BEING CHURCH: GETTING THERE Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35 Theme of the Month Life Together Church and Community
Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Sharp
Lead Pastor, English Congregation Vancouver Chinese Baptist Church, Vancouver, British Columbia
Sunday Sermon for 4 July 2010
Scripture Passage Acts 2:42-47
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” 42
Acts 4:32-35
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. 32
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One of my favorite pieces of humor is the blooper. These unique expressions of our humanness appear from time to time in newspapers, magazines, and even church bulletins and church signs. Often they are typos that give a whole new meaning to a sentence or a phrase. Here are some: • Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa will be speaking tonight at Calvary Memorial Church. Come tonight and hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa. • “Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping round the house. Don’t forget your husbands.” • The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks on the Water”. The sermon tonight “Searching for Jesus” • Don’t let worry kill you off—let the Church help. • Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM. Prayer and medication to follow. • The ladies of the Church have cast-off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon. • This evening at 7PM, there will be a hymn sing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin. • Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done. • Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Someone spotted this sign outside a church: Seven Springs Christian Church—Sunday—Rev. R. Glen Miles—Have You Ever Been To Hell?—Visit Us—Worship 9:00 & 11:00 AM. I doubt that the person who put up that sign meant that visiting their church was like visiting hell. At least I hope not. Church isn’t a bad place to be for most of us. In fact, some people actually like church. Art Greer, a writer and preacher, claims he knows why. “It’s because,” says Art, “it’s the one place bad things can’t happen to them for one hour in the week. The toilet doesn’t get stopped up, the sink doesn’t run over, the phone won’t ring, and the school principal can’t call to say, ‘I’ve got your son or daughter here in the office.’ No downers can happen in church. The only price you pay for that hour of bliss is the possibility of being bored by the preacher.” 1 Well, I try not to bore. Actually, church is not a bad place to be. We see our friends. The music’s uplifting. Every once in a while we learn something new. And occasionally we get inspired to be better people. However it is probably true that VCBC, while it can be an exciting place, may not always be quite as exciting as the first body of Christian believers.
1
Bruce Larson, Living Out the Book of Acts (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1984), p. 117
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In the Book of Acts, the early Christian community is described as turning the world upside down? Are we doing that? Are we making that sort of impact on our community? Today I want us to look briefly at the picture that emerges from the two passages of scripture we read a little while ago. First, the picture the writer of Acts gives us of the first Christian community is of a church that was very much alive. These early Christians met together, ate together, studied together, sang together, rejoiced together and altogether had a great time. They were an active church, a celebrating church, a church that believed greatly in worship, study, fellowship, service and outreach. No wonder they experienced such phenomenal growth. I was amused by a letter that appeared in an issue of The Smithsonian Magazine. The magazine had asked their readers to send them an anecdote about their first visit to the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C.. Verna Young wrote that she first visited the Smithsonian for one day in August 1976 with her nephew. They entered a small gallery where they saw a seated man who appeared to have dozed off while reading a newspaper. Verna had just read an article about the sculptor Duane Hanson, who placed his lifelike creations of ordinary people, wearing real clothes and working wristwatches, in real-life settings. “People think the sculptures are alive and try to talk to them,” she told her nephew. They stood admiring the “dozing man,” commenting on the details they thought were especially realistic. Ignoring her warning not to touch the display, Verna’s nephew very carefully reached forward to move back the sculpture’s coat sleeve to check the time. At that point the “sculpture” raised its head, mumbled something and offered them its newspaper. The nephew gasped, “He’s alive!” before running to hide, leaving Verna to explain to a puzzled gentleman who had fallen asleep in the Smithsonian why two strangers were trying to read his watch.2 There are people who view the church like Verna and her nephew viewed the dozing man. And some churches are dozing. But there are other churches that are alive. Ministering and serving and caring and trying to be the church. It is important that churches be active and alive. It can make the difference between life and death, relevance and irrelevance. There was an article by Tim Unsworth in the National Catholic Reporter (1/26/96, p. 18) a few years back that should be read by everyone who loves the church. He was writing about his own Roman Catholic church but his words are appropriate for every denomination. He notes that in Chicago, only about 25% of Catholics attend church on an average Sunday. The New York archdiocese has only a 20% attendance rate. He contrasts those figures with Home Depot—the successful home remodeling store. Home Depot customers average 30 visits each year to their store. Why should customers of a Home Depot be more loyal than customers of Christ’s church? Unsworth believes the answer is what is known in business as customer service – connecting. 2
