Acts 2:36-47 Fellowship Connects Us

 

This morning we’re beginning a new series based on the question, “Why Church” or even “Why bother with Church?” Now I will admit that I’m a little biased because I strongly believe that the local church is the hope of the world, as Bill Hybels said, because our message is one of good news and hope for everyone in Jesus, as Peter talks about in our passage this morning, especially for those who have questions about the meaning and purpose of life, for those who wrestle with inner struggles, and for those who see injustice and wonder if there is any hope for justice and righteousness in our time. I admit that I have wrestled myself with the question “Why Church” at times, often when I’ve experienced hurt or rejection, or when I hear the stories of hurt, abuse, or rejection in the church. Yet I always come back to believing that the greatest answers to life are best explored and found in strong local churches that focus on being one together in Jesus as they work at imitating Jesus.

The first thing I think about when I ask “Why Church” is connection; a place to find fellowship. Fellowship is a churchy word. When you turn a dictionary to find out what fellowship is, you find answers like, “a community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience,” or “companionship” from the Merrian-Webster dictionary, while Dictionary.com defines fellowship as “a friendly relationship; companionship,” and “a community of interest, feeling, etc,” or as “communion, as between members of the same church.” At its heart, fellowship is about relationships, often around common interests or beliefs. This is why the word is so often used in churches and encouraged as a way to create closeness and unity. God is a God of fellowship, three persons who live in fellowship with each other in eternity, in unity and sharing the same goals for creation.

In the past 20 years, I can’t think of a time when an emphasis on fellowship within the church, never mind the broader community, is more needed. Church isn’t always easy; just think about how God created the church. God poured out the Holy Spirit on the Jews who have gathered from all over the Roman Empire and Africa to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. These Jews believe in Yahweh and the temple feasts and rituals, but were very different in the languages they spoke, in the cultures they embraced and lived in, and even in how they interpreted Jewish Scripture. They definitely didn’t always get along, or even understand each other; there were major differences between them. The only way they were able to get along was because there were only 7 festivals a year and most Jews only made it to one or two a year, so their time together was often short and limited. Later on, God really messes with them when he calls Gentiles into the mix, something so unorthodox, it blew some peoples’ minds. How can people so different from each other experience fellowship?

It’s that powerful connection with each other through fellowship that made the early church so strong, a fellowship that focused on who they are through Jesus and what he has accomplished for them on the cross, and in what they have together in Jesus rather than their differences. Peter keeps pointing to Jesus as the foundation of this new community being created by God. “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” Peter calls them “to repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Peter is telling them that their hope, their salvation is rooted in Jesus and their response to Jesus’ willing death on the cross to bring reconciliation between God and humanity is to repent and be baptized, to be baptized as the sign and seal from God of their new identity as followers of Jesus and restored children of God. The guarantee of this change in their identity is the gift of the Holy Spirit who is given to those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

Fellowship is rooted in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We see this is the people’s response, three thousand people are baptized that day! Can you imagine what that looked like! The apostles heading down to the river and the people lining up to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and coming up experiencing the joy of belonging to God, and embracing those around them who are experiencing the same thing. There’s a joining together, a fellowship that begins here that goes deep. Can you hear the conversations going on, “Let’s get together to learn more about Jesus,” or “Let’s get together to praise God for his goodness and grace to us, let’s pray together that others in our families and among our friends can experience Jesus’ forgiveness and grace!” It’s the presence of the Holy Spirit in their hearts that brings them together in spite of their many differences, because in the most important part of their lives is a commitment to Jesus. Fellowship in spite of differences, fellowship because the focus is on what Jesus has done and is doing in their lives, drawing them together. This is the context we need to understand verses 42-47 in; Jesus is at work through his Spirit!

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.” When you experience deep fellowship centered on Jesus, when you spend worship time, learning time, vulnerable praying time together, you start to get to really know each other and start to deeply care more about each other. It’s much easier to be generous and live sacrificially when you are living life deeply with each other. Fellowship is about being with each other regularly; learning together, worshipping together, eating and living life together. This creates relationships and friendships that can become lifelong blessings. This is what starts happening with this new community that’s growing and founded on Jesus.

All the things that separated them before become less important as their unity in Jesus becomes the glue that binds them together. What a message for us today in a time where which political party or philosophy we follow, our beliefs on whether vaccines and masks, and more separate us, creating all kinds of bitterness, anxiety, leadership crises, and loss of fellowship. We can always find excuses to separate ourselves from each other, but the Bible keeps pointing us to Jesus where we find unity, a common purpose found in sharing the gospel news, support and encouragement, and even healing, within the fellowship of believers. More and more I’m realizing the power of Paul’s words to the Galatian church, Galatians 3:26–28, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” As followers of Jesus, we can put to the side all the things that divide us if we make our relationship with Jesus front and center together.

From there comes the fellowship part; learning about God together, the sharing of meals together, the time spent in each other’s homes and discovering who they really are, serving each other, caring for each other, and sharing the good news together. The Christian faith and fellowship are always other focused, leading us to place others above ourselves, learning to live sacrificially. Philippians 2:3–4 have really guided how I think about leadership and being more like Jesus, these are verses that a good friend and mentor told to write on my heart as a pastor, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” When we embrace these verses, fellowship grows deep and wide as we place our fellowship and unity in Jesus first.

These are some of the things that first drew people to the church; they saw a fellowship that was beyond anything they had ever seen, a fellowship that crossed all the barriers that too often keep us apart. Pamela Lewis describes the life in the Acts 2 church, “From these who were first baptized, flows all that we must know about the Christian life, which is meant to be lived in fellowship. In fellowship there is sharing in the same Lord, sharing life’s joys and sorrows, sharing the same guide for living, and sharing what God has given us in Jesus Christ. May we do these things gladly.” David Fitch connects this fellowship to God’s mission strategy, that when we “nurture a community in the redeemed life of Christ and Mission (including conversions) will follow.”

May our fellowship make us a strong witness to our community to the power of Jesus to overcome the things that divide and brings peace and hope out of chaos.