Acts 2.42 They
devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking
of bread and to prayer. – St. Luke
In Nehemiah 9 and 10, is an account of the Jews who’d
returned from exile (to Jerusalem) repenting of their sins and the sins of
their ancestors. In chapter 9 is a prayer of confession that is quite detailed
and lengthy. They were serious about
doing something to get their acts together before God. In fact, they were so
serious, they put together a binding legal document and put their seals upon it
to show how serious they were. There was lots of crying and weeping and sorrow
and signatures.
In Acts 2 is the account of another gathering of people in
Jerusalem some 400 years later. They too were repenting of their sins and
crying out to God for help. On the day this group was meeting, there were no
legal documents, and no affixed signatures; there was however, the presence of
God; the Holy Spirit came upon them in such power and presence that they were
transformed; the Church was born.
We can look back upon the Old Testament peoples and ask: why did God wait so long? Why weren’t
their signed legal documents enough to cure them of their sin, giving them the
power to act accordingly? It boils down to this: God does what God does in His own timing and for His own purposes.
I do ask why, but it always comes back to what God does.
From Nehemiah’s time to the time of Christ, there was
about 400 years of silence; God, apparently, did not speak to the Jews during
this period of time as He had in former days. But when God did finally speak,
He spoke through His servant John (the Baptiser), and His Son, Jesus, the
Christ. And then, on the Day of Pentecost (a big Jewish holiday), He spoke
through His Church, empowered by His Holy Spirit.
What happened then was not a document signing. What happened
then was not some big cry-baby ceremony. What happened then was a transformation
of hearts and a group of people took God seriously because they were empowered to
do so: they devoted themselves to the
apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
The difference then was the Spirit of God.
The Church’s birth was a one-of-a-kind event; it has
never been repeated. But the Holy Spirit has never changed, never gone
anywhere, and continues to this day to cause people to devote themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and to prayer. The God-born are not looking for legalese,
they are seeking the presence and power of God that He, God, has put within
them.
Why has God waited so long then; why doesn’t He just come
back now and set things in order? I’m not real sure He’s ready to do that, and
I’m not real sure we really want that just yet. I think God has it more in mind
that we devote ourselves to the apostle’s teaching, and to fellowship, to the breaking
of bread, and to prayer. And that we
continue to do so until He does what He’s going to do next. People who do
things God’s way are not caught up in the pushings and shovings of the world;
they are content to read the Word together, be together, eat together, and,
especially, to pray together. Church like that is effective in ways we can’t
imagine.
Father, that I
would do as I say, is my prayer. That I would relinquish control over my life
to You, is my prayer. That I would fellowship and eat with the saints, is my
prayer. And that I would pray –is my prayer; make it so, fill me again today.
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment