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In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Dear Nicole, and all of you who bear the Lord’s name and the light of his countenance into the world, and to our confirmands, Kara and Christian, and to all those who have made the martyrs’ promise. Grace to you in peace from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The scripture texts take us to a bunch of exotic places today. First, the Old Testament takes us to the wilderness outside of Egypt on the way to the promised land where the people are suffering and so much that they’re remembering the flesh pots of Egypt but forgetting all their slavery and grumbling to Moses and the Lord provides for them there. And then the epistle text takes us to Jerusalem on Pentecost afternoon, where 3,000 are baptized after hearing the preaching of Peter on that first day of the church. And then we hear from Luke how things are in the church. And then the gospel lesson takes us back into the wilderness, although on the other side of the sea of Galilee, where there’s a, it was a nice part of the wilderness, lots of grass, but nothing to eat except for these five barley loaves and two fish. And there our Lord Jesus is providing for all the people gathered.
I’d like to spend our time this morning on two of those. In fact, two maybe short little sermons. Well, two short-ish sermons. The first on Acts chapter 2, I want to just impress two points on our minds from the life of the early church and then from John chapter 6 and three things from that text that I want us to take from here and carry them with us.
The first is I want to put your attention on that verse in Acts chapter 2 verse 42 that describes the life of the early church. We’ll remember the context. Peter had just preached this beautiful sermon after all the apostles were speaking in tongues and the people think that they’re drunk and they all gather together and he says, no, this is the promise of Joel chapter 2 and the Spirit has been poured out. And he says, you killed, crucified the Lord Jesus. And they all repent and said, men, what shall we do to be saved? And Peter says, look, you can’t do anything to be saved, but the Lord can save you. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus. And you’ll receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. And this promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off. And so they come to be baptized that day, 3,000 in one day.
And then it describes their life together as a church. Right? It’s in verse 42. It starts on the bottom of the first page of your bulletin, and they devoted, then at the top, they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Now there is some question about if that should be a list of four things or three things. I suppose it doesn’t matter too much, but it’s interesting to think about. There’s either the Apostles’ Doctrine and Fellowship and the breaking of bread and prayers, four things, or there’s the Apostles’ Doctrine and the fellowship in the breaking of bread and the prayers, three things.
But either way, here’s the first point, is what they were doing on the very first day that the church of the New Testament was born is exactly what we’re doing today. We gathered here for the Apostle’s doctrine. We heard it read from the Scriptures, and hopefully you’re hearing it preached from the pulpit. We gathered here for the fellowship in that doctrine as we already confessed our faith together, and we’ll hear it again confessed at confirmation, that we joined together in this common confession. And not only do we join together in this common confession of the Apostle’s doctrine, but we also joined together in the breaking of bread.
The sacrament of the altar that reminds us of what our Lord Jesus did when he broke the bread and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, take and eat. This is my body. And take and drink. This is the blood of the New Testament poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. And the fourth thing or the third thing there is the prayers. It’s probably in the context, the liturgical prayers of the church, but either way, it’s the liturgy and it’s also offering up of petitions, which is what we’re here for.
We’re here for the apostles’ doctrine. We’re here for the breaking of bread. And we’re here for the prayers. Now this is, I don’t know if this impresses you, but it impresses me is that we haven’t come up with anything better to do in the last 2,000 years than what they did on day one of the church. That we’re still doing the same thing. That we’re still hearing the Apostles’ doctrine. That we’re still breaking bread. That we’re still praying. That what happens on Sunday morning is what happened on that first day on that Pentecost.
But here’s something else. And this is the second point from this Acts chapter 2 reading, is that it wasn’t just that they were gathering together for church, for the liturgy and the word and the sermon and the supper, but that what happened in the service was also shaping their lives. That they were truly, as they came into the presence of God in the service and received from Him there a good conscience and the forgiveness of all of their sins, that they left that place and were totally different people.
