We Are a Family

Introduction

My dad didn’t have a great family when he was growing up. It’s his story to tell and not mine, but that came to shape so much of how we were to come to understand things in our home. Because of his background, family was something that my dad insisted that you didn’t take for granted. Because if you’re fortunate enough to have one that loves you and helps you and supports you, even with their quirks and aggravations, and even though sometimes you will be at odds with each other, you are a blessed man. Because in life, when the ammunition is live, and the bullets sail past your head, and your health fails and your job plays out and all the people that liked you for what you could do for them go away, a good family, a faithful family will still be there standing with you./

And, the more that I read the NT and the more that I read church history, it’s this type of thinking, it’s this picture that has come to capture my understanding of who the local church is to be. If you would’ve talked with me eight or nine years ago about what kind of church I wanted to be a part of, I want have started by using words like dynamic, modern, and cutting edge. I would have told you about new marketing strategies, and I would have described something that would have been virtually indistinguishable from a John Mayer concert. But now, I’m looking for something more beautiful than that. I’m looking for something richer than that. I’m aiming higher than that. I want a family. I want to walk through life with people who will bleed with me. I want to seek the face of God with people who aren’t ashamed of the Gospel. I want to run after a theology deep enough to hold me steady as I face off with anxiety and depression and loss and disappointment and poor health. I want a life-giving family that offers life to an ever growing number of new family members./

God’s Word

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Jesus Established a Spiritual Family

In , Jesus says something extreme. There’s a scene in which Jesus is teaching, and his mother and brothers came to talk to him. So, they send in a guy to tell Jesus that his mom wants to talk with him, and Jesus asks him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And, then Jesus pointed toward all of his disciples, and He declared: “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus established a spiritual family. And, it’s a family that Jesus says even supersedes that of our earthly blood. It is a family that is bound together by his blood! We are bound together by a pure, royal, righteous bloodline that has secured for us an inheritance in heaven forever and has given us common ground on earth now! And so, Jesus says that we’re to love one another so distinctly that everyone can see that we are his disciples, that is, that we are a spiritual family that is separate from all of the families in the world.

Beautifully Ordinary

Distinct Devotion

“And they devoted themselves” And, it’s this spiritual family that we see put on full display in . We have the earliest formation of the NT church after the Holy Spirit has come. From this early church, I want to draw out two characteristics that we see, and there’s so much we’re going to have to leave for another day, that I want us to parallel with our church and draw as a target on the wall for our church. First of all, I want you to notice that this church was beautifully ordinary. Look at verse 42 with me. And, could that not be said of just about every church that you’ve ever been to or heard about? I mean it’s a wonderfully, beautifully ordinary thing to say, and yet this is the summary that Luke gives to summarize the passion that was driving this fledgling church family. They ‘devoted themselves to the apostles teaches and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.’ I mean, if you ask someone how to do church and they tell you that, you just say, “Duh!” Right? This is the ordinary stuff!/

“devoted” Except that there’s a word here that separates them from most of us. There’s a word here that separates this church from most churches that we know. There’s a word here that makes a church built to make the world comfortable impossible. There’s a word here that we understand makes the difference between a good family and a dysfunctional one. It’s the word ‘devoted.’ This was THE distinctive feature of the early church. They were devoted to the learning the apostles teachings. They were devoted to loving one another and getting to one another in real fellowship. They were devoted to seeking God’s face together in prayer As a matter of fact, what it’s hard for our english seeing eyes to recognize, is that this exact same word comes up again in verse 46 as the word ‘attending’. They were devoted to praying and worshiping together in the temple! Devotion implies perseverance. It means that there is a degree of enduring involved. You persevere and you endure because you realize that your devotion will be realized in a future payoff! Devotion separates real dads from deadbeat dads, real husbands from roommates. Devotion to Jesus is what separates true disciples of Jesus from counterfeits. And, devotion is what separates true churches of Jesus Christ from full buildings of religious consumers. Dr. David Platt said recently: “People are drawn to the church of most benefit for the least cost.” But, brothers and sisters, I ask you, what is more beautiful, devotion or consumption, sacrifice or indulgence?/

Radically Devoted to God

“devoted to the apostles teaching....and the prayers” If we look closely at verse 42, we can really divide their devotion into two main areas. First, we see that they are radically devoted to God./

“apostles teachings” First of all, They wanted to know all that God would have them know. Notice that at the forefront of everything happening in the church was the teachings of the Apostles. It was the word of God. There was a hunger to know everything about God they could know. They wanted to know even better the way of Jesus of the Good News of Gospel and how it impacted the way that they would live. There was an insatiable thirst in them. Doctrine wasn’t too divisive or too dull. It was their lifeblood. And so, every, single day they went back for more! Every day! As much as they had seen of Christ and heard of Christ, they kept saying, “Show us more, tell us more, teach us more!” They were committed, devoted to knowing God as He actually was, not simply as they wanted to believe him to be. Is there any surprise that it followed up them studying the scriptures with the observation that they were awestruck, fear-struck, trembling by the awesome thought of who God is? By the thought of his presence in their very midst?

