Lectionary May 3: Acts 2:42-47

The marks of the first church, which one supposes should still be the marks of the church today.

There were four practices that marked this first Christian community: (1) attending to the apostles' teaching; (2) fellowship; (3) breaking bread together; and (4) prayers.  The new converts gathered at the Temple for worship, as well as individual homes for fellowship and sharing of meals.  Prayer was not just freeform prayer in small groups, but actually a service of worship, as in the synagogue.

Breaking of bread was not just having  Wednesday night supper at the church; it was, in fact, a communal meal that incorporated the celebration of the Lord's Supper.

Fellowship - the Greek word is koinonia - is more than just getting together for fun or for Bible study.  It was a very specific type of interaction, which involved caring for one another's needs. Thus, the community held everything in common, and believers sold their property and their personal goods to raise money to care for those who were economically disadvantaged.

This is one of the most controversial passages for American Christians - especially those Christians who have difficulty distinguishing between capitalism and Christianity.  But this was not a Marxist communism.  Selling of possessions was not mandatory, but was done as a faith response to God's grace in Jesus Christ, and because of love for one another.  Donations were made as needed, not on any schedule.

Christian worship in this community had two balancing elements; one without the other would throw the community's life out of  sync.  Believers gathered in the Temple (i.e. at church; in the sanctuary or worship center) AND in house churches (small groups).  We know in our own time and culture that churchgoers who only attend sanctuary worship have a much more anemic experience of corporate faith than those who also are involved in a Sunday School class, small group Bible study or shepherding group.  What you put into your community determines what you get out of it.

What does this say to us in the Time of COVID19?  If gathering together in our communal worship space and in our homes is a necessary part of being a worshipping community, how do we do that in a time of social distancing?  Thankfully, modern technology allows for a less robust experience of community than being together in person, but at least allows us to be a virtual community.  For instance, our congregation is worshipping via Facebook Live and holding Bible studies and small groups via Zoom.

Breaking bread is a little more difficult when sheltering in place!  But I have seen churches having virtual Eucharist, where each family sets the table at home with the bread and the cup and celebrate the supper as the pastor on the computer speaks the words of institution.

Now the sensitive issue:  how do we share our possessions with each other?  Let me point out that the first church was concerned with feeding its own members, and not the poor in the community at large.  But giving alms at the Temple was the method for taking care of the city's poor, and certainly, we can assume that the first Christians gave alms.

Today's church is much richer, with greater resources, than the first church.  It is logical that God would expect us to take care of more than just our own members.

At the conclusion of the passage, Luke writes that the gathering of these new believers was so attractive that it drew to itself those from outside the ecclesia (church), and the church grew day by day with new converts, wanting some of what these Jesus-followers had ("the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved").  How attractive is your church?  Do non-believers experience your community and are they inexorably drawn to you?