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A Magnet for Ministry

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Robin Kash
April 17, 2005

Day by Day
Acts 2:42-47

Early Christians were very popular among the Jewish people, Luke believed, and they attracted large numbers of converts. The early church was a kind of "magnet for ministry." What did people find so engaging? Luke mentions four mark: the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers." (Acts 2:42) These four marks: learning scripture, faithfulness in fellowship, the breaking of bread—including both the Lord's Supper and common meals—and prayer, endure and sustain disciples in discipleship. When plainly seen in the life of a church, whether in Jerusalem then, or in Cedar Rapids now, these four marks show the kinship of disciples in all times and all places.

Learning the teachings of the apostles. What did the apostles do to get people to believe? It is no accident that learning the apostles' teachings comes first. From the first, disciples learned to believe and begin a new life together through the apostles' preaching and teachings about Jesus and how he fulfills God's purpose for our lives. The Bible of the earliest Christians was substantially what we now call the Old Testament. Peter's sermon which lead to the story we read today, and which then led to some 3,000 converts that day, was shaped partly by the Old Testament prophet Joel's vision of young and old, men and women, having visions and dreams. Peter and the Apostles had studied scripture. They found the key to understanding Jesus in those scriptures. The Apostles also taught about Jesus. As their teachings became more and more firmly established, they, too, took on the standing of Scripture among disciples. Paul's letters, the earliest Christian writings, were first of all letters directing believers in Christian faith and practice. The gospels distinguished Christians from the Judaism from which it sprung.

How many of us are involved in study of scripture?. It takes work, a willingness to learn, prayer, and helping one another. Some do not study scripture. Do you think they're afraid of the work, or unwilling to learn, or disinclined to prayer, or not able to accept help or offer it? Or do you imagine some may simply be dominated by a yen for "simple" religion, such as needs no study or thought?

Imagine an astronomer and a pastor are companions on a long flight. The astronomer, discovering he was sitting next to a religious professional, says: "You know, I've never taken much time to study religion. I believe the essence of it is: 'Do unto others as you would have them to unto you.'" Momentary silence. The pastor responds: "I guess I've never really paid attention to astronomy either. You could probably sum up my views with 'Twinkle, twinkle little star . . . ."

Becoming a Christian is being born anew. Even as we start noticing the distinctive person a baby is becoming when the child begins to speak, so a new birth like that of disciples' requires a distinctive language. Learning the Bible is like learning a new language. It is the language of faith. Through the language of faith, we are able to hear and comprehend God speaking to us of God's purpose for our lives; we are able to learn from the examples of those who have gone before. For some the language of faith may never get much beyond the "Twinkle, twinkle, little star," understanding of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This is not an understanding that should guide a congregation in Christian faith. Somewhat like a piano, the [spiritual] keyboard has eighty-eight keys. The greatest goal of some people is to go through life playing "chopsticks." [Bruce Mase, Window Panes, p. 39 (adapted)] True simplicity is a result of study and discipline. I think it was Albert Einstein who said: We need to make things simple, but not simpler than they are. Faith keep seeking understanding. Disciples devote themselves to studying the teachings of the apostles.

Disciples well-grounded in the apostles' teachings know the importance of devoting themselves to fellowship. Even a casual reader may be a bit shocked by the early Christians' "communalism." Do you suppose some American Presbyterians may be among those saying: "Thank goodness, they got that out of their system"? Early Christians sold their property out of a sense of common cause with one another. Those who had gave; those who didn't received help. It was a sign of their new life in Christ, their "partnership" in Christ.

Among the partners, Peter seems to do most of the talking. Perhaps we may think of Peter as a kind of one of two "managing partners." He had risen to public leadership in the early Church. Many were persuaded it was for no other reason than that Jesus himself had appointed him to it. Peter's powerful gifts were recognized and encouraged. Perhaps the real power in the church at Jerusalem was James, the brother of Jesus. Peter, who became the more liberal of the two, was sometimes intimidated by James. James upheld ancestral practices; Peter was discovering how the power of Christ was breaking down old barriers. James was Mr. Inside; Peter, Mr. Outside.

