Musical Prelude and Service.

Sermon – Acts 2:42-47
In a discussion about the history of the United Church of Canada this past week, the subject turned specifically to one Dr. Samuel Dwight Chown. His name is not particularly well-known in this day and age, but in the first few decades of the 20th century, it was very well known and highly respected. A mountain in the Rockies was named after him. His image was put on a stamp in the 1970s.
He was the leading Methodist Minister in Canada at the time of church union. In fact, it was widely assumed he was the leading candidate to become the first Moderator of the United Church. However, there was also concern that the members entering union from the Presbyterian church would lean toward a leader from their denomination. The debate over church union on the Presbyterian side was far more fractious than it was with the Methodist church.
There was a real anxiety that this tenuous union could fall apart over the issue of the first leadership. And so, the day before official union, Samuel Chown announced that he was stepping aside and putting his support behind the Presbyterian candidate for Moderator, Dr. George Pidgeon. This action by a man often criticized as being too ambitious, was widely viewed as a remarkable act of humility and grace aimed at promoting the wider cause of unity for the new denomination.
I mention this as an example within the history of our national church of acting for the good of the whole community, but also to offer some background to one of SD Chown’s more well-known quotes.
“Theology is thought. Religion is life.”
Religion is one of those words that can often be sticky these days. People will profess to be spiritual but not religious, anxious to avoid connection with a particular institution. But “religion” can be more than simply adherence to a specific organization or institution. I think that is what the good Rev. Chown was referring to in this statement. And we will return to that.
So, let’s be frank. This passage of scripture today is a challenge. Several years ago, a man I very much admire and like, but whom I do tend to disagree with in regards to politics, looked at this scripture and said, well, that’s basically communism. I can’t agree with that. He admitted that working through this passage and how it clashed with his political views was a challenge.
As I said, admire this man. And his honesty and willingness to struggle with scripture is one of the things I most admire about him.
“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”
This is not a commandment or a requirement of followers of Jesus. The writer of Acts clearly composes this passage, as something that happened in the past, implying it is no longer the way things are in his present tense. These actions were part of the movement of the spirit in the first flushes of the growing Jesus movement.
As people were inspired to live in the spirit of Jesus, the young and growing community felt a very deep connection and a desire to see to the welfare of all who were part of it.
Those who observed the actions and the deep sense of community of these newly awaked Christians were left in awe by their dedication and love of one another. In fact, we are told by the writer that these actions; these signs of God’s love acted out by the community, drew a great many more people to the community. They saw something in this movement that appealed to them.
Because that sense of selflessness; that sense of giving up what you have for the welfare of your neighbour has always been countercultural in our society; even two thousand years ago. For those looking on from the outside of this small community, these relationships – this way of living your life in service to your neighbours – would seem amazing, wondrous. It would prove a powerful message in a world grounded in the values of self interest and quid quo pro.
The people meeting in the name of Jesus, celebrating the life, death and resurrection of Jesus were at this time primarily, if not exclusively Jews. They attended worship at synagogues. But they would then gather later that day to eat a common meal, to remember Jesus in the breaking of bread and the sharing of wine.
They created a community within their larger community. A place where they were safe in sharing their common belief in Jesus, the Messiah, and the hope of his return. They cared for one another and protected one another.
This was the creation of a place of safety and concern. Of healing and compassion.
So how much has changed in the past two millennia? How would we respond to a group that lived among us, but gathered for meals and worship and sold all they had to care for one another and make sure the needs of the most vulnerable were cared for?
Would we look upon them with suspicion? Would they garner admiration?
The heart of what is said in today’s scripture remains the same. We may not demand such intense signs of devotion. But we do continue to hold certain things in common. We bring with us a commitment to Jesus the Christ, the revelation of God’s love here on earth. We bring with us a commitment to love one another. To do for one another what we hope they would do for us. We hold that each and every one of us is a beloved child of God and is worthy of our love.
Theology is thought. Religion is life. This is not to diminish the importance of theology. Theology is the process of clarifying our image of God. Of discerning our relationship with God and God’s creation and establishing how we are called to live our life in response. And religion helps to frame and give shape to how we live that life.
It is not just a matter of where we go on a Sunday morning. It is not just the songs we sing and the prayers we offer. It is how we live out our relationships with God and with our community. Our community of faith and the wider community of which we are a part. Our religion doesn’t stop when we take our leave from worship on a Sunday morning. It carries on in how we live our life, how we care for our neighbours, and our neighbourhoods, and our wider community. It carries on in how we contribute to the ongoing work of our church throughout the weeks and months. Religion is life.
I don’t believe God requires tremendous sacrifices of possessions. I am grateful I belong to a church that does not insist its members commit a prescribed amount of giving. But I also believe God offers us opportunities to live out our faith. To be part of the many wonders and signs that we as the body of Christ can make happen and in fact help make a reality on a regular basis.
We are part of a community of faith. A community of love. A community that continues to look for ways of sharing that love, that faith, that grace and its blessings with the wider world. For that I am so grateful. And so, I continue to proclaim Christ risen and present amongst us and I say hallelujah, Amen.
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789