“Letters to the Editor,” Smithsonian, May 1996, p. 26
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“I have found,” writes Unsworth, “that the most effective [churches] thrive by giving service.” “I’m not certain,” he writes, “but it may be time to put the basketball hoops back up or to start a [church] bowling team. It may be time to introduce exercise classes and baby-sitting services for young mothers. It may be time to serve coffee after all [services] and to make the church steps a hangout for neighborhood kids. It may be time to start a [church] singing group and to open the church for local concerts. Perhaps [churches] could have GED classes, picnics, bus rides and political discussions. “It’s already being done in some [churches],” he notes. An experienced pastor once told Unsworth he loved to look out the ...window and see the school gym lit up. “We have about 20 teams,” the older man said, “all coached by people in our church. Worship attendance is up. Somehow those two statistics are connected.” Undoubtedly they are connected. The first Christian community was a church that was alive, active, in touch, connected with the needs of its members and those around it. What about us? In some ways we do a pretty good job at this – but we could be doing so much more to connect with one another and with the world around us. Yes, we are limited by space. But the real thing that keeps us from connecting more is us –particularly our personal priorities and our fears. We need to learn to live more boldly and with God-inspired priorities that focus on bringing others into the life that God desires for all of us in Christ. The second thing we note is that the early church was not only filled with life; it was also filled with love. These were people who cared about each other and cared for others who weren’t even a part of their fellowship. James Moore in his book titled Standing on the Promises or Sitting on the Premises? tells a wonderful story about Bennett Cerf a respected publisher and author for Random House, a major book publisher a few years ago. Because of his keen intellect and warm sense of humor, Cerf was often featured as a panelist on numerous television and radio programs. Some of you will remember seeing him on those early popular TV shows like What’s My Line? and I’ve Got a Secret. One evening Cerf appeared on an NBC radio program called Conversation. The panelists on this particular show were asked to spend the entire thirty-minute program that night discussing just one question: “What Are You Most Afraid Of ?” The panelists went at it, dialoguing and debating that topic for more than twenty minutes. They talked about a wide range of fears, but finally they decided on the one thing they were most afraid of: “annihilation by the nuclear bomb.” After the panelists had reached that consensus, the moderator, Clifton Fadiman, noticed that Bennett Cerf had been unusually quiet throughout the vigorous discussion. In fact, he hadn’t said a word. When prodded, Cerf replied in a humble voice that he had hesitated to answer the question truthfully because he was afraid that his concern would seem so trivial beside the vast issues that others had introduced. But he went on to say that since the point of the program was
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to share what you really thought, he might as well admit that what he feared most was “not being loved.”3 That is the great fear that haunts all people, isn’t it? We want to be loved. We want to be recognized. We want others to think well of us. We have a need to belong. What a great opportunity we have in the church of Jesus Christ to create a community of love where people can truly find their place in the world. “They will know we are Christians,” says a song we will sing a little later “by our love.” Not our doctrinal purity, not our well-programmed church activities; not our great preaching or teaching or singing; all of which are important, but the most important indication of our discipleship is love, Christlike love. Some of you are familiar with the name Dr. Tony Campolo. Tony is a very prolific, engaging, offthe-wall Jesus lover. For many years he was a sociology professor at Eastern University in Pennsylvania. In his book The Kingdom of God Is a Party, Tony Campolo relates an experience he had late one night in Hawaii. This is what he wrote: Up a side street I found a little place that was still open. I went in, took a seat on one of the stools at the counter, and waited to be served. This was one of those sleazy places that deserves the name, “greasy spoon.” I did not even touch the menu. I was afraid that if I opened the thing something gruesome would crawl out. But it was the only place I could find. The fat guy behind the counter came over and asked me, “What d’ya want?” I said I wanted a cup of coffee and a donut. He poured a cup of coffee, wiped his grimy hand on his smudged apron, and then he grabbed a donut off the shelf behind him. I’m a realist. I know that in the back room of that restaurant, donuts are probably dropped on the floor and kicked around. But when everything is out front where I could see it, I really would have appreciated it if he had used a pair of tongs and placed the donut on some wax paper. As I sat there munching on my donut and sipping my coffee at 3:30 in the morning, the door of the diner suddenly swung open and, to my discomfort, in marched eight or nine provocative and boisterous prostitutes. It was a small place, and they sat on either side of me. Their talk was loud and crude. I felt completely out of place and was just about to make my getaway when I overheard the woman beside me say, “Tomorrow’s my birthday. I’m going to be 39.” Her “friend” responded in a nasty tone, “So what do you want from me? A birthday party? What do you want? Ya want me to get you a cake and sing ‘Happy Birthday’?” “Come on,” said the woman sitting next to me. “Why do you have to be so mean? I was just telling you, that’s all. Why do you have to put me down? I was just telling you it was my birthday. I don’t want anything from you. I
