Welcome to the Church!
We’re going to look at a place where, for the first time, the followers of Jesus were identified as the church. The first time that the word “church” is used. In Acts 5:11 that the word church is used. Everything that comes before in verse thirty-two identifies what this thing “church” is.
When you first hear the word church, what is the first thought that comes to your mind? People? A building? Because of the modern distortions in our lives, many times there are all kinds of ideas. When I used to hear the word church, I thought it was innocuous, boring and bland. Christianity was “nice-ianity.” Christianity is anything but neat and nice. It is extreme. There are no middles. Everywhere these people went, there were either revolutions or riots. It was radical. What is radical church? Look at verse thirty-two.
I. Not A Place, But A People.
Radical church is not a place, it is a people. Saying, ‘I’m going to church’ is really a misnomer. The whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul. It’s a gathering, a collection of a certain kind of people. As a matter of fact, the word church in verse eleven means “called out.” It is this gathering, this collection of people that is called out from the masses and called together. We are called out and we are called together. We are unique. We’re different in that we posses or hold in common “one heart”. We posses a common heart and we posses a common mind. A heart is affection. The heart is not rational. It is the driving passion in our lives. It’s beyond rational. Heart is in the deepest recesses of motive. A few weeks ago leading up to the Labor Day weekend I got a call that I needed to do a wedding to help out a family. The first thing I thought to myself was, It’s Labor Day weekend. Who would have a wedding on that weekend and why, at the last minute, would I want to do that? There are plenty of other ministers.” In the midst of my thought processes it hit me. The book of Acts hit me. It’s not for people. It’s for Jesus.
In the fourth chapter of John there is a story about a woman who came to the well in the middle of the day for a some water. Why would you carry a five pound bucket of water in the middle of a hot day instead of at night or in the morning when it was cool? The reason she did it was because everyone in town knew what she was. They would have used horrible words to describe her because she had been married five different times and now she was living with someone that she wasn’t married to. Jesus came up to this woman and said to her, “Will you give me something to drink?” So, as I said, when I got called saying that I had to work when everyone else was playing, I was identifying with that woman. ‘Me? You’re asking me, Jesus, to give you something to drink?’ I feel a lot like that woman in many ways. ‘Jesus, you would have me come off my vacation to give you a cup of water on the weekend?” Added to the experiences with my family, the most incredible experience of my life is that I get to be a servant of God. We (HEAR ME – “WE”) don’t do this because we have to or just for people. We do this for Jesus.
This peculiar group of people have this one heart, this one life motive to do things for Jesus. They are also unique in that they share one mind. Heart is affection or passion and it is beyond reason. Do you know how passion is beyond reason? Do you know what I’m talking about? Mind is passion focused. It means that we have one goal. We share the same life purpose and we articulate the same life purpose. You can see what this one life purpose is when you look at verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine in the prayers of the church.
Mind
Acts 4:28-29
28They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
29Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
The prayer is not a self-centered prayer. “Me” is not in the middle of this prayer where they are asking God for safety and prosperity. What they are asking God for in verse twenty-eight is for God to do His thing. His plan. That is their mind. That is their common life focus. Look at verse twenty-nine. ‘Do your plan and use us.’
Radical church. Peculiar people at the Southwest that share this one heart and this one life purpose and it has everything to do with Jesus. Radical church. It is not a place, it is a people. Hear this! It is not a program! It is not a program! It is not about what we get. It is about what we give. What we give to Christ. What we give to one another. What we give to our community. It is a power that is demonstrated through our common life together.
II. Not A Program, But A Power
Are you still with me in the Bible? We’re in verse thirty-two. “Now the whole group of those who believed were one heart and soul, no one claimed private ownership of any of their possessions, but everything they owned was held in their life together.” Their common life. Their communion. Their community. I promise you that programs and events do not change people. It is the witness of the life and grace of Jesus Christ in each of us that changes people.
Grace
Acts 4:33
33: And with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
You and I have two critical needs in our lives. The first one is that we need grace. Do you know what grace is? You and I place expectations on each other that don’t belong on people, but belong on God. We look to each other to be perfect and only God is perfect. When we put that kind of unrealistic expectation on people, it creates disillusionment with each other. It causes us to withhold our life force from each other. It also causes us to do everything that is un-Christlike such as being complacent, gossiping, criticizing, envying, competing and tearing down. The Bible says that, “Jesus committed Himself to no human person for He knew what was in the heart of every person.” He knew that to expect a person to be like God would only create disillusionment so He didn’t commit Himself to people or expect people to be like God. He committed Himself to God so He could fully give Himself in grace to people. This is powerful stuff, folks!
While Jesus certainly spoke of life in heaven once it ended on earth as the ultimate goal, he spoke more about our life now. He didn’t speak so much about saving us from Hell but more about saving us from life: the life we are living. In reality, the going to heaven part is easy. It is the living life until then that is difficult. The church is to help one another through this life in more ways than I have time to list right now.
The power of the resurrection is demonstrated in verse thirty-three. “With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all.” So, we are not to become critics that tear each other down or tear the church down. We are to understand that we are imperfect and we need to commit ourselves to God and God is the perfection that we need. We are to understand that the church is imperfect and commit ourselves to God and his perfection. We are to demonstrate grace to each other. I am going to say it again: I promise you that programs and events do not change people. It is the witness of the life and grace of Jesus Christ in each of us that changes people.
Encouragement
Acts 4:36
36: There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means, Son of encouragement).
The second need in our life is encouragement. Look at verse thirty-six. It is amazing that the people in this church, this gathering, literally became daughters and sons of encouragement to each other. What I need you to do in my life is to cheer me on to become everything that God created me to be. I am not that yet. And you are not that yet because you keep coming to worship to get cheered on and remind you to become and be everything that God created you to be. You can’t get that in a program or an event. You can only get that in relationships. I read something in Newsweek Magazine and it amazed me at how good and healthy virtue is. Listen to this. “Ethics of virtue cannot be taught from textbooks. God character comes from living in communities.” Not a program or event, but in communities. In communities where virtue is encouraged and rewarded. Aristotle said, “Character is developed through community groups that provide models to imitate and demand moral accountability.”
The body is a unit. Though it is made up of many parts and all of its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, old or young, rich or poor, black or white. We were all given one Spirit to drink. Welcome to the Church! Not a place, but a people. Welcome to the Church! Not a program, but a power. Welcome to the Church!