Sermon
26th April 26
In Eastertide, we have no Old Testament lesson. Instead, we hear a reading each week from the Acts of the Apostles. That book, written by St Luke as the sequel to his gospel, tells us about the early years of the Church after the resurrection of Jesus. It begins with an account of his Ascension into heaven, and then tells of the Holy Spirit coming upon the apostles ten days later on the Feast of Pentecost.
Our first reading this morning describes the very first days and weeks of that early Church. We are told that, whenever they gathered together, those first Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers”. I preached on this passage in January, seeking to show how we still do these same four things every time we gather Sunday by Sunday for our mass here. I do not intend to repeat that this morning but have circulated the text of that sermon on the WhatsApp group, and on the sermon page of our website.
Those last few verses of Acts chapter 2 which we heard earlier go on to say more about the nature of that Church. We are told that “all who believed were together and had all things in common … and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved”. There is a closeness, an intimacy, a trust between them, and the rest of the Book of Acts shows how this is worked out.
Sure, there are bumps on the way: we read of how Ananias and Sapphira selfishly break that trust and lie to the others, and are punished for this. We read of disagreements, particularly as to whether or not the Church can admit non-Jews. But the overwhelming story is one of close fellowship and mutual trust. And, as the Church expands and new Churches are founded, they too enjoy that same intimacy and love between their members.
As for them, so for us. There are Churches where most people come into Church as the mass is beginning and leave as the final hymn finishes, and otherwise have no dealings with other members of that parish. Happily, that is not the case here. For the most part, folk know each other well and share together: not just over coffee after Sunday mass, but in other aspects of our common life. We saw this last Sunday at Bubble Church, and yesterday at Repair Café: members of our congregations working together with a common purpose.
That is why our annual meeting that follows this service is so important. For this congregation to function effectively and, please God, to grow, we need folk to take on various jobs and for them to be supported by the whole congregation. 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 reminds us that: “there are varieties of service” but that all are necessary for the body to function, a theme to which we will return next Sunday.
(January Sermen referred to from the one above)
That reading, from the end of the 2nd chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, talks about the day of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. It describes the remarkable effect of the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the vast numbers who are subsequently converted and baptised. It then describes what happened next (verse 42) “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers”.
Here are the four core elements of what Christians do when they meet together, from those very first days of the Church right down to today:
The apostles’ teaching is now set down in the pages of our bibles; the breaking of bread is the mass, eucharist, holy communion, or whatever else you want to call it; and the prayers include both the formal set prayers in the liturgy, and the more informal intercessions. So that leaves us with just one other of the four core elements of Church life: our fellowship.
Now I guess that for those early Christians this would include have meant time spent together, perhaps over a meal and, during times of persecution, often in secret. Running through the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles is this recurring theme of the Churches as communities of folk who know each other and spend time in each other’s company, enjoying all those four aspects of their communal life.
There is no idea of the individual Christian being in a relationship with God that excludes other people. Although through the centuries, there have been times when this has been unavoidable. One of the most powerful sermons I ever heard was at university over 50 years ago when an Anglican Priest who had been in solitary confinement in South Africa for his anti-apartheid activities, spoke about saying mass alone in his prison cell with just bread to offer.
We express our fellowship with each other in various ways. During the interregnum, there will be few social events. However, our congregations here are better than most at chatting with each other after services, staying in Chapel after the 8am mass and evensong, or over coffee and biscuits after the main Sung Mass.
When we offer one another a sign of peace during the mass, it is precisely that: an outward sign, a brief reminder, of the fellowship we share, before we gather around the Lord’s table to share the bread and wine given for us. It’s a tricky thing to get right: different folk have different preferences. On the one hand you have those prefer to keep themselves to themselves whilst on the other, you have those those who would hug and kiss everybody. Good safeguarding practice encourages us to be sensitive to how others wish to approach this and, particularly in winter when flu and other bugs are doing the rounds, to err on the side of restraint.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which begins today reminds us that our fellowship with other Christians extends beyond our own congregation. We aim to be one with all our brother and sister Christians of all denominations. David will have more to say about this when he leads our intercessions this morning.
We thank God for our fellow Christians, known to us and unknown, looking forward to that time when we will all share together in that great heavenly banquet, of which we have a glimpse in our worship here on earth as we “devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers”.
Amen
