Sunday, June 3, 2007
Acts 2:42-47
Senior Pastor
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. The mouse wondered, "What food might this contain that I would like?"
His heart was racing, but
then came to almost a dead stop when he saw them unwrap a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the
mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a
mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised
her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you
but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the
house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there
is nothing I can do about it but pray.
Be assured you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow and said,
"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the
house!"
The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm
sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap—all alone.
That very night a sound was heard
throughout the house – like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness,
she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer's wife.
The farmer rushed her to the
hospital and she returned home with a fever.
Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer
took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.
But his wife's sickness continued, so
friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the
farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer's wife did not get well and
unfortunately she eventually died. So
many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide
enough meat for all of them.
Once again the mouse was all alone and
filled with even greater sadness.
This parable reminds us of the importance of the Christian community. When one of us faces a problem it is easy to
think that it doesn't concern me and go on.
But the early disciples, like the mouse, knew different. We are all in the same boat and it is
important to support and encourage one another.
It is clear from these verses we
read today that the earliest disciples understood this very clearly. In verse 42 Luke says, They devoted
themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread
and the prayers. Then again this is
emphasized in verse 44, All who believed were together and had all things in
common; but just a couple of verses
later in 46: Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple,
they broke bread at home and ate [together].
They
were committed to one another. They ate together, they
studied together, they worshipped together, they prayed together – in short, they
ordered their lives so that they had time to support and encourage one another
and to stay connected to God. It is
easy to lose that kind of focus in our fast-paced world. It is easy to lose that kind of connection
with one another in a church as big as ours.
Sunday School and small groups are especially important for just this
reason in our church. That is why we
continually offer opportunities for that kind of study and prayer and
fellowship.
Kim
Henry is married to Governor Brad Henry. It would be easy to see how their family could be torn apart with
schedules like the Governor and the First Lady keep. But they have three daughters and they work very hard to maintain
their connection with each other and with God.
I
recently read an article in which Kim Henry discussed this very thing. She says maintaining a balanced life has
been a struggle for her for a long time.
She says that she has decided that, “You don’t balance life. You tip the scales in favor of God.” Now I thought that was beautifully
stated. “You don’t balance life. You tip the scales in favor of God.”
She
went on to say that she strives to maintain a personal devotional life each day
as well as attending two different Bible studies weekly. It’s a sense of priorities more than balance
as she sees it. “[A rich spiritual
life] is the most important thing. Without that, nothing else could be possible,” Kim said. “It’s what sustains me. It’s what keeps me going.” (St Luke’s UMC, Outlook magazine, p.
6, March 2007) Certainly the earliest
disciples would understand.
But
this author says it does more than just sustain you. It does more for you than just getting by. It says that it provided a life that was
full of praise and generosity and gratitude.
It notes that they shared their material possessions, as well as their
spiritual lives and then it says they ate their food with glad and generous
hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. (v.46-47a)
Being
centered on God didn’t just make them pious or holy or spiritual but it led
them to the experience of praising God and being generous and glad about it. Those are some of the fruits of a Christian
life. That’s what happens when you tip
the scales in favor of God. When
Christians share life together, as directed by God, good things happen.
But
that is the challenge, isn’t it – protecting that Christian focus, that
Christian center? I read recently
about a nurse who was trying to schedule an appointment for a woman who needed
to have some surgery done. But they
couldn’t find a time to do it for several weeks because the woman didn’t want
to miss her bingo game. Now this wasn’t
cosmetic surgery, this was necessary for health reasons. Can you believe that? I think maybe the woman needs to reassess
her priorities. But she is not the only
one.
I
find it all too easy to let one thing or another get in the way of the really
important priorities in my life. It is
easy to over schedule, to over commit, to get caught up in the many options in
life and lose what is most important.
In severe cases we lose all sense of our identity. Church rolls are full of people who
once were committed to their church and a life in the body of Christ that no
longer attend. It is a sad
commentary on our life together.
Have
you heard me tell the story of the public official who was making a visit to a
nursing home to make a speech? Before
the speech he was working his way around the room greeting people. Many obviously had no idea who he was. But he noticed one woman who was staring at
him all the way around. Since he hadn’t
been introduced he thought for sure she recognized him. Finally he got around to her and said, “Do
you know who I am?”
She
said, “No honey, I’m sorry, but if you go back over to the desk I am sure they
can tell you.”
Do you know who you are? Are you protecting those things that are most important? This passage says the disciples were devoted to Christian teaching and fellowship, prayer and worship. The guidance is: Keep those in that top tier of priorities, for you are a child of God, a disciple of Jesus Christ. The promise is: a life filled with praise and hearts filled with gladness and generosity.
…when he saw them unwrap a
__________________.
The
__________ bit the farmer's wife.
…reminds us of the
importance of the Christian community.
They
were committed to ______
______________.
…they
ordered their lives so that they had ________ to support
and encourage one another and to stay
connected to God.
“You
don’t balance life. You tip the scales
in favor of ______.”
“[A
rich spiritual life] is the most important thing.”
…but
it led them to the experience of praising God and being
generous
and ________ about it.
…that
is the challenge isn’t it – protecting that Christian focus,
that
Christian ____________?
Church
rolls are full of people… that ____ longer attend.
Are you protecting those things that are ________ important?
… devoted to Christian teaching & fellowship,
prayer and _____________.
Kid’s Question: What is one thing the disciples were devoted to?