More Than We Realize

It’s a fascinating contrast. Followers of Jesus in our day and age, in our setting, tend to see the Christian life as a private, personal thing. While in the early days of the church, the followers of Jesus saw themselves connected, related to, and engaged in life with one another.

Luke touches on this when he describes the church that became established in Jerusalem shortly after the ascension of Jesus. He explained:

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)

One of the characteristics of this community was that “they were continually devoting themselves to . . . fellowship.” Fellowship refers to the common life they shared in Jesus, and their active engagement in that shared life. For them to be “continually devoting themselves” to this fellowship doesn’t mean that they were perpetually in some prolonged small group experience. But it does mean that they were given over to understanding the life they had as a shared life. They saw themselves as spiritually woven together and they gave themselves to living out that “woven-ness.”

Perhaps it was they profound awareness of how they were going to grow that shaped this devotion to fellowship. Paul, writing the Ephesians, notes:

We are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

Part of what Paul underscores here as that believers can’t grow up into maturity as isolated saints. The body matures as it is “fitted and held together by what every joint supplies.” Each follower of Jesus–each “individual part”–needs to find his or her place and “proper working” within the body so the body can grow up in love for God and for others.

This means that there really are no “Lone Ranger” saints. There are no maturing believers who grow on their own. More than we realize, we really do need one another to genuinely experience the life that Jesus wants for us.

That early community in Jerusalem may well have recognized that. They gave themselves to fellowship–rich, regular, interdependent relationships. And they grew up into a Christ-like life . . . corporately and individually.

A Common Realization

In Acts, Luke describes, he doesn’t proscribe. That is, what we have in the book of Acts is a description of what the life of the community of faith was like, not a series of commands for what one must do. Nevertheless, by watching over the shoulders of these earliest followers of Jesus, we can gain considerable insight into what helps us grow on our journey with Jesus.

Early in his account, Luke offers a summary of the life of the church in Jerusalem:

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)

Some particular things characterized them. They devotedly gave themselves to four “ingredients.” It isn’t that doing these things gave rise to the church as much as it is that the church life was lived out in this way. They lived like this because of who they were in Jesus.

In prior posts, working from the last on this list of ingredients, we looked at “continually devoting themselves . . . to prayer” and “to the breaking of bread.” That brings us to “continually devoting themselves . . . to fellowship.”

When contemporary followers of Jesus (particular those I have met in the States) think of “fellowship,” it seems that the prevailing idea is either “hanging out” or “eating meals” together (or both!). Although it is likely that those ideas are a part of fellowship, the idea seems to be a bit more intriguing than that.

The word translated “fellowship” comes from a root word that means “to have in common with.” Fellowship was more than just an occasional pot luck; it was a way of thinking about life. To be “continually devoting themselves . . . to fellowship” doesn’t mean that they were at all times of the day in some small group meeting, but it does mean that woven into the fabric of their living was this awareness that they were not in life alone. They realized that they shared a common life because of Jesus and lived into that common life.

If you’ve ever been with a tour group in a strange and foreign place you might be able to catch of glimpse of what I am talking about. As that tour group goes from place to place, your constant refrain is “I’m with them!” When walking through a museum, visiting some ancient ruins, lining up for a bus ride, or trying to get hotel rooms, there is a sense of “belonging” that comes in that identification: “I’m with them.” And the result of that “with-them-ness” is an experience of life together that might just give a sense of what fellowship is all about.

As followers of Jesus moved in and out of the scenes that make up daily life, walking through the market, conversing with neighbors, interacting with co-workers, carrying on their businesses, they lived with this common realization: We belong together!

That might get expressed in taking meals together from house to house, or gathering for times of corporate worship, or coming to the aid of one another in times of needs, or countless other ways. But such activities were rooted in something deeper than “We should really get together sometime”–it was the expression of a common realization.

We share one common life in Jesus.

Always Ready to Remember

Some people think it’s about the music. Some really insist on a particular order of events. For others, what you wear is a marker. For others, it seems like the place is really critical. What really a “church service”?

In thinking about what characterizes a community of faith built together because of life in Jesus in contrast to other gatherings of people, I’m drawn to Luke description of the first community of followers of Jesus found in Acts. His description is not exhaustive; he does not tell us all and everything that composed their life. But what he does tell say must matter.

