In this Real World we have a Real Savior
Acts 2: 42-47
Easter 4
Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the fourth Sunday of Easter is our first reading Acts 2. Remember the good old days. I am starting to say that more as I get older myself. I especially remember the time period I grew up in and start to think that it was so much better than the way things are now. The world back then seemed to make more sense than the world we live in today. Of course we must be cautious. There is always the temptation to look at the past with rose colored glasses.
That would be easy to do when we look at the church that Luke describes for us in the book of Acts. Luke tells us that the early Christians were very devoted. They regularly gathered together to hear the Word of God, to pray and to receive the Lord’s Supper. There were also signs and wonders being done through the Apostles that amazed everyone. Not only that but everyone in the church was incredibly generous, so much so that people were willing to sell their possessions and belongings and distribute the proceeds to all who were in need. The church was also growing in numbers.
It is a beautiful picture of the early church. It looks like it was almost perfect. It looks like the early Christians had no troubles at all. When we look at this description of the church, we might even have a hard time relating to it because the church in our day seems very different. We are now living in a time where the Christian church is declining in America. There are some places and pockets where congregations are growing but for the most part most churches are in decline. Church attendance is down. It is harder to get volunteers to serve in the congregation. That usually leads to the people who are serving to get worn out and maybe even a bit discouraged.
We are also living in a culture that is often hostile to Biblical teaching. God’s design for marriage and family is continually under attack. Virtue and morality are mocked and rebelling against God is encouraged. What is good is called evil and what is evil is called good. There are also many distractions all around trying to pull our eyes off Jesus. There is so much noise in our culture that it often drowns out the Word God. Our fellow Christians around the world are facing persecution. Our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ are being killed, and churches are being burned down in Nigeria. We also have to deal with the troubles in our own life and the sins that we struggle with.
When we look at the early church as it is described in our reading, we might have difficulty relating to it because it seems that the church in our day has so many more troubles. Of course when we take a closer look at the early church, we will see that they faced many troubles as well. All we need to do is keep reading Acts. In Chapter 4, hostility arises against the church as Peter and John are arrested for proclaiming the Gospel. In Chapter 5, the church faces scandal. Ananias and Sapphira pretended to make a big donation to the poor, but it was all for show and to pull this off they lied to the church and to God. Moving on to chapter 6, we hear about the Greek speaking widows complaining that they are being discriminated against. We could go on and on, but you get the point. The early church faced all sorts of problems and difficulties. The Greco-Roman world that the early Christinas lived in was filled with immorality, pagan religions, darkness, and sin. The early Christians were often persecuted.
When we look at the early church and the church throughout the centuries, we see that Christians have always faced trouble in this fallen world. We have that in common with the early church that Luke describes in our reading for today. But we also have something else in common with the early church and the church throughout the centuries. We all live in this real world of sin and darkness, this is true, but we also have a real Savior. That Savior is Jesus Christ the Lord.
This is Good Shepherd Sunday. We are remined on this day that Jesus truly is our Good Shepherd who has rescued us from sin and death and has brought us into His flock. Jesus the Son of God who died and who rose from the dead has called you by name and made you His own. Remember what Jesus said. “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, and I lay down My life for the sheep.” Your sins have been wiped clean, and you have been restored by Jesus. As a redeemed child of God you know listen to the voice of your Shepherd and you follow Him.
Luke’s description of life in the early church is beautiful, not because those Christians faced no real problems, but because they were learning to face real problems with a real and living Savior. Jesus lives! And because He lives, we shall live also – in Him.
Our Good Shepherd is leading His flock to life. We pray the words of Psalm 23, “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” But the Word of God makes it clear that eternal life does not eventually begin when you die in faith. Eternal life has already begun in the moment God joined you in faith to Christ, your Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd is leading His flock through this “valley of the shadow of death” to where we will “dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” No doubt, we look forward to that glorious day. But that life is already now being manifested in His church.
That’s what makes our text so exciting. It’s not that the early church had no real problems. It’s that they knew they had a real Savior, and that glorious truth could not help but show itself in how they lived out their faith. That life manifested itself in their devotion to the Lord’s Word and Sacrament. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” They were steadfastly devoted to the apostles’ teaching because that is where they heard their Good Shepherd’s voice. They were devoted to fellowship, that is sharing together in Christ and all of His gifts, including the family of faith. They were devoted to the breaking of bread meaning the regular celebration of the Lord’s Supper. And they were devoted to praying. God make them a kingdom of priests and so they took up their work of interceding for others. The early church lived from a rich, vibrant life of worship.
Because they were so strongly connected to their Good Shepherd’s voice, the Word took root in them and made them people through whom the Good Shepherd extended His care to others. “They were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” No one told them they had to do this. It was the natural care and concern they had for one another.
The same Good Shepherd is still at work in today’s church. The church continues to be fed and strengthened by our Lord’s Word and Sacraments. We gather every week around the Good Shepherd’s voice, devoted to the apostolic teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers. Strengthened by these gifts of grace, the church continues to serve as the people through whom the Good Shepherd extends His care to others. First, in the sharing of the Gospel and then in the activities that bear witness to Christ, such as human care. It is a dark world which makes it a good time to shine the light of Christ in our lives.
Yes, the church today has problems. But as we live in this real world of darkness and sin, we have a real Savior. He is Jesus Christ the Lord. He is our Good Shepherd who leads through the valley of the shadow of death so that we might dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.