Just four things
Rev. Charity Sanstrom - First Friends Church
Friday, May 2, 2008
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
— Acts 2:42
My favorite “get to know you” activity has always been the desert island game. You know the one where you are stranded on a desert island and you get to take a few things with you. It always reveals our top priorities. We say we’ll take our favorite music, our favorite person, some practical minded people are always taking enough food and water to survive, and others bring books or pets or things they think they just can’t live without.
In Acts 2, we get a glimpse of what I think the early Christian’s list of survival gear would contain. Luke tells us the first believers devoted themselves to just four things: teaching, the fellowship, breaking bread, and prayer. As Christians today, we see these things as important parts of our worship, but over time we seem to have divided ourselves with bickering over which one is more important. We may find ourselves in groups emphasizing teaching and doctrine above all, even to the exclusion of the other three. We may find ourselves in groups exclusively devoted to caring for the physical needs of others, while neglecting their souls. We may find ourselves in groups committed to upholding the sacraments and traditions, while losing sight of why we began practicing them in the first place. We may find ourselves in groups praying all the right prayers, without a thought that God may want to use us to answer the prayers of others.
The truth is that all four are necessary, and without one of them, the practice of our worship, our faith, is incomplete. We need the truth of God’s word, his teaching, to set us on a firm foundation. We need to reach out to others, as Jesus commanded us to meet their needs. We need to rejoice, breaking bread in the remembrance of Christ’s new covenant. We need to devote ourselves to prayer, not just to talk to God, but hear from him and obey.
Together these four little things changed the world. They sustained the early believers through times of hardship and persecution. I believe they can change our lives, and I believe they can change our world if we will allow all of them into our worship of the one true living God. If we will listen to his teaching and truth, if we will devote ourselves to caring for the needs of others, if we will break bread in honor of Christ’s sacrifice, if we will pray alone and together—if we will do those things with our whole hearts, in harmony and balance, there is nothing that God cannot accomplish through us as his universal church, the body of Christ.
So as you contemplate what to bring to your deserted island, as you wrestle with what you need most in your spiritual life, consider these four little things that Luke gives us in Acts 2:42—teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer.
F “Sunday Sermon” is a forum for Emporia-area ministers to share their sermons, thoughts and observations. This week’s sermon is from the Rev. Charity Sandstrom of the First Friends Church.