3
Nashville: Dimensions for Living, 1995, pp. 15-16
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mean, why should you give me a birthday party? I’ve never had a birthday party in my whole life. Why should I have one now?” When I heard that, I made a decision. I sat and waited until the women had left. Then I called over the fat guy behind the counter, and I asked him, “Do they come in here every night?” “Yeah!” he answered. “The one right next to me, does she come here every night?” “Yeah!” he said. “That’s Agnes. Yeah, she comes in here every night. Why d’ya wanta know?” “Because I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday,” I told him. “What do you say you and I do something about that? What do you think about us throwing a birthday party for her—right here—tomorrow night?” A cute smile slowly crossed his chubby cheeks, and he answered with measured delight, “That’s great! I like it! That’s a great idea!” Calling to his wife, who did the cooking in the back room, he shouted, “Hey! Come out here! This guy’s got a great idea. Tomorrow’s Agnes’s birthday. This guy wants us to go in with him and throw a birthday party for her—right here—tomorrow night!” His wife came out of the back room all bright and smiley. She said, “That’s wonderful! You know Agnes is one of those people who is really nice and kind, and nobody does anything nice and kind for her.” “Look,” I told them, “if it’s okay with you, I’ll get back here tomorrow morning about 2:30 and decorate the place. I’ll even get a birthday cake!” “No way,” said Harry (that was his name). “The birthday cake’s my thing. I’ll make the cake.” At 2:30 the next morning, I was back at the diner. I had picked up some crepe-paper decorations at the store and had made a sign out of big pieces of cardboard that read, “Happy Birthday, Agnes!” I decorated the diner from one end to the other. I had that diner looking good. The woman who did the cooking must have gotten the word out on the street, because by 3:15 every prostitute in Honolulu was in the place. It was wall-to-wall prostitutes and me! At 3:30 on the dot, the door of the diner swung open, and in came Agnes and her friend. I had everybody ready (after all, I was kind of the M.C. of the affair) and when they came in we all screamed, “Happy birthday!” Never have I seen a person so flabbergasted, so stunned, so shaken. Her mouth fell open. Her legs seemed to buckle a bit. Her friend grabbed her arm to steady her. As she was led to sit on one of the stools along the counter, we all sang “Happy Birthday”’ to her. As we came to the end of our singing with “happy birthday, dear Agnes, happy birthday to you,” her eyes moistened. Then, when the birthday cake with all the candles on it was carried out, she lost it and just openly cried. Harry gruffly mumbled, “Blow out the candles, Agnes! Come on! Blow out the candles! If you don’t blow out the candles, I’m gonna hafta blow out the candles.” And, after an endless few seconds, he did. Then he handed her a knife and told her, “Cut the cake, Agnes. Yo, Agnes, we all want some cake.”
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Agnes looked down at the cake. Then without taking her eyes off it, she slowly and softly said, “Look, Harry, is it all right with you if I…I mean is it okay if I kind of what I want to ask you is is it O.K. if I keep the cake a little while? I mean, is it all right if we don’t eat it right away?” Harry shrugged and answered, “Sure! It’s O.K. If you want to keep the cake, keep the cake. Take it home, if you want to.” “Can I?” she asked. Then, looking at me, she said, “I live just down the street a couple of doors. I want to take the cake home, okay? I’ll be right back. Honest!” She got off the stool, picked up the cake, and carrying it like it was the Holy Grail, walked slowly toward the door. As we all just stood there motionless, she left. When the door closed, there was a stunned silence in the place. Not knowing what else to do, I broke the silence by saying, “What do you say we pray?” Looking back on it now, it seems more than strange for a sociologist to be leading a prayer meeting with a bunch of prostitutes in a diner in Honolulu at 3:30 in the morning. But then it just felt like the right thing to do. I prayed for Agnes. I prayed for her salvation. I prayed that her life would be changed and that God would be good to her. When I finished, Harry leaned over the counter and with a trace of hostility in his voice, he said, “Hey! You never told me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?” In one of those moments when just the right words came, I answered, “I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for [prostitutes] at 3:30 in the morning.” Harry waited a moment and then almost sneered as he answered, “No you don’t. There’s no church like that. If there was, I’d join it. I’d join a church like that!” Wouldn’t we all? Campolo asks, Wouldn’t we all like to join a church that throws birthday parties for [prostitutes] at 3:30 in the morning? And then he says: Well, that’s the kind of church that Jesus came to create! 4 For that first community of believers, love wasn’t just something they talked about, it was lived out and expressed in concrete, even sacrificial ways. There were family. They were a church that threw birthday parties for prostitutes, welcomed the less-than-perfect.They cared for one another. Property was sold to have money to do ministry and help those who needed help. They shared their food and their time. They lived out their faith and love in ways that the people around them, even those not connected to the church, saw and what they saw drew them to Christ and into the fellowship of the church. What about us? What are some of the concrete expressions of our love in this church? In our lives? In your life? Is our church the kind of church Jesus came to create?