We need to grow in our gifts of partnership, even as Peter had to grow in his. Later in Luke's story, Peter will learn in a vision of his own that the Gentiles whom he as a Jew had been reared to despise were themselves also part of God's loving purpose. No longer would he be able to use language about them that made them out to be part of what was unclean or inferior. He would have to learn a new language of faith, even as we should long ago have learned it is not right to call people kikes, polacks, spics, wops, niggers; even as we learned now to use a new language of faith when speaking of women and men and their relation to one another. Partners learn to take on new relationships in new ways. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come as in Christ we are being made partners in faith for service.

Grounded in the apostles teaching and fully partners in the gospel, disciples break bread together. They broke the bread of the Lord's Supper and of common meals in homes, a little like church family dinners, perhaps. Bread was important then. "The most important issue in the world today is 'bread.'" I heard Robert McAfee Brown say that almost forty years ago at First Presbyterian Church in El Paso. He intended a double meaning. Among Christians "bread" makes us think of the Lord's Supper. Early disciples were united in this simple meal. We are having to relearn our fundamental unity: consider the abiding divisions among Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Christians. We still can't have communion together. "Bread's" other meaning has to do with how much of it some of us have and how hard it is for most people all over the world to get enough to eat. Can disciples who share the bread broken at the Lord's Table not also share bread with the broken peoples of the world?

Christians since the beginning and in all times and places have believed that the "bread" of the Lord's Supper is one of the main ways that God speaks to disciples. It is one of the means of grace; one of the ways we receive the free gift of God's love in Jesus Christ. The Lord's Supper reminds us how God is present with us, in common things, in bread and wine, made for human health and strength. It is part of God's way of making us new people; people who take heart in knowing that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord; people who have been picked out, not for privilege, but for partnership in the service of Christ.

God's love has enduring power to warm our hearts and send us to others with bread of compassion. We eat and drink worthily when we come to the Lord's Supper prepared and willing so to be sent. It's no good our sitting here like envelopes, stamped with God's love, with no addresses on them. When we are addressed by God at the Lord's Table, we are sent into the world of hungry people as bearers of bread. Bread is still the most important issue in the world today. God has prepared us to receive it, and gives it to us. With the bread of God's love in our mouths, God give us grace to carry in our hands bread of life into a world of hungry people. Disciples break bread together.

Solidly founded on the apostles' teachings, established in partnership, breaking bread together, disciples devote themselves to prayer. Prayer, according to one Christian teacher, is "intimate conversation" with God. (John Calvin) Indeed, it is the most intimate conversation possible. Without that "intimate conversation" the apostles' teaching, the fellowship, breaking bread becomes dry and meaningless. We are able to say to God what we may say to none other. And God says to us what is said to no other. Prayer is both telling and listening. It is telling God our deepest and most heartfelt concerns. It is listening to one another, our partners in faith, so that we can lift up others' concerns in prayer. If we pray for one another, we will not long be able to speak ill of each other. Prayer is listening for the voice of God, familiar to us from the teachings of the apostles, so that we may know God's will for our lives and respond faithfully. Disciples devote themselves to prayer.

Many wonder if God answers prayers. Sometimes they want to know whether God will make things go the way we want. I've sat with more than one family praying that a loved one would not die, or that the diagnosis would not be cancer, or that success come our way. Some have given up praying because they didn't get what they wanted; they were afraid God hadn't answered their prayers.

When we talk with people we love, getting them to do what we want is not the point. We do not ask people we love to do things that violate their integrity. The point of praying is to enjoy our relationship with God, strengthening the bonds of love, keeping close to one another. Prayer keeps us in touch with God. Prayer also binds us to one another. When we lift up another's cares or joys in prayer, we are drawn closer. God answers prayer. God is faithful. God stays close.

Magnetism is a basic force in the universe, so I'm told by people who study such things. Disciples believe, that like everything else, it's one of God's creatures, intended to serve the Lord. Being a "magnet for ministry" involves some basic things, things that endure, day by day: learning the apostles' teachings, continuing in partnership with one another, breaking bread together, praying to God and praying for one another. Luke saw that such things attracted a lot of people's attention. I believe they still do. There's a good way to find out. We could do it.

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First Presbyterian Church of Cedar Rapids
310 Fifth Street SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
Phone: 319-364-6148
E-mail: church@fpccr.org