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)

Previous posts focused on “continually devoting themselves . . . to prayer.” (Working through the passage from the last characteristic to the first.) Prayer was woven into the fabric of their lives; they resorted to praying because prayer was always “at hand.”

In similar fashion “they were continually devoting themselves . . . to the breaking of bread.” What does Luke have in mind in referring to “the breaking of bread”?

Some understand this to be a reference to sharing meals together; and that is possible. However, just a few verses later as Luke continues his description of the life of the community of faith in Jerusalem. He writes “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart” (2:46). If the expression “breaking bread” refers to eating meals together, then Luke would be saying “they were taking their meals together from house to house, taking their meals together.” But that would be unnecessarily redundant.

Apart from the Gospels, there are five times where the idea of “breaking bread” is found; four in Acts and once in 1 Corinthians (Acts 2:42; 2:46; 20:7; 27:35; 1 Corinthians 10:16). When taken together, the language seems to refer to the “breaking of bread” that Jesus instituted at the Last Supper.

When telling of his coming death, in the midst of a meal with his followers, Jesus “broke bread” and spoke of his death for them. And he told his followers that they were to continue to “do this in remembrance” of him and his death (see the accounts in Matthew 26:26-29 and Luke 22:19-20). The “breaking of bread” refers to this memorial re-enactment when the community of faith reflected on and recalled the sacrifice that Jesus had made.

What Luke is saying is that these followers of Jesus readily, often, regularly gave themselves to recalling and celebrating the life-giving, sin-freeing, redemptive death of Jesus. They were always ready to remember that his death was what defined them.

As was evident in thinking about “continually devoting themselves . . . to prayer,” Luke was not saying that each and every moment these followers of Jesus were engaged in a prolonged prayer meeting. To speak of “continually devoting themselves . . . to the breaking of bread” does not mean that these followers of Jesus abandoned jobs and other social interaction to participate in a protracted and continual communion service. But it does seem to mean that they regularly, often, typically, remembered and reflected on Jesus’ self-giving sacrifice. They regularly found themselves anchored to Jesus’ death on the cross.

Does this mean that we must adopt a certain approach to worship services and gathering together? Must we “break bread” each and every time we gather? Although I know that there are communities of faith who celebrate the Lord’s Supper every time the “large group” meets (while not always “breaking bread” when smaller groups meet), I am not sure that this text mandates that practice. From the descriptions of gatherings elsewhere in the book of Acts, the “breaking of bread” was not something they did every time they met, whether in large or small groups. But it does mean that remembering the cross through the Lord’s Supper shaped and defined what they were all about.

Luke’s description here nudges me to think about what defines me: Am I living in relationship with others where Jesus’ death for sinners defines our life together? Do we regularly celebrate who we are by remembering and commemorating what he has accomplished in dying for us?

Prayer . . . First

I am not sure all the reasons why, but I have noticed that prayer is not often my first response when facing life’s challenges. Here’s what I mean . . .

Someone shares with you that she is going through a challenge in the relationship she has with her significant other. Is your first response to think about what you would do in that situation and offer some good advice, or is your first response to pray?

A problem has arisen in your church. There seems to be some division and side-taking developing. Do you lean in the direction of getting a committee together to assess what is going on and what to do about it, or is your first response to pray?

In the small group you are part of a couple shares about their son. He’s having trouble at college, hanging out with what seems to them to be the “wrong crowd.” His grades are suffering as he is on the brink of losing his scholarship. Is the primary response of the group to begin to share stories of how the Lord has seen them (or families they know) through such difficulties and making suggestions as to how to help, or is the first response to pray?

It isn’t that offering advice, organizing for action, sharing stories, or things like that are not of some help. It just seems to me that there is such a tendency, even among those who are seeking to walk with Jesus, to resort to prayer only after they have done and said and tried other things.

Luke describes the first community of faith this way:

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)

One piece of what characterized them was that “they were continually devoting themselves . . . to prayer.” An earlier post clarified that being “continually devoted to prayer” didn’t necessarily mean that every waking moment was given over to an ongoing worship service. But is does mean that prayer was “at hand,” readily woven into the fabric of life, characteristic of how they lived in the day-to-day. I think it means that prayer was a first thing, not an afterthought.

