but Jesus as the Shepherd.
So I’m going to preach on Acts today.
Since Easter Day we have been continuously reading through the second chapter of Acts. These readings pick up the story right after the Pentecost event. We’ll hear the Pentecost story in a few weeks on the Day of Pentecost. The sound as of a rushing wind and the tongues of flame that light upon the disciples. It may seem that we are doing things out of order to read these post-Pentecost stories before we celebrate Pentecost. But William Willamon (in the Interpretation Commentary on Acts) writes about the integral relationship between Pentecost and Easter.
It is popular to refer to Pentecost as the birthday of the church, and there is much truth in that. But it is more accurate to speak of Easter as the birthday even of Pentecost. The story of Pentecost must be read within the context of Luke 24: the risen Lord was made “known to them in the breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:35); he “opened their minds to understand the scriptures” (v. 32) and he promised to give them the same power which moved him, telling them to “stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high” (24:49). When Luke disjoined the resurrection from the ascension and Pentecost in his narrative, he could not have done so with the intention that we should read these as three separate, disparate events. At Pentecost the power of God, made manifest at the resurrection and ascension of Christ, is bestowed upon the People of God (emphasis added).
Pentecost is about Easter power being given to the people of God. Acts is all about resurrection power afoot among the people. These stories are about the effects of Easter. To use corporate lingo, these post-Pentecost stories in Acts are all about the outcomes of God’s Easter resurrection business plan.
The first outcome is proclamation. Peter (Peter!!) is inspired and empowered to preach the good news, to proclaim God’s saving and life giving power. We heard Peter’s sermon over the last two Sundays before today.
The second Easter outcome is baptism, or the establishment and growth of the community. Remember at the end of last Sunday’s reading, the author of Luke/Acts says that about 3000 were baptized.
A third outcome is the inspiration of that early community of disciples to live in a certain way, to adopt particular practices. In today’s reading from Acts, we hear about what the early Christian community did.
Perhaps the beginning of this reading sounded familiar? “Those who had been baptized devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The first vow of our own baptismal covenant as Christians today is taken directly from this passage in Acts. We vow that, with God’s help, we will “devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
Four normative activities of the Christian community: Teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayers.
Teaching, to continue in the apostle’s teaching. This doesn’t mean to subscribe to some particular doctrine. It means to continue as teachers and learners. To be people who, together, seek to understand, to teach and learn about, the Gospel. What does the Good News mean for us?
Praying. Christians are people who pray, individually and corporately.
Fellowship. The Greek word is koinonia. Sharing conversation and care. Sharing time and space and activities with one another. One commentator notes that, as mundane as this activity may be, it is not something “we just happen to do, but [is an] essential act of Christian life. Fellowship isn’t just something we happen to do occasionally because we enjoy it, it is an essential act of Christian life" (Shauf, see below). And, as members of a Christian community, each of us has a role, not just to enjoy fellowship, but to create it.
And think about that group that was thrown together in Christian fellowship on Pentecost. People of all races and nations. Undoubtedly a very diverse group of all sorts and conditions of people. United in Christian fellowship.
Breaking bread together. Is the reference in Acts to an early form of the Eucharist or to a shared meal? Probably both. Willimon again: “Probably Peter’s church of Luke’s day would not know our distinction between the church merely breaking bread and the church breaking bread as a sacramental religious activity.” Whether it is the Lord’s table or an undercroft table or a dinner table a picnic table, it is a sacred activity of the Christian community.
Then Acts describes another aspect of the early Christian community: “They had all things in common: they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”
Ah, we were all onboard until now… What are we to do with this passage? Are we to take its example literally? I can’t help but wonder what do folks who seek to take the Bible word-for-word literally do with this passage? Does this passage require Christian communities to live in this totally communal way?
There are reasons to say no. But those reasons depend upon interpreting this passage of Scripture within a broader context. Always a good idea in the interpretation of Scripture. There is evidence within the New Testament that this practice was not universal amongst early Christians.
While it is not hard to find examples of the community’s other described activities throughout the New Testament [praying, breaking bread, gathering in fellowship, teaching and discerning], the New Testament as a whole does not indicate that early Christians broadly lived in this radical communal fashion. We do not even find it in Acts outside of the original Jerusalem community.
We must beware, however, of dismissing this passage too easily. Most of us have no desire to live in this fashion and are thus overly motivated to find reasons not to do so (Scott Shauf).
We should always give careful thought, though, to any interpretation of Scripture that makes us feel relieved.
Although there may not be broad evidence throughout the New Testament that Christians lived communally, there is evidence they practiced radical generosity to meet the needs of others.
So these readings from Acts illustrate that there are profound outcomes of Easter within the Christian community. Things happen when the resurrection power of God is unleashed within the people of God.
What are the outcomes of Easter resurrection power in your life?
This passage from Acts is not a detailed users manual of what those outcomes should be. It doesn’t tell us when or how to pray, whether to use contemporary language of Elizabethan. It doesn’t tell us what to serve at coffee hour or even at the Lord’s table. But it does set out as normative (essential?) these aspects of Christian life:
- Teaching and learning. Studying together the meaning of the Gospel.
- Creating fellowship. From which no one is excluded.
- Breaking bread together. At the Lord’s table and other sacred tables.
- Offering prayer and praise. Both individually and corporately.
- Being people of radical material generosity to meet the needs of others.
Wondrous things happen when God’s resurrection power acts within and through the people of God.
