A Sermon preached on April 12th, Easter
II, at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden
Acts 4:32-35, 1
John 1:1-2:2, John 20:19-31
Today is one of
those days when we have the same Gospel reading every year. But so far at least,
I have managed to find something new and different to talk about each time, and
if you don't believe me, all my sermons are online so you can check! The aspect
I want to talk about this morning is one that I think runs through all three
readings and the Psalm: fellowship and community, particularly Christian
fellowship and Christian community, though seen from very different angles and
in very different circumstances.
Let's start with
what appears to be the biblical version of the Communist Manifesto and of the
Socialist maxim: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his
need.” Or in the words of Acts: “Everything they owned was held in common … and
it was distributed to each as any had need.” (Acts 4:32, 35) I wonder how often
this passage gets read at meetings of the Tea Party movement?
Of course we have
to put this into perspective and context. Firstly it is a rose-tinted spectacle
view back to the Golden Age of the Apostolic Church – back to that post
Pentecost time when everyone flocked to hear the Apostles and the Church gained
thousands of new members every time one of the 12 stood up and preached – I wish
I could do that! Secondly we must also assume that many of the Christ’s
followers were expecting his almost immediate return, so why bother keeping wealth
and property anyway. And yet they are living out part of Jesus’ teaching. In
Luke’s Gospel (14:33) – written by the same author as Acts – Jesus says for
example: “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your
possessions.” I would also claim that one source for the great power with which
they are able to give their testimony and for the “great grace” that was upon
them all is their unity – they were of one heart and soul, which is expressed so
strongly in their sharing with and caring for one another.
The situation of
the community that the author of the 1st Letter of John is writing to
is very different. They are not of one heart and soul, in fact there had been a
split and many have left his community in strife. The author criticizes those
who have left for believing that all they have to do to be Christians is to
claim to believe, without this impacting their lives and behavior, or even that
just this expression of belief will stop them doing wrong or sinning. No, we
cannot be in fellowship with God, he says, while walking in darkness; that is while
not living a Godly life of light, faith and righteousness. And “if we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” (1 Jn 1:8) Thankfully, as Christians, we
have “an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 Jn 2:2) if
and when we do sin and stray. To be a Christian means trying to walk in the light,
acknowledging and confessing our own sins, not just identifying those of
others, and living in fellowship with one another. Christianity is a communal
faith.
And finally to the
Gospel of John and to Jesus’s first two post-resurrection appearances to the
male disciples – the women have already seen him. What unites them and makes
them into a renewed or recreated community are: Jesus’ gift of God’s Peace, Jesus’
gift of the Holy Spirit through his own breath, spirit and breath are the same
word in Hebrew, and the disciples’ common mission. They are both empowered and instructed
to continue Christ’s mission of forgiveness and reconciliation, they are to
represent him in the world.
But one disciple
was missing on that first Sunday, Thomas, and so there was a danger that he
would be excluded, and perhaps seen as second-class disciple, one to whom the
Lord had not appeared in person and not only that, one who even dared doubt the
word of the other 10 – carefully ignoring how they seem to have ignored the
word of Mary Magdalene! But Jesus appears again in Thomas’ presence, and uses
his request for physical proof not so much to rebuke or chastise him, but as a
way of teaching all the disciples and all who hear and read his words, that is
us, that it is never too late to encounter Jesus and that the faith of those
who follow – all the future believers – is equal to the faith of the first
disciples: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
(John 20:29) All are equal members of the fellowship of Christ, our membership
is based solely on our confession, in Thomas’ words, that Jesus Christ is “My Lord and my God.” (20:28)
Our own fellowship
and community were one of the topics of our recent Vestry retreat as they were
also topics at the small group meetings of last autumn of fall. Some of the
questions we asked ourselves were: How can we balance old and new, how do we respect
our differences, what does it mean to model Christian unity, what can we do to
prevent us hurting one another, as we have done, how can we make sure we are
open and welcoming and are not perceived as a closed group, and how can we make
sure that we are aware of and dealing with people’s needs, both within and
without these walls? I won’t claim we have all the answers – that is still work
in progress – though one answer is that the Vestry itself must continue to try
and be a model for Christian fellowship. This is conveyed in the Vestry Compact
– our mutual expectations for communication and cooperation that we originally developed
a year ago and reaffirmed this week. There’s a copy on the notice board at the
back of the church or on the website.
Another answer is
in this week’s readings, in the Bible’s teaching on fellowship and community. The
Bible is always a good place to look for answers! The passage from Acts
tells us that only a united Christian community is a strong community and one able
to witness to Christ with great power. A visible sign of this unity is how we
all share and help one another. The First Letter of John reminds us not to
assume that the fault is always just the other’s, that we must acknowledge and
confess and seek forgiveness for our own sins: both from God and from the
person we have sinned against. The Gospel reading’s message is that our unity
and community are neither self-serving, nor self-contained. Their purpose is to
enable us to carry out and carry on Christ’s mission of healing and reconciliation
in and to the world. Last and not least, membership in Christian communities is
based solely on our common faith. All members are equal, there are no privileges
for “first movers.” The minute someone walks through our door to join us, they
are as much a member of this community as the person who's been here for 20 or 30
years, and his or her opinion counts as much as the opinions of those who have
been here for 20 or 30 years. No idea is bad just because it is new, nor
however is any concern bad, just because it is an old one or has been voiced
before.
The psalm
appointed for today, Psalm 133, is the psalm Dietrich Bonhoeffer cites at the
beginning of his book on Christian community, Life Together”: “Oh, how good and pleasant it is, when brethren
live together in unity!” (Ps. 133.1) Coincidentally, or not perhaps, our church
remembered Bonhoeffer as a “saint.” just this week, on Thursday. Bonhoeffer’s guidelines
and principles for life together as Christians are praying, worshipping, working,
and eating together, confessing to and forgiving one another, and never
forgetting, that “we have one another only through Christ, but through Christ
we do have one another, wholly, and for all eternity.”[1] I
said earlier that Christianity is a communal faith and the physical expression of
our communal faith is Holy Communion, the meal we will share in amoment both with
one another and with all Christians throughout time and space. As Bonhoeffer
puts it: “The life of Christians together under the Word has reached its
perfection in the sacrament.”[2]
Amen.
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