“42 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.” Acts 2:42-47
The passage above is about the history of the early church as written in the book of Acts. At the beginning of the New Testament there four different biographies about Jesus, his life, death and resurrection. One one them is called Luke, and he also writes the history of the early church in Acts.
The people in the passage are the twelve friends of Jesus, and the people, men and women, who followed the group to Jerusalem. After the Resurrection, the rising from the dead of Jesus, this group began to tell the story of Jesus. Peter, one of Jesus’ best friends, is the first spokesperson for the movement.
They share teaching, communion and prayer. They were amazed at the miracles that they could perform. They held all things in common, sold property together to help others in need. Life is perfect in the church. They seem to agree on everything, and they were respected by others.
“ They broke bread and ate together in love” . Christian communion is one of the issues that separates the church today. We are trying to re-create the last meal that Jesus had with his disciples. But, we have many different ideas about what happens in that meal, and we cannot do it together. We should be able to eat together. Eating is one of things that, I believe, unites us all.
We disagree in the Church on many things, including climate change, same-sex relationships, economics, Palestinian/Israeli relations, songs, the Bible, immigration and politics. I think it might be impossible to come together as the Church. What do outsiders see when we cannot agree on things of our faith and our lives together ?
What enabled the earliest Church to have such a positive beginning ? They came together to eat some bread and drink some wine to remember the work of Jesus Christ. We do not know much about Jesus’ disciples ( or his best friends) but they had their own history and personalities , but they were able to have this meal together . They were unified in their diversity or diverse in their unity.
In the church, we all believe we are following the way of Jesus as we see it. We all want to faithful to the early church, and the be in touch with Jesus Christ. But we do not see the world the same way. If I would say that we should have all things in common, like property, money, food and political power, you would not agree with me. The text above says that they had “everything in common “ . And they used it to help all those in need . What do you think ?
What does it mean to be the church of Jesus Christ today ? Discuss.
Fred Redekop
Ponder Anew 