Lifestyle Changes

A Sermon preached on Sunday, July 22, 2007

by Pastor Terry Davis

First Presbyterian Church, Hartford, CT

Acts 4:32-37  Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. (33) With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. (34) There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. (35) They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (36) There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means "son of encouragement"). (37) He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

One of the reasons I chose the book of Acts for our summer study and preaching is that I believe we can learn from the story of the earliest church some important lessons for the Church today.  In many ways the Church in Jerusalem was very much like First Presbyterian Church.  It was an urban Church, and it was located in a Capital City.  While Jerusalem was the capital of a nation, while Hartford is the State Capital the fact is that in Jesus’ time the nation of Israel was comparable in physical size with the state of Connecticut.  It was not only an urban Church located in a Capital City, but it was also a Multicultural Church; their foundation was people from all the nations where there were Jewish people who had assembled in the city for the feast of Pentecost.

In other ways, however, the Jerusalem Church was very different from First Presbyterian Church.  It began, true enough, as a small church; there were about 120 people who gathered in the upper room for the congregational meeting at which a successor was elected to replace Judas.  Pretty much the same group was gathered together in one place on the day of Pentecost, but then everything changed; there was a mass conversion that took place on that day as thousands were baptized and became a part of the Church.  The number of conversions from the preaching in the temple was also in the thousands, but more importantly we read that day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.  This early Church was a growing church, a rapidly growing church; in fact it quickly became a mega Church. 

When we look at First Presbyterian Church we see the opposite phenomenon, we are not a growing Church.  From a reported membership of 800 people in the 50s and 60s the Church entered a long period of decline.  When I came in 1997 we had dwindled down to about 150 members on the active roll of the Church.  Over the last 10 years the decline has ended, but at the end of ten years the number of people who have died or been removed from the roll of the Church has been matched by the number of new members.  Our worship attendance has also been pretty steady for the past 10 years; up some years and down others, but staying around 75 to 80 in worship. 

I am seeking to understand what was so different in the first years of the Christian movement that caused such phenomenal growth.  What did they have that we do not have?  Why did they experience numerical growth while we, like the majority of mainline urban Christian congregations, are not experiencing a net numerical growth?  It is sad to say that this congregation just by maintaining stability is doing better than the denomination as a whole which has been experiencing declining numbers for decades.

How could the Jerusalem church experience such phenomenal growth?  They didn’t have any of what we think that a Church needs to be successful, they didn’t have a building, an organ, any paid musicians, no nursery, no clear structure for government or ministry, virtually no program and no plan.  It isn’t clear where they met, they didn’t seem to have any place where all of them could meet together, they just met daily in small groups in the homes of members where they had meals which included the Lord’s Supper, teaching, fellowship and small group worship.  The only larger group gatherings took place in the temple where the believers worshipped along with other Jews, and then attended preaching and teaching meetings in Solomon’s Portico.  They were more of a movement; some people would say a sect or a cult than an established religion. 

This may in fact have been one of the factors contributing to their growth,  New congregations often grow much more rapidly than established congregations; new religious movements experience more growth than established religious systems.  The Jewish faith had grown very institutionalized with the power concentrated in the temple leaders.  To many Jews the ritual was routine and boring; it failed to really connect them with God.  The pagan systems of Greece and Rome were also in decline; but here was this new prophet and a new message from the familiar God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  This new movement was a movement with power, people were enthusiastic about their faith, and they were excited about sharing the good news that Jesus was risen. People were being healed, and no one seemed hesitant to invite other people to join in the movement.

They grew because of some real life style changes that were taking place in the life of the new believers.  Back in the second chapter of Acts we read that they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

The first thing that we notice is that they devoted themselves.  At best we have only a handful of members about whom we could say that they have really devoted themselves to either our faith or to this particular congregation.  For every one who is faithful and devoted we have two more for whom the faith and the Church is at best a hobby, an interesting diversion that we participate in when it is convenient and fits into our schedule and we feel like attending or participating in programs or events. Most of the rest of us are somewhere in between being very casual about our relationship and really devoted.  But the early Christians seemed to be really devoted.  It wasn’t just a once a week thing; there were daily meetings where they met with other members and shared their meals and remembered Jesus in the breaking of bread, they were devoted to studying the Apostles’ teaching, having fellowship with other members, and they were devoted to praying, both in their small groups and in the temple.  Their life centered around the faith.

I recently read Augusten Borroughs second book entitled Dry, his story about his descent into Alcoholism, his recovery, his relapse, and his second recovery.  This picture of the early Church with its daily small group meetings resonates with the description of his participation in Alcoholics Anonymous groups.  In the detox center where he received treatment they were instructed to attend at least one meeting every day for the first 90 days, and more often more than one a day if they were having difficulty in resisting the temptation to relapse.  For most of those 90 days Augusten did go to one meeting every day, his after work life revolved around the times when the different groups met; his social life no longer involved his friends who were his drinking buddies, instead he socialized and got involved with the people he met in AA.  He was devoted to Alcoholics Anonymous and it kept him sober.  His relapse took place only when he quit attending groups, and even when he bought that first alcoholic beverage since rehab he was thinking he should resist and go to a group meeting instead.

This is what was going on with the early Christians; they were devoted to their meetings.  The Alcoholics were devoted to working the 12 steps; the Christians were devoted to learning more about Jesus, that is the Apostles’ teaching, the breaking of bread, the fellowship and the prayers.  As long as they kept attending the meetings they were able to resist relapsing into sin, selfishness, and indifference about their spiritual life.

The devotion and enthusiasm they experienced in regard to their new life was contagious, it infected other people who they met who wanted to know what had happened to them, and when every some one gave them the opportunity they told them about Jesus, and invited them to participate in one of their meetings.

The other thing that was going on with the early Christians from the first was a radical sharing.  A few of them had some measurable material positions; most of them seemed to have come from a poorer class, but rich or poor they did not regard what they had as belonging to them, but to the community.  Many of those who had houses or land sold what they had and gave the proceeds to the Apostles so others who had nothing could have their needs met.  The others simply pooled their meager resources so that there was no one in the church who was needy and went without the necessities of life.  Again we are talking about a drastic life style change, and one that motivated other people to want to know what was going on, and of course the new Christians were eager to tell their friends what was going on: about Jesus who loved them and died for their forgiveness, who rose from the dead and who taught them to love one another, and by their testimony, as much as by the preaching of the Apostles the Church grew.

When we became devoted to Jesus to the extent that our life style was different from that of our friends and neighbors, and when we loose our reluctance to tell others what we have found in Jesus and in the life of the Church, then we will probably begin to see some positive growth also.