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Something
very strange is going on here.
Disciples who had been hiding behind closed doors now have people beating
down their doors—not to hunt them down, but to join them.
They want to become disciples of Jesus Christ too!
About 3,000 souls were added to their community just the day before!
(cf. Acts 2:41). Can
you imagine? What are they
going to do with all of these new members?
That, to be quite honest, is the amazing part…
Jesus in the Gospel of John says, “I
came that they may have life,
and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). It
sure sounds like his mission statement, doesn’t it?
The phrase in Greek refers to a “surplus”—a
“super-abundance.” So much
life in you that it overflows to everyone you come across.
Jesus came to offer us that super-abundance of life—life in all
of its fullness! Do you
want that? In Acts chapter 2
we see what that abundant life looks like.
First
of all, it is a gift.
This
may be a little hard for some people to understand because we live in a “culture of entitlement.”
It’s in the air we breathe, and the water we drink.
People feel “entitled” to certain things.
Jesus teaches in our Gospel text that he is the gate for the sheep, and we
are sheep. This has certain
implications that are humbling and exalting at the same time.
The abundant life is a gift that needs to be received.
It’s not something we’re entitled to.
It’s not something we somehow have earned or deserved.
It’s pure gift.
Like those who are being added to that community of disciples each day,
you have been called. Jesus
wants you! Now you or I may
feel like we’re somehow not good enough, somehow not worthy.
Maybe we have gone astray. Maybe
we are carrying around a lot of regrets.
But you know what? That’s
not an issue here. Your past
is past. You have been found!
You have been chosen! You
are not here by accident! The
Good Shepherd calls you!
And because Jesus reminds us that we are sheep, you know what that means,
don’t you? We’re not so
smart! We’re not the
gatekeeper. It’s not our job
to try to control what other sheep come in or what other sheep are kept
out. Thank God!
Sometimes Christians seem to have appointed themselves as
gatekeepers, but that’s not our role.
We get to listen, and follow, and be led out, and be led back in,
finding nourishment and community. The
pasture is not ours. The
sheepfold does not belong to us. They
are all grace, all pure gift.
Presbyterian author and pastor Frederick Buechner describes it this way:
“Grace is something you can never get but only can be given.
There is no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more
than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks
or bring about your own birth…Buechner concludes his definition with the
same little sentence repeated three times, each time with a different word
italicized: “There’s
nothing you have to do. There’s
nothing you have to do.
There’s nothing you have to do.”
This invitation, this church, this community, this world, did not HAVE to
be ours. We are not somehow entitled to them.
But we get to treasure them as God’s marvelous gifts.
Secondly,
the abundant life Jesus offers us is based on community.
In our
culture today this might be hard to understand.
We live in a culture of “rugged individualism.”
We live in a time when it is hard for volunteer organizations to
find people who want to join and get involved.
Sociologists have coined new phrases describing what they are
observing: Phrases like
“cocooning”—when people stay home and stay to themselves—and
“bowling alone” when activities that used to be communal are so no
longer.
But we see in this amazing picture in the Book of Acts that the abundant
life is based on community. These
believers have this remarkable quality of togetherness!
They share a passionate feeling of responsibility for each other.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross tells about a little boy she was visiting who was in
the final stages of cancer. She
asked him to draw a picture that showed how he was feeling.
He drew a dark and scary self-portrait, with thunderclouds in the
sky and a cannon pointed directly at his heart.
When Kubler-Ross saw it, she did not say anything.
Instead she took the picture and sketched a figure of herself in a
white hospital coat, standing close to the boy in the picture, facing the
cannon with him, her arms securely around his shoulders.
A few days later, without being asked, the young patient drew another
picture of himself. In this
one the sun was shining, there were flowers everywhere, and his
self-portrait now showed a smile on his face.
The abundant life is based on community.
We face the trials of life together.
We worship together, and fellowship together, and learn together.
And in that process we are being shaped by God.
We come to understand in our heart of hearts that we are not alone.
God and the people of God will be with us as we face our greatest
fears and celebrate our greatest victories!
Thirdly,
the abundant life is based on giving, not getting.
This might be hard for us to understand, because we
live in a materialistic culture. The
Wall Street Journal recently published an article entitled, “The
Struggle to Contain Ourselves.” Can
you guess what this is about?
A study just completed shows that there is a “storage crisis” in our
country. Can you believe it?
In spite of the fact that Americans enjoy “the largest amount of
private housing space per person in the history of urban civilization!”
Even in this current economy, we are drowning in our stuff,
and in need of more storage space.
But another study has just been published.
It is in the journal Science and it reports (as you and I could
have told them) that giving is a
good thing to do! Scientists
found that people who made gifts to others or to charities reported being
happier than people who did not share.
Lead researcher Elizabeth Dunn reports that how people spent
their money was more important than how much money they had.
“Given what you have,” she says, “the important question is
how can you do something for others? Whether
it’s money, or time, or special skills, how you give on a daily basis
will make a difference in your happiness.”
The abundant life is being part of a faith community that recognizes that
the world can’t teach us to care…and it can’t teach us that greed is
ultimately empty…and it can’t teach us that, in the long run, sharing
what we have brings us much more than owning things.
The world can’t teach us any of these things.
But the gospel, and the gospel community, can.
Jesus says in the Gospel of Luke: “Give
and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together,
running over, will be put into your lap.
For the measure you give will be the measure you get back” (Luke
6:38). The abundant life is
putting this into practice, and experiencing how true it is!
One of our Trustees, who is also a lawyer, went on behalf of our church to
a City of
Royal Oak
meeting. We had been
requesting a “variance”—permission to keep our church sign along
Woodward Avenue
. You might not have noticed
the sign before! It’s pretty
nondescript. But it points
towards our building, it has been there for a long time, and we have
really appreciated it. The
City was considering making us remove that sign.
It was a long meeting, and the hour was late.
Finally our church sign was the next item on the agenda.
Recognizing that everyone was tired, our church member turned to
the mayor and asked, “Do you want a short report or a long one?”
The mayor responded: “Do
you want your sign?” (I
think that meant a VERY short report—as in NONE!)
The mayor continued, “
Royal Oak
was founded in 1919. When was
your church founded?” Our
trustee replied, “1914.”
“Hmmm.” The mayor
observed. “So you’ve been here longer than the City?”
“Yes,” our brother in Christ said, “But the City has the last
word.”
“True,” replied the mayor. Then
he finished the discussion then and there by saying, “But
you have higher connections!”
Dear friends in Christ, we get to show the world a better way—to let
others see what life in Christ looks like—abundantly.
How beautiful it is to behold, and to be a part of!
We get to welcome and include other sheep our Lord will call. You
see, we have the very highest connections--not to just have a sign, but to
BE a sign!
Thanks be to God!
Amen!
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