In Acts 4:1-31 there is something of a “test case” for understanding how these first followers of Jesus approached life. Peter and John have recently healed a man in the city. In doing this, they made much of Jesus, proclaiming the good news about who Jesus is, what his death meant, and that he was alive having been raised from the dead. The Jewish leaders did not like this. They thought that with the death of Jesus the message he brought would die as well. They didn’t believe he had been raised from the dead. And now some untrained fishermen are turning the city upside down with this message. A meeting is held, Peter and John are questioned, and they are threatened and told to stop doing what they are doing. And this threat came from those who had arranged for Jesus to be put to death just a few months earlier.

The Christians are doing what Jesus wants them to. They are not being unruly. They have not broken Roman rule. But they have ruffled the feathers of local leaders. They are physically threatened and told to stop. What do you think the believing community should do now?

If those believers adopted the approaches that many today have taken, they might have . . .

Complained to their friends and neighbors about the corruption that existed in the local government.

Written letters to the local purveyor of news to expose the poor treatment they received.

Held a public protest about the violation of their rights.

Started a movement to have those who threatened them removed from office.

Rallied to “take back our city” from those who didn’t share their religious convictions.

But what these believers did was to pray. It wasn’t an afterthought. They didn’t ask God to “bless their efforts” and to make their plans work out. They didn’t start with what made sense to them or with a plan of action. They started by talking to the Lord about what had happened, about his control over all of it, about his plans and intentions, about what he wanted.

They were “continually devoting themselves . . . to prayer” and it was evident in that when confronted with a challenge the first response was to pray.

As If It Mattered

Luke describes the life of the followers of Jesus in the city of Jerusalem this way:

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)

“Continually devoting themselves to”–that expression speaks of perseverance, persistence, being always “at hand.” Four things are listed, the focal points of their persistent living. We’ll start with the last one, prayer, and work our way back to the first.

They were continually devoting themselves to prayer. What would that look like? Did they have one, day-long, never-ending prayer meeting? Hardly. At least reading the rest of the book of Acts suggests that they still went about their lives, not having jettisoned everything in exchange for one protracted worship service.

The same language is used by Paul in some of his letters. In Romans 12:12 he describes the life of those who belong to the merciful God as “devoted to prayer” and in writing to the Colossians he calls them to “devote yourselves to prayer” (Colossians 4:2).

So what does this look like? The word translated “devoted” can convey the sense of “immediately at hand.” The idea is always ready, stepping into at a moments notice. So to be devoted to prayer might mean not that they were mumbling prayers under their breath every waking moment, but that at any moment, in that moment, they might pray. Prayer was woven into the fabric of their lives in such a way that wherever you touched the fabric, prayer was not far away.

I pray. In the morning when I wake. At meals. At “special times.” I pray when someone asks me to prayer (usually . . . well, maybe, more honestly, sometimes). But I don’t know that prayer has become woven into the fabric of my days, my life. Not in such a way that you might say I am “devoted to prayer.” And I wonder, “Why not?”

It dawns on me that what differs in my life of prayer from that pictured in Acts and elsewhere in the New Testament is that they prayed as if prayer really mattered. I pray as if prayer is a good thing. I pray as if prayer sometimes brings me peace. I pray out of habit. They prayed as if it were life.

I eat regularly. I wake in the morning thinking about breakfast appointments and where I will go to eat. I plan my snacking. Reflect on what would taste good mid-morning, where I will be and what I can get my hands on. When I have lunch-time appointments, I am planning what to order even before I arrive at the restaurant. If I don’t have a lunch commitment, I content myself with strategically planning the route home around where I could grab a quick bite to eat. You get the picture. I “food” as if food really mattered to me. I am, in a real sense, devoted to food, to eating. I do this because I am convinced (whether rightly or not!) that food matters, it is necessary for life.

I’d like to grow to a place that prayer began to take on the prominence of food in my life. I’m going to ask the Lord to bring about changes in my soul, in my appetites, so that prayer becomes more woven in. That when I am not actively praying, I am thinking about praying, or planning on praying, or getting little “prayer snacks” to tide me over until the next prayer feast. That talking with the God who brought us into fellowship with himself becomes my very way of life, because it matters. And I hope to start . . . right after breakfast.