Rev. Tatiana Cantarella

Christian Life is a Church Life

Psalm 133; Acts 2:22-47

This is our ninth week that we are studying the Scriptures (especially the words and understanding of Jesus) trying to answer Scripturally a question "who is a Christian and what is the Christian life?” Last week we summarized everything we heard so far with these words:

A Christian then, is the one who follows Jesus, dedicating his whole life to the Kingdom Dream of Jesus, to the life of love for God and others, to the society of justice and peace, to the life devoted to acquiring wisdom.

We have studied the Gospels where Jesus, speaking of the kingdom of God, described his Dream for this world at the center of which we are called to live. But the New Testament story moves from the Gospels to the book of Acts, which relates to us how the Church community was created by the power of the Holy Spirit. I have met very many people who profess Christianity but at the same time believe that a person does not need the church to be a Christian. However, Scripture reveals to us today that the kingdom of God happens "on earth as it is in heaven" precisely when people are filled with and enabled by the Spirit of God to do the work of the kingdom through this new community God created. Not by chance Jesus used the word "kingdom" - the most communal word of His time to describe His Dream for this world.

The beginning of Acts 2 tells the story of how, after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples. And when the Holy Spirit came He transformed their abilities, surpassed their abilities and transformed their lives, so that they could participate in the community of God's kingdom here and now. There are many Churches in this world, but the church becomes God's Kingdom community only when it is filled by the Spirit of God. For where the Spirit of God is there is true community. After all, it is the Spirit of God that bestows love, justice and peace to all members of the community without distinction. The Spirit of God not only draws us to God, He draws us to each other, creating community.

When we go Christian conferences, camps, seminars, visiting other churches where there is a spirit of unity and wellness we feel delight and joy and the words of Psalm 133 naturally flies of our lips: "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!” But if you think about it –we do not live together at such events, e only spend together several hours or a few days. But when God's people live together for many years, when people get to know each other closer, and, unfortunately see a lot of negative stuff, they begin to desire to get away, to leave and no longer want to meet some people or begin to avoid contact. And when king David sings that to be together with brothers and sisters is "good and pleasant," we feel like saying: "David! What are you talking about? Where have you seen this in real life? This is just wishful thinking!"  For David himself ran as a partridge pursued by his brothers in order to save his own life. And it was him who was comparing himself with a flea that his brothers wanted to catch and crush (1 Sam. 26:20). He also sang in one of his songs: "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. I would flee far away and stay in the desert...” (Ps. 55:6-7) How can he then say, "How good and pleasant to be with his brothers?"

A partial answer is found in the introducing verse to Psalm 133, "Psalm of ascent". This is one of the Psalms, which the pilgrims sang ascending together to the temple of Jerusalem, which stood on a hill. God's people were singing it together, drawing closer to God, striving for the presence of the Most High, realizing that life is not limited to earthly cares and our weaknesses. So also in Christ, people who are born again are not running around from one another, not wanting to get away and to avoid contact but can sing from the depth of their hearts the words of a beautiful old hymn (Russian one): "Here in the sweet fellowship we have forgotten the fear and harsh rocks of the road. We have found encouragement in the words of the Lord and can go on with our strength renewed."

And you know, there are two images of this Psalm, which suggest what must be present in the people of God so that this community could truly proclaim: "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!” The first image is the abundance of the precious oil on the head of Aaron. This oil is on his head, on his beard and all over his clothes - literally it’s not a very pleasant image. J But the oil in Scriptures is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Therefore "brothers and sisters dwell together in unity" when everyone whose conscience was cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ and who turned away from the works of flesh to serve the living God seek more and more to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to have all their lives to be "soaked” with it. For it is the Spirit that gives joy to the heart, consolation in God’s truth, the power to defeat evil and the unity that doesn’t depend on our flaws and imperfections. Remember how apostle Paul urged Christians in Ephesus: "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18) and then described how life in the Spirit of God changes all of our relationships: between husbands and wives, children and parents, superiors and subordinates!

