“Christ Embodied in Communal Love”
“Christ Embodied in Communal Love”
Acts 2:42-47
Acts 2:42-47
Back in the year 2002, country music singer Alan Jackson won the Grammy Award for the best country song, “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning.” Do you remember where you were at when you found out on that fateful day of 9/11/2001? Chances are you were huddled close to your loved ones in your living rooms close to the TV. You experienced a measure of anxiety and felt disoriented as life as you knew it was rocked when the towers came crumbling down in New York City. We were in Verona, NJ at the time and from a high point a few miles away you could see the smoke. Four people in our town lost their lives. You wouldn’t have dreamed of such a horrific deed. You were looking for answers. However, your disorientation cannot compare to what happened at Gander International Airport in the Canadian province of Newfoundland. After the early morning attacks all airplanes in flight were ordered to land at the nearest possible airport as soon as possible. Within hours, thirty-eight commercial jets landed along with four military planes. Suddenly, fast and furious, 6,700 people disembarked who would need food and a place to sleep in a town of 10,000 people. Most of the passengers were very confused. They didn’t know exactly what caused the diversion and were seriously concerned about what was going on with their loved ones at home.
For hours, people sat at the airport in a state of flux while the town bustled with activity. Volunteers readied make shift shelters, others were gathering donations of toiletries and blankets, and the residents started cooking vast amounts of food. Later, Gander would be regarded as an oasis of kindness – a loving kindness which would lift up the spirits of the stranded passengers. Many of those detained would later compare their experience to taking a powerful pill that provided a huge emotional boost through the recognition that good people and selfless deeds still existed. Though the travelers were from nearly a hundred countries, there was a camaraderie, a fervency of spirit of all for one, and one for all. Despite ethnic differences and all sorts of visitors from different locales and walks of life, the residents of Gander treated their unexpected houseguests with a simple hospitality that drew world wide accolades. Money was refused, though later the passengers would donate thousands of dollars. It was a touching scene amidst the dark days following 9/11, and yet equally moving today in our world fraught by division, terrorism, and hate. Perhaps Gander Mayor Claude Elliott best expressed the spirit of the moment when he said: “You’re not supposed to look at people’s color, religion, or sexual orientation. You look at them as your fellow human beings who need to be looked after.”
The epic 9/11 event produced world-wide repercussions, and the shock waves were graphically depicted in the unforgettable impact on those who found themselves in Gander, Newfoundland. As a result, Gander became a tourist destination, and though I prefer the mountains, I’m moved to visit this place, where like my small town growing up as a kid, people don’t lock the doors to their homes at night and keep their keys in the car outside. Gander is a place full of grace and encouragement, and what happened there back on 9/11 best typifies, to me, what we find documented in today’s lesson from the Book of Acts. Pentecost was the explosive event that rocked the city of Jerusalem. Like 9/11, life in the world would be forever changed. St. Luke reports that the ripple effects of people blown away by the Holy Spirit resulted in a group of travelers much like the 6,700 at Gander. However, in this case, those pilgrims grounded in Jerusalem were 5,000 men besides women and children. Can you imagine the logistics? No Walmart back then – they cleaned out the Walmart in Gander. No wonder the Apostles had to commission deacons like Stephen. It was only in this way they could pray and preach rather than wait on tables. No doubt it was a chaotic time. People were disoriented, thrown into incredible circumstances, and there was huge tension. Peter and the Apostles had been arrested and forced to stand before the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews.
Everything was in a state of flux back then as the Apostles were being Spirit led to make up things as they went along. Yet it was also a glorious scene of the 5,000 plus group of believers in an atmosphere of active communal love. Note that today’s lesson from the book of Acts contains only plural nouns and pronouns. All the believers, devoted themselves, awe came over them all. All the believers met together, and shared. They worshiped together and shared their meals. There’s no I or me or you in the reading. It's all-for-one, one-for-all – a spirit of unanimity that characterized these early believers.
