WASPS
Acts 2: 42-47
What stands out to you from that passage? Discuss with someone close by….
You know one of the things I thought.. these guys were communists. These were communist ideals. Now the word communism has negative connotations for us, because we think of Karl Marx, and Lenin, and Chairman Mao and Pol Pot, but 20th century communism was corrupted by the hunger for power, and the disdain for religion, and the greed. But the communist ideal is what? - One where everybody is equal. No private wealth or investments or possessions. Everything held in common. No high flyers over the battlers. Neither rich nor poor. Just one warm fellowship of mutual caring and sharing. This was the ideal that was being enacted in Acts 2.
And it worked, for a time. They enjoyed the goodwill of all the people. Each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved. Their neighbours and friends and communities were looking and saying ‘gee, have a look how much these Christians love each other. We want a part of that.’
As I say, it only worked for a time, and it wasn’t long before it sort of started to unravel. Think about Ananias and Saphira, in Acts 5. That couple wanted to be a part of the caring and sharing Christian fellowship. So they sold their piece of land. Then, sneakily held back some of the proceeds. But Peter saw through their deceit and publicly exposed them. And if you know the story, they were so shocked by their public shame, in turn they each had a heart attack and died.
It was working in Acts 2 – but it did slowly start to unravel.
Pauls’ letters to the churches throughout the New Testament give us plenty of examples of how things didn’t quite work, because greed and selfishness and sectarianism and discrimination kept getting in the way.
But the ideal was great. Has a lot of merit, and I really believe this was what Jesus preached. Love, care, share. Flatten out wealth, flatten out power, no divisions, one human race that love and care about each other.
Can it work in 2011? Now rest easy, I won’t be asking you to sell all your property and possessions and put the proceeds in the offering bag next Sunday. To operate that far outside the ways of society is too big an ask.
And too easy for me, a relatively poor person, to suggest. And rest easy, I’m not asking you all to go and join the communist party, either.
But don’t we want to be a church to which the Lord adds to our group those who are being saved daily? Don’t we want to be a group of people that is so attractive to others that they will jump through hoops to be a part of? Don’t we want to be like Jesus, and represent Him in this community with our love and our grace? Don’t we want to be a wow church? Or do we want to be an average, ineffective, irrelevant little club that enjoys coming for a sing song every Sunday?
A deep sense of awe came over them all, says verse 43; many miraculous signs and wonders. I want some of that. A deep sense of awe. I want this to be an awesome experience. To be a part of Sanctuary – wow, it’s just incredible. I want it to be known that God’s power is pulsing through this place. I want to see lives transformed by that power, and we as a group just become a magnet attracting people into the Kingdom.
It worked in Acts 2. And if we can keep the greed and the selfishness and all our human failings as far out of the way as possible, it can work in 2011.
But we can’t call ourselves communists. I thought maybe ‘commonists’. But as I looked closely at the characteristics of this group of people I will call the Acts 2 church, I found an acronym. They were wasps. Wasps. No – not White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. A different sort of wasp. The things that made them unique was wasp.
W – they worshipped. They were worshippers. How often? Once a month, once a fortnight? When they had nothing better to do? No! Every day. Every single day. Look – they worshipped together at the Temple each day.
Please let me reiterate how important worship is. It’s important for you. That connection with God in a corporate setting is one of the prime ways we recharge our spiritual batteries. Or it should be. It bewilders me a bit when people don’t come to worship when they’re sad, or angry, or confused, cause in my experience it’s the BEST place to come when I’m sad or angry or confused. Because somehow I end up feeling much better than when I came.
There have been times when I haven’t wanted to come...never regretted.
If it’s a choice between wallowing in my situation by myself at home, or bringing it to God in the company of my friends and fellow believers – well, for me it’s a no-brainer.
We were created to worship. It’s in us. I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter his courts with praise.
Our worship is more important to Jesus than our service- think Martha & Mary – “Mary has chosen what is better,” says Jesus because she sat at His feet while Martha scurried around busily.
Worship’s got to be a daily thing. Spending time praising God each day is important. But I also find that if I miss a week of not worshipping with others, I feel that little bit more distant from God. Is that just me? Maybe. The New Testament is full of encouragement to meet together regularly for worship. Hebrews 10:25 is the most famous, Paul says, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage each other.”
It’s good for you individually, and it’s vital for us as a group.