It says it like this, it says, And they all came upon every soul. People were watching all this, happened and were amazed by it, and wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. They were selling their possessions and belonging and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need, and day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread together in their homes. They received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. In other words, what was happening when they gathered together for the divine service was reflected in their lives. And here’s how the church was described on those early days. And may it be a description of us that they had glad and generous hearts. They knew that they were not alone in the world. They knew that God had come down to them to take part of their flesh and blood so that he could bear their sins and carry their sorrows and save them from the troubles that were to come.
All the troubles of this life and condemnation which followed this life, that he had given eternal life. And more than that, not only did Jesus give himself to all of his people, but he gives us to one another. This is the point of the early church, and I hope it’s the second point that we can take home as well, that when you come to the Lord’s house, the Lord Jesus doesn’t just give himself to you, but he gives you to everybody else here, and everybody else here he gives to you, that we, the Lord’s body, are united to one another, closer in some ways than we are to our own families.
That we share in the body and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. So that no Christian is ever alone. No Christian is ever apart. No Christian is by themselves. It says that even after they left the service, they had all things in common. This is an amazing promise. And it’s for us. That the Lord Jesus has given you his body. That is the church. That He’s given one another.
Now, there’s a way to think about this, but it’s especially amazing that it’s reflected not only in the service, but especially at the altar. That when the Lord Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, when He says, take and eat, this is my body given for you, that you is plural. It’s not given for thee, it’s given for ye, or maybe to translate it better, it’s given for y’all, that the Lord calls us together at the table.
So that you are the brother or the sister of the person that’s sitting next to you. Now, one of the ways that we want to just test this is to ask ourselves this question, do I have friends at church? Do I know the people who are next to me? And it starts by being invested in that, by knowing that when we gather here every Sunday, that we are not just here to hear what the Lord Jesus has to say to me, and I’m not paying attention to anything that’s happening around me.
I hear the word, I hear the sermon, I take the supper, and then phew, I go home. That’s not how the Lord intended it. That the life that the Lord Jesus gives to us is meant to be a life that’s shared amongst his people, so that we rejoice in it in one another and we bear one another’s burdens and we weep with those who weep and we rejoice with those who rejoice and we care for each other so that we so that we know I okay I heard it said like this someone was talking about how they weren’t a believer but they but they like to go to the Christian church and someone says well why do you like to go there and they said well when I go to church the people there are required to love me that’s actually pretty good
That you, and it’s not only this that you know that you’re required to love one another, but here, you know, this is the comfort of it, that you know that the person next to you is actually required to love you. That this is a place to be loved, not only by your dear Lord Jesus, but also by your fellow Christians. That we love one another, that we bless one another, that we forgive one another, that we bear with one another, that we carry each other’s burdens, that we know what’s going on with one another so that we can care for each other and lift each other up.
They had all things in common. They had joyful and generous hearts. May God grant it.
Okay, now to John 6. Three things to pick up on here. Okay. The first is this, and I think this is important for us because when we come to church, we mostly think, at least I mostly think, that here’s where the kingdom of God comes to us. And here’s where we hear about the Lord Jesus and all these spiritual blessings that he has to give to us. Here’s where the forgiveness of sins happens. Here’s where spiritual gifts occur.
But the text from John 6 reminds us that Jesus is also interested in caring for the needs of this body. We’re not Gnostic in this way, as if our body is taken care of by all the other days and our soul is taken care of on Sunday. Or like it’s up to us to care for the needs of the body and the Lord Jesus is going to care for the needs of the soul. When Jesus feeds the 5,000 that are all there, he’s reminding us that he’s also the one who created us and who takes care of us and who gives us all that we need for this life as well as the life to come.
This is why we confess the first article. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And that’s not just a confession of what happened so many thousands of years ago, but it’s a confession of the reality that carries us now, that God has made me, that He’s given me my life and my body and soul and all my members, my reason, and still takes care of them. And He gives me food and drink and house and home and food and clothing and everything else that has to do with this life, that that’s the Lord who does that also.
