“The Heart of the Matter- Ecclesia”

Acts 2:42-47                                       04/26/2020

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.

When this all started, I couldn’t quite see how we could be the church and not meet in our beautiful sanctuary- the sacred place we call our church home.  But as we have journeyed together, and have celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and live in the promise of new life in Christ; I am feeling we are much more like the early church than we have ever been.  This stay at home order has given us the opportunity to be the church in a new way much like the early disciples had to figure out how to be followers of Christ, of the Way.    The word for church is ecclesia and Brian McLaren writes, ecclesia is “a word borrowed from the Roman empire, just as they ‘borrowed’ the cross and reversed its meaning.  For the Romans, ecclesia was the citizen-only gathering that brought the elite from a region together to discuss the affairs of the empire.   The ecclesia of Christ brought common people together around the affairs of the kingdom of God.  Whenever and wherever the Roman ecclesia gathered, they honored and worshiped the emperor and the pantheon of gods that supported his regime.  Whenever and wherever the early disciples gathered, they honored and worshiped the living God, revealed in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Seeking Aliveness, p.263).

Right now we are honoring and worshiping the living God, revealed in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit and we can do that fully from our homes, united by the Spirit.  We are being the church, the ecclesia, here and now.  What a blessing to see how this strange time is really a time to experience similar things to the early church.

Luke, the author of Acts, is summarizing the work of the early Christians as they are trying to figure out what to do in light of Jesus’ resurrection and the hope of his return.  Luke tells of Peter’s first sermon where he testifies Jesus is the “Lord and Messiah;” that Jesus is alive; and then asks the question, “What should we do?”  Repent is the short answer.  Then Luke summarizes what the people new to the faith spent their time doing, the things that mattered most to the early followers.  They devoted themselves to four things- the apostle’s teaching, fellowship, the breaking of the bread and prayer.

We are doing the same thing right now! Diving into the Word, through sermons and Bible Study, we are learning the apostle’s teachings.  We share time in fellowship by calling people on the phone, chatting during our gathering time, and after zoom worship in the Breakout rooms.  We have united in the spirit through the breaking of the bread connected through the internet and the Holy Spirit.  And we pray.  We pray for our leaders, our community, our family and those we love.  Part of that prayer is listening for the Spirit guidance and help in these trying times.  Sure, we would love to be sitting around each other’s tables.  Sure, we would like to have the hugs following worship, but that is not possible right now.  Yet we are being the church in the fullness of what that means even though our sanctuary is empty.  That is a reason to be grateful, seeing how we are doing the essential parts of the church even while we are isolated in our homes.

So let’s look at these four essential practices.

Apostle’s Teaching-  Before there was a New Testament, there were apostles.  Brian McLaren writes, “The apostles told others the stories of Jesus, events they saw themselves as eyewitnesses or events other credible eyewitnesses passed on to them.  They read the law and the prophets, and explained how their sacred texts prepared the way for Jesus and his good news.  The apostles and their assistants also wrote letters that were shared from one ecclesia to the next.  These letters were read aloud, since many of the early disciples were illiterate…Whether in person or by letter, through the teaching of the apostles the early ecclesia (early church) celebrated the words of Jesus, the stories about Jesus, the parables he told, the character he embodied, so they could walk the road he walked” (Seeking Aliveness, p. 265).  In so doing the apostles proclaimed Jesus resurrected with grateful hearts, seeking to have good will for all people while sharing the good news.

Fellowship- “All who believed were together” that is the heart of fellowship.  Sharing our common faith and joy for having Jesus in our lives is the point of fellowship.  But it goes so much deeper.  We share our joys and our concerns, like we just did with prayers of the people, and know we are tied together in our love for one another.  A love that is the foundation of the church and our generosity.  The early church shared all they had, “their possessions and goods,” and we simply share what God puts on our hearts to give.   Fellowship is about sharing ourselves with those in our community, so that we can more fully see God in our midst and in our community.

Breaking Bread- The best part of this is that these early Christians were breaking bread in their HOMES and now we are too!  Something that felt strange to us at first, is actually taking us back to our roots, back to the way the church started.  Worship, learning, fellowship, as well as the breaking of the bread all happened in homes.  So when we gather this week on Zoom, or next week for communion, let us do so with glad and generous hearts rejoicing in our chance to be like the early church.

Prayer-  Some have likened dealing with the Corona Virus to being at war.  The leader of the Normandy invasion who later became President, Dwight D. Eisenhower had this to say about prayer.  “Personal prayer, it seems to me, is one of the simplest necessities of life, as basic to the individual as sunshine, food and water and at times, of course, more so. By prayer I mean an effort to get in touch with the Infinite. We know that our prayers are imperfect. Of course they are. We are imperfect human beings. A thousand experiences have convinced me beyond room of doubt that prayer multiplies the strength of the individual and brings within the scope of his capabilities almost any conceivable objective.” (Dedicatory Prayer Breakfast of the International Christian Leadership, 2/5/53)  Let us all pray for the conceivable objective of moving through this pandemic and finding our way on the other side.

Our task today in prayer is to lean into God’s power and strength and to praise God for everything that is, that even includes this time at home and the situation we are in.  We can do that because we know God is moving, transforming and hearing all that is happening.

You know we are in the Easter Season.  The theme for this Eastertide is the Heart of the Matter.

The Heart of the Matter is Jesus is Alive, Jesus brings us Peace and we are the church!   We do the same four things the early apostles did and we do them most of the time. But with everything else stripped away, we see that these four practices are a way of bearing witness to the fact that Jesus is alive and we are Easter people.  May we be Easter people with generous hearts and awe for the truth of our risen Lord and may our lives reflect this reality with joy and hope! Amen.