Don't Go to Church, Be the Church: Sermon Acts 2:42-47

Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

There are hundreds of clubs and organizations that you could join in this country. There are the Elks Lodge, Masons, DAR, Lions Club, Civitan, Shriners; there are fan clubs for a particular sports team or a particular entertainer. There are clubs for hobbies such as quilting, model building, playing bridge, and dominos. If you have an interested I am willing to bet that there is a club that you can join and if there’s not you can start one. Some of these clubs have membership restrictions. You have to be invited in and initiated into membership. Some are there for anyone who wants to join up.

Is the Church a club? According to MW a club is an association of persons for some common object usually jointly supported and meeting periodically. It certainly sounds like we qualify. We have a common object or purpose. We are jointly supported and we meet periodically. Is the Church a social club with a spiritual purpose or base? Or are we something more than that? I believe the answer to that question in is our hearts. What do WE think the Church is? What do we say? “I’m going to church”, “What church do you attend?” It sounds like a club membership when we talk about it this way. How many times do we say “We are the Church”, “I am the Church.” This makes a big difference.

What does it mean to BE the Church? How does the Church differ from a social club? Let’s take a look at our reading from Acts to see a description of how the first believes in Christ became the Church and see what examples they leave us to live by today. The Book of Acts is a kind of history book for the beginnings of the early Church. It is how these few scattered believers became the Church, the Body of Christ. First, it says that they devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles which is the Gospel. They devoted themselves to the teachings of Jesus. What does it mean to be devoted? It means that first they learned the teachings of Christ. Now at this time they there was no New Testament and so they had to gather together as a community to listen to someone tell the stories of Jesus. At this time, so early in the life of the Church, they could hear from the disciples themselves what they had experienced first hand. So they learned, literally by heart, what Jesus had taught to them. Is this devotion? The second thing that these people did is that they not only learned from what Jesus was teaching but they lived it in their daily lives. They put the Word into practice.

They lived together as a cohesive community. They supported one another. Look at verses 44 and 45 “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” They had no personal property they sold all that they had and made sure that all had enough. When one member had need the others would sacrifice so that no one went without. This is almost unheard of in our day and time. The kind of selflessness is almost too much to believe in today’s society. Their devotion was not limited to memorizing stories and thinking theologically, but they put what they learned into practice in their lives. Remember Jesus, he did not teach what he did not practice. Jesus gave without expectation of reward or recognition. Jesus taught not to worry about possessions even to the point that we should not worry about what we will wear and Jesus lived in that way was well spending most of his ministry without shelter. That is the sign of the Church being the Church when we devote ourselves to the teachings of Christ so that we not only know them but we live them. Then we are the Church.

Do you remember our vision statement from 2006? We will be a Christian home for all those who seek a relationship with God. That is our vision of what we should be. What is a Church home? Everyone knows your name. This sounds a lot like the theme song to Cheers!, but it is also what we must do as the Church. It is easy when there are so few of us, but there are many people out there whose names we don’t know. A Church home is where everyone knows your story. This includes our hopes, dreams, and fears. We must know one another not as fellow church members but as family members. A church home is a place where you are accepted, forgiven, and loved. Members of a family accept, love, and forgive one another no matter what mistakes might be made and harm done. God’s grace is abundant and all people can receive God’s forgiveness. A Church home is where you have a place at the table and a share of what is being served at the table. A table is not only where food is served but it is where hospitality is offered, it is where friendships are made and kept, and it is where decisions for the community are made. If we are to be the Church then all people should be welcome to our table. Finally, a Church home is a place where you can receive God’s grace, love, and hope. We cannot horde and keep God’s love and grace to ourselves. We cannot prevent those who seek God’s love and grace from receiving it and in that receive gain hope for the future.

The early Church actually began in homes. They would meet in people’s homes and have church service. We see in Acts “they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.” There were no church buildings in that day and time except for the Temple and for local synagogues that for the most part the early Christians were not welcomed in. So the idea of Church being a home is not that far fetched. The early Methodist movement including its beginnings in America began in the homes of the people. Once they had gathered enough people then they would build a church building.

A house is just a physical space. There is a foundation, a frame, walls, windows, doors, fixtures, plumbing; all of these things make a house. A home requires something different. There has to be people gathered together for a unified purpose and reason. There has to be love, acceptance, forgiveness, and all those things we listed earlier. Without those things there can be no home. There are people who live in multi-million dollar houses, mansions, but the do not have a home. There are people who live in one room apartments and yet have a glorious home. The same is true for the Church. Without love, acceptance, forgiveness there is no church only a building.

The question before us this morning, the question that each of us must ask in our hearts is “are we a Christian home?” Can we look at the depictions of the early church in Acts and see ourselves in there. Being a small church means being a family. Most of you have known one another for a lifetime and some of you ARE family by blood or by marriage. We have a home here for each other, but if someone you’ve never seen before walked through those doors would this church be a Christian home for them? If not then we have work to do. We must work together to become a Christian home not only for ourselves but for everyone in our community who wants that kind of home. If we are, then why aren’t we telling the people in our community that they have a home with us?

There is a hymn in the new hymnal that makes the statement, “I am the Church, you are the Church, we are the Church together. The Church is not a building, they church is not a steeple, the Church is not a meeting place, the Church is a people.” We are the Church together. I am always impressed that after a tragedy, whether it is a storm, earthquake, or fire that destroys a church building, the people still stand and worship together. That is the perfect example of what I am talking about this morning. We do not go to church, we do not come from church, we ARE the church. It does not matter if we are in this physical building or not, we are still the church and because we are the church it also means that we are a home for all those who need refuge. We are a beacon of light in the midst of darkness. We are more than a social club. We are the Body of Christ in the universe.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.