Devoted to....Jesus?

Yesterday morning I preached on the passage in Acts that everyone is familiar with. It was Acts 2:42-47. This is what the text says:

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Now, the verse that jumps out at most of us when we read this passage is verse 45--"selling everything and giving as they have need." And how could it not, particularly in the times we live in now, presidential elections, "Joe the Plummer," and the list goes on and on. And quite frankly most of what I read on this passage (commentaries and articles) dealt primarily with this verse as a key to interpreting the passage. However, I think that we miss the point when we dwell so much on that particular verse and don't take the whole paragraph into consideration. I do believe that these elements will be present within a church body, but to view this simply as a list prescribing things a church MUST do seems to me to miss the point.

What I see in this passage overall, is the complete devotion to the teaching of the apostles and to the fellowship. The words in bold highlight this point. These people were so completely devoted to one another and caring about one another that the thought of another being in need was unacceptable. So the question to ask is not, "MUST we do these things to be called a church?" Rather the question we have to ask of this text is "HOW did they get to the point where they were this devoted to each other?"

I believe the answer to the question truly hinges on the first part of this paragraph--the devotion to the teaching of apostles and to fellowship. In other words they were committed to putting what they were taught from the apostles into practice for their lives, and they were devoted (committed) to each other.

Let's look at each aspect separately (as much as we can) and then put them together at the end.

Devoted to the Apostles Teaching

The apostles were a group of people that were trusted to pass on the teachings of Jesus. These people had spent time with Jesus and so they were trusted by the people to teach them exactly what Jesus had taught while he was on earth.

And when I read the Gospels I see that Jesus was very concerned with meeting the needs of others (followers and non-followers a like). But he also seemed to be concerned with the way people in the church took care of fellow brothers and sisters. This seems to be very evident in Matthew 25 in the parable of the sheep and the goats. In fact it almost seems as thought judgment for Christians is based on this idea of meeting the needs of fellow brothers and sisters. However, the most intriguing thing about this passage is that the goats divided on the left, and the sheep on the right both ask the same question: "When did we see you Lord?" It seems that even those who fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirst, clothes to the naked, comfort to the sick, and visited those imprisoned did not think they were doing anything extraordinary. Why?

The reason is the phrase "blessed by my father." Dr. Haddon Robinson made a great observation that the idea of being blessed runs throughout Matthew, starting with the Beattitudes (characteristics of a Kingdom Citizen) in chapter 5. And you look at the Beattitudes in chapter 5 and then read this description of the sheep in chapter 25 you see why those who did all those "good" things didn't think anything of their actions. Their character had become so much like Christ that they didn't analyze what they were doing. They didn't wonder if it would be a good financial investment to help someone, they didn't worry about the thought of being taken advantage of, rather they saw a person in need and helped because that is what they were called to do (Phil. 2:1-4).

Devoted to Fellowship

1 John 4:12 says this: "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." In other words John is writing to believers telling them that if you want people to see God, then love one another, let God's love be complete in you, and the world will know God exists because of your love for one another.

In John 17, Jesus prays that the body would be unified so that others will know that Jesus was really the Messiah that came to bring reconciliation between God and humanity.

Devoted to Apostles teaching and to the fellowship

So it is clear that what was being taught by the apostles to these new believers was this: If you want to be a witness to the world about the existence of God, and to the Savior Jesus Christ, you are going to have be an alternative to the way this world lives. You are going to need to be so devoted to each other, that you are willing to do anything to make sure your brothers and sisters are taken care of. Not so that you might get some sort of accolade about how great of a person you are, but so that others may see a different kind of love in this world. If you really want to give witness to this world about Jesus and his love, then take on his character. If you really want to give witness to this world about Jesus and his love, then you must be devoted to one another and take care of one another.

And because of this teaching and this devotion it says that the "they enjoyed favor with all the people." Numbers were also added to them daily, and a lot of people turn this into a list, saying "if you do these things then your church will grow." I think that misses the point, I think the devotion to each other and to the word is why God blessed them, and their witness was so strong.

So the question to ask of our churches today is this: What are you devoted to? Are you devoted to Jesus? Are you devoted to each other? And of course the answer from churches everywhere will be a resounding YES!

And I would say this to them: Look at the choices you are making. Will you watch more hours of football on Sunday afternoon and evening than you will spend praying, reading and communing with God? Will you spend more hours watching things you have recorded on your DVR, Tivo, etc, than you will in fellowship with other believers? Will you spend more hours reading blogs on the internet than you will asking those around you what they are struggling with and then committing to pray for them and do whatever it takes to meet those needs.

Are you willing to sell your possessions so that another member of your church might be able to pay an electric bill, or buy groceries, or put gas in their car? When a member of your church shares a prayer request do you say "I will pray for YOUR problem," or do all present respond with "how do WE take care of OUR problem?" In other words if someone is suffering in your church do you think of it as you suffering as well?

When I read this passage in Acts I see a devotion to one another, a devotion to the teachings of Scripture, and a genuine love exists because of that. In a society that tells us we are all alone, everyone is an "enemy" preventing you from reaching the American dream of wealth and fame, the church has to be a place where devotion to EVERYONE is evident. May we reclaim this spirit of community and be a witness to this world for Jesus Christ.

If we aren't willing to devote ourselves to one another, then all we do on Sunday mornings is gather to sing songs, listen to a sermon and make ourselves feel better about our PERSONAL salvation, but we are delusional to think that we have witnessed to the world about who God is, and his desires for his Creation.