Forgive me if I’ve mentioned this before recently – but Billy Graham, the morning after one of his appearances to a large crowd in Wembley Stadium, was taken to task by the British newspapers, who accused him of ‘setting Christianity back 2000 years’. To which he responded, to the effect – thanks for that – I hope so! With this in mind, it occurred to me to venture an opinion about the here-and-now concerns we have, as members of the Anglican Communion, about our increasingly secular society, dwindling congregations, and difficulty securing sufficient funds to meet the ever-rising costs.
But going back 2000 years or so, the Gospels tell us that Jesus had no financial resources at all, nor any material resources either, (such as ‘church buildings’ or equivalent… But in spite of the immense changes in societies worldwide, The Church has survived twenty centuries on the basis that Jesus had only Himself, a few close friends, and powerful, if controversial, message about a caring and loving God. A God who created the universe as an act of love, and who loves everything and everyone in it – unconditionally. A God who is always ready to forgive the repentant. His only ‘definition’ of God was simple – God is Love! Why is this so difficult for so many to grasp?
His message flew in the face of the religious authorities (who relied on nonsensical rules and regulations in order to maintain their influence), and the Roman authorities (who saw Him as a potentially serious threat to their tyrannical occupation). But even Christ’s execution didn’t work, as we know…
In truth, I don’t think Billy Graham was trying to take us back to the harsh realities of those days! But he did take every opportunity to declutter what Christianity should really be about, and how it can be practiced by ‘going back to basics. Back into the community – as was the practice of the disciples/apostles and the earliest Christians. In fact, I’m borrowing that thought from Stephen T., who has mentioned, in recent addresses – the importance that Jesus placed on ‘Christianity’ being expressed in (and taken into) the community….
Jesus, His Apostles and communities of early Christians did just that! In these uncertain times, we’d do well to remember that, and keep the faith.
Firstly, the early apostles placed a high priority on the studying and teaching of the Word of God – then learning from each other. And as their knowledge and understanding grew of what their Lord – our Lord – had been talking about (basically, God’s Love-in-practice), they then passed their understanding on to communities of potential followers, so that more-and-more people, could then spread the good news.
Attending church services regularly is, of course important, and enables us to experience the joys of communal worship, and experience a sense of ‘mutual support’ in worship, in prayer, and in hearing and interpreting Biblical texts. But that doesn’t preclude us from, for example: studying the Bible in community/home groups; Lenten or Advent home worship groups, and similar; Silent Church in homes and community locations; friendly discussions, over a coffee with friends.
In truth, we have to make time to not only maintain our faith ‘in church’, but to grow-in-faith within the community context as well.
Secondly, the early church existed within a growing fellowship. Now the use of the term fellowship, in this context, is an attempted translation (albeit an inaccurate one) of the fascinating Greek word koinonia. There is no English equivalent, as the word means an intimate sharing of one’s self with another. To us, here and now, it means sharing who we are, and what we stand for; sharing with others our personal relationship with our Lord; sharing time, prayers and conversation; living our faith, not just keeping it to ourselves.
Certainly, that’s easier when we can meet in person on Sundays; but entirely do-able anywhere, any time. After all each of us has a relationship with God that is unique to us. That’s surely worth sharing!
Thirdly, the early church met regularly, in homes, or even in the open air, in order to “break bread”. St Paul wrote concerning the breaking of bread to the Corinthians: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” Interestingly, the word “communion” here is the same Greek word koinonia (also meaning fellowship). So, to the early apostles, “communion” wasn’t just the sharing of the Elements of the Sacrament; it was also a demonstration of the one-ness that we all share in Christ (in spite of the uniqueness of that relationship to us).
In that context, Communion-in-Christ is quite different from sharing the elements ‘in church’ (important though that is) but it doesn’t end there, because we should continue to “share ourselves with Christ”, and with each other, out here in the community.
Fourthly, the early church promoted the important practice of prayer. It isn’t fourth in priority, in fact – prayer was top priority with the Apostles, alongside study of the word…. But if I may, I want to make this the subject of my next homily. So, I’ll conclude with a text that, I hope, illustrates my theme. May we seek to become “something more” – “someone better”, somehow closer to God, in Christ, in our daily lives – out here, in the community… In the meantime, I’ll conclude with this text (Acts 2, 42 – En):
“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. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved”.