“the prayers” They wanted to have all that God would let them have. Oh, but they didn’t just read themselves full. They prayed themselves hot! They were witnessing the outpouring of the power of God all around them, and the wanted all of God that they could have. Jesus had taught them that they had not because they asked not, and so, in his likeness, they were seeking the face of God collectively, publicly, in the temple, in their, day-in and day-out together. How were they facing down the Sanhedrin as common and uneducated men? How were they casting out demons? How were they standing strong in the face of intense suffering and persecution? How did the church stand up throughout the book of Acts? They were praying people getting all of the grace and peace and contentment of God they could have in the Spirit by seeking his face together, and I ask us, church, where is this among us? If we were to have Hillsong come here for a concert, we would have thousands want to attend. If we were to have a famous preacher come, hundreds. If we have a Bible study on the doctrine of Christ, maybe a hundred. If we declared that we were going to meet for three hours to seek the face of God on Sunday night? Maybe a dozen. Do we want all that God has? Do we want to experience God’s power among us? May God not bless us in proportion to our ability but in proportion to our prayer-fulness! May He work so powerfully among us that we know that we have no ingenuity that can make sense of such a movement.

“they were selling their possessions and belongs and distributing the proceeds” They wanted to do all that God would have them do. When you read the description of what’s happening, you realize this church obeyed God together. If you look at alone from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, it teaches you to give to the needy, how to pray, how to fast, not to lay up your treasures in heaven, and not to be anxious about this life since Jesus God provides it all. Now, let me ask you, just reading this, do you think they took this seriously? Do you think that the apostles took the entire Great Commission seriously when Jesus told them to teach others all that He had commanded them? Man, they were living this stuff out, and radically so! This wasn't just some emotional high they came off of. This wasn't some decision card they filled out or some church roll they joined. They had committed their lives to running after God with all of their hearts.

Radically Devoted to One Another

“they devoted themselves to.....the fellowship, to the breaking of bread” But, this radical devotion they had to God. This unquenchable thirst they had to know God and love God and follow God did not stop with God, and it didn’t because it couldn’t. God himself wouldn’t allow it. If you love God with all of your heart and soul and strength, it will spill out with passion for all the He loves. And, what does Jesus cherish most? His church. The very first way that you are to love your neighbor as yourself is by loving those within your church. And so, we see that they no only had a radical devotion for God but also to one another.

“the fellowship” It says in verse 42 that they were devoted to the ‘fellowship.’ Now, when we hear the word ‘fellowship’, we start getting hungry. We immediately think fried chicken and potluck and pie. But, that’s such a diluted meaning of the word! That would be like saying a million and meaning a hundred. It was a word that meant deep intimacy and partnership. It was often used in ancient Greece to describe a marriage. Now, in the context of what we’re talking about, I want you to think about that. What is a marriage? A marriage is the beginning of a new family. And what is this? It’s the beginning of a new spiritual family. And, verse 42 is the only time in all of Acts that he uses this word. Over the last two weekends, I’ve had the joy and honor of being a part of two different weddings. And, what happens for a Christian couple when they marry? They say to one another: “I’m going to so devote myself to you that we are going to take two lives and make them one. We’re going to take separate interests and make them a common interest. We’re going to take separate families and make them a common family. It’s a radical devotion! And, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?

Is that not what we see here? They come from all different walks of life because they have this common passion in Jesus Christ. They share their homes with one another. They share meals with one another. They spend time with one another every day. They grow together. When one of them has a need, others sell things that they have to meet that need. They even begin some type of collective bank account with one another so that the needs can be met among the saints. You can imagine that as they join around the meals that people are telling stories and having debates and trying to talk out all of the things that the apostles have just taught. And man, there’s a gladness there. It says that they’re all just joyful in God. They have ‘glad and generous hearts.’ They aren’t calculating how much it’s costing them. They aren’t counting down the seconds until they can go home. They’re with one another. They are one another’s family.

