Friday, April 11, 2014

And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Lenten meditation 5



And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47)

We come to the final verses of Luke’s description of the church at its very beginning. Here we read that the early disciples worshiped together in the temple and shared common meals. We also read here that the church was growing – a sign of health.

These Jewish Christians did not abandon temple worship, but became even more devout. They did not see any reason to discard their Jewish traditions because as far as they were concerned, Christianity was the fulfillment of Judaism. Jesus had stated himself that he came to fulfill the law, not to do away with it. With this in mind, it seemed natural for the early Christians to continue to go to the temple and worship even more than they had in the past.

These earliest Christians were seeking to grow closer to God by whatever means were available to them. Fairly quickly, they would no longer be welcome in the temple, or in proper Jewish society, but for a brief time, they were taking advantage of the opportunity to worship, and even make a few converts, as they did not pass up a chance to talk about Jesus – something that did not win them any favor with the Jewish authorities.

In addition to daily worship, we read here that this group of disciples shared common meals in their homes. They spent time together over meals. The church pot-luck is nothing new. The early church used meals as an opportunity to build community.

Last, we read that this early congregation was growing, daily. This testifies to one simple fact: healthy congregations grow. The church is a living organism, and in biology, organisms are either growing or decaying. The fact that the early church was growing is a sign that it was healthy. We need to ask ourselves what was leading to the growth.

If we look back through the verses that we have been studying through this Lent, we see some key points.
First, this congregation was sure of what its identity. The leaders of this congregation had known Jesus. They were witnesses to his ministry, death and resurrection. There was no doubt in their minds that he was the Savior of the world. Led by the Holy Spirit, they even performed the same miracles that Jesus himself had performed.

Second, they loved each other with the sacrificial love that Jesus had modeled for them. They made sacrifices to provide for each other’s needs. They cared for one-another, even becoming family for those who had lost their natural family due to their new-found beliefs.

Third, they worshiped together in both old and new ways. They came together to celebrate the Eucharist and they continued to attend temple worship until that was no longer an option.

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