If we do want to grow as a church, if we do want new people to join our fellowship and mission, it’s important for us to be here as often as we can. When people first come into a church, one of the first questions they will subconsciously ask themselves is – is there anyone here I can be friends with? Even if they love the worship and the music and love the preaching and love the facility and whatever else they love, if there’s no one they can be friends with, they won’t stay. Imagine yourself going to a group where there was no one at all within 15 years of your age? A young person in a group of oldies, or an old person in a group of youngies. You might think, oh that service was great, but not for me long term.
ILLUS – me Uniting Church
When I invite someone to come along here of a Sunday night, there are people in mind I want to introduce them to. But my biggest fear is that when they come, the very people I want them to meet won’t be here. Whether they be 70 or 25 or 6 years old, no friends, no stay.
ILLUS – talking to a lady this week, kids
Please come as often as you can, for you, for us, and for the Lord, who just loves it when you worship Him.
W = worship.
A – they ate together. See that? They met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and enthusiasm. The best sense of community and fellowship happens over food. That’s why here we eat together every Sunday night. But I was interested to note that this early church seemed to share meals together in each other’s homes.
And I was also interested to note that they shared the Lord’s Supper, again in their homes.
We are part of an unusual denomination in the fact that we are one of the rare Christian churches who don’t have communion, or the Lord’s Supper, the bread and wine, we don’t have that as a feature of our public worship. And if we think back to this very beginning of the church, neither do they. It wasn’t something they did as part of worship at the Temple – it was something they did as they shared meals together in their homes.
I think there’s a lot of value in us, Sanctuary, sharing meals together in each other’s homes. Or out together somewhere if that’s your preference. We’ve had some of you at our place for dinner, and have eaten with others of you at various times. And it’s such a great way to get to know each other and to share what’s happening in our lives. Agree?
So get together with others from the congregation to eat. And when you do, why not share the Lord’s Supper as part of that experience? I think it would be really meaningful.
W – worship
A – ate together
S – they shared.
They shared, in an incredible way. Way out there. Sold everything they owned and pooled it together. Gee that’s commitment, isn’t it? That’s trust, too. And may I say a little bit dangerous?
But let’s not toss the baby out with the bathwater. Isn’t there some great value in sharing?
We’ve become a very individualistic society, and very possession-focused. Everything has to be our own. We like to own things, for our own sake, for our own use, for our own pleasure.
John the Baptist was a preacher with a share message. Recorded in Luke 3, he said, “The man who has two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” In 1 Timothy, Paul says, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”
We know Jesus didn’t have a materialistic bone in his body.
It’s one of the hardest lessons to teach little kids, isn’t it – to share? And for many of us adults too. So what can we do? What can we share? How could we imitate the Acts 2 church?
Even if you haven’t got much – you can share your time and your talents. But I’m sure we would all have clothes we don’t wear or need, or an old computer or extra tickets to a sporting event, or frequent flyer points or two extra toasters that were wedding presents. We could have a share day where we bring things that someone else might need or be able to use. A swap meet. Or you might have tools in your garage that others could use, or a holiday house or time share, or a bike that hardly gets ridden. Or you might be a craft person, and you could make things for others.
I have gym equip, treadmill....
Trailer...
Let’s as a church explore ways that we can share the abundance of good things God has given us, with each other. Then, out of that, it will become easier to share with anyone in need. I came across this media clip a while ago. It really spoke to me because I’m so far away from being able to do what this guy did...
MEDIA CLIP
Worshipped
Ate together
Shared
And P = prayed together. ‘They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer.’
If we want the power of that early church replicated amongst us, we’ve got to pray together. Prayer is the key. We need to pray together here, not just during worship but before, after, during the week. Praying together as much as we can.
And we need to pray together in our homes. Even within the home. Pray with the people you live with. That’s a great starting point.
Worshipped, ate together, shared, prayed. WASP.
And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.
A powerful church.
A united group, a devoted group, a Spirit-filled group trying desperately to live according to the words and ways of their Lord.
May we at Sanctuary, the Mornington Salvation Army, may we be willing to help each other, to be generous and share with each other, may we use our talents to bless each other, may we sacrifice for each other, cooperate with each other, may we be people who worship together weekly, pray together, give our offerings together, eat together, and celebrate together.
And may the Lord add to our group each day those who are being saved. Through the witness and magnetism of true Christian community. Through a group of WASPs.
APPLICATION/ACTION:
- Put Sundays in your diary
- Invite someone to eat with you
- Let’s start a sharing library through connections – see Gayle
Last Modified on 19/05/2011 09:49