Extraordinarily Supernatural

“Awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles” And so, there’s this beauty that comes out of the church, and it kind of just flows out of their devotion to all of these ordinary things that we so easily take for granted or have lost altogether. But, it’s more than that. It cannot be lost the Spirit of God had just descended upon them. It cannot be lost that 3000 had just be saved at Pentecost! These were not false converts, but true followers of Jesus full of the Spirit and ready to run after Jesus with all of their hearts. You see, they were characterized not only by being beautifully ordinary but also by being extraordinarily supernatural. This was a supernatural church. This was a miraculous church. This was a church that no man could build. This was a church that you can’t build with human cunning and ingenuity. Fog machines and production can’t build this. Eloquent words and guilt can’t build this. Marketing and social media campaigns can’t build this. Only the supernatural movement of God among his people. Only the miraculous working of God in the hearts of men and women can do this. And, it can’t be replicated. It can’t be faked.

A lot of people come to this passage, and they ask, “Why?” Why would anyone live like this? I’ve been asked by people in my family that I love why there are people like you and I who give portions of their salaries to the church and to missions. So, people have come to this and thought that Jesus must’ve advocated for communism or monasticism or any other number of things. But, here’s the thing. All of this was voluntary! You can see this lived out in the life of the Church. It was voluntary. People were coming and serving and giving and praying and living radically and devotedly — voluntarily. Not out of guilt. Not out of compulsion. Not out of boredom. But, out of passion! Out of gladness and generosity and love! And, how is that even possible in the human life? A miracle has to happen! It has to be a supernatural church! It has to be the Spirit of God changing the heart of man to make him want to do what He otherwise didn’t want to do. That’s Christian freedom! That’s why I hate guilt-ridden preaching so much! Christian freedom is the Spirit changing the man or woman until they do the right things because they actually want to do them! This is the gospel! And, this is the supernatural, powerful, extraordinary church!

A Parable of the Modern Church

If you would have taken the Holy Spirit out of this church, all activity would have ceased. If you were to eliminate the Holy Spirit from the equation of most modern churches, you would hardly tell the difference. One is built on ordinary, supernatural beauty and the other man-made ingenuity. Here’s a parable of the modern church:

At Olive Garden, they say, “We treat you like family.” Now, of course, you know that you’re not actually family and that you’re not actually invited to the CEO’s house, but as long as you’re treated like it, it feels nice. Anywhere you want to stop on the interstate, you can find somewhere that you will find a similar experience. You just come in, eat, and go home. There’s no mess for you clean up, and there’s no obligation to you at all. The best part of being treated like family, when you’re not actually family, is that they can keep things comfortable for you when the typically messy family stuff comes up. You’ll always be treated like a first time guest. They’ll never discuss anything that would make you uncomfortable or that would be tense. You’ll always see the CEO from a distance or on a screen, and you’ll always see him with a smile. You’ll never have to worry about being close enough to see him frustrated, agitated, or wounded. And, at arms length, he’ll never be able to say anything to you that will be hurtful. Once a week we come, and once a week we have to give our name again so that they can write it down again. They smile as though they know us, and we smile back, but we both know that it’s just pleasantries. It’s just a meal. It’s just a transaction. Our relationship is artificial and over quickly.

But, your grandmother’s kitchen at Thanksgiving, that’s a different experience entirely. How insulted would you be if she treated you like a first time guest? Instead, she throws her arms around you, and kisses you the same way that she did 25 years ago. You don’t even come through the front door. You come in the back. Only strangers and salesmen use the front. You cook together, clean together, talk together, tell stories together! This is family! It's more work, but it's more beautiful. It's a place where you've hurt one another, and gotten over it. You've said things to each other and forgiven one another. You've been through things together and stood by one another. You're family; you've got heritage. You've got history. At the table, you can talk about hard things and past struggles and things that you're facing. You're family! Nothing will separate you. One generation sits together, and reminisces about the stories of what used to happen, and just one wall over is the next generation dreaming of who all of them are going to become. The younger love the stories of the older, and the older love admiration of the younger. This family has seen men off to war, and sent their children off to college. They’ve sat at weddings together and cried together in funerals. They’ve ooed and ahhed over new babies that were born, and they’ve wept over babies that passed too young. There have been years in which the marriages have been shaky or someone’s health hasn’t been good. Oh, but then there’s that kitchen. That beautifully ordinary kitchen, where the family gathers with all of her scars and all of her baggage and all of her troubles to come together and laugh again. And find strength again. And to remember again that we aren’t alone and that we’ve been called to be a part of something greater and grander and more beautiful. Oh restaurants just won’t do!

Iron City, we can’t settle for any vision for our church that is less than beautiful or other than supernatural.