It’s why we pray before we eat, because the Lord is the one who causes the wheat to grow in the field and the fruit trees to grow and the cows to give birth and all these other things to happen. The Lord gives us our food. And especially, and here’s the second point, that it’s not just God the Father who sustains us, but also God the Son. Through the Son, God the Father created all things and still upholds them so that when you pray, give us this day our daily bread, Jesus answers your prayer.
And especially, especially when you’re doing what he has called you to do, you have this promise that will take care of you. I mean, the children of Israel are out in the wilderness and they’re wandering there and they’re like, maybe we shouldn’t have left. Maybe we shouldn’t have followed Moses. Maybe things were better back there when we had the big flesh pots of Egypt. Forgetting all the bad stuff, it’s amazing. They just remember, already it’s like three weeks ago and they have this nostalgia of how great it was being slaves in Egypt.
But oh well, that’s how it goes when you get hungry. And they’re remembering all these things. But when the Lord has sent you somewhere, when the Lord has called you to something, he’s promised that he’ll provide for you. So we’re able to trust in Him, we’re able to follow His word, we’re able to do what He commands. That’s especially important when we think of our vocations.
When you think, for example, when you young people think, do I have what I need to be a faithful husband or wife? I don’t know if I’m ready to be married. Here, remember that the Lord provides in the wilderness even when there’s no grocery store. Or when you young married couples are thinking, are we ready to have children? You remember that the Lord will provide. Or you who have teenagers and are wondering what resources you need to stay with it, the Lord provides. You who are living a life of singleness and chastity, and you’re wondering if you have the strength to endure all of those troubles, the Lord will provide.
When you get to the end and you think, now I have to die, or now I have to care for the people that I love who are dying. Do I have what it takes to do these things? The Lord always promises to give us everything that we need according to the vocations in which we’re called. I have to remember this every time I stand up to preach, that the Lord has promised to give me the gifts that are needed for the task at hand. Who could dare to do such a thing? But the Lord provides, especially in the context to which He has called us, so that we do not need to be afraid of going out into the wilderness.
We don’t need to be afraid of following the Lord’s word and coming to Him that He will provide, even if He has to make it rain bread from heaven or take five barley loaves and divide it up to everybody, He will provide. Point two, and point three is this, that Jesus does, while Jesus is the one who provides us with what we need for this life, he does not want us to think that that’s all he provides.
There’s a moment at the text when all of the people who are now so happy because they’ve just had all the bread and fish they could possibly imagine, these fish sandwiches on barley loaves, and it’s an amazing thing to remember that there’s more left over than there was at the beginning, which is how it is always with the Lord Jesus, but that they’re so full and so happy that they say, Jesus, you should be king.
In fact, there was a movement started right there where they go to make Jesus king and he disappears. In fact, the next day he walks across the sea and the same crowd comes to find him again. They want to make him into a king who can provide for them all that they need for this life. And I was thinking about it this week. That would have happened. Like, can you imagine that the people came to Jesus and they said, okay, Jesus, we want you to be our king. And Jesus said, okay, let’s do it. And they would gather around and you know what they would confess?
They would confess, I believe in Jesus. maker of heaven and earth. But that’s it. They wouldn’t be able to confess Jesus who suffered under Pontius Pilate, who was crucified dead and buried, who on the third day rose again. And this is the point that Jesus not only gives us what we need for this life, but he also will be the one who suffers and dies to give us all that we need for the life to come.
So when we’re baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and when we confess his saving name, we are clinging to Jesus who provides… He provides daily bread. He provides all that you need for the needs of the body and all that you need for the needs of the soul. He cleanses your conscience. He forgives your sins. He bears the wrath of God in your place so that on the judgment day, you can hear, well done, good and faithful servant, come to the place that I’ve prepared for you.
This is your Jesus who gives himself to you. May we rejoice in his provision and his care now. And on the last day, may God grant it for Christ’s sake. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.