Another image in Psalm 133 is "the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion”. The dew in Scriptures is a symbol of blessings, especially in times when there is no rain. The Lord says about himself: "I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; 
6 his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon” (Hos. 14:5-6). God will be with dew for his children when the night comes down on their lives to refresh and strengthen them. This "night” can be a spiritual darkness that surrounds us, the time of difficulties and hardships, family turmoil, or a spiritual drought. This can be a very difficult time, but the Lord has many ways to refresh and reinforce us with His heavenly dew. Sometimes God directly speaks to us, sometimes encourages us by His Word but David is specifically talking here about the fact that the dew of God descends upon us in the community of God – the community of brothers and sisters who turned from darkness to light, repented of their sins, returned to God, found the gift of the Holy Spirit and are now give themselves as the gift of encouragement to others.

The Christian community is unlike any other gathering of people. Christian community consists of people who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and are now on the same path that begins with repentance and leads to a completely new life in a community that set aside all false ideas of power, of relating to others and of respectability and becomes the community of servants of the crucified Lord. When this happens the Spirit of God fills it and here is what this community looks like:

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

 (Acts 2:41-47)

The early church community was characterized by four essential elements: a commitment to the teaching of the Apostles, fellowship, breaking bread together and prayer. Being a Christian, being a follower of Christ did not mean just going to church once a week (on a Sunday). Being a follower of Christ meant being a part of the family. Not to get some encouragement at a one and a half hour service, but sharing your life with others, having a heartfelt participating in each other's lives. Where did we ever get the idea of church as a building where we can come or not come if there are more interesting things we can do? How do we get the idea of church as a one and a half our Sunday service? Where did e get the idea of church as people who come together but have nothing to do with each other and sometimes do not even know each other? Certainly not from Jesus and not from His parables of the kingdom or His Dream for His church. At what point did the Church simply became a place where believers come to for an hour or an hour and a half to get something for their soul? At what point did the kingdom of God ceased to be a "community" and become "personal spirituality"? In the dream of Jesus there is no room for living in solitude, His Dream never meant to create individualism. His Dream becomes reality on earth through His church designed to be a community that dwells in unity.

When I am saying that Christian life is not conceivable without the church I do not live in illusion that the church is perfect. There are no perfect churches and do not waste time looking for one – you wont’ find it. But the Church reflects the reality, the lives of real people who want to live the life of the kingdom in a world broken by sin and evil. But by the power of His Spirit through His church the Lord desires to make the Dream of Jesus reality in this world.

According to the Kingdom Dream of Jesus and the Scriptures that we heard today, Community Life is a:

Life shared with others whoever they are

Life transformed by the teachings of Jesus

Life that we taste as we sit together at the same table

Life soaked with prayer

Life where people share with one another everything they have (including economical values)

Life that draws other people

Life where despite difficulties and imperfection we can proclaim with confidence: How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity».

We all long for such life and we can have it if we are tired enough of mediocre, individualistic and purely personal life. But for some reason we continue to live apart and do not dare to open their lives to brothers and sisters. We continue to live in suspicion that others do not care about our problems. Or we think that if you open your pains and struggles to others they will judge us and will talk about our issues with others. Others are afraid to share their joys for the fear that people will be jealous. And in the world this is often the case, and perhaps we inherited these fears from our Soviet past. But God's family must leave such relationships behind and become a community of forgiven people who forgive, a community of people who are loved and want to share this love, a community where people are guided by God's Word and God's spirit and not by ambitions commended by the world, where to be open and vulnerable is a blessing rather than stupidity, where shortcomings are forgiven by grace, weakness are covered with prayer, loneliness is overcome by fellowship, needs are answered by simple gestures of kindness. It is for the sake of such community, such church Christ lived, died and had risen.

But in order to live more deeply in the Dream of Jesus, in His kingdom, we must again ask the Holy Spirit to fill us, surround us, penetrate our lives, completely change us so that we would live as the first followers of Jesus lived. True community, church life as it was meant to be begins when we turn our minds, our hearts and our hands to God and allow Him to overwhelm us with His Spirit and to turn us toward one another so that we can reach out to one another and offer true community.

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