June 14, 1998

The very first Christian church - initially numbering just about 120 members - didn't have very much by modern standards. They didn't have a building, didn't have a staff, didn't have an organ, or a choir. Didn't have printed bulletins, or even a commonly accepted order for worship. Didn't have beautiful stained glass windows, or candles, or even a single copy of the King James Version - or any other version - of the Bible. They didn't have a church bus, or a message board outside that declared Jesus Is Coming Soon, You'd Better Get Ready! Even more shocking to those of us who know something about church growth, that church did not do direct mailings to the residents of Jerusalem. Why, the first Christian church did not even broadcast their services on late-night cable TV.

They didn't have much by today's standards.

But St. Luke, the physician/gospelwriter who took it upon himself to serve as that church's resident historian, says this about that first Christian church: "... many signs and wonders were being done..."

They may not have had much by way of modern ecclesiastical standards, but one thing the first Christian church had plenty of... was power!

Now, today's Scripture lesson from from Acts 2 really intrigues me. You see, at the center of the passage is the observation that many wonders and signs were done. But on either side of this declaration of power is the description of the setting from which this power seems to have flowed.

On one side of it we read, "They devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread, and the prayers."

And on the other side of it, "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."

And when you put these two sides together, there forms the context within which spiritual power can be found.

All of us need power in our lives. Especially when things go wrong. When a loved one becomes sick. When a problem is encountered. When life doesn't go the way we want it to go.

And often we turn to God in those times and ask for power. Power to change us. Power to change others. Power to change our circumstances. Sometimes, we are so desperate for the power of God that we become like the little boy who really wanted a beautiful red bicycle. Three times, he started a letter to God, asking for the bike. Each time he thought the better of it and made the letter a little stronger. Still not satisfied, he finally went into the living room and took the little statue of the Virgin Mary from the mantel. He wrapped it up in tissue paper, and gently laid it in a shoebox, and tied the shoebox up, and tucked it under his bed. Then he sat down and wrote: "Dear God, if you ever want to see your mother again..."

All of us want power. Sometimes for wrong reasons, and sometimes for right reasons. And not only for ourselves, but for others, too. We look at the poor of our world, and those who are oppressed and abused, and we wish we had power to DO something about it. We see children whose lives are caught up in the terrible web of violence in America today, and we wish that there was something powerful we could do to change things, and make the world a better place for them.

We all want power. We need power in our lives. And the world needs us to be powerful as Christians.

But let me be frank with you. The Scripture shows us that power does not come by an occasional prayer offered in a moment of personal desperation. Power to use for others does not come by way of an otherwise self-centered life. The power of the Holy Spirit in our lives is only nurtured in a disciplined context that is conducive to spiritual growth. Luke describes it as a setting where people are devoted to the apostle's teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread, and the prayers. And where those who believe are together and have all things in common and sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any have need.

Let me try to put this in more contemporary terms. The power of the Holy Spirit is found only when we take our place in a community of faith. And the kind of community in which the Spirit produces power is one of Christ-believing people who actively allow the Lord to engage them intellectually, spiritually, and relationally.

Today, I want to invite you to take a brief look with me at the first engagement that leads to power. Intellectual growth. Next week, we'll take up the other two.

Luke writes, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching..."

You probably know that the apostles didn't have an awful lot of teaching material to offer. I mean, our Adult Bible Class at least has a curriculum book, and Bibles to use. The apostles had none of these. Why, old Bob Puckett's got at least forty years worth of sermons tucked away in his files, but what did the apostles have when they stood up to preach? Not a thing, really.

Well, except for memories of Jesus.

What Jesus said. What Jesus did. The apostles taught people the stories of Jesus. And their attitudes about life, their deepest beliefs, their most carefully thought out ideas were confronted in these stories by an intellectual reality that demanded they re-think life as they thought they knew it!

Oh, if you want to find power in life, let your intellect be engaged by the stories of Jesus!

For instance, Jesus taught that the truest action of faith - our basic response to God's gift of salvation - is to love God with all our hearts, minds, soul, and strength. And to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is the greatest commandment of all. This is what it means to live as a Christian. And, you know, most of us find it relatively easy to agree that we must wholeheartedly love God. But where we find ourselves truly challenged is when it comes to loving our neighbor.

I'm sure it doesn't happen to you, but I'll admit this morning that I have a much easier time loving people whose lives I admire and respect than those whose lives I don't admire or respect. One of the joyful memories I have of my dad is of coming into the living room where he was supposed to be watching the evening news, only to find him sprawled out on the couch, hands under his belt, mouth wide open, snoring away like a broken chainsaw. I'd ask him in a whisper if he was sleeping, and dad would snort and stretch and blurt out defensively that he was just resting his eyes.That memory of my dad asleep on the couch every night in front of the TV still evokes deep feelings of warmth in my heart. But I'll be honest with you. I don't react quite the same way when I drive through the streets of the city at night and see an old derelict passed out on a park bench.