However, there was something about this all-for-one, one-for-all spirit that went beyond the limited time span of the Gander experience. People were recognizing they were on the vanguard of epic change – part of something to make the world a better place. Through the Apostles’ fervent preaching of the Gospel message, the whole inner life of these Christ followers was being transformed, and the surrounding world began to sit up and take notice. The curse at the tower of Babel that divided people was now being reversed. As the miracle of Pentecost witnessed the breaking down of language barriers, so now ethnic and economic barriers were coming down. Besides the free flow of common goods, there was harmony being created between those of different ethnic groups and also a bonding between the rich and the poor. Those redeemed by Christ began to serve the needy because God had first extended His underserved love to them.
Indeed, the shock waves from Jesus’ death and resurrection empowered the early church to bring about large-scale revitalization in response to the misery, chaos, fear and cruelty of life in the Greco-Roman world. In two books sociologist Rodney Stark spelled out how early believers in the Roman Empire took Jesus’ agenda to heart. The Christians organized relief projects for the poor and ransomed their friends from Barbarian captors. Some voluntarily freed their own slaves. When plague hit, Christians tended the sick – including their non-believing neighbors – whereas the pagans forsook them as soon as the first symptoms appeared – and many church leaders died while doing the nursing. Additionally, the church set up platoons to rescue unwanted Roman children who had been abandoned to exposure and wild animals. The body of believers provided new kinds of social relationships to cope with the problems of survival – offering charity and hope to the homeless, impoverished, and strangers. Through the inspired testifying to the crucifixion followed by the glorious resurrection, a fellowship was created that gave people a taste of heaven. Believers were filled with awe in response to the works of God. More were added to their numbers as they lifted each other in love and encouragement. In the waning days of the empire the watching world sat up and paid attention. People flocked to the churches which stood out as caring communities.
This morning, what can we take away, each of us, from today’s lesson? I began by sharing with you the scene from Gander, Newfoundland and stressed that, above all, there was an atmosphere of people lovingly lifting up discouraged strangers in the midst of a national crisis. Gander was a refuge of grace and encouragement. It was a place of communal love and a reflection of Christ embodied communal love in the Book of Acts. However, it’s essential to note that this oasis of human kindness faded over the centuries when the church became the dominant culture. Forsaking their pilgrim calling, they joined the establishment and with it the hierarchy that divided the once-haves and have-nots. The all-for-one, one-for-all spirit of unanimity slipped away. People became increasingly alienated – lonely and bereft of meaningful relationships by support and encouragement.
I share this with you because surveys tell us that over 50% of Americans have no one to share their deep needs with – someone to help them to get to a better place when it comes to a sense of belonging, security, acceptance, and fulfillment. Another survey discovered that the number of Americans who have no friends has quadrupled since 1990. Are you possibly sensing something or is it just me that sees human contact going the way of the nearly extinct snow leopard and the huge advances in AI could well exacerbate it. There was a time when every activity spearheaded a conversation – service your car, greet an attendant, deposit a check at the bank and talk to the teller, buy a gift and speak to the salesclerk. Not now. Gas up with the credit card, make deposits online, and order a gift over the internet. Isn’t our society set up for isolation? We wear earbuds when we exercise or walk down the street. We communicate via email and text messages. You can cycle through a day of business and never say hello. In fact, entrepreneurs have come up with a solution to this loneliness epidemic – rent-a-friend. That’s right – hired by the hour, these people will meet with you in a café to talk or accompany you to a party. One such “friend” was asked about her clientele – lonely 30- to 40-year-old professionals who work long hours and don’t have the time to make friends.
Isn’t this something, a need that God would have His people play into in this place? It’s something He wants us to major in or it will fall through the cracks. Long before computers and keyboards and even pulpits and baptisteries, the church had kitchens and dinner tables. Our lesson talks about believers meeting at the temple daily, sharing food with grateful hearts, and gathering in homes for fellowship. Aren’t we set up to put fellowship opportunities, dinners, group trips, put on events that connect on the front burner?
Is that something that we can more emphasize as a priority for our lives? Hospitality, facilitating more gatherings, including more individuals in our circle or friends? Can Democrats find common ground with Republicans? Can a Christian family carry on a civil friendship with the Muslim couple down the street? Can we consider trying to get closer to a person at church – someone more on the fringe, for coffee, lunch, dinner, to get to hear their story – rather than just see them once a week at worship? This is a huge countercultural challenge for us and the church. It’s all too easy to be in-grown. May others increasingly see this church as giving the gift that God loves to give like they did at Gander — Christ-embodied communal love.