Sermon -- 4th Sunday of Easter (April 30, 2023)

ACTS 2:42-47

RECOGNIZE WHAT YOU NEED AND BE DEVOTED TO IT.

In the name + of Jesus.

M:      Alleluia! Christ is risen!
C:      He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

     In the days when families traveled on the Oregon Trail to begin a new life out west, some tough choices were made when they loaded up their wagons.  Not everything was going to make that trip.  Families could take only what they needed.  As they journeyed, they often discovered that they still carried too much.  They deposited unnecessary items along the path for other families to claim when they passed by later. 

     What do you need?  Chances are, you have made a mental list about the things you would take from your house if you ever had to flee because of some emergency.  How many items on your list are sentimental rather than life-sustaining?  If you had to flee without a moment’s notice, your list would not matter.  You would discover that you actually need precious little if it was a life and death situation.  Our ideas about what we need are skewed.

     Our needs are basic: food, water, clothing, shelter, and air.  You won’t need these forever.  That is why Jesus taught his disciples, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need (clothing and food).  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:32-33).  When you die, even basic needs become useless.  But Jesus’ righteousness will still benefit you.  It has eternal value.

     Recognize what you need and be devoted to it.  St. Luke details the life of the early Church: “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).  Recognize that you need these things.  You need the apostles’ teaching.  The early Church had the luxury of the actual apostles teaching them.  We have their words recorded for our continual devotion.  They give us the words of Jesus, which are the words of eternal life.  These words reveal the Savior who lived the perfect life which provides the righteousness you need to please God.  They show you the sacrificial death which has paid for all your sins.  They proclaim Jesus’ resurrection from the grave which assures you that your body will be raised from the grave to live in glory forever.  These words warn against sin and temptation.  They protect you from the devil’s lies and all false doctrine.  They comfort you in days of pain and sorrow.  They encourage you to remain godly in a godless world.  Recognize what you need and be devoted to it.

     Jesus not only left his words, he gave to his church his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.  Jesus gives us that which has paid for sins and overcome death.  We feast on the living body and blood of our Savior and receive life from the living Savior.  In this sacrament, he connects us to himself intimately.  By this sacrament, he strengthens and keeps us in the one true faith into life everlasting. 

     Recognize what you need and be devoted to it.  “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).  What the early Church did is what the Christian Church still does.  St. Luke describes the essence of our Divine Services.  We do not need to seek or invent anything better.  We have an invaluable gift from the Church of the past.  Of course, we are the same Church with the same mission.  Our Lord grants the same blessing through the same means.  This is how he supplies all we need.  Recognize what you need and be devoted to it. 

     St. Luke described the second thing the early Church was devoted to.  “All who believed were together and had all things in common.  …And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:44,46-47).  They were devoted to each other.  We need this, too.

     I suppose it is possible to go it alone as a Christian, but I would not recommend it.  Scripture does not, either.  When the devil wants to snatch someone away from the Church, he usually does it by drawing him away from the body of Christ.  He is like a lion who cannot possibly capture a whole herd of zebras.  But if he can get one zebra to abandon the herd, he will devour it.  The devil wants to separate you from the body of Christ so that he can devour you.  If the devil can draw you away from the body of Christ, he will rub your sins in your face.  He will try to convince you that you are worse than everyone else.  He may get you to believe that your shame is unique and that you are too worthless or too wicked for Christ and his Church.  The devil wants you to wallow silently and alone in self-pity so you abandon all hope.  We separate ourselves from the body of Christ to our own detriment, perhaps even to our own damnation.  Beware!

     The Lord brings us together as the body of Christ because the Lord knows that we need each other.  Recognize what you need and be devoted to it.  When we meet together, you learn that you are not unique at all.  St. Paul wrote, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13).  Perhaps it would surprise you to learn just how common your sins and temptations are when you spend time with your fellow Christians and discuss these things.  Are you discontent?  Do you think you are better off dead?  Are you impatient?  Are you easily angered?  Do you have impure thoughts?  Do you argue with your family over money or to pin blame on someone?  Guess what: you are just like everyone else here.  We all fight temptations.  We all struggle.  We all fail.  We sin against God and each other.  We all need the Savior whose mercy endures forever.  Recognize what you need and be devoted to it.

     Our Savior has been pleased to join us together for our mutual encouragement.  We comfort one another as we suffer hardships.  We remind each other of God’s mercy and grace.  We encourage one another to remain godly in a world that urges us to ditch God.  We pray for one another and carry each other’s burdens so that no one should have to suffer silently or alone.  We watch over one another so that, if we see someone straying from the faith, we can restore them to the path of righteousness.  We study the Scriptures, ponder the mysteries of the faith, and grow in faith together.  We rejoice together.  We mourn together.  We remain devoted to each other. 

     St. Luke noted of the early Church, “All who believed were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:44).  There will be diversity in our interests, our hobbies, and our stages of life.  Our different circumstances mean we will give our attention to different things.  There is nothing wrong with that.  But our commonality and unity are based on the only thing that really matters: We have a single confession.  We have been redeemed by a divine Savior.  We are saints in his kingdom, covered in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  Recognize what you need and be devoted to it.

     The third attribute of the early Church mentioned by St. Luke is actually what they did not need.  He wrote: “They were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:45).  Their devotion to Jesus Christ resulted in them being less and less devoted to material goods.  They recognized that their belongings and wealth would do more good for the needy in this world than for themselves.

     Many things that we have in homes are there because they are pretty or entertaining.  Other items are there because they make our lives convenient.  I, for the life of me, can’t imagine going back to the days of washboards and clotheslines.  But if almost everyone in the history of the world survived without a washer and drier, we could too.  I bet our closets would be a lot emptier if we had to wash that many clothes.  Maybe they should be, anyway.  If the Lord has blessed us richly, we do not need to feel guilty about it.  But we must be careful lest we are devoted to our material goods.  Recognize what you don’t need so that you are not devoted to it.

     Everything we do need God promises to provide.  Everything that sustains body and soul, God will provide.  “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).  If hearing about the generosity of the early disciples makes us a little uncomfortable, it is probably because we are devoted too much to our wealth and do not want to give it up.  Our Lord does not command us to sell everything and give it to the poor.  Jesus only said that once, and he said it to a rich man who loved his wealth more than he wanted to admit.  We don’t know what became of that rich man, except that he eventually died.  His wealth does no good for him now.  The only way your wealth can do any good now is to put it to work for the glory of God and for the good of your fellow man.  In the end, it is nothing you need, so do not be devoted to it.

     Recognize what you need and be devoted to that.  This is what the Church does.  “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).  Be devoted to these things.  These supply all that you need in good times and bad, in life and through death, for comfort and encouragement.  Be devoted to one another.  Speak to one another.  Pray for one another.  Study the Scriptures together.  Watch over each other like brothers and sisters; for that is what you are.  Our goal is to spend eternity together.  It is right to enjoy that now already.  Recognize that all your goods are only tools—either to aid you through your life or to aid someone else through his.  The day will come when you will lay those tools aside.  When you do, you will still have the Lord’s kingdom and his righteousness.  These will endure beyond death and usher you into eternal glory.

     Recognize what you need and be devoted to it.  But especially recognize that you have a loving and faithful Savior who is devoted to you.  All his gifts he gives for your good—both what you need in this life and what you need for the next.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.