Lectionary Reflection: The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Acts 2:42-47

2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

2:43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.

2:44 All who believed were together and had all things in common;

2:45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.

2:46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts,

2:47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

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Last Sunday, I preached this sermon at the Ridgecrest Nursing Home in Waco, TX.

You may not know this about me, but recently I have been doing some genealogical research into my family history. I was surprised at how far back I could trace my family’s ancestors … in fact, I traced my family ancestry all the way back to first century Israel. I discovered that I had a great – great – great – to the 23rd power – grandfather, and his name was Scotticus. But even more exciting than finding out that I had an ancient relative named Scotticus was finding out that he passed down in writing a story about an event he witnessed way back in the first century. In my research, I was able to find and translate this old papyrus scroll, and here now I present to you for the first time: the story of Scotticus.

“And verily it came to pass (despite living in the first century, Scotticus appears to have spoken good King James English) that I, Scotticus, was traveling to Jerusalem when I heard this commotion near the temple. There were these men who called themselves the apostles of Jesus, and they were preaching this strange message – and how exciting, I even heard one of them preach to me in my native English tongue! Anyway, they claimed that this Jesus rose from the dead, and that they were witnesses of this resurrection. Even more astounding, they claimed that God has made this Jesus Lord and Christ over creation. Well, you can imagine my surprise at this news. God raised a man from the dead, and took him up to heaven? Whoever heard of such a thing?

“After hearing this sermon, I began to mingle with these apostle fellows, watching to see what they would do. If this Jesus person really did rise from the grave, how would his followers live? What would they do after that? Would this make a difference in their lives? I discovered that the answer was yes, they did some curious things that made me want to learn more about Jesus.

“I noticed that these apostles gathered together all the new Christian believers that had come into the Church. They taught these new believers how to follow Jesus. They were always fellowshipping with each other, and that meant that they seemed to share meals all the time. In fact, they loved eating food with one another. They would also do this one interesting practice of eating bread and drinking wine, and they called it communion. They said that we needed to remember that Christ was crucified so that our sins would be forgiven. And after they ate, they would pray together. In fact, they were always praying it seemed. I noticed that these new Christians – that is what I called them, since they were disciples of Christ – were cheerful and glad to be in each other’s company. They enjoyed each other so much that many of them sold all of their possessions, and distributed them to the poor and needy. How remarkable!

Still, even after seeing all of this, I was not quite convinced about this Jesus fellow. But his followers were acting all kinds of peculiar, and that attracted me to want to learn more. So I went to talk with Peter, the leader of the apostles, and ask him about this man that he called Lord and Christ. Here is what Peter said:

“Scotticus, we are so blessed to have you join us and watch how we live as disciples of the Christ. Let me tell you about this man Jesus. He began his public ministry three years ago, and his first action was to call us to become his disciples. He could have chosen to sit on a mountaintop and become a guru who dispenses wisdom to anyone who was willing to climb the mountain. But instead, he gathered together a group of disciples and taught us how to become like him. He explained that God is Love, and that we are to love others because God first loved us. In response, we are to love one another. Surprisingly to us, we learned that God does not love only the Jews, but He also loves the Samaritans and the Gentiles. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Since when do Jews love Gentiles, or Gentiles love Jews? That is almost as strange as Baylor fans loving Texas Aggies! (Apparently Peter was speaking in prophecy here.) This idea that God loves all of humanity, its revolutionary talk, wouldn’t you agree Scotticus? (Scotticus appears to have included a note in the margins of the scroll, in which he agrees with Peter.)

Peter continued…

“Not only did Jesus teach us that God is love, and that this love is manifested in community, but he put this teaching into action. We witnessed the most incredible acts of charity. Jesus would attend these dinner parties, that were hosted by sinners and tax collectors! Who ever heard of a Jewish rabbi eating with such people? But Jesus explained that since God loves all of his creatures, we must love even those who are the most difficult to love. And who is more difficult to love than a tax collector? But hear this – one tax collector by the name of Matthew actually left his lucrative business and became one of Jesus’ disciples. I call that both a sign and a wonder that God was at work through us.

“Scotticus then replied to Peter … ‘Peter, its one thing to love and share in community with sinners and tax collectors. But what about the sick? Did Jesus abandon the sick, who are cast out of the towns and villages to live amongst themselves?’

“Peter was quick to respond to Scotticus on this point. ‘No, Scotticus, Jesus loved even the sick and the lepers. On one occasion a leper approached Jesus, and we tried to keep him away from our Lord. But Jesus not only dismissed us, but he touched the leper! Again, who ever heard of such a thing? But Jesus touched him, and cleansed him of his disease. So now, we teach that disciples of the Christ are to go out into the world, and lay hands on the sick and dying, and show them the love that He showed to the leper and the paralyzed and the dying.’

“At this point in our conversation, Peter let me know that he needed to go into the Temple, for it was now the hour of prayer. His final words were these: ‘let me encourage you to follow Jesus’ example. Love all of the children of God. Love even your enemies, and those who persecute you. For this is the essence of community. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, only moments before he was betrayed, and only moments before we all scattered and denied him. Serve one another and pray for one another. Share your deepest hopes and fears with fellow believers, knowing that where two or more are gathered in His name, then He is with you. Continue to devote yourselves to Jesus’ teachings, and to fellowship with one another, and you will be his disciple. Christian discipleship is not practiced in isolation. Christian discipleship is practiced in community.’” Amen.