Sermon - John 20:19-31, Acts 4:32-35
Festival of God's Creation Sunday
The Good Community
(view lectionary notes for this text)
Every once in a while, when the calendar falls just so, Easter is late enough in April to coincide or fall close to Earth Day, and consequently, Earth Sunday. The positioning of these two special Sundays so close together creates a puzzle. What does Easter have to do with Earth day, and vise versa? It is tempting to answer that they don't have anything to do with one another, and move on from there. We could forget about Easter - after all, that was last Sunday - and just talk about nature and creation. Or, we could forget about Earth day - after all, who wants to hear about how bad SUVs are and how we consume too much as Americans again! Theses options are tempting, and certainly easier to handle, but they don't do justice to the tasks before us in the Church calendar. The season of Easter lasts several weeks, and we are just at the second week of the Easter celebration. We are called, as Christians, Easter people. We are also given responsibility by God for this earth, for this creation, from the beginnings of the biblical narrative in Genesis. We are the stewards of the planet, like it or not. So here we are, Second Week of Easter, Earth Sunday. What can we make of it all? In this in-between time, with the next church holiday still weeks away, what do we do?
The disciples find themselves in a similar place this week. For three years they've been following Jesus, for three years he's been leading them. Now, suddenly, everything has changed. In the gospel lesson, we read the famous incident of Thomas doubting that Jesus has risen. Though Thomas retains his skeptical label forever, I can't help but think - who can blame Thomas? Everything in his life, and the disciples' lives, has been turned upside down. Nothing makes sense, from the last days, the trial, the crucifixion. The reality of Christ's death has just settled in, and now the disciples are being asked to believe that the man standing in their midst is Christ risen from the dead. Thomas is asked to believe this without even seeing Christ at first, only told by the other disciples about the resurrection. Who can blame Thomas for his doubt?
Our passage today closes with Jesus showing the disciples many signs - soon Jesus will leave them again - not through death this time, but through ascension to return to God - yet still, after this, the disciples will be left alone. What will they do? What happens now? It is after the Easter morning for the disciples too, just like it is for us. The initial visit to the empty tomb is past. How are they supposed to live now? Do they just return to their homes, their jobs, their former lives? If they are supposed to do something new, what are they supposed to be doing now? How do they do it? What do they do, now that it is after Easter, after the Resurrection?
In our lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, we find exactly what it is that the disciples decided to do: Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
This vision of living in community from Acts seems too good to be true. It is hard, indeed, for us to imagine a lifestyle where people share possessions with one another, to imagine a place where no one had need of anything, to vision a group of people of any size being of one heart and soul about anything, much less everything! To us, such a description sounds like communism, an unrealistic utopia, a cult, and above all, impossible to achieve. Indeed, in the very next chapter of Acts, we find a story of Ananias and Sapphira, two who did not want to share everything, who tried to keep things for their own profit. We find another example of human sin breaking down what is good, holy, sacred.
And yet, for a brief moment, they live as Jesus taught them to. The disciples choose this path - knowing that it will not be easy to live this way with one another, but knowing that they have no other choice - they need one another during this time more than ever before. They can not go it alone after the devastating loss of Jesus, the miraculous but confusing event of Christ's resurrection, the glorious but terrifying ascension. They must rely on one another. And now, while Jesus' words are fresh in their minds, they can put their hearts into living as Christ called them to live: loving and caring for one another and for those around them.
Perhaps we are not in so different a place here at Rome First as those first disciples. We, too, find ourselves wondering what to do after this Easter. We pray for our pastor, Les, as he struggles with leukemia, but we also look for direction. What are we supposed to do now? We know a new pastor will be coming soon - but what do we do in the mean time - how do we remain faithful disciples, and not get discouraged, when our community must go through so many changes and transitions?
Hopefully, our biblical witness and even our church calendar can be of some help to us. There is a lesson for us in our reading from Acts today. Are we supposed to sell all our possessions, hand the money over to the church, and live here together? Is that what God wants us to do? Maybe! But before we get to that point, we can learn from Acts what it means to be a community of faith, what it means to support one another in a time of transition. There is no better place than in our church family to find the kind of support the disciples found in one another. There is no place where we should feel so safe, so sure that we can carry one another's burden, where we can see that we will not let each other struggle in need. Can we be that for one another?
In January, when I interviewed with the Board of Ordained Ministry, preparing for my commissioning this June, at the end of the day the Board had the chance to share some feedback with me about what they saw in me for ministry. What they were most impressed with was not my academic record or committees I had served on or conferences I had attended. What impressed them, was you, my congregation, my church family. They said they could see in me a wonderful example of how a church could be if everything went right. They could see in me a church that had nurtured a person who felt called to ministry, who supported a person trying to follow God's call. They could see in you what they hoped every church would be like, a place where Christian disciples could grow in love, supported by one another, sent out with a strong foundation of faith. They saw in you the heart and soul of the Acts community.
This Sunday is the Festival of God's Creation. Certainly, it is a day to be mindful of the way we treat the earth, the environment, the resources that we use; it is a day to open our eyes and enjoy the beautiful world God gave us for a home, and to work to keep it a home for our children, grandchildren, and beyond. But celebrating Earth day means something more. Earth Sunday invites us to remember Eden - the paradise where we were not separated from God or from one another. Earth Sunday invites us to remember the community of disciples after that first Easter, who shared the resources they had in such a way that all were cared for. Earth Sunday invite us to be good stewards - not just stewards of our money - but good stewards of the whole creation that God puts in our care - and that includes stewardship of our human relationships - stewardship of this community of faith as a place where disciples are made.
Every fall at Drew, a retired professor teaches a class called Search for the Good Community. He, like our own Rev. Van, despite being retired for quite some time, remains an active force in the Drew community, and his Good Community course is hands down the most popular course on campus. The course encourages students to answer concretely some difficult questions - how can we create community that works for everyone, that accepts everyone, that provides for everyone? By the popularity of the course, it seems that everyone is searching for this Good Community. Perhaps it is not so impossible a task after all. What kind of community can we have here at Rome First? Christ is risen, and we are God's Easter people - how will we live with one another now? We are stewards of all God's good creation - what will we do to make our home a good community where we can grow in faith together?
Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul . . . With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
Let us pray: Gracious God, we are searching for a good community here at Rome First. Out of love for us you have given us much to care - not only the earth but those who dwell here - you have given us one another. Let us be good stewards of your creation, good stewards of the relationships in our lives, good stewards of your loves. We are your Easter people. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.