4
Tony Campolo, The Kingdom of God Is a Party (Word, 1990)
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The first community of believers was alive. They were filled with a radical, welcoming, inclusive love. And one thing more: They had a vivid faith in the resurrected Christ. Here is where they got their real power. We read in our lesson for the day: “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all” (4:33). Here is what motivated these early believers to form a community in the first place and here is where they found the grace to love one another with such a powerful love: They had a vivid faith in the resurrected Christ. Jesus wasn’t just past history. He wasn’t someone confined to a book or to a place or to a certain time of the week. He was real in their lives. The power and reality and hope and good news of the resurrected Christ flowed through their veins. Now we might think that here is where they had an advantage over us. After all, they were in the presence of men and women who had experienced the resurrected Christ first-hand. We are now two thousand years plus removed from that experience. How can we possibly have that same kind of intensity about our fellowship? I suppose there are many answers to that question. Some followers of Christ experience the risen Christ through prayer and meditation. Some experience his presence in struggling to understand his Word. Others experience his presence most vividly in the gathering together to worship, especially around the communion table. But there is one more place where we might experience the risen Christ. It is in living the life Christ has called us and enabled us to live. Many people have discovered that if they seek to live out the Christian faith—if they seek to deliberately and intensely live out the life of love to which Jesus calls each of us—that experience is self-validating and transforming. That is, in living out that ethic and that spirit of love, we meet the resurrected Christ and from him we draw the power to be his disciples. In other words we don’t wait until we experience the resurrected Christ to become his disciples. We don’t have to wait until we experience some overwhelming experience to become his disciples. We become disciples by an act of deciding and then the experience follows. We become disciples and God gives us the resources to follow-through. In his book, Through the Valley of the Kwai, Ernest Gordon tells about being imprisoned during the Second World War with a group of men who were ordered to build a bridge over the River Kwai through Burma and Thailand. The camp had become a den of thieves. Betrayal was everywhere. Each man was out for himself. Envy and suspicion were the order of the day. The one good thing that they had going for them was a buddy system called “The Mucker System” in which buddies “mucked” for each other, that is, took care of each other. One man fell deathly ill and the Japanese put him in what was called the hothouse to quarantine him. It was a bamboo hut, and if you died there, they’d simply burn it down and build a new one. Once you ended up in the hothouse, there wasn’t much hope for you. So, as this man went into the hothouse and as the week dragged on, the men in the camp began to anticipate his death. But at the end of the week, to their surprise, this man walked out of the hothouse. Sadly, though, his previously healthy friend, his mucker, was admitted to the hothouse and soon died. BEINGCHURCH:GETTINGTHERE 8
The story behind the story is that this friend, under penalty of death, stole out of the mess each day and went to the hothouse and fed his buddy with some of his own meager food. At night he again would slip out of his barracks and take his blanket to his buddy to help him stay warn. But in so exposing himself, and depleting his own diet he himself took ill and died. His friend lived to tell the tale. The result was that under the impact of this selfless act of love, the whole camp was transformed, came to faith, and when the prisoners were freed, the rescuers found a lively Christian community meeting regularly for worship and caring for one another in remarkably selfless ways. All because one person felt God’s presence and shared it with others. This is Christianity at its best. It is faith that grows out of our experience of seeking to be God’s people wherever you are and in whatever circumstances you find yourself in. No church is not a bad place to be--especially when a church is patterned after that first community of believers, when a church seeks to be faithful to the church Jesus came to create -when it is alive, serving human needs---when it is filled with love--and when there is a living faith in the power of the resurrected Christ. Are we that kind of church? What do you say? What would Jesus say?
Reflection Questions 1. What are your thoughts, reactions, questions about today’s two passages of Scripture? 2. What do you think about church? Why do you attend? What do you like/dislike about church? 3. What do you think people would say or do they say about Vancouver Chinese Baptist Church, particularly the English congregation? 4. In what ways are the members of VCBC connecting with one another, the community? 5. Would you agree that the great fear that haunts all people is “not being loved”? What about you? Do you feel loved? Do you feel that VCBC is a community of love where people can truly find their place in the world? Support your answer. 6. What are your thoughts, reactions to the Tony Campolo story? 7. What are some of the concrete expressions of our love in this church? In your life? 8. Would you say that the power and hope and good news of the resurrected Christ flows through your veins? Why? Why not? 9. What thoughts, reactions, questions do you have about today’s sermon/topic?
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