Surely Jesus didn't intend to suggest that I have to aim at raising up my love for people like that to the same level of love that I have for my dad! Did he?

I'm sure its not this way with you, but I find it an easy thing to give loving support to my children as they fly out of the nest, taking responsibility for their lives. How proud Sandy and I are of Peter's endeavors as a music teacher, and of Bethany's summertime success at the Watt Road Fireworks Supermarket where she can hook her dad up with a 60% discount! Our children are both hard workers, and that brings us joy. But while I applaud the self-reliance of my own kids, I must admit that my love is much more reluctant to extend itself toward people - young or old - whose idea of a good job is to be supported by public welfare.

Surely Jesus didn't intend to suggest that I have to aim at raising up my love for people like that to the same level of love that I have for my hard-working kids! Did he?

Its only human - its only natural - that my love is heavily weighted toward the people I find loveable, responsible, accountable. Surely this is what Jesus meant when he said, "Love your neighbor as yourself!" Right?

He couldn't have meant all my neighbors! Why that would include some pretty miserable folks!

So someone in the crowd asked Jesus the burning question. Just exactly who is my neighbor?

And Jesus told a story that, if he told it in our day, might go something like this:

And when Jesus finished telling the story, he looked at us and asked, "Which of the three was a neighbor to the injured man?"

Well, it was the woman, of course. And that fact ought to make us think. She was truly a Samaritan, at least according to the standards of some Christians today. She was not about to be submissive to her husband. She was not about to give up her career to stay at home raising her children. She even enjoyed being a lawyer, of all things - for the ACLU, of all organizations! I guess you might say that this woman was a sort of poster child for a great many of the things the religious establishment of our day is adamantly opposed to.

And yet, she was the presence of Christ to the injured person.

Kind of makes you think, doesn't it?

Have you ever noticed that non-Christians sometimes seem to live more Christian lives than Christians do?

Have you ever noticed that, even those who seem farthest away from God, sometimes seem to have deep in their hearts warm embers of the divine Spirit. And all it takes is some breath of the grace of God to make them begin to glow and burn bright red?

Have you ever noticed that in almost all of Jesus' stories the people who you think should be the heroes turn out to be the enemies of God, and those you think are the enemies of God turn out to be the heroes?

Oh, you can't engage the stories of Jesus without being intellectually stretched to places you've never really been before.

And as those first Christians devoted themselves to the stories of Jesus, they made some amazing discoveries. Salvation is not only for Jews, but for Gentiles too. No one is beyond the reach of God's love. Men and women are equally called to serve the Lord. Those who are wealthy have sacred responsibilities toward those who are poor. The measure of our lives is not what we acquire, but what we give away. One day, we will be held accountable for our stewardship of the lives and gifts God has given us. Death is not the end of life, but the beginning of life's greatest adventure!

And as they engaged these stories of Jesus, the people of the first Christian Church, found their intellect expanding to consider whole new horizons of truth and ideas they'd never before considered.

And as they put these new understandings to work, many signs and wonders were done! And everyone was in awe!

I wonder, are you willing to let your intellect be challenged?

Today, I want to invite you to do something very simple. Go this week and take up a story of Jesus. Read it. Study it. Reflect on it. Wrestle with it. Pray about it. And ask God for strength to put the ideas to work in your life.

I believe you'll find awesome power for living!

It was probably five years ago that I took my first group of kids to work for a week up in the mountains of Appalachia. Like our guests from Covenant Community Church, we went to a little hollow called Roses Creek. We helped build a house up there, and had a chance to meet the people. They were a lot different from us. Had different values. Different experiences. I think it would be truthful to say that we sort of pitied them, and were glad that we could come and help them out.

But as we worked in Roses Creek and reflected upon the stories of Jesus - most especially his words that the last shall be first, and his teaching that he has a special kind of love for those on the fringes of society, something began to change.

By the time the week was over, one of the girls in our group came up to me and said, "Marty, I don't think these people are poor at all. I think they're very rich. I think WE'RE the ones who are poor!"

And as we circled around the deck before departing for home, tears flowed freely from these beautiful kids whose lives were literally changed by the richness given to them by the poor. And interestingly enough, just a few weeks ago, one of the younger girls in that group preached a Youth Sunday sermon back at Greendale People's Church. And in it, she stated that the most powerful and life-transforming experience she has ever had, took place there in the poverty of the mountains.

Way back then...and even today.

Go take up the stories of Jesus!