“Community and Communion” Acts 2: 42-47

At the top of the list of words that bother me is “community”. It often rubs me the wrong way because people claim to be a community without really realizing the weight that distinction holds. Or worse they want to be a community for the benefits but not putting in the hard work.

Community is more than a buzzword or catchphrase. Community is at the heart of our relational faith. Christianity calls us to be in relationship with God and with one another. However, when such statements are made about the core values of our faith - especially about community - one of two things happen. First, some people turn to today’s text, which is often seen as the text about Biblical community and become discouraged. They approach Acts 2 with a sense of dismay - thinking that their church isn’t like that or they put on rose-colored glasses and remember when they think their church was like that. 

At other times the opposite effect happens. A church looks at Acts 2 and quickly claim that they are friendly, which means that they are a community. Former District Superintendent, Greg Rapp, was known to say that one of the worst words a church could use to describe itself is friendly, because it often means that we are friendly with those who are like us, or those who are already members, instead of being inviting, welcoming, and hospitable.

If today’s text is not meant to lead us to despair, nostalgia, or inflated claims of community, what is its purpose? What is the Biblical meaning of community and why do we claim that to be part of our faith today?

To explore the meaning of community for the Church, we must first look at what the Church believes about God. We claim this profound, yet confusing, truth that God is three in one and one in three. While the word Trinity is not used anywhere in Scripture, we are told in several places, perhaps most notably the Gospel of John, about the relationship between God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For John Wesley, it wasn’t so important to get caught in the details of how the persons of the Trinity relate to one another as the fact they are linked together in community. The very nature of God is being in communion with God’s very self, and through grace the Trinity relates to us as well. 

What do you think of when you hear the word “communion”? Communion has various meanings, but two that most impact how we view community include fellowship with one another and sharing life deeply. When we apply that to the Trinity we discover that God is deeply sharing life within the Godhead and desires to be in fellowship with us! A holy God wants to come and share life with us - what a beautiful thought! 

Further, God wants to be in communion with us so desperately, that God is the one who issues us the invitation to come, be, and grow. We are invited into holy communion by God’s very self. We cannot do anything to deserve it; it is simply an act of grace. God also doesn’t force us to accept the invitation, but if we choose to enter into communion with God we find that it will deepen over time as we come to know of Christ’s love that leads us to repentance, and is moved towards fullness by the Holy Spirit. 

Communion with God is a gradual process, initiated by God and fueled by our response. In the words of scholar Randy Maddox, communion is “a dance in which God always takes the first step but we must participate responsively, lest the dance stumble or end”. This dance may look different for each person who experiences it, but it is here that we come to recognize God’s action and depend more fully on God’s grace. 

But entering into communion with God isn’t just about our relationship with God or God’s relationship with God’s self - its also about our relationship with other people. For as the Church’s members grow in holiness so does the entire Church community grow in holiness. It isn’t just about me and my faith or my relationship with God, its about growing together. Which is where today’s passage from the book of Acts picks up. 

Sometimes we approach Acts 2 and get caught up in the wonder of it all - here is a rag tag group of people who grew into an unbelievably large gathering over night. We focus on the numerical growth or the idea of communal sharing, but I would invite us to ask a different question today - how did this group of disciples get there? What habits or priorities did they practice together that lead to these effects?

Christian community was intentionally practiced in Acts in four ways. First, the followers of Christ came together for teaching. This was their time to dwell in the scriptures together. For us, this happens in worship, Sunday School, Bible Studies, and small groups. It is our time to place ourselves in the presence of God’s Holy word and let it examine us, so we can learn more about God and who we are as God’s people.

Secondly, they fellowshipped together. They had time to examine of the quality of their relationship with one another and to invite other people into those relationships. Remember before what I said about church’s calling themselves friendly? Sometimes when we are “friendly” we exclude visitors from conversation. Being a people who fellowship together means inviting new comers to coffee. It looks like being in a small group where people can be known. Its living into the United Methodist slogan from a few years back of “making new places for new people.” Fellowshipping isn’t just being with the people who make us comfortable or who we like, its a community activity.

Thirdly, they broke bread together. When I was in seminary my ministry placement was to a retreat center where I worked on Biblical Feasting. I cooked meals for people almost every weekend and had an opportunity to talk to them about the hospitality that we show one another around the table as well as how eating together is truly a spiritual activity. For Christians we break bread in a variety of ways: in every day meals, when we open our homes to one another, in church potlucks, and when we celebrate holy communion. Each of these has a unique way of drawing us closer to God and other disciples.

Lastly, the disciples were in the habit of praying for one another. They were a community of prayer support. They understood prayer to be an opportunity to be in communion with God. They prayed out loud, and heard others lift their name and concerns before God. There is perhaps no better gift that we can give someone then to pray for them and for them to hear our prayers. 

These four habits - praying for one another, breaking bread together, fellowship, and teaching - may take on different expressions, but they all must be present for us to be a vital community. For us to be a true community that is more than just a buzzword. To be a community that is present in the good times and the bad, the exciting and the mundane. They aren’t always easy. But they will draw us closer to the God who invites us to be in communion and into community with one another. And they give us the opportunity to live into Peter Bohler’s words to John Wesley: “You practice a holy life till you have it; and then because you have it, you will practice a holy life.” May we be a people who practice the holy life with one another as an outpouring of our relationship with a holy God. Amen.